After Elon Musk said “civil war is inevitable” following days of rioting in cities in the United Kingdom, the nation’s government warned that anyone inciting violence online will face legal consequences. Could the billionaire be one of those people?
It’s not going to happen, according to a legal expert contacted by Newsweek, who instead said he was “shocked” that newly elected British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, of the left-wing Labour Party, would make such a threat.
In the U.K., the febrile situation has raised concerns about misinformation on social media, but also concerns, including among some far-right activists, about social cohesion in multicultural societies.
Musk, the Tesla CEO and owner of X (formerly Twitter), posted his comment on the same social media platform under a video showing rioters setting off fireworks at police. Musk has claimed there will be a civil war in Europe multiple times previously.
Newsweek has reached out to a representative for Musk via email for comment.
“There is no justification for comments like that,” Starmer’s spokesman said on Monday.
“Anyone who is whipping up violence online will face the full force of the law,” he added.
Newsweek spoke with Yair Cohen, a U.K.-based lawyer who is an expert on internet law. When asked if Elon Musk could face any legal consequences with regard to his post on X, he said “absolutely not.”
Tesla CEO Elon Musk applauds as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks to a joint meeting of Congress at the US Capitol on July 24, 2024, in Washington, DC. He has predicted civil war in…
SAUL LOEB/Getty Images
“The U.K. law cannot apply to Elon Musk in America. [He] is outside the jurisdiction [and] is protected by his own law,” he said.
He added that “the English courts can do absolutely nothing, and they will have no right to, no legal right to even approach him or talk to you about it, or prosecute him.”
Cohen also said that “the idea that Keir Starmer is going to stop people making those type of observations which are clearly valid, is ridiculous, absolutely ridiculous. I’m actually shocked by the comments that he made.”
Newsweek has reached out to a representative for Starmer via email for comment.
On the other hand, Marcus Collins, a partner at Keystone Law told Newsweek that, “There could be potential criminal liability in the U.K. for X. Whether Elon Musk (or other senior executive[s]) has personal, criminal liability is less certain unless they were clearly a directing mind behind circumstance leading to the commission of the offence (which could be committed recklessly as well as intentionally).”
He cited the recent Online Safety Act 2023 in reference to this, stating that “Personal liability for individual executives under this legislation is narrowed to certain failure to comply with investigation matters and certain child,