What should our democracy do when a very rich man encourages violence on our streets?

That’s the question that Britain faces today with Elon Musk’s recent behaviour.

Traditionally, this hasn’t been a problem. While media tycoons like Rupert Murdoch had influence, they did not provoke criminality. They didn’t call for violence on the streets. They didn’t transfer cash to criminals. And their companies didn’t openly flout the law.

Today things have changed. A few weeks ago, Elon Musk spoke to a nationalist march in London calling for a dissolution of Parliament, and going on to say:

My message is to them: if this continues, that violence is going to come to you, you will have no choice. You’re in a fundamental situation here. Whether you choose violence or not, violence is coming to you. You either fight back or you die, that’s the truth, I think.

There is no reasonable doubt that this was Elon Musk calling for violence on Britain’s streets. Ignoring this is to ignore our ears.

And if he had said this on the stage in Westminster, rather than beaming in from America, it is possible that Musk would have been arrested for encouraging violence.

Yet the British government did virtually nothing in response. A few days later the Prime Minster complained, but didn’t go as far as taking action.

This isn’t just a one off.

Last week, Elon Musk revealed that he was bankrolling Tommy Robinson, an extremist with a string of criminal convictions. 

And, as British Future’s Sunder Katwala has amply documented, Twitter continues to allow extreme racism, and effectively refuses to enforce the law against racist abuse.

The British government can’t let this keep happening. If we allow a foreign billionaire to encourage law breaking, it could lead to deaths on our streets.

Musk’s actions make him more like a rogue state than an ordinary businessman. But just as we deal with rogue states, we can deal with a rogue businessman.

Brazil, which has a much smaller economy than Britain, did this last year. Musk defied the Brazilian Supreme Court, closing his company’s office.  But, with some pressure, Musk was forced to obey the law and appoint a local Twitter representative, as well as paying a fine of almost £4m.

In Britain we have many opportunities to pressure Musk across his businesses – if we choose to use them.

Twitter may not be a source of much wealth for Musk, but it is his critical mouthpiece.

Ministers should ask Ofcom to accelerate their regulation of Twitter. The Online Safety Act requires big tech companies to moderate extreme content, but this is not being enforced against Twitter currently.

If this doesn’t work, then the government can move to blocking Twitter on British devices – starting with a few hours at a time. Blocks would show a seriousness in regulating Twitter, but without serious problems for users.

Websites and apps are already blocked in Britain for extremist content and to prevent child abuse, as well as for abuse of copyright. When a website’s owner has gone rogue, it is reasonable to extend these blocks to his commercial interests.

Targeting these blocks would make them even more effective. Online advertising, Twitter’s main revenue source, follows predictable patterns, with large peaks around Black Friday and Christmas. Even blocking Twitter for a few hours at these times would cut advertising revenues significantly.

Alongside Twitter, the government should consider further measures against Tesla. Despite falling sales in the UK, these still amount to approximately £4bn annually.

British trade law allows us to charge tariffs on rogue states who undermine our democracy. We should consider tariffs on Musk for the same reasons.

Finally, and hardest of all, we need to address Starlink – Musk’s satellite internet company. It’s by far the dominant player in satellite internet. This makes it much harder for us to put pressure on without damaging British interests. 

While there isn’t going to be a quick answer, Britain must consider how we can create competition in the medium term, for instance by joining France’s Eutelsat initiative. And as we consider our tech policy, we need to build up competition so that we avoid becoming reliant on the Starlinks of the future.

For too long politicians have bought into the story that tech giants are too big to regulate. Sometimes this is true. But, in the long run, governments are more powerful, if they are smart about exercising that power.  We can bring Musk to heel. The time to do it is now, before he does more damage.

* Rob Blackie was Liberal Democrat Mayoral candidate in 2024, achieving the best result for 16 years. He has beaten the Greens in competitive elections as an organiser or candidate in 2010 (twice), 2012, 2024 and 2026. https://bsky.app/profile/robblackie.bsky.social