Elon Musk

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[[File:Elon Musk Royal Society crop.jpg|thumb|165px|This is the face of a man who can wipe out your retirement fund with a dumb tweet.]]
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{{cquote|Elon won't go home. I can't get rid of him. Until I don't like him.|||[[Donald Trump]]<ref>(November 13, 2024). [https://thehill.com/homenews/house/4987984-house-senate-republicans-leadership-election/ Live updates: Johnson nominated for Speaker, Thune elected Senate GOP leader / Trump speaks on Elon Musk]. ''The Hill''.</ref>}}
{{cquote|The [SolarCity] trial’s most illuminating moments were the ones in which the central questions that have long haunted Musk’s career were made explicit. Is he a visionary or a huckster? A [[marketing]] genius or a [[Narcissistic personality disorder|narcissistic]] [[troll]]?|||Will Oremus<ref>[https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2021/07/16/elon-musk-trial-analysis/ The two sides of Elon Musk: Liar or optimist? Troll or marketing genius? Icarus or Daedalus? A trial in Delaware highlighted the contradictions at the Tesla chief’s core.] by Will Oremus (July 16, 2021) ''The Washington Post''.</ref>}}
'''Elon Reeve Musk''' {{lived|1971|}} is the eccentric and uncomfortably race-fixated<ref name="126RaceGrd">Nick Robins-Early (February 12, 2026). [https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/feb/12/elon-musk-posts-january-white-supremacists "Elon Musk posted about race almost every day in January"]. ''The Guardian''.</ref><ref name="ForwardUpdated"/> {{hint|a person with a net worth of $100 billion or more|centibillionaire}} overlord of corporations such as [[Tesla]], [[Grok|xAI]], [[Twitter|
Twitter
/X]], Neuralink, and SpaceX. Born in [[Apartheid|apartheid South Africa]], his family was wealthy enough to own a Zambian emerald mine.<ref name=dewet1/> He later moved to North America, apparently working initially as the [[illegal immigrant]]{{efn|{{cquote|Their immigration status was not what it should be for them to be legally employed running a company in the U.S. We don’t want our founder being deported.|||Derek Proudian, board member of Zip2, referring to illegal immigrants Musk and his brother Kimbal<ref name="proudian">[https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2024/10/26/elon-musk-immigration-status/ Elon Musk, enemy of ‘open borders,’ launched his career working illegally. Investors in Musk’s first company worried about “our founder being deported” and gave him a deadline for obtaining a work visa.] by  Maria Sacchetti et al. (October 26, 2024 at 6:00 a.m. EDT) ''The Washington Post''.</ref>}}}} founder of Zip2. He was later also involved with PayPal, [[OpenAI]], and other organizations. He is now often considered the richest person in the world.{{efn|While Musk usually tops the official charts, there have been temporary periods during the 2020s when he has been dethroned due to drastic swings in the stock market.<ref>Aimee Picchi (January 8, 2021). [https://www.cbsnews.com/news/elon-musk-surpasses-jeff-bezos-richest-person-world/ "Elon Musk tops Jeff Bezos as the world's richest person"]. ''CBS News''.</ref><ref>Chloe Taylor (March 2, 2023). [https://fortune.com/2023/03/02/elon-musk-bernard-arnault-worlds-richest-person-tesla-lvmh/ "Elon Musk loses crown as world’s richest person—just 48 hours after regaining it"]. ''Fortune''.</ref> (By 2023, Musk had been recognized by ''Guinness World Records'' for the "largest loss of personal fortune in history" (US$182 billion loss) due to a crash in Tesla's stock price.<ref>[https://www.euronews.com/next/2023/01/13/elon-musk-breaks-guinness-world-record-for-largest-loss-of-personal-fortune-in-history Elon Musk breaks Guinness World Record for ‘largest loss of personal fortune in history’] by Giulia Carbonaro (Updated: 13/01/2023) ''Euronews''.</ref>)
<br><br>Because much of his wealth is tied up in Tesla and SpaceX stock, both of which are difficult to assess the "true" value of, his "real" wealth is actually difficult to determine, although similar comments could apply to the worth of [[Jeff Bezos|Bezos]] or of just about any other multibillionaire.
<br><br>[[Vladimir Putin]] may-or-may-not be the world's richest person with $1 trillion in the conventional sense, but his cobweb of assets makes it difficult to determine. Given that Putin controls all of Russia, it could be considered that he has $75 trillion in an unconventional sense.}} 

As a now widely unpopular public figure (not the least due to his official government activity and inflammatory outbursts),<ref>Mike Bedigan (August 5, 2025). [https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/elon-musk-popular-gallup-poll-b2802463.html "Elon Musk is the least popular public figure in America"]. ''The Independent''.</ref><ref>Austin Williams (August 5, 2025). [https://www.livenowfox.com/news/pope-leo-favorability-gallup-poll-2025 "This American is viewed most favorably among global figures in new poll: See the list"]. ''LiveNOW from Fox''. {{blockquote|Elon Musk: 33% favorable, 61% unfavorable → -28 net}}</ref> he has nevertheless cultivated a significant [[cult of personality]].<ref>[https://www.axios.com/2023/01/07/the-elon-musk-personality-cult-lives-strong The Elon Musk personality cult lives strong] Felix Salmon (Jan 7, 2023) ''Axios''.</ref><ref>[https://orwellsociety.com/bursary/2022-winning-submission-the-cult-of-personality-of-elon-musk-by-quincy-de-vries/ The Cult of Personality of Elon Musk] by Quincy de Vries (2022 winning submission) ''The Orwell Society''.</ref><ref>[https://www.salon.com/2022/04/29/the-of-elon-musk-why-do-some-of-us-worship-billionaires/ The cult of Elon Musk: Why do some of us worship billionaires? Billionaires like Steve Jobs and Elon Musk are no different than other billionaires... except they have cults] by April 29, 2022 4:02PM EDT) ''Salon''.</ref> He has been, after all, an embodiment of the hi-tech [[messiah]] complex of the 21<sup>st</sup> century with a detailed history of terrible [[Twitter]]<ref>[https://mashable.com/article/elon-musk-harambe-song/#iL5RH3a6yPqk Elon Musk drops first SoundCloud track, 'RIP Harambe.' Yes, you read that right] ''Mashable UK'' 31 March 2019</ref> and real-life shitposting.<ref>Robin Valentine (September 20, 2023). [https://www.pcgamer.com/elon-musk-demanded-a-cameo-in-cyberpunk-2077-while-wielding-a-200-year-old-gun-i-was-armed-but-not-dangerous/ "Elon Musk demanded a cameo in Cyberpunk 2077 while wielding a 200-year-old gun: 'I was armed but not dangerous'"]. ''PC Gamer''.</ref> Companies led by Musk have been on the frontier of green technology,<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20230129192114/https://cyberbackpack.com/blogs/tesla-cybertruck-ev-blog/does-tesla-models-spell-s3xy-cars Does Tesla models spell S3XY CARS?] ''Cyber Backpack'' (archived from January 29, 2023).</ref> cars in space, [[artificial intelligence]], [[hyperloop]], [[space]] travel, and some [[charity]] work. His politics were once far secondary to his [[futurist]] persona — his social media all about his companies' progress. Such companies had lofty stated goals, like minimizing [[climate change]], and Musk's [[Bullshit|imaginary]] mission to colonize [[Mars]],<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2013/jul/17/elon-musk-mission-mars-spacex "Elon Musk's mission to Mars"] by Rory Carroll, Guardian, 20213 July 17</ref><ref>[https://www.thesouthafrican.com/elon-musk-mars-mission-spacex/ Emperor Elon Musk? SpaceX founder clarifies if he’ll lead humans on Mars] ''The South African'' 13 March 2018</ref><ref>{{a|https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1037976743963840512|Elon Musk on Twitter}} 7 September 2018</ref> since abandoned in favor of a so far also imaginary [[Moon]] mission.<ref>Eric Berger (February 9, 2026). [https://arstechnica.com/space/2026/02/has-elon-musk-given-up-on-mars/ "Why would Elon Musk pivot from Mars to the Moon all of a sudden?"]. ''Ars Technica''.</ref><ref name=low/>

