Elon Musk shares faked far-right ‘detainment camp’ put up | NESMAG

Elon Musk has deleted a picture he shared on X, previously Twitter, which promoted a conspiracy concept in regards to the UK constructing “detainment camps” on the Falkland Islands for rioters.

The picture – which was faked to appear like it had come from the Daily Telegraph web site – had been posted by the co-leader of the far-right Britain First celebration, Ashlea Simon, although it had appeared elsewhere earlier than she shared it.

Mr Musk’s put up was considered greater than 1.7 million instances earlier than it was eliminated – with Ms Simon’s put up briefly tagged with a notice studying “this story does not exist” earlier than it too was eliminated.

It is the most recent in a sequence of controversial interventions from the tech billionaire because the unrest started, a few of which have been instantly condemned by the prime minister.

The position of social media platforms, together with X, within the dysfunction can be the topic of intense scrutiny, with the federal government and media regulator urging better motion from them.

Mr Musk has not acknowledged he revealed then deleted the put up. The BBC has approached X for remark.

The Telegraph has confused it didn’t publish any such article.

“This is a fabricated headline for an article that does not exist,” said a Telegraph Media Group spokesperson.

“We notified relevant platforms and requested that the post be taken down.”

Before it was removed, comments under Mr Musk’s post compared the UK to a fascist state.

It comes as the UK government is grappling with how to deal with misinformation online in the face of unrest across England and in Northern Ireland.

The government and Ofcom both say social media companies should act over their role in the crisis, and the media regulator will get enhanced powers under the Online Safety Act by 2025 to take firmer action against such posts.

Mr Musk has previously replied to a post on X from the prime minister – in which Sir Keir said he would not tolerate attacks on mosques or Muslim communities – asking: “Shouldn’t you be involved about assaults on *all* communities?”

When asked about comments from Mr Musk, Sir Keir previously said “my focus is on making certain our communities are secure. That is my sole focus. I believe it is crucial for us all to assist the police in what they’re doing”.

Before Mr Musk bought Twitter in 2022, Britain First had been banned from the social media site under its hate speech rules.

But he lifted the ban after he took over, saying at the time that he was “towards censorship that goes far past the regulation“, and labelled himself a “free speech absolutist”.

For that reason, Britain First – and other far-right figures including its then-leaders – were able to return to the platform.

Mr Musk has used his platform in the past to praise its “group notes” feature, which allows X’s own users to partially verify whether posts are real or not.

But it has been accused of taking too long – and in this case, no such notes appeared under Mr Musk’s post by the time it was deleted.

It took just below 10 hours for a group notice to seem beneath the unique put up shared by Ms Simon.