A Swindon MP has hit back at the X/Twitter boss after comments about racially aggravated riots happening across Britain.

Elon Musk said "civil war is inevitable" under a video of people aiming fireworks at police on the social media platform he owns.

Justice Minister Swindon South MP Heidi Alexander said the comments were “pretty deplorable”.

She said that social media companies have a "moral responsibility" to stop misinformation and to call for calm.

Misinformation on social media has been described as a major cause of the nearly week-long riots following the fatal stabbing of three girls in Southport.

Social media platforms, such as X, have hosted false claims about who was responsible for the tragedy, fuelling anti-immigration sentiment across the country spilling into violence.

Musk also commented on an X post by Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer in which he said attacks on mosques and Muslim communities would not be tolerated.

Musk asked: "Shouldn't you be concerned about attacks on *all* communities?" Musk also suggested the policing of the riots “does seem one-sided”.

Alexander told BBC Breakfast that Musk “has a responsibility given the huge platform he has, and so, to be honest, I think his comments are pretty deplorable”.

She said the accusation about “one-sided” policing was a "baseless assertion" that does a “disservice to policemen and women who go out to do their jobs and uphold the rule of law”.

It comes as more suspected rioters have appeared in court on Tuesday following mass disorder across the country over the past week.

A number of people charged with violent disorder have already pleaded guilty to their part in the widespread violence.

Self-employed builder Joshua Simpson became the first person to be convicted following the rioting outside a hotel housing asylum seekers in Rotherham after he admitted assaulting a police officer.

Sheffield Magistrates’ Court heard how Simpson, 25, was abusive to police before he kicked a riot shield, forcing it back onto an officer’s leg.

The defendant admitted one count of assault of an emergency worker.

He was remanded in custody by deputy district judge Simon Blakebrough who asked for a pre-sentence report to be prepared before he is sentenced on August 27.

The judge said he could not rule out sending Simpson, who said he is currently homeless, to prison.

Two other men, Christopher Rodgers, 38, of Millmoor Road, Barnsley, and Liam Grey, 20, of Randerson Drive, Kilnhurst, Mexborough, South Yorkshire, denied a charge of violent disorder in connection with the same incident.

The court heard Rodgers is accused of being part of a group that was throwing missiles at police and then blocked the way as a line of officers moved forward.

He was bitten by a police dog before he was arrested, the court heard.

A 17-year-old boy also charged with violent disorder, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was not required to enter a plea on Tuesday.

Elsewhere on Tuesday, a judge in Liverpool told one man he had a “real prospect of a custodial sentence” due to the “serious disorder” he had been a part of.

Dylan Carey, 26, of Castle Hill Road in Hindley, Greater Manchester, pleaded guilty at Liverpool Magistrates’ Court to violent disorder in Southport last Tuesday.

Joshua Sanderson-Kirk, prosecuting, said a police attended outside a mosque on St Luke’s Road in Southport when a “hostile” crowd of about 200 people came towards them chanting “who the f*** is Allah”.

He said: “The crowd became more angry and began surging forward. Several of the crowd were shouting ‘why are you protecting them’.”

Carey, who was identified by officers via footage on social media, kicked a police van and threw something towards it.

The defendant, who has no previous convictions, was remanded in custody to appear at Liverpool Crown Court on August 12, with District Judge Timothy Boswell saying: “Plainly, given the serious disorder Mr Carey has been a part of, there is a real prospect of an immediate custodial sentence.”

Also at Liverpool Magistrates’ Court, a 15-year-old boy pleaded guilty to violent disorder in the city centre on Saturday after he was identified from a TikTok video.

Footage played in court showed the youth among a crowd of people, becoming involved in a confrontation and taking his jacket and top off.

Mr Sanderson-Kirk said: “He picks up a paving slab and throws it at a member of the public.”

The boy, whose mother was in court, was granted bail with a condition not to enter the city centre as his case was adjourned until September 17.

In Bristol, business owner Ashley Harris, of Chipperfield Drive, Kingswood, was remanded in custody charged in connection with violent disorder in the city centre on Saturday.

During different incidents, the 36-year-old is accused of throwing punches at two counter-protesters, squaring up to police officers, encouraging crowds to move forward and throwing a can.

Harris, who has a scaffolding and roofing business, entered no plea at Bristol Magistrates’ Court and was remanded in custody to appear before the city’s crown court on September 9.

Others are expected to appear in court across the country on Tuesday.

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said one man, Jordan Parlour, 28, has been charged with intending to stir up racial hatred relating to alleged posts on Facebook and is due to appear at Leeds Magistrates’ Court.

Cleveland Police said a total of 28 people are due to appear at Teesside Magistrates’ Court charged with violent disorder and other offences following violence in Middlesbrough on Sunday.

The force said the court had set aside a remand court to deal with those appearing on Tuesday.

Elsewhere, eight people have been charged in connection with disturbances that broke out during protests in Nottingham city centre.

Nottinghamshire Police arrested 15 people at a protest in the city’s Old Market Square on Saturday, with one woman and seven men aged between 18 and 46 now charged with a variety of crimes, including public order, weapon offences and assaulting an emergency worker.

Lancashire Police said two men and two teenagers have been charged in connection with disorder in Bolton on Sunday.

Dominic Stanbridge, 31, of Highland Drive, Buckshaw, and a 16-year-old boy have been charged with violent disorder while James Nelson, 18, of Victoria Road, Horwich, has been charged with criminal damage to property valued under £5,000 and another 16-year-old boy has been charged with being in possession of an offensive weapon in a public place.

Stanbridge and Nelson have been remanded into custody ahead of an appearance at Manchester and Salford Magistrates Court on Tuesday, the force added.

The widespread disorder across the country followed the fatal stabbings of three girls at a Taylor Swift-themed holiday club in Southport last week.

Previously, judges condemned the recent violent scenes, with one describing violence in Belfast as “absolutely disgraceful”.

Justice minister Heidi Alexander said the Government will bring more than 500 additional prison places into use to deal with rioting, and some 6,000 specialist police officers were at the ready.

She told LBC that courts “could possibly” begin sitting “through the evening, the night, at weekends” in order to swiftly prosecute rioters.