Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) armoured vehicles are seen during an anti-racism and anti-immigration protest in Belfast, Northern Ireland, August 9, 2024. REUTERS/Hollie Adams/File Photo
(Reuters) -Social media platform Bluesky said it has seen a surge in signups in the United Kingdom in the recent days, a sign that Elon Musk's controversial comments on the nationwide riots were prompting people to look for alternatives to X.
Bluesky has seen a 60% jump in general activity from accounts in the UK, with several Members of Parliament also joining the platform recently, the company said in an emailed statement on Monday.
Musk has been accused of exacerbating tensions after days of far-right rioting in Britain triggered by online misinformation around the murder of three girls in northern England last month.
The Tesla CEO used his platform to share misleading information with his millions of followers, including one post suggesting civil war was "inevitable" in Britain, prompting a reaction from Prime Minister Keir Starmer and sparking calls for the government to roll out laws policing online content sooner.
"For 5 out of the last 7 days, the UK had the most Bluesky signups of any country," said Bluesky, a newer player in the social media space.
The South Africa-born billionaire, who became a U.S. citizen in 2002, has moved towards right-wing politics in the recent years and has publicly endorsed Donald Trump in the U.S. presidential race.
Bluesky is one in a long list of apps that have been looking to replace Twitter after Elon Musk's chaotic takeover of the company in late 2022.
In July, Bluesky's monthly active user base stood at about 688,568, a fraction of X's base of 76.9 million, according to data from Similarweb, a digital market intelligence company.
Facebook and Instagram parent Meta said it did not have an update on user growth for its Twitter rival, Threads, in the UK.
Mastodon, another smaller X competitor, did not respond to Reuters' requests for user growth details.
(Reporting by Deborah Sophia in Bengaluru; Additional reporting by Yuvraj Malik; Editing by Tasim Zahid)
