Man falsely accused of murder by Tommy Robinson calls for tougher rules on X | X

A man named Tommy Robinson

Abdul Hai, who was acquitted of murdering teenager Richard Everitt in 1994, told the Guardian he was considering legal action against the social media site formerly known as Twitter after Robinson, a far-right agitator, posted that he had been convicted be the crime.

Hai said: “There needs to be appropriate legislation to hold social media sites accountable. We need platforms where people can voice their concerns, but there also needs to be a framework in place to prevent the spread of disinformation and false accusations, because for victims life will never be the same again.”

At the end of August, Hai sent a legal warning

At the heart of the dispute is a post by Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, on the anniversary of the murder of Everitt, a 15-year-old who was stabbed to death in London on August 13, 1994, a judge later found ” an unprovoked racist attack.” The teenager was murdered by “a gang of Bangladeshis,” Robinson wrote, adding that Badrul Miah, Showat Akbar and Hai were “convicted” of his murder.

In fact, Miah was sentenced to life in prison for conspiring to murder Everitt and Akbar was found guilty of violent disorder. At the end of the prosecution's argument, the judge in the case asked the jury to acquit Hai, ruling that there was no evidence that he was part of the group that killed Everitt.

Hai immediately reported the post and sent Robinson a short letter explaining that he had been found not guilty. “I was afraid to approach him, but I felt like he had to know it was wrong,” Hai said.

Three days later, on August 16, the tweet disappeared. Robinson then made another post, this time posting a screenshot of the original and explaining to his one million followers that he had deleted the original to avoid having his account suspended while he appealed the removal. “I deleted it because it will take days for them to appeal,” he wrote.

Hai said that this makes X's rules “ridiculous.” Through lawyers, Hai reported the follow-up post but said he received no response. On August 28, his lawyers sent X a letter ahead of the lawsuit – a legal shot across the bow – demanding the post be removed and a response before 9/11.

The company removed the post on September 6 and responded to Hai's lawyers a day before the deadline, saying “the target of benefits”. It said that users could report content that violated the terms, adding : “We have checked the post and [have] appropriate measures have been taken.” The post has been removed.

But Hai has argued that and called on MPs to pass laws to curb hate speech and disinformation on social media sites.

Harry Eccles-Williams, partner at law firm Mishcon de Reya, said legal action against

He said that since purchasing “There is little you can do at the moment. However, the Online Safety Act has the potential to change things and I predict a major confrontation between X and Ofcom in 2025.”

Hai emphasized his belief in freedom of expression and the right to protest. “These rights must be protected at all costs,” he said. “But freedom of expression comes with responsibility.”

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