Elon Musk has intensified his dispute with the UK, calling the prime minister "two-tier Keir" and questioning if it was "Britain or the Soviet Union." This comes after a man was reportedly arrested over Facebook comments.
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Musk, the billionaire owner of X, has been clashing with Sir Keir Starmer over riots in the UK, amid worries that online lies are fueling the unrest. In his latest criticism, Musk reposted a video showing police arresting a man for offensive comments on Facebook.
"Arrested for making comments on Facebook!" Musk wrote on X. "Is this Britain or the Soviet Union? Is this accurate @Community Notes?" Community Notes is X's fact-checking tool.
The video shows an officer arresting a man on suspicion of improper use of the electronic communications network. This covers sending messages that are "grossly offensive or of an indecent, obscene, or menacing character," which can result in a six-month jail term or a fine.
In a later post directed at Sir Keir, Musk asked, "why aren't all communities protected in Britain?" This was in response to a video showing large crowds of masked people outside a pub, some waving the Palestine flag.
On Monday, Musk directed a similar comment towards the prime minister after Sir Keir said he would not tolerate attacks on Muslim communities. Mosques and hotels housing asylum seekers have been targets of unrest across the UK for the past week.
Musk used the hashtag #twotierKeir, referring to "two-tier policing." This claim, often used by the far-right, suggests that police treat certain groups differently. Sir Keir and Conservative leadership contender Dame Priti Patel have rejected this claim, while Neil Basu, Britain's former head of counter-terrorism, called it "very dangerous talk."
The row with Musk started after he claimed that "civil war is inevitable" in the UK, comments condemned by the government. Justice minister Heidi Alexander told Sky News, "everyone should be calling for calm." She added that the talk about civil war is "totally unjustified."
The riots began in Southport last Tuesday after the fatal stabbings of three girls in the Merseyside town and have spread across the UK. The row with Musk threatens government efforts to get social media companies to take more responsibility for removing harmful content believed to be stoking some of the violence.
Online lies claimed the person arrested over the Southport attacks was a Muslim refugee. Axel Rudakubana, the teenager arrested and charged by police, was born in Cardiff to Rwandan parents.
Sir Keir stated that anyone inciting violence, online or offline, "will face the full force of the law." Mr. Basu said the worst of the far-right violence should be treated as terrorism, calling Musk's comments "pretty disgraceful."
