The global billionaire and CEO is attacking the circles of power one after the other.
Elon Musk made it his mission to transform civilization.
The serial entrepreneur sees himself more as a world leader than the CEO of electric vehicle maker Tesla. (TSLA) – Get a free reportor the founder of the space technology company SpaceX.
He gets into geopolitical issues and comments on any issue he considers affects the planet. On February 24, 2022, he seized the first opportunity to build his brand on the world stage: the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Musk supported Ukraine by giving the country access to Starlink, the satellite Internet access service developed by SpaceX. Starlink, which is independent and difficult to hack, became a critical tool for Ukraine’s citizens and military after Russian bombings destroyed the country’s communications infrastructure.
This aid to Ukraine has helped boost Musk’s international profile, which currently has more than 128.3 million followers on the social network Twitter, which he has owned for several months.
Musk also wants to be the spokesperson on the international scene for those who feel they are never heard. He has thus given himself the mission of attacking institutions of power that are unpopular both in conservative circles and among progressives.
Musk goes after Davos
For example, last month the billionaire attacked the World Economic Forum. Musk began by declining the organizers’ invitation to attend. He then spent the next few days questioning the legitimacy of the forum.
In doing so, he relaunched the debate on the usefulness of this club, which brings together politicians, economic leaders, civil society personalities and journalists in the ski resort of Davos, Switzerland. In the end, people talked as much or more about Musk’s comments and ideas than they did about the forum’s agenda items.
“WEF is becoming more and more of an unelected world government that the people never asked for and don’t want,” criticized the tech mogul on January 18.
Less than a month after the forum, Musk now faces another international organization that also symbolizes power.
Musk criticizes the UN
This is the United Nations. Musk claims that the multilateral institution is a conduit for disinformation.
It all started with a post showing a short excerpt from a speech by UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, which read in part: “We will call for action by all parties with influence on the spread of ‘misinformation’ on the internet. “.
Guterres continued: “Governments, regulators, policymakers, tech companies, media, civil society, stop the hate. Put up strong guardrails, hold yourself accountable for language that causes harm.”
“And as part of my common report or agenda, we are convening all stakeholders around the code of conduct for information integrity on digital platforms. And we are also further strengthening our focus on our misinformation and disinformation ( that) is affecting progress on global issues, including the climate crisis.”
Musk, who has owned Twitter since October 27, did not appreciate this call to stop the spread of false information.
“The UN is more likely to cause, rather than prevent, misinformation,” criticized the billionaire.
The issue of misinformation on social networks is very delicate for the billionaire. Last month he had responded scathingly to comments by Richard Edelman, chief executive of the communications agency of the same name that advises companies around the world.
During a roundtable discussion at the World Economic Forum, Edelman was asked for his views on social media and the spread of misinformation.
“So I think the first thing, because I mainly work with companies, that companies need to do is deprive the platforms that spread this information of oxygen,” Edelman responded. “Stop advertising, get your money out of promotion, make sure they understand that they have a consequential impact on society.
“And the boycott of Twitter for several months has had a modest, modest impact, but I think the one on Facebook failed,” he added. “But there is an urgent need to get it right on the platforms that are likely to be the primary source of information for a third to 40% of people.”
Edelman was referring to the decision by many advertisers to pause promoting their products and services on Twitter after Musk took over the platform.
The billionaire, who defines himself as an absolutist of freedom of expression, had reactivated most of the accounts that Twitter 1.0 had banned for violating internal safeguards against xenophobia, racism, anti-Semitism and the spread of disinformation.
Musk has also made free speech the principle when it comes to content moderation, which means that any tweet is acceptable on the platform as long as it doesn’t violate the law.
“Edelman is a despicable human being,” replied the businessman, owner of almost 80% of Twitter. “His job is literally to be a professional liar!”
