Elon Musk vs Keir Starmer: the social media riots row

Transcript

00:00Forget women's boxing, there's a new fight making headlines.

00:03It's between Keir Starmer and Elon Musk.

00:06The PM and tech mogul are in a war of words over the role of social media

00:10in fuelling the UK riots.

00:12Here's what's happened so far.

00:14It all started with Keir Starmer's statement following the Southport riots.

00:17He appeared to point the finger of blame at social media platforms

00:21for spreading misinformation online.

00:23Let me also say to large social media companies and those who run them,

00:29violent disorder clearly whipped up online, that is also a crime.

00:35It's happening on your premises and the law must be upheld everywhere.

00:40It's fairly obvious who he was referring to.

00:42Enter Elon Musk.

00:44In the days after Keir's speech, the ex-owner started engaging with videos

00:48and posts about the riots on the platform.

00:50He tweeted saying that civil war is inevitable in the UK, which the PM rebuked.

00:55Starmer's team also posted on social media to say that

00:57we will not tolerate attacks on mosques or Muslim communities.

01:01Elon Musk replied, shouldn't you be concerned about attacks on all communities?

01:05A response with a similar tone to the divisive All Lives Matter.

01:08Musk has been atting Keir Starmer online a lot and accused him of two-tier policing,

01:12branding him hashtag two-tier Keir.

01:15This is the idea that the police are less harsh when dealing with left-wing protests

01:18compared to those on the right.

01:20This theory has been debunked by counter-terrorism experts, police chiefs and MPs,

01:24but still holds court among right-wing groups.

01:27The PM has made clear that those involved in the riots, online or in person,

01:31will feel the full force of the law and be sentenced within days.