*Musk has spent days beefing with politicians over the far-right unrest sweeping the UK. *

Elon Musk could be summoned for a grilling by British MPs over X’s role in race riots that have rocked the U.K. over the last week, as well as his own incendiary comments about the violence.

Labour MPs Chi Onwurah and Dawn Butler, who are competing to chair parliament’s science, innovation and technology committee, both told POLITICO they’d press the billionaire X owner and other technology executives to answer questions about the role of social media platforms amid mounting unrest in the U.K.

Musk has spent days beefing with British politicians over the riots, and is locked in a war of words with Prime Minister Keir Starmer over the U.K’s handling of them. Musk on Sunday wrote “civil war is inevitable” in the U.K. and claimed that the response by U.K. police has been “one-sided."

  • BrightCandle@lemmy.world
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    7 months ago

    He has clearly been inciting the riots online. Treat him like all the other instigators of this and put out an arrest warrant for terrorism. He should stand in a court room and answer for his actions like everyone else, the billions shouldn’t mean he gets to talk to parliament first.

  • njm1314@lemmy.world
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    7 months ago

    As they should. Online grifters should be held accountable for the lives they destroy.

    • phdepressed@sh.itjust.works
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      7 months ago

      “Politely” is doubtful. Same guy who told his advertisers to go fuck themselves and now is suing them for not using his platform anymore.

  • frunch@lemmy.world
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    7 months ago

    Love how this guy’s one of the richest people in the world yet he’s got nothin better to do than fuck with the common folk. Guess he doesn’t get enough attention at home, so here we are watching him stoke racism and stupidity to entertain his pathetic insecure self

    • TankovayaDiviziya@lemmy.world
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      7 months ago

      Love how this guy’s one of the richest people in the world yet he’s got nothin better to do than fuck with the common folk.

      to entertain his pathetic insecure self

      To those who have finished watching the first season of Squid Game, this observation is prescient.

      Capitalism replaced feudalism; and the new aristocrats are the billionaires.

    • ✺roguetrick✺@lemmy.world
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      7 months ago

      It’s actually so much simpler than that. He’s tweaked the Twitter algorithm to serve more right wing brain rot for engagement and, being a habitual user, rotted his own fucking brain more and more. He’s indirectly self radicalizing. He’s getting high on his own supply.

      At least zuck doesn’t actually use that shithole called Facebook.

  • sudo42@lemmy.world
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    7 months ago

    Musk is really upping his asshole game. He’s alienated 50% of the US, a good bit of Norway and now Britain.

  • SlopppyEngineer@lemmy.world
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    7 months ago

    Promise the protesters you’ll squeeze rich people like Musk and his companies for all they’re worth to solve the issues with housing and NHS to start with.

  • Optional@lemmy.world
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    7 months ago

    I was hoping they meant “keel-haul Musk” because I approve this message.

  • jaemo@sh.itjust.works
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    7 months ago

    Shitheels has a fucking opinion on how to run everything it seems. Clear sign he should run nothing, since the only thing being actually run is his fucking mouth.

  • nifty@lemmy.world
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    7 months ago

    Under what law would the UK govt do this though? I am not sure it’s a great idea since Musk is a private citizen and not a government actor. Would any govt then extend this precedent to any viral comment? Like the person who made the JD Vance couch comment?

    OTOH, Musk is in a unique position because of his money and influence, that a normal commentator does not have. So I don’t know, but seems like a legal quagmire.

    If however Musk is shown to funnel money to UK PACs persons or parties via any means, then the UK govt has a case to question him as a hostile foreign operator. But otherwise it seems like a tricky scenario. Perhaps the same legalities around the Assange case extend to this? But Assange was a sympathetic figure in many respects. I am not sure Musk has the same freedom of press and speech justifications.

    • WarlordSdocy@lemmy.world
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      7 months ago

      I think it’s more over the fact that he runs the platform and therefore if his platform helped stoke the flames that caused this then it’s completely valid for him to be brought in to be questioned about his involvement and what X will do in the future to combat racism and misinformation.

  • Embarrassingskidmark@lemmy.world
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    7 months ago

    I think we should strap Elon Musk to one of his rockets & launch him directly into the sun… Or maybe just like a big wall, that might be more entertaining.

  • Etterra@lemmy.world
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    7 months ago

    I doubt they could do it since Musky is a US citizen. I didn’t know the laws for this kind of thing though, so maybe they could with the right kind of legalese?

    • dev_null@lemmy.ml
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      7 months ago

      I guess he can ignore a court summons, but then he can never enter the UK again, which he might want to do at some point.

    • UniquesNotUseful@lemmy.world
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      7 months ago

      They have some powers, they got upset at Facebook and decided to flex a bit by sending one of the boys around, to invite one of his mates for a chat.

      https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/nov/24/mps-seize-cache-facebook-internal-papers

      The person sent was the serjeant at arms. They carry a sword. Doubt they took it out but they also carry one of the House of Commons maces, which is gold covered and jewel encrusted, about 1.5m (4.9ft) long and weighs roughly 10kg (22 lbs).

      Imagine some large, pissed off looking dude, dressed like he’s from the year 1415, kicking your hotel door in because you didn’t RSPV properly. Then being told hand over documents or we may stick you in jail (and you know the pretended it would be the Tower of London).

      The 1,000 yard stare he must get when asked if he enjoyed London and how lovely that history must be.