As the UK dealt with widespread racist and Islamophobic riots across cities fanned by online disinformation, an unseemly series of posts from X owner and billionaire Elon Musk also made headlines.
Musk seems to have his shorts in a twist over the British government calling for greater responsibility from social media platforms and him in particular. Earlier, the UK government said Musk’s posts would inflame the situation even further.
In one if his posts, Musk had said “civil war is inevitable” in the UK and suggested that Muslims were treated more leniently.
The riots began with disinformation on Facebook, Telegram and WhatsApp which claimed (falsely) that the boy accused of stabbing 3 children to death in the city of Southport, was a migrant who came to England on a boat.
He was not! But by the time the facts became public, the genie had left the bottle. According to Reuters, one such false post had over 15 million views. The damage had been done.
Attacks on minorities
Prime Minister Keir Starmer openly blamed the internet for stoking the violence saying “let me say to large social media companies and those who run them: Violent disorder, clearly whipped up online — that is also a crime. It’s happening on your premises, and the law must be upheld everywhere”.
Elon Musk called the comments “insane”. After Starmer posted a comment on X saying that the government “will not tolerate attacks on mosques or on Muslim communities,” Musk said “Shouldn’t you be concerned about attacks on *all* communities?”
For extremists, in this case the far right, social media is a tool to galvanise their supporters and they did it successfully through wild conspiracy theories that were peddled online and through messaging platforms like WhatsApp and Telegram.
Never mind that those who peddle lies online are usually sipping a cocktail in the comfort of their living rooms while actual people go out and get hurt.
Social media accountability
The UK already has an Online Safety Act which was passed last year which seeks to ramp up enforcement on illegal and harmful content on the internet. But the Act has not fully come into force yet.
The onus on tech companies to take action will be implemented only by the end of next year. The new law empowers the regulator, Ofcom, with powers to fine tech companies as much as 10% of their global annual revenues. Those who violate the law repeatedly could even see their executives face jail time.
This is not a fight for the UK alone. The world has to wake up to the reality that the social media space is not some distant land that is cut off from the real world. They are very much the same today and not different boxes that we can compartmentalise.
The nature of social media makes it easier for people to bind together as algorithms dish out the most hateful and viral content. The time has come to have serious conversations about the digital world and how to make social media platforms more accountable.
This cannot and should not however be done as a knee-jerk reaction to events. Because while we must make social media platforms more accountable and responsible, we have to make sure they free speech is not trampled on.
Hate speech however is not the same thing and the time for accountability is now. Including you, Mr. Musk.
