X is not above the law

Content warning: racial and religious hatred

When Elon Musk bought Twitter, he said he wouldn’t make it a “free-for-all hellscape” – but that’s exactly what has happened.

The social media platform owned by the world’s richest man is carrying horrific posts that, having taken legal advice, we believe are illegal under the Online Safety Act.

This is no accident. When he bought the site, Musk oversaw the sacking of moderators and the ripping out of some of the safety features that had kept the worst of the online world in check.

The UK’s Online Safety Act requires X to remove illegal content “swiftly”. But of the posts we reported to X – posts we believe were unlawful – only 8% were removed.

The Online Safety Act exists for a reason – to protect the public from the darkest in human nature. And it can’t just be ignored. We’re filing a supercomplaint to the regulator Ofcom, to force X to follow the law. We’ve filed the first Chapter – with details of posts that, we believe on advice, are illegal because they incite racial or religious hatred. Meanwhile we are closely and actively reviewing whether X is allowing other types of illegal content on its platform including unlawful content concerning terrorism, fraud, inciting violence and racism, and adverts for drugs and weapons.

Taking on the plaything of the richest man in the world is no laughing matter. Musk, in common with so many who preach the gospel of free speech, has a history of responding to criticism with legal threats – and they are backed by his extraordinary wealth. Many organisations we are working with on this complaint are frightened to go public with their concerns – and frankly so are we. But this is an important point of principle – no one is above the law.

In accordance with our transparency principles we are publishing the complaint – both the legal submissions and the appendix of X posts. Please be aware that they contain highly offensive material.