Wes Streeting has told ITV that he thinks Elon Musk's comments about the UK "Grooming Gang" scandal are misjudged and certainly misinformed.
Mr Streeting said:
When it comes to tackling the serious issue of child sexual exploitation abuse, I do think that online, giant social media companies have got a big part to play in helping us to identify and prosecute perpetrators of child sexual exploitation and abuse. So whether it's Elon Musk or anyone else, if those leaders of those giants want to work with this government, we're willing to work with tech giants to make sure that we keep young people safe online and free from exploitation.
This government takes the issue of child sexual exploitation incredibly seriously. We've seen harrowing reports and experiences of abuse of victims who've been brave enough to come forward and speak up about the appalling crimes that they've been subjected to.
We've also seen those brave whistleblowers who've been willing to speak up. And frankly, we've seen some shocking examples of how political correctness was able to get in the way of going after the perpetrators of these serious crimes. We're not going to let that happen. This government is committed to implementing the recommendations of the inquiry into child sexual abuse. We will do that in full.
We will get on with the job. And and some of the criticisms that Elon Musk, has made, I think, are misjudged and certainly misinformed, but we're willing to work with Elon Musk, who I think has got a big role to play with his social media platform to help us and other countries to tackle this serious issue. So, if he wants to work with us and roll his sleeves up, we'd welcome that.
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