Now Elon Musk declares ‘war’ on advertisers: X sues brands and trade group over ‘illegal boycott’- amid billionaire owner’s clash with Keir Starmer

Elon Musk has declared ‘war’ on a group of advertisers by launching a lawsuit over an alleged ‘illegal boycott’ of his social media platform X.

The company filed the lawsuit Tuesday in a federal court in Texas against the World Federation of Advertisers and member companies Unilever, Mars, CVS Health and Orsted. 

It accused the advertising group’s initiative, called the Global Alliance for Responsible Media, of helping to coordinate a pause in advertising after Mr Musk bought Twitter for $44billion in late 2022 and overhauled its staff and policies.

Mr Musk, 53, posted about the lawsuit on X on Tuesday, saying ‘now it is war’ after two years of being nice and ‘getting nothing but empty words’. 

It comes as the billionaire CEO of Tesla has been using his Twitter platform of 196 million followers to insist that Britain and Europe are on the brink of ‘civil war’ over immigration since 2023.

Mr Musk has been accused by Sir Keir Starmer‘s government by stoking community tensions following the murder of three children at a summer camp in Southport.

Linda Yaccarino, chief executive officer of X, said in a video announcement that the lawsuit stemmed in part from evidence uncovered by the US House Judiciary Committee which she said showed a ‘group of companies organised a systematic illegal boycott’ against the platform. 

The Republican-led committee had a hearing last month looking at whether current laws are ‘sufficient to deter anti-competitive collusion in online advertising’. 

Ms Yaccarino claimed the advertising group ‘directly organised boycotts and used other indirect tactics to target disfavoured platforms, content creators, and news organisations in an effort to demonetise and, in effect, limit certain choices for consumers’.

‘The consequence — perhaps the intent — of this boycott was to seek to deprive X’s users, be they sports fans, gamers, journalists, activists, parents or political and corporate leaders, of the Global Town Square,’ she wrote. 

‘To put it simply, people are hurt when the marketplace of ideas is undermined and some viewpoints are not funded over others as part of an illegal boycott.’

Ms Yaccarino added that ‘the illegal behaviour of these organisations and their executives cost X billions of dollars’ and branded it as a ‘stain on a great industry’.

Mr Musk, sharing Ms Yaccarino’s memo, tweeted: ‘We tried peace for 2 years, now it is war.’ 

The lawsuit’s allegations centre on the early days of Musk’s Twitter takeover and not a more recent dispute with advertisers that came a year later.

In November 2023, about a year after Mr Musk bought the company, a number of advertisers began fleeing X over concerns about their ads showing up next to pro-Nazi content and hate speech on the site in general, with the billionaire inflaming tensions with his own posts endorsing an antisemitic conspiracy theory.

Mr Musk later said those fleeing advertisers were engaging in ‘blackmail’ and, using a profanity, essentially told them to go away.

The lawsuit comes as Mr Musk has escalated his spate with Sir Keir, calling him ‘Two-tier Keir’ and criticising the Prime Minister’s response to the ongoing disorder on Britain’s streets.

The UK has been shaken by violence for more than a week, as police clashed with crowds spouting anti-immigrant and Islamophobic slogans in cities and towns from Northern Ireland to the south coast of England. 

The unrest began after right-wing activists used social media to spread misinformation about a knife attack that killed three girls during a Taylor Swift-themed dance event on July 29.

Musk has reposted a series of images, videos and memes related to ongoing rioting in the UK and posted a comment saying that ‘Civil war is inevitable’ in Britain.

He later doubled down, highlighting complaints that the British criminal justice system treats Muslims more leniently than far-right activists and comparing Britain’s crackdown on social media users to the Soviet Union. 

The SpaceX billionaire also tagged the Prime Minister in several tweets, writing ‘Why aren’t all communities protected in Britain?’ and ‘£TwoTierKeir’.

Downing Street rebuked the owner of X, formerly Twitter, for claiming that ‘civil war is inevitable’ in a tweet related to ‘migration and open borders’ in their war of words over the race riots raging in Britain.

But analysis of Musk’s posts reveal that he has warning of civil war in Europe since last year, MailOnline can reveal. He also talked about in it in April before turning to it again after rioting and looting broke out in the UK over the last week.

For months the X owner has repeatedly used his platform to share videos of disorder in Britain, Germany and other European countries and warn his 196million followers of a ‘brewing’ battle, especially over mass immigration and open borders.

His earliest warning appears to have been on October 10 last year, in response to a tweet relating to a ‘lack of sensible immigration policy’ on the continent.

Musk replied: ‘If current trends continue, civil war in Europe is inevitable’.

