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Elon Musk is nothing if not efficient. In a matter of days, he praised convicted far-right criminal Tommy Robinson, betrayed Nigel Farage, attacked Keir Starmer and his ministers (leaving safeguarding minister Jess Phillips in need of security protection) and completely derailed the government’s comms plan for the week.
Musk has shared his views on the grooming gangs cases in Rotherham, Rochdale and other towns, in which men, mainly of Pakistani heritage, sexually abused and raped young girls.
Experts are frustrated with how this conversation has stopped being about how to help the victims of these horrific cases, and become a misinformed culture war about race and migration. William Tantam actually worked on the national inquiry that has already been held on the subject of sexual abuse, and lays out the facts about grooming gangs, as well as what are really the biggest threats to children in the UK. And, he suggests where Musk can make the most impact: cleaning up his side of the internet.
Musk, of course, wields much of his political power through ownership of X/Twitter. Many still think of the platform as a digital public square, and like many public spaces, it’s not a very safe place for women. Susan Watson has spent years researching how online abuse affects women politicians. Musk’s attacks this week on Jess Phillips, she argues, are just one example of a much larger effort to drive women out of participating in public life entirely.
Andrew Roe-Crines, an expert in British party politics, argues that politicians of all parties should immediately distance themselves from Musk’s foreign interference. Even if he appears to be friendly to certain parties’ politics, this week has certainly shown that he is not loyal, and that his friendship comes at a price.
Also this week, we published this fascinating piece about the overcrowding and understaffing problems in Nordic prisons. As the UK continues to struggle with these challenges, it’s worth looking at what’s changing in some of the world’s most lauded jails.
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