Sadiq Khan has said Donald Trump’s period as US president led to a rise in racial abuse directed at him, as he urged Elon Musk to consider whether to let him back on Twitter.
Khan used his appearance at the Stanford University on his US trade mission to offer Musk some advice about allowing Mr Trump to return to the platform he plans to buy.
The Tesla boss has said he will reverse the ban imposed on Trump as part of his plan to make permanent suspensions a “rare thing” if a £34.5bn takeover deal is finalised this year.
“Let’s wait and see if Donald Trump has learnt his lesson,” Mr Khan told Stanford students. “If it’s the case that Donald Trump is going to use Twitter responsibly, I think that’s all well and good.”
“If he breaks the rules, there needs to be consequences and we can’t afford a situation where people think social media is where people behave irresponsibly, where you see an increase in not just racism, sexism and misogyny but also division.
Khan added: “I hope Elon Musk, now he’s in charge of Twitter, understands that.”
Speaking at Stanford University on his US trade mission, the London mayor temporary and permanent banning of Mr Trump from Twitter led to a sharp drop in such abuse.
“During those four years he was president, that led to me having to receive police protection and a lot of racial abuse,” Mr Khan said in comments carried by the BBC.
“In the last year of him being president, once he was banned from Twitter, I received the least racial abuse of any time over five years.
“On the one hand, social media – Facebook Twitter – great. On the other hand, that’s the consequence of lack of control and lack of regulation.”
Mr Trump first criticised the London leader in 2016 for his response to the London Bridge terror attacks, then during a visit to the UK in 2019 called Mr Khan a “stone cold loser” who had failed to manage crime rates in the capital.
Mr Khan threw the ceremonial first pitch at a Major League Baseball game on Tuesday and met with officials from Google and LinkedIn in Silicon Valley, before he concludes the trip in Los Angeles.
He also visited the US HQ of Plug and Play, the world’s largest early-stage investor and a global innovation platform, which has announced its first UK operations in both London and Warwickshire.
Plug and Play, which was an early investor in Google, PayPal, and Dropbox, also aims to make up to 30 investments per year into UK early-stage start-ups.
Palo Alto-based artificial intelligence software provider SambaNova Systems has announced an expansion in the UK with the opening of its first London office over the coming months.
The mayor was joined on his visit to the Bay Area by 11 founders from some of London’s women-led tech companies who are looking to explore investment and expansion opportunities in the US market.
Mr Khan, said: “I’m delighted to be in Silicon Valley today to bang the drum for even more investment in London by American tech companies … I want to invite businesses from across the sector and beyond to set their sights on London.”
On the next part of his trade mission, the mayor will travel to Los Angeles to discuss export opportunities for London’s creative technology businesses.
