Aug 13 (Reuters) - Social media platform Bluesky said it

has seen a surge in signups in the United Kingdom in the recent

days, a sign that Elon Musk's controversial comments on the

nationwide riots were prompting people to look for alternatives

to X.

Bluesky has seen a 60% jump in general activity from

accounts in the UK, with several Members of Parliament also

joining the platform recently, the company said in an emailed

statement on Monday.

Musk has been accused of exacerbating tensions after days of

far-right rioting in Britain triggered by online misinformation

around the murder of three girls in northern England last month.

The Tesla CEO used his platform to share misleading

information with his millions of followers, including one post

suggesting civil war was "inevitable" in Britain, prompting a

reaction from Prime Minister Keir Starmer and sparking calls for

the government to roll out laws policing online content sooner.

"For 5 out of the last 7 days, the UK had the most Bluesky

signups of any country," said Bluesky, a newer player in the

social media space.

The South Africa-born billionaire, who became a U.S.

citizen in 2002, has moved towards right-wing politics in the

recent years and has publicly endorsed Donald Trump in the

U.S. presidential race.

Bluesky is one in a long list of apps that have been looking

to replace Twitter after Elon Musk's chaotic takeover of the

company in late 2022.

In July, Bluesky's monthly active user base stood at about

688,568, a fraction of X's base of 76.9 million, according to

data from Similarweb, a digital market intelligence company.

Facebook and Instagram parent Meta said it did not have

an update on user growth for its Twitter rival, Threads, in the

UK.

Mastodon, another smaller X competitor, did not respond

to Reuters' requests for user growth details.