Joey Barton has called on Elon Musk to ‘step up to the plate’ to protect freedom of speech after the former footballer is charged with ‘malicious communications’ towards pundit and former England star Eni Aluko.
In a ten paragraph long post on X, the Musk-owned social media platform, Barton has claimed that the British judicial system is being used to ‘target people who have a dissenting voice.’
Barton posted the message today in reaction to a decision to charge him with ‘malicious communications’ after the former Manchester City midfielder compared Aluko and fellow pundit Lucy Ward to the serial killers Fred and Rose West.
He wrote: ‘Hopefully (Elon Musk) will now step up to the plate. He said he’d protect freedom of speech on this platform.
‘The lawfare system in the UK being used to target people who have a dissenting voice. You can’t even tell someone who is under qualified and clearly not good enough, that she’s not good at her job. If you do they’ll charge you.
Joey Barton has called on Elon Musk to ‘step up to the plate’ to protect freedom of speech after the former footballer was charged with ‘malicious communications’ towards pundit and former England star Eni Aluko
Billionaire Elon Musk is the owner of X, formerly Twitter. In a ten paragraph long post on X, the Musk-owned social media platform, Barton claimed that the British judicial system was being used to ‘target people who have a dissenting voice’
Today’s charge is in relation to a post Barton made in January comparing pundits Eni Aluko (pictured) and Lucy Ward to serial killers Fred and Rosemary West
‘It doesn’t even bother me anymore, they can send me to prison if they want. It’s an absolute farce.’
Barton then went onto to claim that the ‘system is failing’ and that ‘if you tweet something the establishment don’t like, the law will knock down your door.’
The 41-year-old ended the rant by attacking Eni again asking for his readers of the post to show ‘Eni and her ilk, how much they are disliked.’
It was after Aluko covered Crystal Palace’s FA Cup draw with Everton in January this year with Ward that Barton first made the comparison.
He wrote: ‘How is she even talking about men’s football? She can’t even kick a ball properly. Your coverage of the game EFC last night, took it to a new low. Eni Aluko and Lucy Ward, the Fred and Rose West of football commentary.’
The Wests murdered 12 women and young girls over the course of 20 years. Fred took his own life before facing trial while Rose was sentenced to 10 life terms. She remains in prison aged 70.
Aluko accused Barton of subjecting her to one of the worst cases of social media abuse I’ve ever experienced’ after a stream of vile messages.
She admitted that being the target of social media experience is nothing new to her, but insisted that Barton’s attacks were different due to the ex-Manchester City midfielder having 2.8million followers on X.
Barton posted the message today in reaction to a decision to charge him with ‘malicious communications’ after the former Manchester City midfielder compared Aluko and fellow pundit Lucy Ward to the serial killers Fred and Rose West
Barton has also launched repeated tirades against other female football broadcasters including Laura Woods, Alex Scott (pictured), and Bianca Westwood
Barton has also launched repeated tirades against other female football broadcasters including Laura Woods, Alex Scott, and Bianca Westwood.
He is due to appear in court on July 30 after an investigation by Cheshire Police.
A statement from the force said: ‘A man from Widnes has been summoned to court to face charges of malicious communications.
‘Following an investigation by Cheshire Police, the Crown Prosecution Service has since authorised the charges for Joseph Barton. The 41-year-old will appear at Warrington Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday 30 July.
‘The charges relate to reports of alleged malicious communications online, between Monday 1 January and Thursday 18 January.’
