Not content with merely campaigning for United States President-elect Donald Trump and urging Germans to vote for the far-right political party, Alternative for Germany (AfD) in the country’s upcoming elections, American billionaire Elon Musk is ruffling political feathers in the United Kingdom as well with an online campaign to free Tommy Robinson, a far-right activist, from prison.
Here is more about Robinson, who is currently serving time for violation of an injunction but has also previously been jailed for assault and contempt of court:
What has Musk said about Tommy Robinson?
Musk, who was recently named as a special adviser by Trump, posted several times on his X account on Wednesday and Thursday, stating that Robinson, a notorious far-right activist who campaigns against immigration and Islam, “should be freed” from prison.
Free Tommy Robinson!@TRobinsonNewEra
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 2, 2025
In another post, he wrote: “Why is Tommy Robinson in a solitary confinement prison for telling the truth?”
Why is Tommy Robinson in a solitary confinement prison for telling the truth?
He should be freed and those who covered up this travesty should take his place in that cell. https://t.co/Dn48JLoJgR
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 1, 2025
Who is Tommy Robinson and why is he in prison?
Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, who goes by the name Tommy Robinson, 42, is currently serving an 18-month prison sentence after he admitted to contempt of court during a libel case involving a Syrian refugee schoolboy, Jamal Hijazi.
A video showing 15-year-old Hijazi being attacked by another teenager at a school in Almondbury, Yorkshire in northern England, went viral in the UK in October 2018.
Robinson posted videos on his Facebook account in response, claiming that Hijazi had attacked “young English girls” and threatened to stab a boy at school, allegations that Hijazi denied.
These videos, seen by nearly one million people, led to Hijazi and his family receiving death threats.
The High Court ruled in 2021 that Robinson had defamed Hijazi and ordered him to pay 100,000 pounds ($124,000) in damages. The judge also handed him an injunction which prevented him from repeating the claims.
However, in February 2023, Robinson began to repeat the claims and made a documentary which he posted on his X account claiming he had been “silenced by the state”. In July 2024, he showed this documentary to viewers in London’s Trafalgar Square.
He was sentenced to 18 months in prison by Woolwich Crown Court in October 2024 after he admitted to violating the 2021 injunction.
His documentary, titled “Silenced”, is still up on X and has 146.2 million views as of Friday. It has been retweeted by about 101,000 people, including Musk.
Robinson was banned from X, then known as Twitter, in 2018. However, he was allowed to return to the platform in 2018 when Musk bought it. Robinson now has more than one million followers on X.
In the past, Robinson has been jailed for assault (2005), mortgage fraud (2014) and contempt of court (2024).
In 2019, he was sentenced to nine months in prison for contempt of court after he uploaded a video on Facebook featuring defendants in a criminal trial. The trial was of a gang of alleged sex offenders who were accused of abusing young girls.
He founded the far-right Islamophobic organisation, English Defence League, in June 2009. It staged violent demonstrations against Islam and was active until around 2013.
Why has Musk thrown his support behind Robinson?
Musk’s posts in support of Robinson come in the wake of a long-term grooming gang scandal in the UK which Musk claims Robinson tried to blow the whistle on.
In June 2022, an independent review found that the police and council had failed to prevent sexual exploitation of young girls by gangs in Oldham, northern England. The review identified multiple opportunities to stop the abuse from 2005.
In July 2024, political leaders in Oldham Council called on the government to investigate child sexual abuse in the town at the hands of “grooming gangs”.
But in October 2024, Home Office Minister Jess Phillips rejected the council’s request, saying it should lead an investigation itself.
On Wednesday, right-leaning British outlet GB News reported on this and blamed the Labour Party, which swept to power in July in a landslide election unseating the Conservative Party after 14 years of rule, for its inaction on the grooming gangs. The report was amplified by Musk, as well as Conservative leaders in the UK.
Musk posted on his X account saying British Prime Minister Keir Starmer had failed to prosecute child rapists when he was director of public prosecutions between 2008 and 2013. He also posted on X on Friday: “Jess Philips is a rape genocide apologist.”
Musk’s posts supporting Robinson come along with a wave of his posts supporting European right-wing figures online. In late December, he wrote an opinion piece in support of the German right-wing party AfD. He has also backed Nigel Farage’s far-right Reform UK party and Italy’s right-wing Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.
Health Secretary Wes Streeting said Musk’s views are “misjudged and misinformed”.
“Musk’s support not just for Tommy Robinson, but also the AfD in Germany, shows just how big a problem he is for democracy as well as the reputation of those who cosy up to him like Nigel Farage and Liz Truss,” Labour parliamentarian Stella Creasy told Politico.
In December, Farage met Musk at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida. On Thursday, Musk posted on X “Only Reform can save Britain”.
Only Reform can save Britain. https://t.co/KayCknFQUZ
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 1, 2025
In 2018, Farage resigned from the UK Independence Party (UKIP) after its leader Gerard Batten appointed Robinson as an official adviser.
Reform’s chairman Zia Yusuf is also Muslim. Farage has yet to publicly react to Musk’s recent posts about Robinson.