Elon Musk caught out after sharing fake Britain First post about 'detainment camps'

Elon Musk has been criticised after deleting a fake post from the far-right group Britain First which he shared on his Twitter/X platform.

Musk, who is CEO of the social media platform, reported a fake news report concerning “detainment camps” being operated in the Falkland Islands.

The article in question was completely false and had been initially shared by one of the leaders of the far-right political party Britain First. The headline read: “Keir Starmer considering building ‘emergency detainment camps’ on the Falkland Islands.”

It was, of course, completely fake, but Musk shared the post and added the caption: “‘Detainment Camps’…”

The post racked up 1.8 million views before Musk deleted it 35 minutes later.

Former Labour spin doctor turned podcast host, Alistair Campbell was one of the people to criticise Musk online for sharing the fake article.

After Musk deleted the post, Campbell wrote: “Well thank heavens for that. This is what you get when you clock on @elonmusk reposting of fake news by Britain First an actual avowedly fascist bunch of thugs.

“Maybe just this once a grown-up took him aside and said ffs Elon can you stop behaving like a three year old? Really looking forward to his interview with Trump. Two own goals together.”

It comes a day after Campbell called Musk out for ‘talking s***’ after leaning into far-right rhetoric over recent days online.

Musk has challenged Sir Keir Starmer over recent days, launching a tirade on Twitter/X over the UK’s handling of crime and repeatedly implying that communities are treated differently under the law under so-called ‘two-tier policing’ amid the race riots which have rocked the country in the past few weeks.

Musk also posted on Monday that “civil war is inevitable” – a comment which was condemned by Downing Street, with a spokesperson that there is “no justification for comments like that”.

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