Elon Musk’s curious fixation with Britain

Some question whether the tycoon is really as committed to free speech as he claims.

The Center for Countering Digital Hate, which scrutinises social media companies, was critical of Musk’s tenure at X – prompting the tycoon to sue, accusing the organisation of misusing data and scaring off advertisers. The case was thrown out by a US judge.

Its CEO Imran Ahmed called the incident “indicative of the mindset of a man who simply cannot understand that freedom of speech is a freedom afforded to all, not just to him”.

Other critics have pointed out that Musk has been careful not to criticise the president of China, a country where Tesla has huge business interests, despite Beijing’s well-documented culture of censorship.

He has far less at stake, business-wise, in Britain, but the country could still affect his bottom line via the Online Safety Act, passed by Parliament in late 2023. It will allow regulator Ofcom to issue huge fines to social media companies if they’re found to have certain types of illegal content on their platforms.

Andrew Chadwick, professor of political communication at Loughborough University, explains that while some provisions in the bill are uncontroversial, “where it gets a bit more tricky is where this illegal content blurs across into what we might call the kinds of disinformation or misinformation that we see circulate on a daily basis on social media platforms”.

This could include “racially or religiously aggravated public order offences or the incitement of violence,” he says.

The Act comes with some potentially huge punishments – a fine of up to 10% of qualifying worldwide revenue.

Could it be that Musk is worried about Britain biting off a chunk of X’s revenues – or even, as the Act allows for in some circumstances, blocking access to the site in the UK?

Defenders of the Act argue that it’s got nothing to do with censoring free speech. Gawain Towler, former head of press for Reform UK, says while Musk might not have “a forensic knowledge of all the details of backbench committee” he does “see the bigger picture” – what Reform activists and others describe as a creeping culture of censorship.

“You don’t have to concentrate always on the trees. And I think Musk sees the forest quite, quite well,” he adds.

Nobody can read the mind of the world’s richest man.

But it’s clear that Musk has funnelled his vast wealth into influence and is now exporting his values – including a mainstream American view of free speech and largely unfettered capitalism – around the world.

And one thing’s for sure – he’s not yet done with the UK.