Elon Musk shares fake news on England rioters to be sent to Falklands
3 Min Read
The owner of X deletes a post that shared a fake Telegraph article falsely claiming that convicted rioters in the UK would be sent to detention camps.
-
Elon Musk speaks at a press conference at SpaceX's Starbase facility near Boca Chica Village in South Texas on February 10, 2022. (AFP via Getty Images)
Elon Musk shared a fake article falsely attributed to The Telegraph, claiming that Keir Starmer was considering sending far-right rioters to "emergency detainment camps" in the Falklands.
Violent clashes broke out between far-right protesters and the police in central London last week following the spread of disinformation on social media falsely claiming that the Southport knife perpetrator was a Muslim man.
Musk deleted his post after about 30 minutes, but before it was removed, a screenshot captured by Politics.co.uk showed it had nearly two million views.
The post included an image shared by Ashlea Simon, co-leader of the far-right group Britain First, with the caption, “We’re all being deported to the Falklands.”
The fabricated article, styled to appear as though it was written by a senior Telegraph reporter, falsely claimed that Falklands camps would be used to detain prisoners from ongoing riots due to overcrowding in the British prison system.
Just Elon Musk quote tweeting the co-leader of far-right party, Britain First, who is sharing a fake Telegraph headline
— Josh Self (@Josh_Self_) August 8, 2024
Seen by almost 1 million people in 15 minutes
Utterly dystopian pic.twitter.com/4W5ZOssbEY
The Telegraph confirmed on Thursday that it had never published the article and stated, "This is a fabricated headline for an article that does not exist. We notified relevant platforms and requested that the post be taken down.”
The newspaper said in a post on X that it was “aware of an image circulating on X which purports to be a Telegraph article about ‘emergency detainment camps’. No such article has ever been published by the Telegraph.”
Musk has not apologized for sharing the fake report but has continued to post content criticizing the UK government and law enforcement's handling of the riots.
On Thursday, Musk shared a Sky News interview featuring Stephen Parkinson, the director of public prosecutions for England and Wales, who stated that police were searching social media for content promoting racial hatred.
“This is actually happening,” Musk said.
The Woke Stasi https://t.co/ffNKIWdJM8
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 8, 2024
In a different post referencing the same clip, Musk called Parkinson “The Woke Stasi."
Elon Musk faces backlash over comments on UK riots
Elon Musk has been at odds with the UK government and British law enforcement after he asserted that "civil war is inevitable" and criticized the police response to the anti-immigration protests in England and Northern Ireland as "one-sided".
The effects of mass migration and open borders is what’s going on. https://t.co/wwItp7DSMP
— Ashley St. Clair (@stclairashley) August 4, 2024
This week, the prime minister’s spokesperson dismissed Musk’s comments as being "without justification." In retaliation, Musk has continued to target British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on his platform, even labeling him "two-tier Keir".
Musk, the billionaire co-founder of SpaceX and CEO of Tesla, acquired Twitter for $44 billion in 2022 and rebranded it as X last year. His tenure has been marked by controversies regarding the platform’s direction and accusations of inadequate action against harmful content.
On Thursday, the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Trust announced it was closing its X account after 13 years, citing a misalignment with the Trust’s values, and directed followers to Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn. Additionally, Musk revealed plans to sue a group of advertisers and major companies for allegedly colluding to avoid advertising on X.
Read next: UK's Starmer vows far-right 'thugs' will 'regret' disorder
