Starmer and ministers criticize Elon Musk over posts on UK unrest, police and child safety law

Elon Musk attends the finals for the NCAA wrestling championship, March 22, 2025, in Philadelphia.A minister has slammed Elon Musk after the world’s richest man criticised the UK government’s new social media ban for under-16s.The CEO of X, formerly Twitter, renewed his fiery online attacks against Labour on Monday after prime minister Keir Starmer announced plans to introduce online restrictions for children to protect them from harmful and illegal content.Labour is hoping to stop anyone under 16 accessing platforms like X from spring 2027.Musk, who has regularly hit out at the government over hot topic issues like child grooming gangs and once even claimed “civil war is inevitable” in the UK, repeatedly tore into the proposed legislation on X.He wrote: “This censorship law is a wolf in sheep’s clothing. The real goal is to enable the UK government to track everyone.”A later post alleged: “They always use defensible excuses for the indefensible.”But UK minister for online safety Kanishka Narayan hit back at Musk on BBC Newsnight.“I say to him he has no idea about what the law is here,” the Labour MP said.“One, the government is not censoring anything at all.“Unlike many other countries, in some aspects the United States, the UK does not have any laws that permit the secretary of state or politicians to intervene on specific pieces of content.“That is an independent regulator, because free speech is important.“And two, in the context of age checks, that’s a very important privacy-preserving way of checking ages so that young people are kept from child abuse and the worse harms of social media.”Musk was condemned just last week for also trying to “whip up unrest” in the UK following the Belfast knife attack as he shared lists of where protests could take place.Labour chair Anna Turley told LBC at the time: “I think it’s appalling. Anyone that is seeking to drive and exploit a situation like this to drive their own political agenda is grievously wrong and doing damage.“He’s not someone who’s having to live in a community where the consequences of this, of the anger that is whipped up.“You know, we’ve seen children, families having to flee their homes on the streets of Belfast last night, we do not want to see this kind of disruption, damage, thuggery, violence on our streets, and anyone that is seeking to whip that up should be condemned.”Listen to Commons People, the podcast that makes politics easy. Every week, Kevin Schofield and Kate Nicholson unpack the week’s biggest stories to keep you informed. Join us for straightforward analysis of what’s going on at Westminster.Related...Elon Musk Condemned For Trying To 'Whip Up Unrest' In UK After Belfast Knife AttackStarmer Accuses Musk Of 'Trying To Whip Up Division' Over Henry Nowak MurderKeir Starmer Accuses Elon Musk Of 'Trying To Whip Up Division' In UK Over Henry Nowak Murder

Elon Musk uses his phone during a state dinner for President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Great Hall of the People on Thursday May 14, 2026, in Beijing. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)Elon Musk has been accused of trying to “whip up unrest” in the UK in the wake of the Belfast knife attack.A 30-year-old Sudanese man who was granted a five-year visa to remain the in UK in 2023 has been charged with attempted murder and is due to appear in court later today.Violence erupted on the streets of Belfast on Tuesday night, while immigrant families were burned out of their homes.Politicians have condemned the “outright thuggery” and appealed for calm.Prime minister Keir Starmer said: “The scenes in Belfast last night were shocking and completely unacceptable.“There is no justification for the violence and disorder that we saw threatening our communities, nor for those who encouraged it, online or elsewhere. “It is clear that people were targeted last night because of their background and I will not tolerate it. Those responsible will feel the full force of the law.”Musk shared lists on X of locations where protests could take place and retweeted Restore Britain leader Rupert Lowe’s post saying “Millions must go” with a screengrab of footage of the knife attack.On LBC this morning, presenter Nick Ferrari asked Labour chairwoman Anna Turley what she thought of Musk trying to “whip up unrest in this country”.She said: “I think it’s appalling. Anyone that is seeking to drive and exploit a situation like this to drive their own political agenda is grievously wrong and doing damage.“He’s not someone who’s having to live in a community where the consequences of this, of the anger that is whipped up.“You know, we’ve seen children, families having to flee their homes on the streets of Belfast last night, we do not want to see this kind of disruption, damage, thuggery, violence on our streets, and anyone that is seeking to whip that up should be condemned.”On Times Radio, Turley said: “I think we have to acknowledge and see that social media is playing a role in driving this. And I think there are bad faith actors who are sitting, often many, many miles away. It’s easy for them to stoke these things up.”Asked if she was referring to Musk, she said: “He’s not living in the kind of communities where we’re seeing this kind of activity. He’s not at risk.“It’s mums and families and people living in those homes in Belfast and on the streets of Britain who are at risk. “He has a responsibility - everyone in public and civil life has a responsibility to call for calm and not to stoke grievance or hatred or division or tension that puts vulnerable people and our communities at risk.”The prime minister last week accused Musk of “trying to whip up division” over the murder of Henry Nowak.The 18-year-old was killed by British-born Sikh Vickrum Digwa, who had falsely accused Henry of racism following the attack.Subscribe to Commons People, the podcast that makes politics easy. Every week, Kevin Schofield and Kate Nicholson unpack the week’s biggest stories to keep you informed. Join us for straightforward analysis of what’s going on at Westminster.Related...Robert Jenrick Hit With Brutal X Community Note Over His Response To Belfast Knife Attack'Outright Thuggery': Politicians Condemn Violent Disorder Following Belfast Knife AttackStarmer Accuses Musk Of 'Trying To Whip Up Division' Over Henry Nowak Murder

The remarks came after Musk posted a series of messages on X criticizing British police and suggesting they were biased against white people in their response to the fatal stabbing of 18-year-old Henry Nowak in Southampton.

Musk trying to "whip up division."

Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Thursday said Elon Musk should stop interfering in British politics, after the ⁠billionaire posted on his ⁠social media platform X about a murder tha...

Starmer accused Musk of interfering in UK politics after the Tesla CEO shared several posts about the murder of Henry Nowak on X. The British prime minister said Musk was 'trying to whip up division' and called for Britain 'to assert who we are as a country'Starmer accuses Musk of trying to ‘whip up division’ in UK over Henry Nowak murder Continue reading...