Misinformation on social media and Elon Musk

With notorious billionaire, Elon Musk, making headlines this week, we delved into his relationship with politics.

Transcript

00:00Let's talk about Elon Musk. Now, I won't be repeating the comments that he made on

00:03his social media site this week, but suffice it to say, the attack on Keir Starmer, who

00:07was knighted for services to criminal justice, and Jess Phillips, who's played a key role

00:10in working with victims of sexual assault, are not completely out of context for Musk,

00:13but do seem to have crossed a line with Labour. Musk has also burned bridges with Nigel Farage

00:17after the reformed UK leader hit back at the billionaire's support of Stephen Yaxley-Lennon.

00:21Musk, who grew up in apartheid South Africa until the age of 17, seems to have shifted

00:26heavily to the right of politics in recent years, even throwing his weight behind German

00:29far-right group the AFD, a group who faced controversy last year after senior party members

00:34were found to have attended meetings with neo-Nazi influencers in which plans for the

00:37deportation of millions of asylum seekers and non-assimilated people were discussed.

00:42That sparked protests in Germany last year. Musk's knack for repeating misinformation

00:47has caused some sugaring within the heart of European politics. And with META now set

00:51to remove its third-party fact-checkers, can the UK government find a way to properly regulate

00:55social media before more unfounded accusations permeate the news cycle?