Elon Musk is standing up for free speech in the U.K. following last month’s elections that resulted in huge wins for the far-left Labour Party.
Since its rise to power in July, Labour Party leaders have begun cracking down on social media, even arresting individuals for posts they claim incite violence. Now, Musk is using his X account to defend users and raise concerns over the crackdown in the U.K.
“It’s 2030 in the U.K., & you’re being executed for posting a meme,” Musk wrote on X Saturday.
“The Brits gave up their guns, and now their government puts them in jail for Facebook posts,” a meme that Musk shared reads.
Musk is combating a “tyrannical-style policing of social media in the U.K.,” says Nile Gardiner, a former adviser to Lady Margaret Thatcher and the current director of the Margaret Thatcher Center for Freedom at The Heritage Foundation.
“Thank God for Elon Musk taking on the Labour Government,” Gardiner declared during an interview on “The Daily Signal Podcast.”
Recent violent riots in the U.K. were spurred on after rumors spread online about the identity of a man who killed three girls at a Taylor Swift-themed event in July in the English town of Southport, 50 miles west of Manchester. The suspect was rumored to be an illegal immigrant and Islamic. Both claims were proved false. The man now charged with the murder of the girls was born in Britain to Rwandan immigrant parents.
Two men have been arrested and sentenced to a combined nearly five years in prison for reportedly using social media to encourage rioters to target hotels housing migrants in the U.K.
During a recent interview with Sky News, London’s Metropolitan Police commissioner warned that law enforcement will “throw the full force of the law at people. And whether you’re in this country committing crimes on the streets or committing crimes from further afield online, we will come after you.”
Gardiner condemned the violent demonstrations while calling the crackdown on social media “very dangerous.”
“We need free speech champions fighting against Orwellian tactics and policies,” Gardiner said, adding that “Elon Musk is doing this, and full credit to him.”
Gardiner joins “The Daily Signal Podcast” to explain what we know about the violent riots in the U.K. and the Labour Party’s social media speech policies.
Listen to the podcast below: