Elon Musk blasted for spreading ‘concerning’ misinformation about Netflix’s Adolescence

X owner Elon Musk has been criticised for spreading mistruths about the story behind Adolescence (Picture: AP/Netflix)

Elon Musk has come under fire once again for ‘amplifying’ misinformation, this time around Netflix drama Adolescence.

The smash hit drama, starring Stephen Graham and Erin Doherty, landed on the platform last week and has since amassed over 24million views.

Split into four one-take episodes, the series follows 13-year-old Jamie, who rising star Owen Cooper plays in his first-ever acting job, as he is accused of murdering a female classmate, Katie (Emilia Holliday).

Jamie’s parents (portrayed by Christine Tremarco and Graham) are then forced to confront the shocking incident as officers investigate the impact of his radicalisation and incel culture involving young boys.

Adolescence has been praised worldwide for its very real—albeit terrifying—depiction of misogyny and how little many parents know about the ideologies their kids are exposed to online.

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However, as discourse rages on around how true-to-life the drama is, X owner Musk has been heavily criticised for allowing mistruths around its story to spread.

The businessman replied to a post claiming the miniseries was inspired by the Southport tragedy (Picture: X/Netflix)

Taking to the platform this weekend, @stillgray shared a photo from episode 1, writing: ‘Netflix has a show called Adolescence that’s about a British knife killer who stabbed a girl to death on a bus and it’s based on real life cases such as the Southport murderer.

‘So guess what. They race swapped the actual killer from a black man/migrant to a white boy and the story has it so he was radicalized online by the red pill movement.

‘Just the absolute state of anti-white propaganda.’

The user, real name Ian Miles Cheong, boasts 1.2million followers and his post has been viewed almost five million times.

Replying to it, Musk, who has an astronomical following of 220million, expressed his shock, writing simply: ‘Wow’.

Both have since been called out and educated on the real influence behind Adolescence, with @Shayan86 explaining: ‘Adolescence is not based on the Southport attack or a single case. It was already in production and being filmed before Southport happened.’

Owen Cooper makes his acting debut as 13-year-old Jamie in the four-part drama, which has been watched over 24million times (Picture: Netflix)

Indeed, the Southport tragedy occurred on July 29 last year, as 18-year-old Axel Rudakubana attacked children at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class, killing three girls and seriously injuring 10 others. Adolescence was filmed over six months between March and September.

‘The amount of viral nonsense that is posted as news on this app, often amplified by Elon Musk, is mind-boggling’, the X user added.

Echoing their thoughts, @Sensanetional said the prevalence of misinformation was ‘concerning’ and @priestleyl branded X a ‘hell site’.

As for what really inspired Jack Thorne and Liverpudlian actor Graham to write Adolescence, the Boiling Point star has spoken openly about why he felt it was important to make.

In various interviews, Graham has explained that while the miniseries is not directly based on one singular case, he drew inspiration from a string of shocking knife-related crimes.

‘Where it came from, for me, is there was an incident in Liverpool, a young girl, and she was stabbed to death by a young boy. I just thought, “Why?”,’ Graham began to Radio Times magazine.

X users have branded Musk’s misuse of the platform ‘concerning’, as he has over 200million followers (Picture: Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

‘Then there was another young girl in south London who was stabbed to death at a bus stop. And there was this thing up North, where that young girl, Brianna Ghey, was lured into the park by two teenagers, and they stabbed her.

‘I just thought, “What’s going on? What is this that’s happening?”‘

The This is England star added at a Netflix event earlier this year that the idea was ’10 years’ in the making.

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‘We’ve seen an epidemic of knife crime amongst young lads up and down the country,’ Graham began.

‘And for me, there were certain instances that really stuck out were young boys—and they are young boys, you know? They’re not men—were killing young girls.

‘When I mentioned it to Phil [Barantini, director], it just really hit me hard.’

The drama shines a light on how prevalent incel culture and radicalisation is for young boys (Picture: Courtesy of Ben Blackall/Netflix)

Graham also told Tudum that he wanted the show to ‘shine a spotlight’ on the alarming behaviour of these boys, who had been radicalised in online forums by the beliefs of figures like Andrew Tate.

‘One of our aims was to ask, “What is happening to our young men these days and what are the pressures they face from their peers, from the internet, and from social media?”,’ Graham continued. ‘And the pressures that come from all of those things are as difficult for kids here as they are the world over.’

Adolescence’s creators were also keen to portray Jamie’s home life as loving and safe, only highlighting just how insidious the internet can be for a child in their bedroom at night.

‘When these things are on the news, your judgement instantly goes to blaming the family, you blame the mum and dad,’ Graham shared in January.

‘We’re all guilty of it, because that’s the easy common denominator. I just thought, “What if that’s not the case at all?”‘

Adolescence is now streaming on Netflix.

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