Sadiq Khan: 'Most British people reject the views of Elon Musk'
The Mayor of London says he believes people of the UK do not align with Elon Musk on free speech on social media, and welcomes the new Ofcom investigation into sexualised images on X/Twitter.
Listen to this article
Read time: 3 mins
In brief…
- Sadiq Khan tells The News Agents the “vast majority” of Brits are good people, and they reject the message spread that the UK government is trying to prohibit free speech.
- He says Musk, and others like him, misunderstand the extent of freedom of speech, believing it to be an “unlimited right”.
- He welcomes the Ofcom investigation into AI-generated deepfakes of women and underage users of X/Twitter, and says if the social media company cannot be punished under the Online Safety Act, then the law may need to be revised.
What’s the story?
London Mayor Sadiq Khan has said he believes most Brits are decent people who reject the views of Elon Musk.
In the past month the billionaire owner of X/Twitter has referred to the UK as "prison island" and a "fascist" country, following a video message recorded for a Tommy Robison rally in London in September 2025 in which he called for a new General Election, urging Robinson supporters to "fight back or die".
Khan tells The News Agents his preferred method of dealing with people like Musk, and other far-right agitators on social media is to "respond and rebuff views that are wrong."
"It is really important we remember not just where we are now in terms of the benefits of diversity and the benefits of equality, but also where we've come from and push back," Khan tells Jon Sopel and Lewis Goodall.
"In the end, the best way to respond to somebody who's got views that are abhorrent is to respond with debate.
"The vast majority of people in this country are decent and they'll reject the views of Musk and others."
More recently, the social media platform has been home to AI generated images, created by Musk's own chatbot Grok, showing women and children undressed, naked or in sexualised positions.
An Ofcom investigation into the deepfakes has been opened, and there has been discussion surrounding a ban on the app in the UK.
Khan says he welcomes the investigation, and says the UK's Online Safety Act should determine guidelines for the Ofcom investigation.
"It is a problem when artificial intelligence is used without guard-rails to, for example, have these images – of children or women in particular – wearing hardly any clothes. And that's why I welcome the regulator look," Khan says.
"If the regulation, the law or the Online Safety Act is inadequate we need to change the law."
If fines and sanctions against X for permitting this behaviour do not stop the sexualised images of women and children, he adds there may be a need to determine whether the Online Safety Act is "fit for purpose".
Khan does not support banning X - saying he’s “not there yet” - or social media platforms more generally, and instead wants them to regulate content better.
Critics of Keir Starmer's plans to address the issues on X/Twitter claim that sanctioning, or potentially banning, the app in the UK would be an infringement on the right to free speech.
Khan says these people misunderstand the limits of free expression.
"It's really important we address this assertion that limiting free speech is fascism – the right to free speech is not an unlimited right," he says, highlighting existing UK law surrounding national security, defamation, and incitement which already limits free speech.
"I say in a respectful way to great Americans and great Brits: Remember our history. Remember why we love our countries," he adds.