Elon Musk’s X not facing action from UK government over posts inciting violence in Belfast

Elon Musk has rejected claims he incited disorder in Belfast. Photograph: David Swanson/Reuters View image in fullscreen Elon Musk has rejected claims he incited disorder in Belfast. Photograph: David Swanson/Reuters Elon Musk’s X not facing action from UK government over posts inciting violence in Belfast Any official reprimand will come from regulator Ofcom, but not for at least two months UK politics live – latest updates Elon Musk’s X will face no action to remove a mass of posts inciting violence in Northern Ireland for at least two months, despite widespread condemnation of the platform and its billionaire owner. Concern over the role social media played in spreading disturbing images and fuelling anger continued to grow on Wednesday as police and community leaders urged calm. They feared a repeat of the violence that erupted on Tuesday evening, when crowds, including masked men, burned vehicles and houses and blocked roads in and around Belfast. Locals from ethnic minorities were targeted in what one Northern Ireland MP called “a race-based pogrom” . Keir Starmer vowed on Wednesday to crack down on anyone fuelling such divisions and said there was no justification for the scenes of violence and disorder. Ministers plan to amend the Online Safety Act to require social media firms to act more quickly to remove inflammatory content during riots or other crises, but this will not take effect until mid-July at the earliest. In the meantime, the government will leave any official reprimand of X to Ofcom. The media regulator is awaiting a first quarterly report on compliance from the platform, but this is not due for at least two months. Further protests unfolded on Wednesday night after Hadi Alodid, a 30-year-old refugee from Sudan, was charged with the attempted murder of Stephen Ogilvie. View image in fullscreen Masked protesters stand at a police blockade keeping them from reaching a hotel previously believed to house migrants. Photograph: Henry Nicholls/AFP/Getty Images Appearing at Belfast magistrates, he was also charged with threatening to kill an NHS radiographer, and possessing a knife. The family of Ogilvie, who lost his left eye in the attack, appealed for calm, saying that while they were “completely devastated” by what had happened to him, they rejected disorder as a response. “We are aware of the tensions and talk of protests following this incident,” they said in a statement shared via Phillip Brett, the Democratic Unionist MLA for Belfast North. “We want to make it absolutely clear that overnight unrest is not welcome, and peaceful protest is the only way forward. “We have many migrants who make a deeply valuable contribution to our country, including in our healthcare system and hospitality sector, and we depend on them to make our country work. We do not want this terrible tragedy to be used to divide people or fuel hostility.” The Guardian view on far-right violence: digital radicalisation is threatening democracy | Editorial