Elon Musk has called for the release of the far-right activist Tommy Robinson.
The richest man in the world tweeted “Free Tommy Robinson!” to his 210 million followers on X on Thursday (January 2).
At the time of writing, the post, pinned to the top of Musk’s X account, had garnered 3.4 million views and been retweeted 23,000 times.
Musk also said a documentary by Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, was “worth watching”.
Robinson was sentenced to 18 months in prison in October after the Solicitor General took legal action against him for breaching a High Court injunction made in 2021.
The activist admitted 10 breaches of the order, which barred him from repeating libellous allegations against a Syrian refugee.
In 2021, Robinson was sued for libel by Jamal Hijazi after the then-schoolboy was assaulted at Almondbury Community School in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, in October 2018.
After a clip of the incident went viral, Robinson made false claims on Facebook, including about Mr Hijazi attacking girls in his school, leading to the libel case.
Robinson was ordered to pay Mr Hijazi £100,000 in damages and his legal costs, as well as to obtain an injunction preventing Robinson from repeating the allegations he made against the then-teenager.
The Solicitor General later issued two contempt claims against Robinson, claiming he “knowingly” breached the order, including by repeating the allegations in the documentary film, Silenced.
Musk, who is part of US President-elect Donald Trump’s inner circle, shared the documentary with his X followers.
It is not the first time Musk has sought to intervene in UK affairs. During riots sparked by the killing of three girls in Southport, the billionaire engaged with posts by Robinson and suggested civil war in the UK was “inevitable”.
He also retweeted a fake Daily Telegraph headline suggesting rioters would be sent to detention camps in the Falkland Islands.
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has called Musk a “bloody hero”, and recently met the tech billionaire with Reform’s treasurer, Nick Candy, at Mr Trump’s Mar-a-Lago mansion.
The Chief Executive of Tesla has a fraught relationship with Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and Britain’s Labour Government.
In September, the Tesla and SpaceX boss lashed out at the UK after it was reported he wasn’t invited to a major investment summit due to his social media posts during the summer riots.
Mr Musk said: “I don’t think anyone should go to the UK when they’re releasing convicted paedophiles in order to imprison people for social media posts.”