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Elon Musk is locked in another Twitter battle, this time with UK officials looking to crack down on social media posts that the UK deems a threat to national security.
As the Financial Times reports, the UK's disinformation unit had been compiling a list of posts that they believe are spreading misinformation and inciting violence in the country following a stabbing rampage that left three children dead. Meta, Google, and TikTok have been receptive to removing the posts, but "X has been less responsive and has kept concerning content up," the FT says.
Musk has generally resisted calls to remove content from X, preferring to let people add notes or corrections via the Community Notes feature. He also dissolved X's Trust and Safety Council.
On X, the UK's Crown Prosecution Service noted that "content that incites violence or hatred isn't just harmful—it can be illegal" and vowed to "prosecute when the legal test is met."
"Remind those close to you to share responsibly or face the consequences," it added.
More than 400 people have been arrested and at least 100 charged, "some in relation to online activity," Prime Minister Keir Starmer said yesterday.
A 32-year-old man who live-streamed himself "making derogatory comments towards migrants outside a hotel housing asylum seekers," for example, pleaded guilty to distributing a recording intending thereby to stir up racial hatred.
On X, Musk did little to calm tensions. "Civil war is inevitable," he wrote in response to a tweet blaming "mass migration and open borders" for the unrest. (It appears that most of those who've been arrested are locals.) He later responded to another tweet with #TwoTierKeir, referencing a theory where a government deals with some protests more harshly than others.
While Musk may not consider who's reading his posts and replies, Peter Kyle, the UK's minister for science, innovation and technology, tells The Times that Musk can have an impact "not just on public discourse, but on actual facts on the ground."