‘Attention seeker’ Elon Musk courting controversy to boost X engagement – expert

6 August 2024, 17:54

AI safety summit
AI safety summit. Picture: PA

The billionaire has escalated an online spat with the Prime Minister and posted repeatedly about the rioting in the UK.

Elon Musk has been accused of being an “attention seeker” and the “PR manager for the far right” who is courting controversy to drive engagement on X, the platform he owns, one expert has said.

The billionaire Tesla and SpaceX owner has escalated his spat with Sir Keir Starmer, calling him “Two-tier Keir” and criticising the Prime Minister’s response to the ongoing disorder on Britain’s streets.

Mr Musk has posted or reposted a series of images, videos and memes related to the rioting, including content that has been widely shared on right-wing accounts on the platform.

And he has been praised by right-wing activist Tommy Robinson – whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon – over allowing him to return to the platform, having previously been banned for breaking the site’s hate speech rules.

Social media expert Matt Navarra called Mr Musk the “world’s biggest attention-seeking billionaire” who was “almost incapable of controlling his outbursts, despite the detrimental impact it has on his business”.

“I think, to be honest, right now, Elon Musk is acting like the PR manager for the far right and can reasonably be put in the same class as Andrew Tate and Tommy Robinson,” he told the PA news agency.

“His words do have consequences, and his behaviour is much like a far-right ring leader, with X as his megaphone, that’s inciting racial hatred – intentionally or not.”

Mr Navarra said he believed much of Mr Musk’s current actions were all about driving more engagement to the site.

“The thing that speaks volumes to Elon is money, and also things that power his ego,” he said

“He speaks of standing up for free speech, but his actions and words are almost always self-serving and do nothing but drive attention to him and to his businesses, growing an ego that, to be honest, is already out of control.”

Mr Navarra added that the Government should consider taking action to impact the reach of the platform in order to force a response from the billionaire.

“The UK could really do with showing that its Online Safety Act has teeth and take some steps to curtail his platform’s reach drive him to make changes to the platform or to his own actions,” he said.

“It’s also worth noting that the UK is an important market for X, it’s one of the most popular social platforms in Europe and in the UK, and the impact of any actions that could be taken against the platform could be significant in terms of his wider, bigger future plans for X as a payment platform, or for anything else he wants to achieve with the platform that is already laden with debt.

“So I don’t think he wants to be stirring up too much trouble, but probably is seeing how much he can get away with.”

Pat de Brun, deputy director of tech at Amnesty International, said the algorithms at the heart of social media platforms, which he said prioritise engagement, were a key factor in the current spread of disinformation.

“In the UK, the racist violence that has spilled across the streets follows a period of intense scapegoating of refugees and migrants by politicians and others, through dangerous rhetoric and policies,” he said.

“In this context, social media algorithms have actively amplified and escalated xenophobic discourse.

“These toxic algorithms are deliberately designed to prioritise engagement above all else.

“As a result, they act as incendiaries that fuel division, disinformation and hate.”

X has not responded to any request for comment around the Southport attacks and misinformation on its platform.

By Press Association

More Technology News

See more More Technology News

Studio

University launches multi-million pound creative industry studio

Disposable vapes of varying flavours on sale in a store

Campaign to warn teenagers about vaping addiction

Signage on the side of an Uber car

Meta and Uber among firms ‘linked’ to alleged corporate migrant worker abuse

The X logo is seen on a smartphone screen

Irish Independent publisher takes legal action against X over ‘fake ads’

Elon Musk

Police quash claims armed ‘migrant mob’ stormed hospital after Elon Musk reposts fake AI-generated image

A DeepSeek page seen on a smartphone screen

DeepSeek accused of sharing user data with TikTok owner ByteDance

(L to R) Napier AI boss Greg Watson, Economy Minister Caoimhe Archibald and Invest NI chief Kieran Donoghue in Belfast

London AI firm announces 106 jobs for Belfast

A man lying in bed, looking tired

Scientists develop smart pyjamas to monitor sleep conditions at home

E-scooters are currently illegal to use on the public highways including pavements.

E-scooters blamed for 'shocking' surge in uninsured teen riders with 2,000% increase in offences

Elon Musk speaks during an event in the Oval Office at the White House

Elon Musk’s xAI unveils Grok 3 model to take on ChatGPT and Google Gemini

A child’s hand pressing a key of a laptop keyboard

Children will be ‘left exposed to sexual abuse online under current safety rules’

Sophie Winkleman

Sophie Winkleman calls for AI to be kept out of classrooms

DeepSeek logo on a phone

DeepSeek usage a ‘personal choice’ for public, Government says

Technology

Community Fibre broadband service restored after outage

Skyrora, a rocket company with its headquarters in Edinburgh

Scottish company promises to blast rockets into space from 2026

Lights on the front panel of a broadband internet route

Community Fibre ‘working on solution’ to broadband outage