THE Scottish Government is considering boycotting Twitter/X after its owner Elon Musk spoke at a far-right rally to stir up “tension and animosity within our society”, the First Minister has said.
Speaking on BBC Radio Scotland on Tuesday morning, Swinney said that Musk was a “malign influence” on UK politics and that “we've got to take a stand”.
However, he stopped short of saying that he or his SNP Government would stop using Musk’s X platform, saying he did not want to “leave the field barren for people like Elon Musk to dominate the communication”.
Swinney’s comments came after he was asked about Musk’s appearance via videolink at a “Unite the Kingdom” rally in London – organised by far-right agitator Tommy Robinson – in which he said “violence is coming” to the UK and added: “You either fight back or you die, that’s the truth.”
Asked if he saw Musk as a malign influence, Swinney said: “I think that's a fair summary. I think he is a malign influence.
“I think he is in a whole series of baseless ways stirring up tension and animosity within our society, and I think it's reprehensible what he is doing.
“I think we've got to recognise as a country, what is happening to our discourse: it is being stirred up by people like Elon Musk – and some of the characters that were attacking police officers and attacking members of the public on the streets of London on the weekend.”
Asked if he was then considering ending the Scottish Government’s use of Musk’s X, Swinney said: “I'm certainly giving thought to that, because I think we've got to take a stand on the behaviours of some of these individuals.
“I've been around long enough to know and to have seen examples in the past where far-right thuggery makes its presence felt on the streets of the United Kingdom.
“I saw it when I was a teenager. I didn't like it. I loathed it, when I saw it as a teenager, and I loathe it now as First Minister of Scotland.”
The BBC host then said not “not all” of the people at Robinson’s march were far right.
“There were people at that march who were attacking police officers, so that's far-right thuggery in my book,” Swinney said.
Pushed on whether he would consider his own use of X, Swinney said: “I've thought about these issues before, and in light of the different events that have taken their course and particularly the intervention of Elon Musk, I'm thinking about that again.
“But we've obviously got to look at ways to communicate our message. I don't want to just leave the field barren for people like Elon Musk to dominate the communication with individuals around our country.
“I've got to think about how we get our message across as well. So, it's not a simple argument to consider, but what people do need to understand from their First Minister is that I will have nothing to do with the type of prejudice that's been put around by Elon Musk, Nigel Farage, and others.
“What I'll do is give the leadership, which is to make sure that Scotland is a welcoming country, that we welcome people who come here to seek refuge, and that we do all that we can to improve the lives and the livelihoods of individuals in our country.”
The UK Government is also facing pressure to leave Musk’s X platform, given its owner’s far-right activism internationally.
Musk, one of the world’s richest men, was a key donor to Donald Trump’s second presidential campaign. At a rally after Trump’s inauguration, Musk made global headlines after throwing multiple Nazi salutes.