Now a far-right figure,<ref>Vanessa Gera (January 9, 2025). [https://fox59.com/news/national-world/ap-international/ap-elon-musk-to-host-chat-with-german-far-right-leader-adding-to-fears-of-his-political-meddling/ "Musk uses X livestream to amplify German far-right leader’s views ahead of an election"]. ''Fox 59''/AP.</ref><ref>David Ingram and Bruna Horvath (February 16, 2025). [https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/elon-musk/elon-musk-boosting-far-right-politics-globe-rcna189505 "How Elon Musk is boosting far-right politics across the globe"]. ''NBC''.</ref> Musk previously signaled [[centrist]] or [[liberal]] politics as of the early-to-mid 2010s.<ref>[https://www.cnbc.com/2012/11/13/teslas-elon-musk-relishes-being-the-winner-not-loser.html "Tesla’s Elon Musk Relishes Being the Winner, Not Loser"] by Phil LeBeau, CNBC, 2012 November 13</ref><ref>Cadie Thompson (November 5, 2016). [https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-donald-trump-presidency-2016-11 "Elon Musk on Trump presidency: 'I don't think he's the right guy'"]. ''Business Insider''.</ref> He also later self-described as "[[socialist]]" and "[[utopian]] [[anarchist]]" in 2018, with the latter apparently inspired by Iain Banks' ''The Culture'' [[sci-fi]] series.<ref name="ActuallySocialist"/><ref name="UtopianAnarchist"/> Musk's political stances became even more erratic around 2020–2021, for debatable reasons, and he rapidly began to support right-wing causes. [[Bill Maher]] blames ''SNL'' cast members allegedly being mean to him for being rich.<ref>Tom Tapp (June 6, 2025). [https://deadline.com/2025/06/bill-maher-joe-rogan-elon-musk-democrats-1236426587/ "Bill Maher Suggests Liberals Bring Joe Rogan & Elon Musk Back Into The Fold"]. ''Deadline''.</ref> Musk and his companies, however, had already previously faced endless controversy (and legal challenges) by everyone from Wall Street investors<ref>Marisa Fernandez (September 29, 2018). [http://archive.today/2026.02.15-140936/https://www.axios.com/2018/09/29/elon-musk-sec-complaints "What they're saying: Tesla investors filed SEC complaints about Elon Musk"]. ''Axios''.</ref> to [[human rights]] charities.<ref>Mark Dummett (September 29, 2017). [https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2017/09/the-dark-side-of-electric-cars-exploitative-labor-practices/ "The Dark Side of Electric Cars: Exploitative Labor Practices"]. TIME, via Amnesty International.</ref> He had been under scrutiny for his hyper-[[capitalist]] behavior regarding various matters such as [[imperialism]] in [[Latin America]],<ref>Douglas Rushkoff (November 25, 2023). [https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/nov/25/we-will-coup-whoever-we-want-the-unbearable-hubris-of-musk-and-the-billionaire-tech-bros "'We will coup whoever we want!': the unbearable hubris of Musk and the billionaire tech bros"]. ''The Guardian''. {{blockquote|In response to the accusation that the US government organised a [2019] coup against Evo Morales in Bolivia in order for Tesla to secure lithium there, Musk tweeted [in 2020]: "We will coup whoever we want! Deal with it."}}</ref> [[COVID-19]] outbreaks,<ref name="450cases"/> labor unions,<ref>[https://time.com/5688859/tesla-elon-musk-tweet-violated-labor-laws/ Tesla and Elon Musk's Tweet Violated Labor Laws Protecting Unions, Judge Rules] ''Time'' 29 September 2019</ref><ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/sep/10/tesla-workers-union-elon-musk Tesla workers speak out: 'Anything pro-union is shut down really fast'] ''The Guardian'' 10 September 2018</ref><ref>Antonio Pequeño IV (October 25, 2024). [https://www.forbes.com/sites/antoniopequenoiv/2024/10/25/court-rules-elon-musk-is-not-required-to-remove-controversial-tweet-about-tesla-union/ "Court Rules Elon Musk Is Not Required To Remove Controversial Tweet About Tesla Union"]. ''Forbes''.</ref> and claims that his company benefited from [[child labor]].<ref>Lucia Binding (December 17, 2019). [https://news.sky.com/story/tesla-and-apple-among-tech-giants-accused-of-aiding-child-labour-in-africa-11888600 "Tesla and Apple among tech giants accused of aiding child labour in DRC"]. ''Sky News''.</ref><ref>Vivienne Walt (September 30, 2021). [http://archive.today/2021.09.30-174949/https://fortune.com/2021/09/30/tesla-ipe-environmental-violations-suppliers-child-labor-congo-drc-glencore/ "Tesla faces claims of toxic suppliers and potential child labor"]. ''Fortune''.</ref>

Musk's connections to foreign governments have also been scrutinized. This includes his corporate ties to the [[People's Republic of China]] (PRC),<ref>Beatrice Nolan (June 1, 2023). [https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-china-visit-economic-ties-republican-vivek-ramaswamy-2023-6 "Republican presidential candidate slams Elon Musk for saying the US and China's interests are 'intertwined like conjoined twins'"]. ''Business Insider''.</ref><ref>Alan Ohnsman (February 6, 2025). [https://www.forbes.com/sites/alanohnsman/2025/02/06/elon-musk-china-ties-doge-conflict-of-interest/ "Why Elon Musk's China Ties Are DOGE's Biggest Conflict Of Interest"]. ''Forbes''.</ref> and his pledge to the PRC's "core socialist values".<ref name=dua>Shubhangi Dua (July 7, 2023). [https://interestingengineering.com/transportation/elon-musk-tesla-pledge-to-chinas-core-socialist-values "Elon Musk pledges Tesla to China’s 'core socialist values' to avert EV price war"]. ''Interesting Engineering''.</ref> Musk drew the ire of the [[Taiwan]]ese government (and the praise of the [[Chinese Communist Party]]) when he publicly supported the PRC claim over Taiwan.<ref>(September 13, 2023). [https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/taiwan-fires-back-after-elon-musk-calls-it-integral-part-of-china/ "Taiwan Fires Back after Elon Musk Calls It 'Integral Part of China'"], ''National Review'', Retrieved on September 13, 2023.</ref> His meddling in the [[Russian invasion of Ukraine|Ukraine war]] has likewise drawn controversy;<ref>(October 4, 2022). [https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/kremlin-welcomes-elon-musk-proposal-ukraine-settlement-denounced-by-kyiv-2022-10-04/ "Kremlin welcomes Elon Musk proposal for Ukraine settlement denounced by Kyiv"]. ''Reuters''.</ref><ref>Oliver Darcy (September 12, 2023). [https://www.cnn.com/2023/09/11/media/walter-isaacson-elon-musk-reliable-sources/index.html "An explosive Elon Musk biography is just hitting shelves. But the book's acclaimed author is already walking back a major claim"]. ''CNN Business''.</ref> in 2023, Musk reportedly shut down {{w|Starlink}} access to the Ukrainian military as they were carrying out a military operation in Crimea.<ref>(July 25, 2025). [https://www.reuters.com/investigations/musk-ordered-shutdown-starlink-satellite-service-ukraine-retook-territory-russia-2025-07-25/ "Musk ordered shutdown of Starlink satellite service as Ukraine retook territory from Russia"]. ''Reuters''.</ref>

By 2024, Musk had anyway abandoned his prior persona (more or less),<ref name="cnnallintrump"/><ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/environment/article/2024/aug/13/trump-musk-x-climate "‘The dumbest climate conversation of all time’: experts on the Musk-Trump interview"] by Oliver Milman, Guardian, 2024 August 13</ref> becoming a [[Trumpism|pro-Trump]] political donor obsessed with the supposed dangers of "[[woke]]".<ref name="cnnallintrump">[https://www.cnn.com/2024/07/16/business/musk-trump-support/index.html "Elon Musk is going all-in on Donald Trump"] by Chris Isidore, CNN, 2024 July 24</ref><ref>[https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2024/08/11/musk-x-feed-politics-trump/ "Elon Musk’s X feed becomes megaphone for his far-right politics"] by Faiz Siddiqui and Jeremy B. Merrill, Washington Post, 2024 August 12</ref> Musk heavily promoted Trump's candidacy in the [[2024 U.S. presidential election]],<ref name="trumpallin">[https://archive.ph/4MnbZ "Musk Is Going All In to Elect Trump"] By Theodore Schleifer, Maggie Haberman, Ryan Mac and Jonathan Swan, New York Times, 2024 October 11</ref> and claims to be personally responsible for Trump's victory in that election.<ref name="2024outcome">(June 5, 2025). [https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1930667528696828120 "Without me, Trump would have lost the election, Dems would control the House and the Republicans would be 51-49 in the Senate."]. ''Twitter''. [https://archive.ph/GSQdi (Archived version)].</ref> By January 2025, Musk was so heavily in Trump's orbit that he was widely described (somewhat mockingly) as the ''de facto'' 47th president of the United States.<ref>[https://www.lemonde.fr/en/international/article/2025/01/22/vance-and-musk-trump-s-two-vice-presidents_6737316_4.html "Democrats taunt Trump with ‘President Musk’ moniker"] by Alex Gangitano and Mike Lillis, Hill, 2024 December 29</ref> The peak in Musk's US government involvement was his ~130-day stint with the so-called [[Department of Government Efficiency]] (or "[[Elon Musk#DOGE|DOGE]]"). The legality of DOGE's actions appeared questionable at best,<ref>David Ingram (February 4, 2025). [https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/elon-musk-doge-usaid-treasury-government-rcna190450 "Elon Musk and DOGE are hacking the government"]. ''NBC''.</ref><ref>Alan Kronenberg (March 20, 2025). [https://www.usnews.com/news/national-news/articles/legal-chaos-of-a-trump-presidency-that-tested-the-law "100 Days of Presidency That Tested the Law"]. ''U.S. News & World Report''.</ref> including their highly-significant<ref>(February 9, 2025). [https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2025-02-09/popes-point-man-on-migration-and-aid-concerned-about-usaid-cuts-alarmed-at-us-migrant-crackdown "Vatican Charity Says Trump Administration's Gutting of USAID Is 'Reckless' and Could Kill Millions"]. ''U.S. News & World Report'' (Associated Press).</ref><ref>Kim Hjelmgaard (February 12, 2025). [https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2025/02/12/usaid-list-spending-trump-musk-global-impact/78404374007/ "USAID cuts fallout: Wasted food, 'free-for-all' ISIS camps, less HIV prevention"]. ''USA Today''.</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Mallapaty |first=Smriti |date=2025-04-17 |title=25 million deaths: what could happen if the US ends global health funding |url=https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-01191-z |journal=Nature |language=en |volume=641 |issue=8061 |pages=17–18 |doi=10.1038/d41586-025-01191-z |issn=1476-4687}}</ref> dismantling of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the U.S. Institute of Peace;<ref>(March 18, 2025). [https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/doges-usaid-dismantling-likely-violates-the-constitution-judge-rules "DOGE's USAID dismantling likely violates the Constitution, judge rules"]. ''PBS''.</ref><ref>Gary Fields (May 19, 2025). [https://apnews.com/article/trump-doge-institute-of-peace-lawsuit-39d79077c8fa5336634d518f30a9a807 "Judge bars Trump administration from shutting peace institute that sought to end violent conflicts"]. ''The Associated Press''.</ref> USAID was created by President [[John F. Kennedy]] in 1961,<ref>(February 3, 2025). [https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/what-to-know-about-usaid-and-why-its-a-target-for-the-trump-administration "What to know about USAID, and why it’s a target for the Trump administration"]. ''PBS''.</ref> and the U.S. Institute of Peace was signed off by President [[Ronald Reagan]] in 1984.<ref>Aneeta Mathur-Ashton (March 18, 2025). [https://www.usnews.com/news/national-news/articles/2025-03-18/what-is-the-u-s-institute-of-peace-and-why-is-doge-targeting-it "U.S. Institute of Peace is DOGE’s Next Target"]. ''U.S. News & World Report''.</ref>

