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."

…

Musk’s platform X (formerly Twitter) saw misinformation about the identity of the attacker — wrongly identified as an asylum seeker who had just arrived in the U.K. — spread widely in the immediate aftermath of the attack.

The X boss has also come under fire for re-instating the account of high-profile far-right activist Tommy Robinson, who co-founded the English Defense League.

    • HumanPenguin@feddit.ukEnglish
      24·
      3 months ago

      Better still tax any UK business for advertising with twitter.

      By taxing the advertiser musk can’t move the revenue to a different nation. And any competitor gains UK customers.

      Can’t thin, of a clearer don’t fuck with UK democracy hint.

      • hitmyspot@aussie.zone
        71·
        3 months ago

        Or make them responsible for the comments of users when their moderation is sub par. Which it is.

        • HumanPenguin@feddit.ukEnglish
          4·
          3 months ago

          With the international hosting of social media. Well thats not been possible as they can always be out of your jurisdiction.

          • hitmyspot@aussie.zone
            5·
            3 months ago

            If they do business in the UK, they ca n be fined in the UK. It would also encourage other companies to do the same.

            Social media companies have abused the trust placed in them. Now he thinks he’s infallible.

            • HumanPenguin@feddit.ukEnglish
              21·
              3 months ago

              But that is the point. Companies do not need to do business in the UK.

              Swift payment systems make it so easy now that the payer can never be entirly sure where their money goes.

              This is how so many big corps are avoiding taxation legally now.

              • HelloThere@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
                4·
                3 months ago

                Given the idiots who are paying for checkmarks, and VAT collection, twitter has a UK subdivision (Twitter UK), which regardless of size of operation gives UK Gov jurisdiction.

                If someone is compelled to speak to the Commons, it’s very very rare that they refuse because if you do - and your host country is an ally - you’ll have your government on your back too.

                • HumanPenguin@feddit.ukEnglish
                  21·
                  3 months ago

                  Yep. But they can and will close it if the parliament annoys them. And already avoid taxes by claiming money is not received in the UK. Just like facebook, amazon, google etc. This is way the ASA has little ability to control online advertising.

                  As for foreign citizens called to parliament. You clearly forgot what happened last time when Zuckerberg just refused. Our allies are really only so when it benefits them.

    • Flax@feddit.ukEnglish
      22·
      3 months ago

      That’ll move everyone to underground groups and make everything a billion times worse

      • Taleya@aussie.zone
        8·
        3 months ago

        Not it won’t.

        The cunts are emboldened because the visibility makes them think they’re larger and more accepted than they are. Drive them back to the hinterlands in scattered groups

        • Flax@feddit.ukEnglish
          11·
          3 months ago

          There’s still a censorship element though. The thing is, a large percentage of the British population are tired of the idiotic immigration policies. All the government has done in the past 10 years is make it more difficult for hardworking productive people to move in yet allowing mass illegal immigrants coming from safe countries to come here, barely checked.

          Now, don’t you dare think I am trying to justify the violence at all. I completely and utterly condemn it. Protest directed towards the government is sensible, violence towards people who were just allowed into the country by said government isn’t. Even though it’s thuggery, there’s still reason fueling it. It’s worth remembering that the Reform party came third in vote share.

          • Taleya@aussie.zone
            1·
            3 months ago

            Mate, i’m from possibly one of the most casually racist shithead countries in the western world and i still think that’s a pretty spurious argument.

            Your issue isn’t immigration, it’s listening to racist shitstirrers. It fuelled the stupidity of brexit and it’s fuelling the shit going on right now. You have a scared and unhappy population due to end stage capitalism, murdoch media and years of insane right wing governance causing widespread SLS and now you’re full of raging butthurt thats’s letting you be led like a bull via a nose ring to that same fetid well of Blame The Other it always fucking goes to.

  • Flax@feddit.ukEnglish
    122·
    3 months ago

    I’m pretty sure the UK has quite a strong extradition power over the USA. Like all it takes is a British judge to summon someone in the USA for them to be extradited, few questions asked. The USA does have the same power mutually over the UK.

    • Spiralvortexisalie@lemmy.worldEnglish
      9·
      3 months ago

      There is always an extradition hearing if nothing else to ensure it comports with the governing treaty. The US and UK treaty has the usual provisions that it has to be a cognizable crime in America (with Article 2 essentially limiting that to felonies) and can not be political prosecution. Pretty much only militaries can summon someone as you say, and literally only by acting extrajudicially (think black helicopters in the middle of the night making the arrest).

      • Nasan@sopuli.xyz
        3·
        3 months ago

        I would settle for a couple of cozzers pulling up in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang to make the arrest

      • EnderMB@lemmy.world
        3·
        3 months ago

        This case alone has absolutely tarnished the reputation that the US has in the UK in the eyes of many people. It’s something people aren’t going to forget for a very long time, and could prove a blocker for cases where the US wishes to extradite in the future.

        • IcyToes@sh.itjust.works
          1·
          3 months ago

          They claimed it because she was married to a CIA employee.

          Kind of free reign to break the law and kill people if you’re a relative of a CIA employee. She could have been trialed without any risk to national security, so it’s absolutely a BS excuse.

          • Flax@feddit.ukEnglish
            2·
            3 months ago

            That is kind of mad. I think even staff at an embassy generally don’t get immunity, just the diplomats themselves, of which there’d be a small handful even for a large country

    • o9o@lemmy.worldEnglish
      2·
      3 months ago

      Not really. The extradition agreement is extremely one-sided, in favor of the US.

    • Echo Dot@feddit.uk
      1·
      3 months ago

      You serious? You actually think the US would deport musk against his will. No the only way Musk is coming over to the UK to face questioning is if he chooses to come over of his own accord. Which he probably will do because he’ll think it’s an opportunity to grandstand.

  • katy ✨@lemmy.blahaj.zone
    1·
    3 months ago

    just stop being cowards and ban twitter access in the uk. period.

    but it will never happen because mps are addicted to twitter and refuse to delete their accounts and move to other platforms.

  • dirtybeerglass [none/use name]@hexbear.netEnglish
    810·
    3 months ago

    He would love it.

    I don’t know what it’s going to take for them to understand that.

    In a perverse way, I hope Musk shows up and reminds them of order of things - that they exist to serve capital and not the other way around .