As Elon Musk clashes with Starmer on X: Could Twitter be banned in the UK?

Ofcom could soon receive new powers to ban social media platforms or even take legal action against tech bosses

Elon Musk, co-founder of Tesla and SpaceX and owner of X (Getty Images)

Elon Musk has been criticised for his handling of disinformation on Twitter / X as he clashes with Keir Starmer over far-right riots which have gripped parts of the UK.

The US businessman, who bought the social media platform in 2022, launched a tirade of posts in which he mocked and criticised the UK prime minister. Following a statement from the Labour leader criticising the attacks on Muslim communities, Musk questioned why “all communities” should not be protected.

He later reposted this comment, alongside several memes which depict the UK’s criminal justice system as racially biased, as well as calling the Labour leader “#twotierkeir.” This echoes a far-right talking point which alleges that policing in the UK is more severe towards right-wing people.

Violence has erupted across England and in Northern Ireland (Owen Humphreys/PA) (PA Wire)

It comes as critics say Musk has allowed disinformation to spread on Twitter since his takeover of the platform. During his tenure, he has let go of around 6,000 staff, or 80 per cent of the workforce, including the entire moderation team. He has also allowed previously banned users like Donald Trump, Andrew Tate, and Tommy Robinson.

On Sunday, Musk replied to a video of rioting in the UK originally posted by Robinson. Analysts say this boosted the right-wing organiser’s reach, with Musk’s reply now reaching 9.2 million views.

Addressing the role of social media during the riots, technology secretary Peter Kyle said: “I have been clear it is unacceptable that people are using social media to cause damage, distress and destruction in our communities.

“Today I had useful meetings with TikTok, Meta, Google and X, to make clear their responsibility to continue to work with us to stop the spread of hateful misinformation and incitement. There is a significant amount of content circulating that platforms need to be dealing with at pace.”

Former PM Rishi Sunak chats to Elon Musk in 2023 (Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

Encrypted messaging service Telegram has moved to remove channels organising far-right riots after it was thought many people organised anonymously on the platform for events last week.

A spokesperson for the Russian-owned tech firm said: “Telegram’s terms of service explicitly forbid calls to violence. Moderators use a combination of proactive monitoring of public parts of the platform and user reports in order to remove content that breaches our terms of service.”

Musk’s social media activity shows that he is less willing to engage with calls for moderation. With tensions rising between the billionaire and the prime minister, many are wondering what the future of Twitter / X could be in Britain.

Could Twitter / X be banned in the UK?

There is currently limited legislation to tackle online disinformation in the UK, but Ofcom says this is changing. Following the riots, the telecoms watchdog has confirmed that new laws are set to come into force later this year.

They follow the passing of the Online Safety Act (OSA) in 2023, which changes the way social media is regulated in the UK. It will soon put new duties on tech firms to protect their users from illegal content, ranging from inciting violence to some instances of disinformation.

Certain acts that are illegal in real-life remain so online. It is a crime to harass or threaten someone on social media, for instance. But the onus here is on the user, not the platform on which they are operating. Furthermore, the law only covers misinformation that is defamatory, offensive or intended to cause distress. If it doesn’t fall into these categories, it is likely to go unpunished and often unchallenged.

When the new duties come into force, tech firms operating in the UK will be given three months to assess illegal content on their platforms. After this, they will be required to take steps to stop it from appearing.

‘Let that sink in,’ Musk tweeted after announcing his takeover of Twitter in 2022 (Getty Images)

Ofcom says they will have a number of powers to enforce this. Firstly, they can impose fines on tech firms of “up to £18 million or 10 percent of their qualifying worldwide revenue, whichever is greater.”

Criminal action could even be taken against senior managers who fail to follow information requests from Ofcom. And, in “extreme cases,” Ofcom can require internet service providers to stop working with companies, effectively banning them from operating in the UK.

The new duties on tech firms were subject to a consultation from February this year, and are expected to be in effect “from around the end of this year,” Ofcom says.

The OSA also compelled the watchdog to launch a misinformation committee, which it is yet to do. Experts have also raised concerns that the scope to challenge disinformation included in the act could prove too limited.

Azzurra Moores, Policy Manager at Full Fact said: “Unrest across the UK shows that the internet companies must react faster and more comprehensively to stop the spread of misinformation on their platforms before it can cause devastating, real-world harm.

"But the Government must also examine how it can support the sector to build better defences to bad information. Ten months on from becoming law, we urgently need to see Ofcom's advisory committee on misinformation established and empowered to reflect the reality that misinformation is a frontline threat to community safety that can ruin lives.

"In its current form with just two explicit mentions of misinformation, the Online Safety Act barely scratches the surface of online misinformation and should be amended to properly tackle the threats posed to our society."

Musk has made clear he wants X to become an ‘everything’ platform (Getty Images)

Which countries have banned X?

While it would be an unprecedented step in the West for the UK to ban Twitter, it has been in other places across the world. It is currently blocked in China, Russia, North Korea, Turkmenistan, Myanmar, Iran, and Pakistan.

Of these, only in Pakistan has the service been blocked since Musk took over in 2022. This came shortly before the country’s election in February 2024, in a move widely criticised by democracy campaigners.

Closer to the UK, the site has run into trouble with French authorities more than once. This first happened in 2013, when Twitter bosses were ordered by a judge to reveal the identity of a user who had been posting anti-semitic tweets, threatening the company with hefty fines for not doing so.

Last year, trouble came again as French ministers criticised the platform’s lax approach to misinformation following its withdrawal from a voluntary EU code of practice on the issue.

Speaking in March 2023, former French digital minister Jean-Noël Barrot said: “Disinformation is one of the gravest threats weighing on our democracies.”

“Twitter, if it repeatedly doesn’t follow our rules, will be banned from the EU,” he added.

This threat has yet to materialise, but the app was banned from French government employees phones alongside TikTok in the same month.

The app is also partially blocked in India, South Korea, and Tanzania.