British government had ‘constructive’ talks with Musk’s X over disinformation, minister says

LONDON — The U.K. government has had “constructive” talks with Elon Musk’s social media site X over the spread of misinformation and other harmful content, technology minister Peter Kyle told CNBC Friday.

Kyle told CNBC’s Arabile Gumede that the government had been in contact with all the major social media platforms — including Musk’s X — over the summer about misinformation and the role they have in propagating harmful material.

The minister said that, although he hasn’t had direct contact with Musk himself, he is “in touch often with his local chief executives here in the United Kingdom.”

“So far, it has been a constructive set of conversations,” he said, adding that, though there are “differences” in views between the two parties, they talk them through.

Citizens and governments around the world have higher expectations about social media platforms today and the role they play in keeping people safe and mitigating potential harms stemming from their products, Kyle said.

“It is a privilege having access to the British economy and society. And I just expect any company that comes to work here and aspires to sell products and services into our country to respect that,” he added.

Kyle’s comments to CNBC come after misinformation spread online after a knife attack at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in northwest England sparked far-right, anti-immigration riots — with shops and mosques being attacked in towns across the country.

Multiple social media users at the time spread false information about the alleged perpetrator, who has since been charged with murder and attempted murder, claiming he was an asylum seeker.

During the riots, Musk, who owns X, made comments about the situation in the U.K., calling Prime Minister Keir Starmer “two-tier Keir” in reference to the conspiracy theory that police were treating white far-right protesters and rioters more harshly than minority groups.

He also suggested the unrest could end up resulting in a civil war, saying in an X post: “Civil war is inevitable.” Musk’s comments were condemned by the U.K. government.

Last week, the Financial Times reported that British lawmaker Dawn Butler, a frontrunner to become next chair of the parliamentary committee on science, innovation and technology, wants to summon Musk to face questions from members of parliament, if elected.

The newspaper reported that Butler’s rival for the position, fellow Labour lawmaker Chi Onwurah, also supports an inquiry into how algorithms drive misinformation on social media services.

Labour’s Kyle, whose official title is the secretary of state for science, innovation and technology, suggested that summoning Musk to the U.K. was being viewed as a last resort, but added that “innovators” like the Tesla and SpaceX CEO must have a “respectful relationship with us a country.”

The minister also told CNBC he is assessing whether he needs additional powers to regulate social media companies over the dissemination of harmful content online.

“I’m assessing on an ongoing basis whether I need extra powers to do so,” he said. “Right now, I want to assess and have conversations with those companies.”

Come early 2025, British regulator Ofcom will have the power to fine firms as much as 10% of their global annual revenues and even jail senior managers if they are found to be in breach of the Online Safety Act, or OSA — which is a sweeping set of rules requiring effective policing of illegal content by digital platforms.

U.K. politicians and campaign groups have called for the implementation of the OSA to be expedited to help tackle events like the summer riots.

Sources familiar with the matter told CNBC last month that the government is looking at a review of the legislation, but the timeline on when this would happen remains unclear.

Ofcom has said it has to finish consulting on codes of conduct for the tech companies before implementation can begin. A government spokesperson told CNBC earlier this year that its “immediate focus is getting the Online Safety Act implemented quickly and effectively.”

However, this spokesperson added, “our message to social media companies remains clear: There is no need to wait — you can and should take immediate action to protect your users.”