Musk got the hell out of DOGE in May 2025, with Trump giving Musk a parting gift: a bronze knickknack used to flatter [[White House]] guests.<ref>Alice Tecotzky (May 30, 2025). [https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-gift-elon-musk-key-white-house-doge-2025-5 "Trump gifts a large key to Elon Musk in Oval Office goodbye, says work of DOGE 'geniuses' will continue"]. ''Business Insider''.</ref><ref>(August 3, 2022). [https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/357583 "Book: Netanyahu was not the first recipient of Trump White House key"]. ''Israel National News''.</ref> Musk proceeded to blow up at Trump about a week later, supposedly and ultimately over a disagreement about the federal deficit and a Trump-endorsed budget bill which Musk called a "disgusting abomination".<ref>Bernd Debusmann Jr (June 4, 2025). [https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c0j76djzgpvo "Musk urges Americans to tell lawmakers to 'kill the bill'"]. ''BBC News''.</ref> He alleged that Trump "is in the [[Epstein]] files. That is the real reason they have not been made public."<ref>Dave Smith (June 5, 2025). [https://fortune.com/2025/06/05/elon-musk-trump-epstein-files/ "Elon Musk says Trump 'is in the Epstein files. That is the real reason they have not been made public'"]. ''Fortune''.</ref><ref>Mike Wendling (June 6, 2025). [https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c5yg98rl717o "Trump and Musk trade insults as row erupts in public view"]. ''BBC News''.</ref><ref>Elon Musk (June 5, 2025). [http://archive.today/2025.06.06-015557/https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1930703865801810022 "Time to drop the really big bomb: @realDonaldTrump is in the Epstein files. That is the real reason they have not been made public. Have a nice day, DJT!"]. ''Twitter'', via archive.today.</ref> Trump then threatened to investigate federal subsidies/contracts with Musk's companies (and made a weird comment about his black eye),<ref>Joe Walsh (June 5, 2025). [https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-elon-musk-federal-subsidies-cost-tesla-spacex-billions/ "Trump threatens to cut off Elon Musk's federal subsidies. That could cost Tesla and SpaceX billions."]. ''CBS''.</ref><ref>[https://www.wsj.com/livecoverage/trump-elon-musk-feud/card/what-did-trump-say-about-musk-s-black-eye--HYtw4gqgOwDnZ7c2XyHB "What Did Trump Say About Elon Musk’s Black Eye?"]. ''The Wall Street Journal''.</ref> after which, Musk deleted his allegations.<ref>Rachel Treisman (June 11, 2025). [https://www.npr.org/2025/06/11/nx-s1-5430377/musk-regrets-trump-social-media-feud "Elon Musk says some of his social media posts about Trump 'went too far'"]. ''NPR''.</ref> It nonetheless dovetailed well with his past labeling of a {{wpl|Tham Luang cave rescue}} diver as a [[Pedophilia |pedophile]],<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/jul/15/elon-musk-british-diver-thai-cave-rescue-pedo-twitter Elon Musk calls British diver in Thai cave rescue 'pedo' in baseless attack] ''The Guardian'' 16 July 2018</ref> and with the later revelation that Musk was himself all up in Epstein's email inbox.<ref>David Ingram (January 30, 2026). [https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/elon-musk/expressed-interest-visiting-jeffrey-epstein-island-emails-show-doj-rcna256784 "Elon Musk expressed interest in visiting Jeffrey Epstein's island, newly released emails show"]. ''NBC''. {{blockquote|In November 2012, they emailed about a possible Caribbean meetup, with Epstein asking how many people would be in Musk’s group for a “heli to island,” meaning helicopter. Musk replied that it would probably be only him and actor Talulah Riley. (Musk and Riley had recently divorced but would remarry the next year before divorcing again in 2016.)<br><br>…In an email on Dec. 25, 2012, Musk wrote to Epstein that he wanted to “hit the party scene” in St. Barts, a Caribbean island near Epstein’s.<br><br>“Do you have any parties planned?” Musk asked. “I’ve been working to the edge of sanity this year and so, once my kids head home after Christmas, I really want to hit the party scene in St Barts or elsewhere and let loose. The invitation is much appreciated, but a peaceful island experience is the opposite of what I’m looking for.”<br><br>…Musk emailed Epstein in December 2013, saying: “Will be in the BVI/St Bart’s area over the holidays. Is there a good time to visit?” They discussed several possible days for a visit during the new year, with Epstein writing, “play it by ear if you want. always space for you,” adding that he would send a helicopter to pick up Musk.}}</ref><ref>Nick Robins-Early (January 30, 2016). [https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/jan/30/elon-musk-epstein-files-island-visits "Elon Musk had more extensive ties to Epstein than previously known, emails show"]. ''The Guardian''.</ref>

