Westminster needs to wean itself off X, a close ally of Keir Starmer has said, as he suggested Elon Musk deliberately manipulated its algorithm to further his own political and personal interests.
Josh Simons, MP for Makerfield and former head of the Starmerite think tank Labor Together, said he believed the UK political class was dangerously dependent on the platform, formerly known as Twitter. Simons maintains an active X profile but says he is keen not to “overuse” it.
His comments reflect growing concern among Labor MPs about the impact of X following the summer riots, where misinformation spread rapidly on the platform. But they also threaten to exacerbate tensions between the government and the company, with Musk continuing to attack Starmer over ministers’ response to the violence.
Simons, a technology expert who wrote a book on artificial intelligence, told the Guardian in an interview: “I think Twitter’s algorithm, its ranking model, which determines what we see on Twitter when we open it, has obviously changed say since Elon Musk took over. Not least because I don’t think I’ve ever liked anything he’s said, ever, and I watch loads of him all the time, and I really don’t want to.
“I’ve even said, ‘Show less of this,’ and there he is, every time. And that’s a sure sign—when someone starts and owns a business, you see more of them on an algorithm, even if you don’t like them – [of] something is happening.”
He added: “I think it is totally and utterly wrong and damaging to British democracy for the Westminster bubble to get to know each other through a ranking model designed by a man who spends his life campaigning for Donald Trump. I think it’s short-sighted of all of us.”
X did not respond to a request for comment.
Relations between the government and the social media company have been tense since the summer’s unrest, which experts say was fueled by online misinformation about the identity of the attacker who killed three children in Southport.
As the violence escalated, Musk repeatedly wrote about them, including a video of riots in Liverpool, which he commented with the quote “civil war is inevitable”. Downing Street publicly criticized those comments, saying they had “no merit”, and in turn was met with another volley of angry posts from Musk.
The X owner renewed his attack on the Labor government last month after not receiving an invitation to Monday’s international investment summit. “I don’t think anyone should go to Britain when they release convicted pedophiles [sic] to imprison people for social media posts,” he wrote, apparently referring to the government’s early release scheme.
Many Labor MPs have abandoned X and set up profiles on rival platforms such as Bluesky instead.
Simons, who used to work for Meta on its AI program and is now running for the Commons Technology Select Committee, said he believed the new generation of MPs were more skeptical of the platform than their predecessors.
“The mood is changing quite radically,” said the 31-year-old. “I actually think Twitter has a bit of a Boomers/Gen-Xer thing about it. It’s interesting that among the new moves there are quite a few people who are quite skeptical about it. That doesn’t necessarily mean, that they never use it, not least because it gives us another tool to be seen.”
He also said he believed the debate on artificial intelligence had been dominated for too long by older politicians who did not grow up with technology as his own generation did. Such people, he said, were often either overly optimistic or overly pessimistic about how technology could change the way government works.
Former Prime Minister Tony Blair and former Conservative leader William Hague have been two of the most outspoken advocates of the widespread adoption of artificial intelligence in the public sector. Former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has spoken positively of its potential, but also warned of its “existential risk” to humanity.
Simons said: “There is a generation [that] haven’t actually grown up with data and technology, and they have these very simplistic, reductive, often either utopian or apocalyptic ways of thinking about the future of the state or public services or the economy in relation to technology.
“AI can often be a distraction from going a level deeper into the technology to better understand its political and policy implications.”