Prince Harry takes thinly veiled swipe at Elon Musk over social media misinformation in wake of riots

Prince Harry took a veiled swipe at Elon Musk over the rapid spread of misinformation on social media in the wake of far-right riots across the UK.

The Duke of Sussex said “those with positions of influence” should take more responsibility for tackling lies online and warned “social cohesion as we know it has completely broken down”.

Speaking at a conference about improving the digital landscape on the first day of their tour of Colombia, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle spoke to a school children about dealing with life on the internet.

Harry addressed the rise of AI and said “education and awareness” would be a vital part of the fight against misinformation.

“What happens online within a matter of minutes transfers to the streets. People are acting on information that isn’t true,” the duke said.

Critics say Musk has allowed disinformation to spread on Twitter since his takeover of the platform.

During his tenure, the US businessman has let go of around 6,000 staff, or 80 per cent of the workforce, including the entire moderation team. He has also allowed previously banned users like Donald Trump, Andrew Tate, and Tommy Robinson.

“It comes down to all of us to be able to spot the true from the fake,” he said. “In an ideal world those with positions of influence would take more responsibility. We are no longer debating facts.

“For as long as people are allowed to spread lies, abuse, harass, then social cohesion as we know it has completely broken down.”

The comments come weeks after far-right riots swept across England and Northern Ireland following a host of online misinformation about the identity of the Southport murderer.

Hours after the deaths of three girls at a Taylor Swift themed summer holiday dance class, posts on social media falsely claiming the attacker was a Muslim illegal-migrant swept through the internet.

One post earned nearly four million impressions with misogynist influencer Andrew Tate also echoing the false narrative.

The posts were not taken down by social media giant X, owned by billionaire Elon Musk who has defended the platform’s position.

What ensued was days of far-right violence with calls to “stop the boats” and “take our country back”.

Mosques were targeted in certain areas with Southport, Liverpool, Sunderland and Hull amongst the many places terrorised by the rioters.

During the unrest Musk replied to a video of rioting in the UK originally posted by Tommy Robinson. Analysts say this boosted the right-wing organiser’s reach, with Musk’s reply now reaching 9.2 million views.

As the government were desperately trying to quell the riots, Musk, who bought the social media platform in 2022, launched a tirade of posts in which he mocked and criticised the UK prime minister.

Following a statement from the Labour leader criticising the attacks on Muslim communities, Musk questioned why “all communities” should not be protected.

He later reposted this comment, alongside several memes which depict the UK’s criminal justice system as racially biased, as well as calling the Labour leader “#twotierkeir.”

Harry and Meghan tackled the issue of online misinformation on the first day of their tour of Colombia.

They were met in the capital Bogota on Thursday by Colombia’s vice-president Francia Marquez and her husband Rafael Yerney Pinillo.

The quasi-royal tour, which has many similarities to the programme of an official royal overseas visit, is the Sussexes’ second this year, after their three-day visit to Nigeria at the invitation of the West African nation’s chief of defence staff.

Harry and Meghan visited a local school, the Colegio Cultura Popular, on Thursday and joined a summit, in collaboration with their Archewell Foundation, about creating a healthier digital landscape.

They spoke to children in a session where the class talked about their favourite and least favourite parts of social media, technology and dealing with life on the internet.

Meghan said the group should aim to be “self-reliant and not tech-reliant” while Harry about asked the conversations they have with their families about managing social media and literacy.