Humza Yousaf right to warn Elon Musk is one of world's 'most dangerous men'

When Ashlea Simon, co-leader of the far-right Britain First group, tweeted a fake Daily Telegraph headline that claimed the UK Government might set up detainment camps on the Falkland Islands for rioters, she could hardly have dared hope that someone with more than 190 million followers would repost it.

However, none other than Elon Musk, the tech-savvy owner of X/Twitter, did just that, only for the newspaper to make clear: “No such article has ever been published by the Telegraph.” Musk and Simon deleted the tweet, but not before some, no doubt, were taken in.

Speaking at an Edinburgh Fringe event, Humza Yousaf made the point that Musk “is not an idiot” and could have easily used a search engine “to see whether that headline is true – he didn’t”. The former First Minister added that Musk was using his wealth to “amplify the far-right”, although “he does it with a question mark, with emojis, and tries to make it as though it’s an innocent question”. Yousaf concluded that such actions made the X/Twitter boss “one of the most dangerous men on the planet”.

Following Musk’s highly irresponsible claim that “civil war is inevitable” in the UK, The Scotsman shares that assessment. The idea that a few thousand thugs could start a war is ridiculous, but if they think they’ve got a chance, the violence may last longer.

TikTok insanity

Musk’s online influence is not confined to his tweets, as he also controls the platform. For example, X/Twitter recently made ‘likes’ of posts private. It’s theoretically possible he could retrospectively change that decision, which could prove embarrassing for some.

However, Musk is only the most visible of the global social media barons. Others are equally powerful, just less keen on publicity. Digital marketing expert Professor Scott Galloway, of New York University, has warned it is “insane” to allow TikTok in Europe, citing the company’s alleged links to China’s government and the potential to spread anti-democratic propaganda.

In an increasingly online world, the UK Government and civic society in general must urgently become far more digitally literate because, at the moment, sinister forces are stealing a march.