In a significant shift for British government policy, the Attorney General’s Office has become the first UK government department to cease all activity on the social media platform X. Attorney General Richard Hermer has instructed his team to abandon the platform, which is owned by billionaire Elon Musk, marking a stark departure from the government’s prevailing strategy of maintaining a presence on all major digital channels. While the cabinet has previously defended the use of X as a vital tool for public communication, Hermer’s decision signals growing internal discord regarding the platform’s role in facilitating the spread of racism and inciting social disorder.
The decision was largely prompted by a surge in civil unrest that shook several UK cities earlier this month. Violence in Southampton and Belfast, which saw police injured and minority communities targeted, was reportedly coordinated through inflammatory posts on X. Hermer, who has expressed grave concerns that the platform is being weaponized by bad actors to sow division, concluded that his department could no longer justify lending its credibility to the site. While officials have been granted a narrow exception to use the platform for the specific purpose of combating disinformation, the primary directive is a total withdrawal from the site that has become a lightning rod for far-right rhetoric.
The riots in question were fueled by online misinformation and explicit calls for violence, often amplified by the platform’s algorithms. In Southampton, protests descended into chaos following a stabbing, while in Belfast, activists targeted the homes of ethnic minorities and harassed health workers. In both instances, far-right agitators utilized X to mobilize mobs, with several of these accounts actively endorsed by Musk himself. These events have intensified the pressure on the Labour government to confront the platform’s influence, as the ease with which agitators can incite real-world harm through the site has alarmed ministers across the cabinet.
Despite the mounting tensions between the government and X, No 10 has remained largely cautious, opting to defer formal regulatory action to the media watchdog, Ofcom. Prime Minister Keir Starmer has previously threatened to block the platform in the UK over concerns regarding AI-generated harmful content, but the subsequent bureaucratic process has proved slow. With Ofcom not expected to issue a compliance report for several months and potential legislative updates to the Online Safety Act not taking effect until mid-July, the government currently lacks an immediate mechanism to hold the platform accountable for the rapid spread of inflammatory content during times of crisis.
Beyond the specific exclusion of X from his department, Hermer has become a leading voice advocating for a broader crackdown on the negative influence of tech giants. He has publicly criticized what he describes as “crypto-funded millionaires” who leverage these platforms to manipulate British societal discourse, particularly regarding the European Convention on Human Rights. Hermer’s stance aligns with a wider government push to prioritize the safety of the digital landscape, exemplified by Downing Street’s recent announcement of a proposed ban on social media access for those under the age of 16.
As the government grapples with how to reconcile modern communication requirements with the dangers of algorithmic radicalization, the Attorney General’s move may well serve as a bellwether for other departments. While Downing Street has historically prioritized maintaining broad public access, the increasing threat of coordinated unrest has made the risks of operating on X difficult to ignore. By breaking with the status quo, Hermer has effectively challenged the government to reassess whether the benefits of reaching wide audiences on the platform are beginning to be catastrophically outweighed by the threat the site poses to civil cohesion.
