Elon Musk has been branded as ‘a criminal’ by a politician who has called for his arrest for ‘allowing online harm to children’.
British politician Ed Davey, who is the leader of the Liberal Democrats, has spoken out against Musk on social media.
Taking to Musk’s own platform X, formerly Twitter, Davey branded the tech mogul as a criminal, claiming that he is ‘inciting violence’.
Speaking at the Liberal Democrat conference in Bournemouth, England, Davey claimed that Musk could be prosecuted under the Online Safety Act.
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The UK’s Online Safety Act is legislation that imposes legal duties on online platforms such as social media services and search engines to protect its users, in particular children, from illegal and harmful content.
When asked whether he was calling Musk a criminal, Davey replied with: “Yes.”
He went on to say: “Not just because of the awful things he’s done in inciting violence, and, for example, he says a civil war in our country is inevitable, that our democratically elected government should be overthrown.
“They were bad enough. But on his platform, they’re examples of adverse, pushing people on self-harm, on grooming, even selling videos showing pedophile acts, of child sex abuse acts and I think he should be held to account for them, him personally and his business.
“Ofcom now has the powers under the Online Safety Act.”
The politician added that he believes Musk should be arrested if he goes to the UK.
Musk sparked controversy earlier this month after he made comments about a rally in the UK where he called for the dissolution of the British government.
In the clip, the tech mogul could be heard ranting about the so-called ‘woke mind virus’, adding: “Whether you choose violence or not, violence is coming to you. You either fight back or you die, that’s the truth.”
Peter Kyle, who is the UK Secretary of State for Business and Trade, said: “I thought that they were slightly incomprehensible comments that were totally inappropriate. But what we saw yesterday was over 100,000 people who were expressing freedom of association, freedom of speech, and proving that both of those things are alive and well in this country.
“A small minority of people who are protesting committed acts of violence against our police for which they should and they will be held accountable.”
British Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said that anyone ‘taking part in criminal activity will face the full force of the law’.