Some of the worst of Musk's political moves include supporting [[Tommy Robinson|far-right hooligans]],<ref>[https://www.forbes.com/sites/alisondurkee/2025/01/02/who-is-tommy-robinson-why-elon-musk-is-posting-about-far-right-british-activist/ "Who Is Tommy Robinson? Elon Musk Champions Far-Right UK Activist—And Splits With Farage"] by Alison Durkee, Forbes, 2025 January 6</ref> boosting conspiracy theories,<ref>Clare Duffy (December 11, 2023). [https://www.cnn.com/2023/12/11/tech/elon-musk-x-promoting-alex-jones-after-reinstating-his-account/index.html "Elon Musk’s X is encouraging users to follow conspiracy theorist Alex Jones after reinstating his account"]. ''CNN''.</ref><ref name="FortuneGunman">[https://fortune.com/2023/05/10/elon-musk-twitter-texas-mall-gunman-misinformation/ Elon Musk posted misleading tweets about the Texas mall gunman's long history of neo-Nazi views being a potential 'psyop'] by David Klepper & Associated Press (May 10, 2023 at 12:25 PM PDT) ''Fortune''.</ref><ref name="BronnyJamesNote"/>{{efn|Sources about Elon Musk boosting the [[Pizzagate]] and [[QAnon]] conspiracy theories.
*Pizzagate: ''The Hill'';<ref>[https://thehill.com/policy/technology/4331790-elon-musk-deletes-pizzagate-meme/ Elon Musk deletes ‘Pizzagate’ meme following widespread backlash] by Dominick Mastrangelo (11/28/23 4:22 PM ET) ''The Hill''.</ref> ''[[The Washington Post]]'';<ref>[https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2023/11/28/pizzagate-musk-twitter-x-controversy/ Elon Musk boosts Pizzagate conspiracy theory that led to D.C. gunfire: The far-right theory motivated a gunman to fire multiple rounds inside the Comet Ping Pong pizzeria in Northwest Washington in 2016. Musk boosted the theory to his 164 million followers anyway.] by Drew Harwell (November 28, 2023) ''The Washington Post''.</ref> ''Forbes'';<ref>[https://www.forbes.com/sites/brianbushard/2023/11/28/elon-musk-endorses-debunked-pizzagate-conspiracy-theory-again/ Elon Musk Endorses Debunked 'Pizzagate' Conspiracy Theory—And Deletes Post] by Brian Bushard (Nov 28, 2023,12:53pm EST) ''Forbes''.</ref> ''Rolling Stone'';<ref>[https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/elon-musk-pizzagate-media-matters-1234889592/ Elon Musk Is Now Dipping His Toe Into Pizzagate: The owner of X can't stop engaging with vile conspiracy theories, even as advertisers flee the platform] by Nikki McCann Ramirez (November 20, 2023) ''Rolling Stone''.</ref><ref>[https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/elon-musk-pizzagate-meme-twitter-1234902162/ Elon Musk Takes Flirtation With Pizzagate to the Next Level: The Twitter owner descends even deeper into the internet's most vile fever swamps by sharing a “Pizzagate is real” meme, which he later deleted]  by Nikki McCann Ramirez (November 20, 2023) ''Rolling Stone''.</ref> ''Independent'';<ref>[https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/elon-musk-pizzagate-conspiracy-antisemitism-x-b2450960.html Elon Musk amplifies Pizzagate conspiracy theory; It comes after Elon Musk came under fire for promoting an antisemitic conspiracy theory on X] by Martha McHardy (21 November 2023 11:07) ''Independent''.</ref> ''CNN''.<ref>[https://www.cnn.com/2023/11/20/tech/elon-musk-boosting-pizzagate-conspiracy-theory/index.html Elon Musk is now boosting the ‘Pizzagate’ conspiracy theory] by Clare Duffy (November 21, 20230 ''CNN''.</ref>
*QAnon in general: ''Wired'';<ref>[https://www.wired.com/story/elon-musk-qanon-2024-election/ Elon Musk Is Giving QAnon Believers Hope Just in Time for the 2024 Elections: Musk's recent use of the term “Q*Anon” is his most explicit endorsement of the movement to date. Conspiracists have since spent days dissecting its meaning and cheering on his apparent support.] by David Gilbert (Nov 28, 2023 10:38 AM) ''Wired''.</ref> Musk on Twitter<ref>[https://nitter.net/elonmusk/status/1727493004133286284 AROUND THE WORLD CITIZENS OF EVERY COUNTRY ARE EAGERLY AWAITING THE RELEASE OF OUR MESSIAH, Q STAR / IMMANENTIZE THE ESCHATON SAM ALTMAN / LET THE Q STAR ERA BEGIN] by @growing_daniel (November 23, 2023) ''Twitter'' (archived from nitter.com). Followed by Musk's reply to @growing_daniel of simply "!"</ref><ref>[https://nitter.net/elonmusk/status/1727493310606954897 Q*Anon] by Elon Musk (Nov 23, 2023 · 1:04 AM UTC) ''Twitter'' (archived from nitter.net).</ref>
*Boosting QAnon figures and tropes: ''New York Daily News'';<ref>[https://www.nydailynews.com/2023/03/10/elon-musk-tweets-support-for-qanon-shaman-jacob-chansley/ Elon Musk tweets support for QAnon Shaman Jacob Chansley] by Brian Niemietz (March 11, 2023 at 3:11 a.m.) ''New York Daily News''.</ref> ''Forbes'';<ref>[https://www.forbes.com/sites/conormurray/2023/07/27/twitter-suspends-then-unsuspends-popular-right-wing-user-who-tweeted-image-of-child-sexual-abuse/ Twitter Suspends, Then Unsuspends, Popular Right-Wing User Who Tweeted Image Of Child Sexual Abuse] by Conor Murray (Jul 27, 2023,04:47pm EDT) ''Forbes''.</ref> ''Euronews'';<ref>[https://www.euronews.com/next/2023/04/27/how-elon-musk-has-repeatedly-amplified-false-claims-and-boosted-disinformation-accounts-on How Elon Musk has repeatedly amplified false claims and boosted disinformation accounts on Twitter] by Sophia Khatsenkova ( 27/04/2023 - 07:00) ''Euronews''.</ref> ''Newsweek'';<ref>[https://www.newsweek.com/elon-musk-twitter-qanon-rabbit-bunny-1766607 Elon Musk Confuses Twitter With Rabbit Emoji, Some Say It's a Nod to QAnon] by Shannon Power (Dec 13, 2022 at 5:20 AM EST ) ''Newsweek''.</ref><ref>[https://www.newsweek.com/qanon-followers-are-reading-elon-musks-white-rabbit-tweet-1766677 QAnon Followers Are Reading Into Elon Musk's White Rabbit Tweet] by Anders Anglesey  (Dec 13, 2022 at 8:32 AM EST) ''Newsweek''.</ref> ''Haaretz'';<ref>[https://www.haaretz.com/us-news/2023-06-07/ty-article/.premium/elon-musk-boosts-antisemitic-blood-libel-on-twitter/00000188-9714-df21-a1b8-b79d7a5b0000 Elon Musk Boosts Antisemitic Blood Libel on Twitter: The Twitter CEO responded to an antisemitic conspiracy theory post, giving it legitimacy and views] by Ben Samuels (Jun 7, 2023) ''Haaretz''.</ref> ''Daily Dot'';<ref>[https://www.dailydot.com/debug/elon-musk-antisemitism-twitter-mel-gibson/ Elon Musk’s response to wildly antisemitic Mel Gibson tweet prompts outpouring of hate speech: It may be the worst tweet he'd ever replied to.] by David Covucci (Jun 7, 2023) ''Daily Dot''.</ref> ''Media Matters for America''<ref>[https://www.mediamatters.org/elon-musk/elon-musk-has-boosted-qanon-influencer-least-two-dozen-times-he-took-over-twitter-and Elon Musk has boosted a QAnon influencer at least two dozen times since he took over Twitter and reinstated the account] by Alex Kaplan (03/20/23 4:22 PM EDT) ''Media Matters for America''.</ref>}} downplaying the impact of the [[Holocaust]] at an [[AfD]] rally,<ref>[https://www.cbsnews.com/news/elon-musk-germany-far-right-afd-remarks-auschwitz-holocaust-remembrance-day/ "Elon Musk tells German far-right crowd the nation should move beyond "past guilt" ahead of Holocaust Remembrance Day"] by Haley Ott, CBS News, 2025 January 28</ref> and performing {{w|Nazi salutes}} [[Elon Musk#Giving the Nazi salute|on stage]] at Trump's 2025 inauguration.<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/24/world/europe/elon-musk-roman-salute-nazi.html "What Elon Musk’s Salute Was All About"] by Katrin Bennhold, New York Times, 2025 January 25</ref> Musk has likewise been criticized for his [[misogynist]]<ref>Ariana Baio (September 4, 2024). [https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/elon-musk-trump-harris-high-status-males-4chan-b2606617.html "Elon Musk suggests support for replacing democracy with government of 'high-status males'"]. ''The Independent''.</ref><ref>Grace Dean (September 12, 2023). [https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-justine-alpha-relationship-wedding-wife-mother-queens-isaacson-2023-9 "Elon Musk whispered to his first wife, Justine, that he was 'the alpha in this relationship' at their wedding reception"]. ''Business Insider''.</ref> and [[Pro-natalism|pro-natalist]] comments, having randomly proposed impregnation to {{w|Taylor Swift||.}}<ref>[https://variety.com/2024/digital/news/elon-musk-father-child-taylor-swift-disgust-creepy-1236140915/ "Elon Musk’s Offer to Father a Child With Taylor Swift Elicits Disgust: ‘You’re Creepy. Full Stop’"] by Todd Spangler, Variety, 2024 September 11</ref> (The mother of one of Musk's children, formerly conservative influencer Ashley St. Clair, observes that AI systems, such as those Musk's companies develop, pose unique risks to women.<ref>Helena Horton (January 5, 2026). [https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/jan/05/elon-musk-ashley-st-clair-grok-fake-sexualised-images "Mother of one of Elon Musk's sons 'horrified' at use of Grok to create fake sexualised images of her"]. ''The Guardian''.</ref>) Having endorsed an antisemitic and racist theory in 2023,<ref>Jessica Guynn (November 17, 2023). [https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/news/2023/11/17/elon-musk-blasted-antisemitic-hate/71625895007/ "Has Elon Musk gone too far? Outrage grows over antisemitic 'actually truth' post"]. ''USA Today''.</ref><ref>David Goldman (November 17, 2023). [https://www.cnn.com/2023/11/15/media/elon-musk-antisemitism-white-people/index.html "Elon Musk agrees with antisemitic X post that claims Jews 'push hatred' against White people "]. ''CNN''.</ref> then initially apologizing,<ref>
Andrew Higgins (January 22, 2024). [http://archive.today/2024.01.25-143524/https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/22/world/europe/elon-musk-auschwitz-jewish-antisemitism.html "Elon Musk, on Rehabilitation Tour, Calls Himself 'Aspirationally Jewish'"]. ''The New York Times''.</ref> he has nevertheless continued.<ref name="ForwardUpdated">Adam Kovac (September 6, 2023; periodically updated). [https://forward.com/news/550035/elon-musk-disturbing-comments-jews/ "Elon Musk has made some disturbing comments about Jews. Here's a list"]. ''The Forward''.</ref> In December 2025, for example, Musk endorsed a post that claims "hostile, resentment-addled POC" (people of color) are a threat to white people.<ref>Elon Musk (December 12, 2025). [http://archive.today/2025.12.12-153229/https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1999281555597086736 "Correct" / quoting Zarathustra]. Twitter, via archive.today.</ref> Musk thus endorsed the statement, "white solidarity is the only way to survive".<ref>Alessandra Quattrocchi (February 12, 2026). [https://lavocedinewyork.com/en/news/2026/02/12/elon-musks-activity-on-x-reveals-growing-obsession-with-white-decline/ "Elon Musk’s Activity on X Reveals Growing Obsession with 'White Decline'"]. ''La Voce Di New York''.</ref> Musk further declares, "Jews are White, if not peak White".<ref>(December 3, 2025). [https://www.jpost.com/diaspora/antisemitism/article-879101 "Elon Musk calls Jewish people 'peak white' in viral X post about extinction of white people"]. ''The Jerusalem Post''.</ref>

We wish he'd just focus on building solar panels.

