Elon Musk’s riot tweets spur UK to seek tougher social media rules

Keir Starmer called for a “mature conversation” with social media companies to limit malicious content that’s stoked days of rioting in the UK. Instead, he found himself in an escalating online confrontation with Elon Musk, the billionaire owner of X.

Now, the UK is mulling steps to tighten the regulation of platforms like Musk’s — and finding it has few levers, especially when the owner is a major amplifier of misinformation. One step would be to revive a key provision in the Online Safety Act, set to be implemented later this year, giving authorities more power to force social media companies to curb harmful content, according to people familiar with the situation.