ELON MUSK, NEWLY crowned the world’s first trillionaire, faced renewed criticism over anti-immigrant riots in Belfast after researchers said violent narratives he amplified on his platform X amassed millions of views.
Clashes broke out in Belfast after a knife attack on Monday, with the PSNI charging a 30-tear-old Sudanese national named Hadi Alodid with attempted murder.
Musk amplified calls for protest from anti-immigration activist Tommy Robinson and wrote to his 240 million followers on X: “Only by protesting REPEATEDLY and LOUDLY will there be any change.”
He also boosted anti-immigration posts and messages from Rupert Lowe, leader of the fringe hard-right party Restore Britain, extending his reach to millions of users on the platform.
Researchers from the nonprofit tech watchdog Centre for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) reported that the trio’s posts about Belfast collectively garnered more than 115 million views across their accounts, with Musk accounting for 55% of the total.
“Musk’s amplification has been instrumental,” contributing 64 million views, CCDH said in a report.
“As the owner of X and its most followed user, Musk has unparalleled power to shape what people see online. With that power comes responsibility for the content and conduct his platform promotes,” said Imran Ahmed, CCDH’s founder and chief executive.
“Yet our research shows that he used the Belfast tragedy to amplify anti-migrant narratives to millions of users, prompting endless calls for violence.
“While communities dealt with the consequences of brutality and disorder, no individual played a bigger role in spreading this content on X than Musk himself,” Ahmed added.
X did not immediately respond to AFP’s request for comment.
Robinson – whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon – was formerly banned from X.
His account was reinstated, along with several other influencers accused of peddling misinformation or hate speech, following Musk’s 2022 acquisition of the platform, previously known as Twitter.
Researchers say that Musk has also expanded Lowe’s reach by amplifying his speeches in recent weeks and posting that only his party can “save Britain.”
CCDH said it identified an “explosion in calls for violence” in the responses to the trio’s posts about the Belfast unrest, with more than 3,900 comments advocating lynchings and other crimes against immigrants.
Two-thirds of the calls for violence appeared in replies to Robinson’s posts, it added.
The research comes after Britain’s media watchdog Ofcom warned of the increased risk of online platforms being used to “stir up hatred, provoke violence and commit other offences under UK law.”
Earlier this week, PSNI chief constable Jon Boutcher vowed that the force will “go after” people online who “incited” rioting across Northern Ireland.
Boutcher said: “It’s very easy, these days especially, to look online and be persuaded by people who know nothing about Northern Ireland, know nothing about the history of Northern Ireland, to take actions that they otherwise would not take.
“Stop looking at this nonsense, stop listening to these idiots.
“We will be going after them for the incitement that they’ve been doing.”
When asked if he was referring to Musk, Boutcher said he wouldn’t “talk about individuals” but added: “People will know who were online last night and inciting this behaviour.”
He said the PSNI will be investigating this, as it did last year following riots in Ballymena.
“We prosecuted those individuals successfully, and that will happen again.”
The findings coincided with a milestone for Musk, who became the world’s first trillionaire on Friday after shares of his other company, SpaceX, soared following its Wall Street trading debut.
The blockbuster initial public offering, the biggest in history, raised more than $75 billion (€64.84 billion).
- © AFP 2026 and with additional reporting from Diarmuid Pepper