==Youth and skeletons in the family closet==
[[File:Joshua N Haldeman.jpg|thumb|right|165px|Joshua N. Haldeman in 1945 as SCP candidate for the Canadian Parliament]]
{{cquote|Accelerating Starship development to build the Martian Technocracy|||Musk<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20190625223907/https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1142890265369202688?lang=en Accelerating Starship development to build the Martian Technocracy] by Elon Musk (1:20 PM - 23 Jun 2019) ''Twitter'' (archived from June 25, 2019).</ref>}}

Musk's maternal grandfather, Joshua N. Haldeman (a.k.a., "10450-1",{{efn|Musk, it would seem named one of his children after his grandfather, calling sproggen "X AE A-XII", though Musk will tell you some other bullshit.<ref>[https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/elon-musk-grimes-baby-names-meaning-b2385016.html The meaning behind Elon Musk and Grimes’ children’s names, X AE A-XII and Y: The former couple have explained what the names mean and how to pronounce them] by Kate Ng (31 July 2023 15:43 BST) ''The Independent''.</ref>}} as per Technocracy's edict<ref>[https://archive.org/details/technocracydiges00unse_37/page/n41/mode/1up?q=haldeman American Needs No Part Of the Price System: An observation of our social trends indicates breakers and a smashup ahead. Only Technocracy is preparing.] by Joshua Haldeman (July 1940) ''Technocracy Digest'', pages 6-7. (archived from 2013-06-19 12:46:56).</ref><ref name=benton/>), was a [[chiropractor]], a member of the [[Technocracy movement]]<ref> See the wikipedia version of {{wpl|Technocracy movement|Technocracy, Inc.}}</ref> and of the {{wpl|Social Credit Party of Canada}} (SCP)<ref>[https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2485067/pdf/jcca00035-0046.pdf Joshua N Haldeman, DC: The Canadian Years, 1926-1950] (1995) ''J. Can. Chiropr. Asso.'' 39(3):172-186.</ref> In 1942, Technocracy was described as [[Propaganda|propagandistic]] and an incipient [[fascist]] [[cult]].<ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/image/841423491/?fcfToken=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJmcmVlLXZpZXctaWQiOjg0MTQyMzQ5MSwiaWF0IjoxNjk1NTE2MzY2LCJleHAiOjE2OTU2MDI3NjZ9.LyXSj9wD9A7LKIXbxu3OXicb5KMY9bVJfsh__68lZuw Technocracy Springs to Life With Big Splurge of Publicity] by John C. Rogers (March 18, 1942) ''Buffalo Evening News'', page 37.</ref><ref name=benton>[https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2023/09/joshua-haldeman-elon-musk-grandfather-apartheid-antisemitism/675396/ Elon Musk’s Anti-Semitic, Apartheid-Loving Grandfather: The billionaire has described his grandfather as a risk-taking adventurer. A closer read of history reveals something much darker.] by Joshua Benton (September 20, 2023) ''The Atlantic''.</ref> Technocracy and the SCP held antisemitic conspiracist views, as did Haldeman.<ref name=benton/> "An examination of Joshua Haldeman’s writings reveals a radical conspiracy theorist who expressed [[racist]], [[antisemitic]], and anti-[[democratic]] views repeatedly, and over the course of decades…"<ref name=benton/> Haldeman moved to apartheid South Africa because he believed that country led "'White Christian Civilization' in its fight against the [[International Jewish Conspiracy|'International Conspiracy' of Jewish bankers and the 'hordes of Coloured people' they controlled]]."<ref name=benton/> In 1960, Haldeman published the conspiracist, pro-Apartheid book, ''The International Conspiracy To Establish A World Dictatorship And The Menace To South Africa''.<ref>''International Conspiracy To Establish A World Dictatorship And The Menace To South Africa'' by J. N. Haldeman (1960) Pretoria, South Africa: self-published.</ref>

Musk's father, Errol Musk {{lived|1946}}, was an engineer who by his initial account traded an airplane that he owned for half-ownership of three emerald mines in Zambia.<ref name=dewet1/> Errol had admitted that the mines were illegal. In a later account, Errol claimed that he was only paid in emeralds for the airplane, which began his criminal enterprise of fencing of stolen diamonds and emeralds, as well as smuggling the finished gems overseas:<ref name=isaacson>''Elon Musk'' by Walter Isaacson (2023) Simon & Schuster. ISBN 1982181281.</ref>{{rp|13}}
{{cquote|Many people came to me with stolen parcels. On trips overseas I would sell emeralds to jewelers. It was a cloak-and-dagger thing, because none of it was legal.|||Errol Musk}}
Elsewhere, Errol described the ill-gotten gains:<ref name=dewet2/>
{{cquote|We were very wealthy. We had so much money at times we couldn't even close our safe. [With one person holding the money in place, another other [sic] would slam the door.] And then there'd still be all these notes sticking out and we'd sort of pull them out and put them in our pockets.}}
Errol is also a racist in denial about himself who criticized Elon's mother Maye's entire family as racist. He accused them of being Nazi sympathizers and "fanatical" supporters of apartheid.<ref>https://bsky.app/profile/niedermeyer.online/post/3lbuo7yrwyk2l citing "ERROL MUSK On Growing Up in SA, Elon Musk,Donald Trump, Dating Step Daughter, Ex Wife’s I EPISODE 613," ''Podcast and Chill with MacG'' https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KH1U5x8LXgs</ref> Errol used the '[[I'm not prejudiced, but...]]' argument to claim that he himself was not racist:<ref name=isaacson/>{{rp|13}}
{{cquote| If you registered it [a mine], you would wind up with nothing, because the Blacks would take everything from you. … I don't have anything against the Blacks, but they are just different from what I am.}}
In 2025, he told a reporter that he believed blacks were racially inferior in intelligence to white people and that [[Xenophobia|black people should not be allowed to immigrate to London]] because "they will turn the UK into Congo, into a country where Ebola, dengue, malaria, or river blindness are normal diseases. And also violence, murders, rapes..."<ref>Pablo Pardo, "Errol Musk, Elon's father: 'For my son, being in the Trump administration was like a binge'," ''El Mundo America'', September 1, 2025  https://www.mundoamerica.com/news/2025/09/01/68b56f4ae4d4d8743c8b457c.html</ref> White British people are quite capable of [[Andrew Wakefield|obstructing vaccination campaigns]], dumping raw sewage into waterways, and [[Britain First|murdering MPs]] on their own.<ref>See also {{wpl|https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Sarah_Everard}}</ref> The numbers for IQ which he quoted seemed to come from [[Richard Lynn]].

Elon was born wealthy, as are so many billionaires. Musk lived a lavish lifestyle in his youth because of this. To avoid a mandatory stint in the [[South Africa]]n military, which would have required him to uphold the [[apartheid]] regime that he has at times claimed that he despised and other times not mentioned it as a rationale for leaving South Africa.<ref>''Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future'' by Ashlee Vance (2015) Ecco. ISBN 0062301233.</ref>{{rp|43}} He left South Africa to attend college in [[Canada]] and the [[United States]]; while certainly a display of [[privilege]], it was also a very real move to avoid upholding [[white supremacy]] at the point of a gun but not at the point of a Krugerrand.<ref name=dewet1>[https://web.archive.org/web/20200610150914/https://www.businessinsider.co.za/how-elon-musks-family-came-to-own-an-emerald-mine-2018-2 Elon Musk's family once owned an emerald mine in Zambia — here's the fascinating story of how they came to own it] by Phillip de Wet (Feb 28, 2018, 06:30 AM) ''Business Insider'' (archived from June 10, 2020).</ref><ref name=dewet2>[https://web.archive.org/web/20181203072109/https://www.businessinsider.co.za/elon-musk-sells-the-family-emeralds-in-new-york-2018-2 Elon Musk's family once owned an emerald mine in Zambia] by Phillip de Wet (Feb 22, 2018, 02:48 PM) ''Business Insider'' (archived from December 3, 2018).</ref> (Perhaps a Dunning-Krugerrand?)

