LONDON — Richard Hermer instructed his office to cease posting content on the social media platform X. This decision made his department the first U.K. government office to restrict employee use of X, which is owned by Elon Musk.

Hermer implemented this platform restriction following incidents of violent disorder in Southampton and Belfast. Staff members are permitted to use X only for active efforts to combat disinformation. Downing Street stated that government departments continue to use X to reach the public.

In Southampton, individuals claiming to protest the case of Henry Nowak were involved in the disorder. Nowak died from a stab wound while in handcuffs. The person who contacted the police about Nowak falsely claimed to be a victim of a racially motivated assault. Eleven police officers sustained injuries during the Southampton incidents.

Violent incidents occurred in Belfast six days after the Southampton disorder. Far-right activists organized demonstrations in Belfast following a stabbing incident. A 30-year-old refugee from Sudan was charged with attempted murder related to the Belfast stabbing. During these incidents, residential properties belonging to individuals from minority ethnic backgrounds were targeted for attack, and health workers were stopped and questioned about their ethnic backgrounds while traveling to work.

Separately, Keir Starmer issued a threat to block X in the U.K. if it did not remove sexually explicit images of women and children generated by the Grok AI tool. X removed the content following this threat. The U.K. government announced that Ofcom would manage any regulatory action against X, and Ofcom is awaiting an initial quarterly compliance report from X. Ministers plan to amend the Online Safety Act to mandate faster removal of inflammatory social media content during riots or crises; these amendments will not take effect until at least mid-July.

No independent assessment of Richard Hermer’s claims was available.