On October 20 he then shared a video of rioting in Germany, apparently in relation to conflict in the Middle East between Israel and Palestine. 

‘Europe is trending towards civil war‘, he wrote. 

Later that day he shared a video of daylight fighting between rioters and police in Berlin, declaring: ‘Europe is headed for civil war’. 

Then on November 13 he shared a video of fighting in London after Armistice Day was severely disrupted by a series of protests and counter-protests across the capital. 

‘Europe appears to be heading for civil war’, he said.

He used the same ‘civil war’ phrase repeatedly in the coming months.

His critics have accused of stoking tensions in communities concerned about the levels of migration.

But his supporters have said that he is raising important issues in the UK and Europe – pointing out that he has also been tweeting about the ongoing disorder in Bangladesh and Venezuela.  

Musk today goaded Sir Keir Starmer again by accusing the PM of presiding over ‘one-sided’ policing of protests breaking out across the UK – even using the hashtag ‘TwoTierKeir’ in a tweet to 196million people.

The billionaire has hit back repeatedly at the Labour leader in a row over his claim that Britain is on the brink of an ‘inevitable’ civil war because of migration.

Musk also compared the UK to the Soviet Union because of arrests over what people have been saying on Facebook as riots break out across the UK.

He even shared a Family Guy meme and joked that Britain might bring back the death penalty for social media posts that offend politicians. Posting an image of Peter Griffin in the electric chair he said: ‘In 2030 for making a Facebook comment that the UK government didn’t like’. 

He also retweeted a meme showing armed police confronting a woman over her social media messages, adding: ‘Sounds like that is the UK today’.

This morning a Labour minister called out Mr Musk’s ‘deplorable’ claim that civil war in the UK is around the corner, as he was accused of stoking tensions in tinderbox Britain.

Hitting back this afternoon the billionaire posted a video of a gang in balaclavas waving Palestine flags storming The Clumsy Swan in Birmingham, where windows were smashed and drinkers were attacked last night.

Musk tweeted footage of the pub attack and tagged the Prime Minister with the caption: ‘Why aren’t all communities protected in Britain, Keir Starmer?’ He also pinned it to his profile so it is the first thing his 193million followers see when on his page.

Minutes earlier the Tesla boss also shared a video of a Exeter man believed to be named Thomas Dunne being arrested recently after a complaint made about his comments on social media. Musk shared it to launch another attack on the UK and said: ‘Arrested for making comments on Facebook! Is this Britain or the Soviet Union?’

The British government has called on Musk to act responsibly with Justice Minister Heidi Alexander saying Tuesday that ‘use of language such as a “civil war” is in no way acceptable’.

In comments to Times Radio this morning, Ms Alxeander said: ‘We are seeing police officers being seriously injured, buildings set alight, and so I really do think that everyone who has a platform should be exercising their power responsibly.’

Sir Keir, who has described the riots as ‘far-right thuggery,’ on Monday said the government would deploy a ‘standing army’ of specialist police officers to quell the unrest.

But the government is also calling on social media companies, such as Musk’s X, formerly known as Twitter, to do more to combat the spread of misleading and inflammatory information online.

Ms Alexander said Tuesday that the government would look at strengthening the existing Online Safety Act, which was approved last year and won’t be fully implemented until 2025.

‘We’ve been working with the social media companies, and some of the action that they’ve taken already with the automatic removal of some false information is to be welcomed,’ Ms Alexander told the BBC. ‘But there is undoubtedly more that the social media companies could and should be doing.’

She told BBC Breakfast ‘everyone should be calling for calm’ and that Musk in particular ‘has a responsibility given the huge platform he has, and so, to be honest, I think his comments are pretty deplorable’.

The Prime Minister’s spokesman yesterday said there was ‘no justification for comments like that’, prompting Mr Musk to reply directly by responding to a video posted by the PM stressing attacks on mosques and Muslims would not be tolerated.

The mogul, who is the richest man in the world with more than $200billion and has 193million followers on X, asked Sir Keir: ‘Shouldn’t you be concerned about attacks on *all* communities?’

Overnight he then responded to a cartoon featuring offensive caricatures of two men, one wearing a headband featuring the flag of Pakistan, holding a knife, alongside a police officer with the caption: ‘We are here to protect you.’

Underneath is a man saying: ‘I don’t want my children to get stabbed’, while a police officer accuses him of being a ‘Nazi’.

The user who posted the cartoon wrote ‘The UK police are compromised’ – to which Musk responded: ‘Does seem one-sided’.

So-called ‘two tier policing’ is a claim often used by the far-right to imply that police treat certain groups of people in different ways.