==Business ventures==
[[File:SpaceX_Crew_Dragon_(More_cropped).jpg|thumb|300px|Rendering of the SpaceX Dragon 2 reusable space capsule. The Dragon 2 comes in two variants, one for human spaceflight and the other for cargo.]]
{{cquote|Knowing what I know about the man, my conclusion is that it’s incredible that such a mediocre figure can amass such wealth, but it was ever thus.|||Darryl Cunningham, a Musk biographer<ref name=barnett/>}}
*Zip2: started in 1995 (apparently "with investments from [[New York Times|The New York Times Company]], Knight-Ridder, MDV, Softbank and the Hearst Corporation"), a company that produced city guides for newspapers, sold in 1999 to Compaq for $307 million.<ref>[https://www.xprize.org/about/people/elon-musk "Elon Musk"]. ''Xprize Foundation''.</ref>
*PayPal: long story short - in 1999 Musk (using his Zip2 cash) and a few other men founded X.com, an online bank, which subsequently merged with its competitor Confinity in March of 2000. Confinity had already developed an early version of PayPal and released it in 1999. Musk was able to become CEO of the newly merged company but because the board found him to be a total shitgibbon<ref group="note">Seriously, there were a bunch of issues. First off, he insisted on keeping the site named "X", even though consumer surveys consistently showed that people thought it was a pornographic website. Also, he insisted that the company use Microsoft framework even though the rest of the board preferred Unix. Lastly, he's kind of a jerk and they got tired of his shit.</ref> they fired him in October 2000 while he was flying to Australia for his honeymoon; he was replaced by [[Peter Thiel]]. In subsequent litigation over his firing, he was able to negotiate that he be listed as one of the founders of PayPal (which is what Confinity was renamed in 2001); despite that, as noted, he didn't find himself listed as an official founder. Additionally, because he kept his stock holdings (about 11% of the total, making him the largest shareholder), when eBay bought PayPal in 2002, he made about $180 million in the deal.
*SpaceX: started in 2002, a company that researches, develops, and manufactures spacecraft and (reusable) launch rockets,<ref group="note">If you're into space exploration, the videos of the rocket stages landing are pure nerdgasm.</ref> including development of {{wpl|Falcon Heavy|the most powerful launch vehicle currently in use}} and testing it by putting an [[advertisement]] in Earth orbit (a Tesla).<ref group=note>Which itself was a petty, douche move by Musk. When Martin Eberhard was forced out of Tesla by Musk, the subsequent settlement stipulated that when the roadsters finally came out, Eberhard would get the first one off the line. Musk instead tried to keep it for himself, and rather than hand it over, he had it shot into space; he wound up giving Eberhard the third one, which had to be rebuilt after engineers had crashed it. See [https://youtu.be/DopFo1rjAr4?t=363 Debunking Musk, Pt 2] for more details and sources.</ref> The above-mentioned Peter Thiel (who is said to have a "love-hate relationship" with Musk) was "instrumental in SpaceX's success", investing some $20 million into it via his Founders Fund in 2008, when the company was "on the rocks".<ref>Dorothy Cucci (December 2, 2022). [https://www.businessinsider.com/peter-thiel-elon-musk-relationship-contrarian-book-max-chafkin-2021-9 "Peter Thiel thinks Elon Musk is a 'fraud,' and 6 other unexpected details about the billionaires' love-hate relationship"]. ''Business Insider''.</ref><ref>Anthony Ha (August 6, 2008). [https://venturebeat.com/business/private-rocket-company-spacex-gets-20m-from-the-founders-fund/ "Private rocket company SpaceX gets $20M from The Founders Fund"]. ''VentureBeat''.</ref> Alongside Boeing, SpaceX enables [[NASA]] to send American astronauts into space on American rockets, from American soil, for the first time since the final Space Shuttle mission in 2011<ref>[https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-45060553 NASA Names Astronauts For First Commercial Flights] ''BBC News'' 3 August 2018</ref> and is also developing the most powerful space rocket yet, {{wpl|SpaceX Starship|the Starship rocket||}}. In 2023, SpaceX made a "successful" launch of the Starship rocket that resulted in what SpaceX called a "rapid unscheduled disassembly before stage separation" and destruction of the launchpad — oops!<ref>[https://www.cnn.com/2023/04/21/world/spacex-starship-explosion-success-failure-scn/index.html Was the SpaceX launch really a ‘success’?] by Jackie wattles (4:58 PM EDT, Fri April 21, 2023) ''CNN''.</ref><ref>[https://www.kiro7.com/news/trending/spacex-starship-test-flight-set-launch/V5CPUBDYI5HWNC4J6KFPQPTARQ/ ‘Rapid unscheduled disassembly’: SpaceX Starship explodes after test flight launch] by Natalie Dreier (April 20, 2023 at 12:25 pm PDT) ''KIRO''.</ref> The subsequent launch was also deemed a "success" by SpaceX<ref>[https://www.space.com/spacex-starship-second-test-flight-launch-explodes SpaceX Starship megarocket launches on 2nd-ever test flight, explodes in 'rapid unscheduled disassembly'] by Josh Dinner (November 18, 2023) ''Space''.</ref> and finally the {{wpl|Starship_flight_test_5|fifth test launch}} in 2024 saw the recovery of the Super Heavy booster, which landed in the launch tower.
:Launching rockets into space is technically difficult and risky, so there's some excuse for these failures. Workplace safety is another matter. Reuters has documented 600 workplace injuries at SpaceX, "including amputations, head wounds and one death."<ref name=taylor>[https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/spacex-musk-safety/ At SpaceX, worker injuries soar in Elon Musk’s rush to Mars] by Marisa Taylor (Nov. 10, 2023, 11 a.m. GMT) ''Reuters''.</ref><ref name=becker>''More Everything Forever: AI Overlords, Space Empires, and Silicon Valley's Crusade to Control the Fate of Humanity'' by Adam Becker (2025) Basic Books. ISBN 1541619595.</ref>{{rp|27}} According to one workplace who was fired along with several other employees for complaining about workplace conditions, "Elon’s concept that SpaceX is on this mission to go to Mars as fast as possible and save humanity permeates every part of the company. The company justifies casting aside anything that could stand in the way of accomplishing that goal, including worker safety."<ref name=taylor/>
*Tesla Motors: founded in 2003 by 
Musk
<ref>[https://www.sfchronicle.com/business/article/Does-it-matter-if-founders-run-tech-companies-13258104.php Does it matter if founders run tech companies?] ''The San Francisco Chronicle'' 26 September 2018</ref> Martin Eberhard (who was shoved out by Musk),<ref>[https://www.wired.com/2009/06/eberhard/ Tesla's Founder Sues Tesla's CEO] ''Wired'' 11 June 2009</ref> a company that designs and manufactures semi-automated electric cars.
*SolarCity: started in 2006, a company that manufactures and installs rooftop solar panels. Acquired by Tesla in 2016; its successor is Tesla Energy.
*[[Hyperloop]], announced in 2013, an idiotic and impossible rapid transit method that is basically a Maglev train inside a vacuum tube. Musk wants this to compete with conventional [[high-speed rail]].
*OpenAI: started in 2015, a nonprofit intended to generate a general artificial intelligence (and avoid [[Roko's Basilisk]]). He left OpenAI in 2018.<ref>{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=January 25, 2023 |title=OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT: What all it does, how it started and more |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/gadgets-news/openai-the-company-behind-chatgpt-what-all-it-does-how-it-started-and-more/articleshow/97297027.cms |publisher=The Times of India}}</ref>
*Neuralink: started in 2016, a company intended to produce software and devices that can interface with the human brain. As of 2022, Neuralink is being investigated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Inspector General for violations of the Animal Welfare Act.<ref name=levy>[https://www.reuters.com/technology/musks-neuralink-faces-federal-probe-employee-backlash-over-animal-tests-2022-12-05/ Exclusive: Musk’s Neuralink faces federal probe, employee backlash over animal tests] by Rachael Levy (December 5, 20225:46 PM PST) ''Reuters''.</ref> Musk has advocated both bad management practices (by telling employees to work faster by imagining a bomb strapped to their heads), and bad science practices (employees have alleged that "Neuralink launches tests in quick succession before fixing issues in earlier tests or drawing complete conclusions.")<ref name=levy/>
*Thud: started in 2018, a company intended to produce comedic/[[Satire|satirical]] articles similar to [[The Onion]], which Musk had attempted to purchase after it wrote satirical articles about him. After Musk pulled the rug out after 6 months, Thud made a muffled sound on the ground and did not come back up.<ref>[https://www.theverge.com/2019/7/2/18701197/elon-musk-thud-satire-startup-onion-launch-failure Elon Musk wanted The Onion; he got Thud] by Jacob Kastrenakes (Jul 2, 2019, 8:30am EDT) ''The Verge''.</ref>
*pravduh.com: started in 2018, a website intended to let people vote on the reliability of media sources, created after Musk received much negative media coverage in the same year.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20210817152113/https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1000080833678528512?lang=en Problem solved, was able to buy http://Pravduh.com! Game on] by Elon Musk (11:27 AM - 25 May 2018) ''Twitter'' (archived from August 17, 2021).</ref> This turned out to be a minor temper tantrum, as there's no evidence the site ever had any content.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/*/http://Pravduh.com http://Pravduh.com] ''Archive.org''.</ref> Not to be confused with [[Pravda.ru]], which actually has content of the [[Bullshit|bovine fecal]] variety.

===The Boring Company: Burn it all down===
[[File:The Boring Company Logo.svg|thumb|right|250px|Yawn!]]
The Boring Company (TBC), started in 2016, a company intended to reduce the cost of boring tunnels. This could come in handy if the Hyperloop manages to defy reality itself. In 2018, it was awarded a contract to provide an express train service from the O'Hare International Airport to downtown Chicago, scheduled to open in 2021.<ref>[https://apnews.com/6bd17bc052f54214bd19e0540d1bc112 The Latest: Musk Says O’Hare Express Line Could Open in 2021] ''Associated Press News'' 14 June 2018</ref>{{efn|At present, the Chicago Transit Authority's Blue Line connects O'Hare to downtown. Each train can carry upwards of 600 people and travel at a maximum speed of 50 mph. Musk's express service trains can only carry up to 16 passengers but can reach up to 150 mph. Furthermore, it takes around 45 minutes on the Blue but only 12 on the Express Line.}} By September of the same year, however, nothing has been done, and the future of the project remains in doubt.<ref>[http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-biz-ohare-expansion-20180904-story.html Rahm Emanuel wanted to expand O’Hare airport and partner with Elon Musk on high-speed rail. Now what?] ''Chicago Tribune'' 4 September 2018</ref>{{efn|There is, however, an alternative proposal that requires only mature technologies, namely the Chicago Crossrail.<ref>[https://www.midwesthsr.org/crossrail-chicago Chicago Crossrail] ''High Speed Rail Alliance''.</ref>}} So far, the Boring Company is not very exciting.<ref>Kiel Porter, [https://archive.ph/4DZJw Elon Musk’s Boring Co. Is Turning Into a $900 Million Flop]. Archived from ''Bloomberg'', 31 July 2025.</ref>

As of 2023, 5 TBC projects were cancelled or moribund (Baltimore-[[District of Columbia|Washington]] Loop, [[Chicago]], [[Illinois]], Los Angeles and San Jose, [[California]], and Sydney area, [[Australia]]). Only one short demonstration tunnel had been completed (Las Vegas, [[Nevada]]). It almost immediately ran into issues as its Tesla vehicles encountered traffic jams—almost as if [[automobile|cars]] are not the solution to traffic.<ref>[https://mashable.com/article/ces-las-vegas-boring-tunnel-tesla-traffic Oh look, it's a Tesla traffic jam in Las Vegas' Boring Company tunnel], ''Mashable'', January 6 2022.</ref>

In 2018, attempting to make Boring exciting again, Boring began manufacturing flamethrowers, selling 20,000 flamethrowers by subscription. At the time, California was experiencing its worst wildfire season up to that point, so Musk was seriously pissing off government officials and private citizens.<ref name=gibbs>[https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/feb/01/elon-musk-sells-out-boring-company-flamethrowers-fire Elon Musk sells all 20,000 Boring Company 'flamethrowers': Stunt generates $10m for billionaire’s personal hobby despite warnings from Home Office and US politicians] by Samuel Gibbs (1 Feb 2018 05.58 EST) ''The Guardian''.</ref> Both UK and California government officials warned Musk that it was generally illegal to own flamethrowers in both jurisdictions.<ref name=gibbs/>

