British Government Urges Elon Musk to Use Caution Amid Social Media Controversy

The British government has urged Elon Musk to act responsibly after his social media posts on X, formerly known as Twitter, risked inflaming ongoing unrest in the country. Justice Minister Heidi Alexander criticized Musk's inflammatory comments, which included statements about civil war and alleged bias in the British criminal justice system. The government is considering strengthening online safety laws to curb the spread of misinformation.

The British government has called on Elon Musk to act responsibly after the tech billionaire used his social media platform X to unleash a barrage of posts that officials say risk inflaming the violent unrest gripping the country.

Justice Minister Heidi Alexander made the comments Tuesday morning after Musk posted a comment saying that 'Civil war is inevitable' in the U.K. Musk later doubled down, highlighting complaints that the British criminal justice system treats Muslims more leniently than far-right activists and comparing Britain's crackdown on social media users to the Soviet Union.

Britain has been shaken by violence for more than a week, as police clashed with crowds spouting anti-immigrant and Islamophobic slogans. Prime Minister Keir Starmer condemned the riots as 'far-right thuggery' and announced that perpetrators will swiftly be punished. The government is calling on social media companies to do more to combat misleading information, and may strengthen the Online Safety Act to ensure better regulation.

(With inputs from agencies.)