Ms Alexander attacked Mr Musk again in a separate interview this morning.

She told Times Radio: ‘I agree with what the spokesperson on behalf of the Prime Minister was saying yesterday. I do think these comments are unjustifiable.

‘If you have got a platform, a large social media platform, then you have also got a responsibility.

‘I think it is deeply irresponsible, I think everyone should be appealing for calm.

‘Use of language such as a ‘civil war’ is in no way acceptable. We are seeing police officers being seriously injured, buildings set alight, and so I really do think that everyone who has a platform should be exercising their power responsibly.’

The clash came as Cabinet ministers blamed social media for allowing hate and fake news to be spread, leading to violent riots by the far-Right that have seen migrant hotels and mosques attacked in the wake of the Southport stabbings a week ago.

False claims spread rapidly on X and other social media platforms that the suspect was a Muslim asylum seeker who arrived in the UK by boat a year previously. In fact the 17-year-old suspect was born in Cardiff and has no known links to Islam. 

Last night hundreds of far-Right activists and anti-racist protesters came face-to-face in Plymouth, where beer bottles, flares and a crutch were flung through the air, leaving police officers injured.

And in Birmingham a Sky News van was attacked by a knife-wielding man after members of the Muslim community gathered amid claims far-Right groups would target the Small Heath area.

Police have also been warned of alleged plans by far-Right groups to hit dozens of immigration targets across Britain on Wednesday night. 

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper yesterday said social media has put ‘rocket boosters’ under such groups. 

Health Secretary Wes Streeting warned that the spread of disinformation online is ‘an existential threat to democracy’.

He told the Edinburgh Fringe festival: ‘We’ve got to wake up, not just as Britain but as democracies collectively, to what is actually a threat to our democracy, to our national security, to trust in politics, which is already kind of rock bottom anyway.’

And Technology Secretary Peter Kyle said: ‘Responsibility for harmful social media content principally rests with the individuals and groups who create it. 

‘But it is undeniable that social media has provided a platform for this hate.’ 

He held individual meetings with bosses from US-based X, Facebook, Google and TikTok yesterday to make clear their responsibility to ‘stop the spread of hateful misinformation and incitement’.

No 10 said action taken by the firms so far has not gone far enough. 

‘There is more that they can and should be doing,’ Sir Keir’s spokesman said.

After the first emergency Cobra meeting about the riots, Downing Street also put online agitators on notice that they will be brought to justice alongside the rioters themselves. 

‘Anyone who is guilty of criminal behaviour online, anyone who is whipping up violence online, will face the full force of law.’

The landmark Online Safety Act passed by the previous government will mean tech giants face multi-million pound fines if they fail to protect users from illegal content such as messages provoking hatred, disorder or violence.

But the duties on the firms will not come into force for several months, as regulator Ofcom is still consulting on its codes of practice and guidance. 

However, the watchdog said platforms can act now rather than waiting for the law to come into force.

X has been accused of refusing to delete racist comments while allowing controversial activists such as Tommy Robinson and Andrew Tate back on the platform.

The false claim that a Muslim asylum seeker was the suspect in the Southport stabbings was first made on X by a British woman before going viral when it was spread by Russia-linked fake news website Channel3 Now.

And, as the Mail revealed, English Defence League founder Mr Robinson was stoking the race riots with a series of video rants on X while he was on holiday in Cyprus.

But Mr Musk himself has made at least ten comments about the riots – mostly replying to other users and thereby massively increasing their reach. 

After a prominent account posted a video of rioters setting off fireworks at police and a Right-wing commentator blamed mass migration, Mr Musk replied: ‘Civil war is inevitable.’

Asked about the remark, Sir Keir’s spokesman said: ‘There’s no justification for comments like that. 

‘And what we’ve seen is organised violent thuggery that has no place on our streets or online.’

Yesterday Sir Keir posted a video condemning the violence and warning that criminal justice will be ‘ramped up’. 

He added: ‘We will not tolerate attacks on mosques or on Muslim communities.’

In response, Mr Musk wrote, in a comment that received 70,000 likes and 12,000 reposts in three hours: ‘Shouldn’t you be concerned about attacks on communities?’

The X owner also agreed that UK police ‘seem one-sided’ in response to a cartoon accusing officers of going soft on violent Islamists.

And he added: ‘If incompatible cultures are brought together without assimilation, conflict is inevitable.’

Expert on online disinformation Dr Marc Owen Jones said: ‘Musk is definitely fanning the flames… he is clearly contributing to the problem.’ 

X did not respond to requests to comment.