===Tesla Motors===
[[File:TeslaLogo.png|thumb|165px|Either the logo of the most valuable car manufacturer in history or the drawing of a uterus]]
[[File:Mtn view tesla scene graphic (28773524958).jpg|thumb|right|165px|Advanced driver assistance features]]
{{cquote|Elon seems like one of the classic comedic showmen. Everything he does is a comedic bit. He’s always trying to get a laugh, that’s why he makes all his cars suicidal. Just watching everything burn, it’s entertaining, that’s for sure.|||@dril<ref>[https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/11/22/dril-musk-twitter-future/ Twitter king Dril on Musk’s chaotic reign: The ‘patron saint of the internet’ tells The Post he’ll never pay for verification but will learn to code if Musk offers him a job] by Taylor Lorenz (November 23, 2022 at 5:00 a.m. EST) ''The Washington Post''.</ref>}}
{{cquote|If the manufacturer isn’t going to take safety seriously, it is up to the federal government to make sure that they are standing up for others to ensure safety, safety does not seem to be the priority when it comes to Tesla.|||Jennifer Homendy, chair of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) explaining why Musk hates regulations<ref>[https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2023/12/10/tesla-autopilot-crash Tesla drivers run Autopilot where it’s not intended — with deadly consequences: At least eight fatal or serious Tesla crashes occurred on roads where Autopilot should not have been enabled in the first place, a Post analysis finds, in spite of federal officials calling for restrictions] by Trisha Thadani et al. (December 10, 2023 at 6:00 a.m. EST) ''The Washington Post''.</ref>}}
'''Tesla Motors''' is a car company figure-headed by Elon Musk. It is famous for being the only company with a commercially available car floating in space. It makes "eco-friendly" electric cars, which made the news for catching fire with toxic smoke and hard-to-extinguish flames.<ref>[https://www.nbcnews.com/business/autos/tesla-under-fire-after-explosive-crash-n722541 Tesla Under Fire After Explosive Crash: In the wake of an explosive crash involving a Model S, the question arises as to whether Tesla’s battery technology is inherently safe.] by Paul A. Eisenstein (Feb. 18, 2017) ''NBC News''.</ref><ref>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-44511200 Tesla on fire: UK director Michael Morris' car bursts into flames] (17<sup>th</sup> June 2018, 02:54 PDT) ''BBC''.</ref> As it turns out though, while Teslas caught fire, they did so at a ''much'' lower rate than the cars relying on tiny controlled explosions of extremely flammable hydrocarbons.<ref>[https://insideevs.com/news/501729/number-tesla-vehicle-fires-2020/ Teslas catch fire at 1/10th the rate of regular cars] by Mark Kane (Apr 18, 2021 at 7:46am ET) ''Inside EVs''.</ref> However, putting out lithium battery fires is ''far'' more difficult than putting out internal combustion car fires, sometimes requiring over 20,000 gallons of water.<ref>[https://sfist.com/2021/06/22/as-tesla-fires-require-outlandish-volumes-of-water-to-extinguish-firefighters-grapple-with-ev-batteries/ Due to Those Batteries, Tesla Car Fires Require Outlandish Volumes of Water to Extinguish] by Joe Kukura (22 June 2021) ''SFist''.</ref> Tesla also makes cars that can drive themselves, but they seem to have a habit of crashing while doing so.<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/may/14/tesla-crash-utah-driver-autopilot-mode-elon-musk Tesla driver says car was in autopilot when it crashed at 60mph: Driver of Model S, which failed to stop at a red light and collided with a firetruck in Utah, told investigators she was using the semi-autonomous system] by Sam Levin (14 May 2018 19.24 EDT) ''The Guardian''.</ref>

Following the introduction of the "Autopilot" (advanced driver assistance) feature on Teslas in June 2022, there have been 17 fatalities, 736 crashes involving Teslas with the feature enabled.<ref name=siddiqui>[https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2023/06/10/tesla-autopilot-crashes-elon-musk/ 17 fatalities, 736 crashes: The shocking toll of Tesla’s Autopilot: Tesla’s driver-assistance system, known as Autopilot, has been involved in far more crashes than previously reported] by Faiz Siddiqui & Jeremy B. Merrill (June 10, 2023 at 7:00 a.m. EDT) ''The Washington Post''.</ref> This number of Tesla crashes is far more than all other vehicles with driver assistance combined.<ref name=siddiqui/> National Highway Traffic Safety Administration senior safety adviser Missy Cummings has said that the number of fatalities per crash for Teslas has also been a concern.<ref name=siddiqui/> Musk's "decisions&nbsp;— such as widely expanding the availability of the features and stripping the vehicles of radar sensors&nbsp;— appear to have contributed to the reported uptick in incidents".<ref name=siddiqui/>

====Coins for cars====
In late 2020, Tesla hinted that they would begin accepting Bitcoin for cars, which sent the already overpriced Bitcoin even higher.  In early 2021, Tesla bought $1.5 billion in Bitcoin,<ref>[https://markets.businessinsider.com/currencies/news/tesla-bitcoin-gains-bigger-than-car-sale-revenue-report-2021-2-1030103815 Tesla's bitcoin investment reportedly made more profit this year than car sales in the whole of 2020] by Theo Golden (Feb 20, 2021, 1:02 PM PST) ''Business Insider''.</ref> and then in March made the actual announcement they'd sell cars in Bitcoin.  Bitcoin skyrocketed even further, making Tesla's Bitcoins even more valuable.  Then Tesla began selling off their Bitcoins,<ref>[https://www.coindesk.com/tesla-sold-bitcoin-in-q1-for-proceeds-of-272m Elon Musk's Tesla Sold Bitcoin in Q1 for Proceeds of $272M: Elon Musk's electric vehicle company purchased $1.5 billion in BTC in February.] by Nate DiCamillo (Apr 26, 2021 at 1:23 p.m. PDT; Updated May 8, 2023 at 8:18 p.m. PDT) ''CoinDesk''.</ref> which Musk loudly insists didn't happen,<ref>[https://www.cnbc.com/2021/05/16/elon-musk-suggests-tesla-is-dumping-bitcoin.html Elon Musk clarifies that ‘Tesla has not sold any Bitcoin’] by Jessica Bursztynsky (May 17 20215:48 AM EDT) ''CNBC''.</ref> just before refusing to accept Bitcoin for their cars in May 2021.<ref>[https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a36434628/tesla-bitcoin-wont-accept Tesla Backtracked on Accepting Bitcoin, but There Are Car Dealers That Take It] by Clifford Atiyeh (May 16, 2021) ''Car and Driver''.</ref><ref>[https://www.bbc.com/news/business-57096305 Tesla will no longer accept Bitcoin over climate concerns, says Musk] (13<sup>th</sup> May 2021, 01:56 PDT) ''BBC''.</ref>  Strategic business misstep or pump-and-dump scheme?  You decide.

But there's another explanation that doesn't involve insider trading or market manipulation.  During those two months, numerous problems with Bitcoin purchases became apparent, at least for the consumer.  To purchase a Tesla, you had to place a deposit of $2500 or equivalent value in Bitcoin.  If you cancelled before the car was made you got a refund, but if the deposit was made in Bitcoin, Tesla Inc. got to choose whether to pay you Bitcoins or cash.  I.e., if Bitcoin went down, you got Bitcoin, but if it went up, you got cash.  The US also has "lemon laws" for defective cars, colloquially known as "lemons", where you can be compensated if the manufacturer gives you a lemon.  But if you paid for your car in Bitcoin, you guessed it, Tesla could compensate you in whichever currency was worth less.<ref>[https://www.coindesk.com/buy-tesla-bitcoin-lemon-refund You're a Lemon if You Buy a Tesla With Bitcoin] by JP Koning (Mar 29, 2021 at 4:59 a.m. PDT; Updated May 8, 2023 at 8:17 p.m. PDT) ''Coindesk''.</ref> Purchasing itself was a hassle; when given a quote, you had 30 minutes to complete the purchase or you would have to get a new quote.<ref>[https://www.coindesk.com/tesla-bitcoin-payment coindesk]</ref>  This was because of Bitcoin's notoriously volatile price, as otherwise the purchaser could change their mind as Bitcoin fluctuated.  Most charitably, this whole debacle was a miserable experience for everyone involved, and not the image that Musk wants for Tesla.

