UK Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey has branded Elon Musk a “criminal” and demanded the UK government drag the tech billionaire before Parliament, in what is rapidly shaping up to be a clash between X and a political class growing increasingly hostile to open platforms.
Davey is pushing for an Ofcom investigation not just into Musk’s platform, X, but into Musk himself, accusing him of enabling “incitement to violence.”
Ofcom is the UK’s controversial and much-criticized communications regulator that has a stranglehold on online free speech under new censorship laws such as the Online Safety Act.
In a media appearance on Sky News’ Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips, Davey was asked outright whether he considers Musk a criminal. His answer was unequivocal: “Yes.”
“Not just because of the awful things he’s done, inciting violence,” Davey said, “but on his platform, there are examples of adverts pushing people on self-harm, on grooming, even selling videos showing pedophile acts, child sex abuse acts. I think he should be held to account for them. Him personally and his business.”
The move follows Musk’s virtual appearance at the “Unite the Kingdom” rally in central London.
During a video message, Musk told attendees: “Whether you choose violence or not, violence is coming to you. You either fight back or you die.”
The comment drew condemnation from Downing Street and led to a fiery exchange between Musk and Davey on social media, with the billionaire calling him a “craven coward” and Davey firing back with a SpongeBob meme.
But this is no longer just a personal spat. Davey is using the incident to intensify calls for tougher enforcement of the Online Safety Act, which has already raised alarms among civil liberties advocates for its broad scope and the growing power it hands to state-appointed regulators.
But rather than protecting users from actual criminal conduct, the regulator is increasingly being accused of being used as a tool to sanitize the internet and punish dissent, particularly when it comes from voices that don’t toe the line.
Davey’s upcoming party conference speech is expected to keep up the pressure.
According to prepared remarks seen by The Telegraph, he will warn that Musk is “keen to meddle in our democracy” and accuse him of using his “ego, power and wealth” to interfere in political life.
He will also claim: “He rails against the Online Safety Act, but not because he cares about free speech. Like so many on the far-Right, or the far-Left, Elon Musk doesn’t really believe in free speech. He just believes in free speech for people who agree with him.”
What goes unaddressed is the growing trend of British lawmakers treating free expression itself as a threat. Under the banner of “safety,” Parliament is now flirting with powers to summon private individuals to be publicly shamed for speech-related offense, a dramatic departure from democratic norms.
And Ofcom, a broadcast regulator originally created to monitor TV and radio compliance, now finds itself at the center of online censorship debates, emboldened by new powers that give it authority over global platforms and, increasingly, the speech of their users.
