UK MP More Upset by Attempted Beheading Video Posted Online Than Actual Attack
Mum should be the word when it comes to sharing and commenting on atrocities such as the one on a Belfast street in which social media videos showed one man appearing to be trying to behead another, according to one British politician.
On Monday, Steven Ogilvie, 44, a partially deaf man who reportedly struggles with schizophrenia, suffered severe injuries when he was attacked near his Belfast flat. Hadi Alodid, 30, a Sudanese national living in the Northern Ireland city, has been charged with multiple crimes in connection with the stabbing.
The incident sparked outrage in Belfast, with multiple nights of fiery protests targeting Britain’s lax immigration policies.
All this was too much for Ed Davey, a Liberal Democratic member of the U.K. Parliament from the London area. While calling the attack “deeply shocking,” Davey reserved his real anger for those who shared their outrage as videos of the attack swept the internet.
“I am horrified by the disorder and racist violence in Belfast last night,” he wrote Wednesday on X after social media calls to resist flew.
“Far too often now, we see extremists exploiting people’s anger and grief to spread hatred and violence – with the help of divisive algorithms on social media. This has to stop,” he wrote.
Many responses pointed out that Davey’s outrage might be misplaced.
The information is the culprit.
The guy who stabs another guy in the face is…?— Peter fo (@Peterfo3) June 11, 2026
How would taking action against Musk make it safer to walk down the street? This would scare the hell out of me if I had to suffer through life in the UK.
— Greg Garrison (@gregofearth) June 10, 2026
But Davey insisted that a dose of muzzling might be just the thing.
“The Government must take action against tech billionaires like Elon Musk, who control the divisive and harmful social media algorithms that are inciting violence and hatred,” he wrote.
Musk had endorsed resistance posting on X, “Only by protesting REPEATEDLY and LOUDLY will there be any change!!”
That cast Musk in the role of the villain, the U.K.’s Labour Party Chairwoman Anna Turley said, according to Politico.
“It’s appalling. Anyone that is seeking to drive and exploit a situation like this to drive their own political agenda is grievously wrong and doing damage,” she said.
“We’ve seen children, families having to flee their homes on the streets of Belfast last night.”
“We do not want to see this kind of disruption, damage, thuggery, violence on our streets, and anyone that is seeking to whip that up should be condemned,” she said.
Musk “has a responsibility … to call for calm and not stoke grievance,” she said.
Musk begged to differ.
Murderous migrants beheading innocent people in their home town is what’s making people angry, not “social media”!
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 10, 2026
“Murderous migrants beheading innocent people in their home town is what’s making people angry, not ‘social media’!” he posted on X.
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