====Cybertruck====
[[File:Tesla Cybertruck damaged window.jpg|thumb|right|165px|The Cybertruck 2019 prototype introduction in 2019 with its shattered "bulletproof" window]]
[[File:Casspir MRAP.png|thumb|right|165px|The South African Casspir]]
The Cybertruck was introduced in 2023. Its design was initially highly divisive because of its sharp, obtusely angled exterior. The truck was the first production vehicle that Musk himself had ever designed. The overall design was so divisive in fact that Tesla's own engineers secretly planned an alternative design to it.<ref name=adarlo>[https://futurism.com/the-byte/tesla-engineers-cybertruck-secret-design Tesla Engineers Hated the Cybertruck So Much They Started Secretly Designing an Alternative] by Sharon Adarlo (9.13.23, 2:01 PM EDT) ''Futurism''.</ref> The production of the trucks was subsequently plagued by flaws: misalignment of doors, a stainless steel exterior prone to rust, an [[aluminum]] underbody that is prone to bend and break under heavy strain, poorly-secured exterior panels that fall off without warning because they are only secured with glue, a "frunk" (front panel) so sharp that it could cut off a finger et cetera.<ref name=adarlo/><ref>[https://www.roadandtrack.com/news/a63857202/tesla-cybertruck-losing-body-panels-reports/ Some Cybertruck Owners Say Their Trucks Are Shedding Body Panels; One Thinks He Knows Why] by Fred Smith (Feb 21, 2025 11:56 AM EST) ''Road and Track''.</ref><ref name=charnock>[https://underscoresf.com/deadliest-tesla-cybertuck-crash-yet-highlights-cars-horrifying-safety-concerns/ Deadliest Tesla Cybertuck Crash Yet Highlights Car’s ‘Horrifying’ Safety Concerns] by Matt Charnock (November 27, 2024) ''Underscore_SF''.</ref><ref name=lawrence>[https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-interactive/2025/may/14/tesla-cybertruck-durability-elon-musk The Cybertruck was supposed to be apocalypse-proof. Can it even survive a trip to the grocery store?] by Andrew Lawrence (14 May 2025 13.10 EDT) ''The Guardian''.</ref> The design has been derogatively compared to the Casspir, a troop transport vehicle from Musk's natal Apartheid South Africa.<ref>[https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2025/03/tesla-cybertruck-protests-vandalism-elon-musk.html Elon Musk Wanted the Cybertruck to Look Like “the Future.” But It Reminds Us of One Particular Past. The story of the Casspir, which patrolled townships in South Africa when the Tesla CEO was a boy.] by Vivian Chenxue Lu & Nana Osei-Opare (March 15, 2025 10:00 AM) ''Slate''.</ref> Despite the proneness of the underbody to deform, the truck itself was unlike other modern vehicles designed not to deform in a crash, resulting in the [[UK]], [[EU]] and [[China]] banning the vehicle from their countries.<ref name=lawrence/> The idea of deformation (or crumple) zones on vehicles to protect passengers during crashes was patented in 1937, but did not become commonplace until the 1960s.<ref>{{wpa|Crumple zone}}</ref><ref>[https://roadsafetyfacts.eu/road-safety-what-progress-has-been-made/ Road safety: what progress has been made?] ''Road Safety Facts.EU''.</ref> Musk basically threw the idea of passenger safety out the window with his Cybertruck design.

After Trump's second inauguration in 2025, Musk's reputation turned to total shit due to his Trump-appointed task of destroying the US federal government. The truck was initially touted by Musk as being able to survive the apocalypse ("Here at Tesla, we have the best in apocalypse technology."), yet the presumptive target buyers, [[prepper]]s, have largely rejected it for its design flaws and its inability to function well off-road.<ref name=lawrence/>

The infamy of Musk and the Cybertruck has led to many nicknames for the truck, including "refrigerator on wheels",<ref name=charnock/> [[Swastika|Swasticar]],<ref>[https://www.newsweek.com/tesla-cybertruck-swastika-defaced-wall-street-elon-musk-vandalism-nazi-2035135 Tesla Cybertruck Defaced With Swastika by Wall Street] by Marni Rose McFall  (Feb 24, 2025) ''Newsweek''.</ref> [[Incel]] Camino, ClusterTruck, CyberDump, and FyreTruck<ref>[https://www.autoblog.com/features/our-6-favorite-nicknames-for-the-tesla-cybertruck Our 6 favorite nicknames for the Tesla Cybertruck] by Nate Swanner (Jan 31, 2025 10:00 PM EST) ''Autoblog''.</ref>{{efn|FyreTruck is both a reference to Cybertruck fires and the fraudulent and disastrous {{wpl|Fyre Festival||.}}}}

====Uh, when did you buy that Tesla?====
Starting in late 2024, when Musk went full MAGA to help Trump's second election, some Tesla buyers starting having remorse about their purchases by putting magnetic decals on their Tesla bumpers to discourage vandalism. One popular decal states, "I bought this before Elon went crazy."<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/11/style/tesla-bumper-stickers.html For Tesla Owners, a Referendum Through Bumper Stickers: As Elon Musk has become a key player in President-elect Donald J. Trump’s world, Tesla owners are marking their cars to signify where they stand — for or against.] by Eve Peyser (Dec. 11, 2024) ''The New York Times''.</ref> So, when did Musk go crazy and did most Tesla purchases occur? As of mid-2025, the [[median]] number of Tesla sales occurred just after the end of 2022 (47%), and the first significant sales of Teslas started in 2016 (1%).<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20250710173347/https://www.statista.com/statistics/502208/tesla-quarterly-vehicle-deliveries/ Number of Tesla vehicles delivered worldwide from 1st quarter 2016 to 1st quarter 2025] ''Statista'' (archived from July 10, 2025).</ref> So when did Musk's "crazy" behavior begin?
{{collist|2|
'''2018''': <18% of 2025 Tesla owners purchased on or before this year<BR>
2018: Musk accused by the SEC of manipulating Tesla stock prices<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20250426041717/https://www.sec.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2018-219 Elon Musk Charged With Securities Fraud for Misleading Tweets] (Sept. 27, 2018) ''U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission'' (archived from April 26, 2025).</ref><BR>
'''2019''':  <11% of 2025 Tesla owners purchased on or before this year<BR>
2018-2019: Musk's "pedo guy" defamation lawsuit<ref name=levin/><BR>
'''2020''': <18% of 2025 Tesla owners purchased on or before this year<BR>
2020: Musk fired Tesla workers for staying home during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, before vaccines were widely available<ref>[https://archive.ph/Ghc48 Tesla gave workers permission to stay home rather than risk getting covid-19. Then it sent termination notices. A day before their employment was threatened, two workers had spoken publicly of their concerns about conditions inside a plant] by Faiz Siddiqui (June 25, 2020 at 11:00 a.m. UTC) ''The Washington Post'' (archived from 26 Jun 2020 15:13:38 UTC).</ref><BR>
'''2021''': <30% of 2025 Tesla owners purchased on or before this year<BR>
2021: Musk spoke out against government subsidies, but only after his companies received billions in government subsidies<ref>[https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-list-government-subsidies-tesla-billions-spacex-solarcity-2021-12 Elon Musk is speaking out against government subsidies. Here's a list of the billions of dollars his businesses have received.] by Jason Lalljee (Dec 15, 2021, 1:30 PM UTC) ''Business Insider''.</ref><BR>
'''2022''': <48% of 2025 Tesla owners purchased on or before this year<BR>
2022: Musk compared [[Nazi analogies|Justin Trudeau to Hitler]]<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2022/feb/17/elon-musk-criticised-for-comparing-justin-trudeau-to-adolf-hitler-tweet-auschwitz Elon Musk criticised for likening Justin Trudeau to Adolf Hitler in tweet: Auschwitz museum says using photo of dictator is exploitative and ‘disrespects memory of all victims’] by Rupert Neate (17 Feb 2022 14.19 EST) ''The Guardian''.</ref>
2022: Musk purchased Twitter in October, antisemitic and racist tweets increased massively within 24 hours of the purchase<ref>[https://theweek.com/elon-musk/1022182/elon-musks-most-controversial-moments A running list of Elon Musk's biggest controversies] by Justin Klawans (June 11, 2025) ''The Week''.</ref> In December, Musk eliminated Twitter's Trust and Safety Council<ref>[https://www.npr.org/2022/12/12/1142399312/twitter-trust-and-safety-council-elon-musk Musk's Twitter has dissolved its Trust and Safety Council] (December 12, 20229:59 PM ET) ''Associated Press'' via ''NPR''.</ref>
}}

===Twitter===
Musk purchased Twitter for $44 billion on October 28, 2022,<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/27/technology/elon-musk-twitter-deal-complete.html Elon Musk Completes $44 Billion Deal to Own Twitter] by Kate Conger and Lauren Hirsch (28 October 2022) ''The New York Times''.</ref> after first engaging in the deal, then backing out, then going to court, and then reversing course and forking over the cash. It might be an elaborate ploy to make money out of Twitter (somehow) or serve other interests, but even as a libertarian it is hard to believe he cares about 'anything goes' [[free speech]]. In any case the whole process has been fraught with his typical attention seeking derp behaviour, highly manipulative tactics, and weird and douchey tweets/comments including personal attacks on well known figures. He claims there will still be moderation, so we're not sure what that means for "protecting free speech". Predictably, his adoring fans have eaten up everything he has done so far, praising every move he has made as "genius" and believing that Musk actually cares about anyone but himself. 

As for how the site is post-acquisition, it's gone about as well as you'd expect.<ref>[https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/10/28/musk-twitter-racist-posts/ "Racist tweets quickly surface after Musk closes Twitter deal",] ''The Washington Post'' 28 October 2022.</ref> In a short time, he's fired the CEO, CFO and CLO,<ref>[https://abcnews.go.com/Business/elon-musk-closes-deal-acquire-twitter-reports/story?id=92122221 "Elon Musk closes deal to acquire Twitter, fires top executives: Source",] ''ABC News'' 28 October 2022.</ref> and [https://knowyourmeme.com/photos/2467456-elon-musks-twitter-acquisition this] happened. Not great, to say the least. 

====Trashing Twitter's verification system====
Shortly after the acquisition, Musk used his genius skills to roll out a plan to supposedly shore up Twitter's revenue, by allowing ''anyone'' to get a "verified" check mark simply by paying $8 a month. Previously, this check mark was only available to public personalities in order to help distinguish Twitter accounts actually run by a public person, instead of being one of the many parody and troll accounts that run rampant on that social network.<ref>[https://www.huffpost.com/entry/twitter-verified-accounts_b_2863282 "Why Twitter Verifies Users: The History Behind the Blue Checkmark"] by Craig Kanalley, Huffington Post, 2013 March 12</ref> Predictably, by changing the requirements to only a small cash payment, this allowed for trolls to easily create fake "official" Twitter accounts for shitposting... such as {{wpl|Nintendo|"Official" Nintendo}} tweeting a picture of {{wpl|Mario|Mario}} giving the middle finger, "official" professional sports players "announcing" fake trades, and "official" accounts of [[Tony Blair]] and [[George W. Bush]] musing on how they "miss killing Iraqis".<ref>[https://www.theverge.com/2022/11/9/23450289/twitter-impersonators-official-mario-musk-jesus-valve "Mario flipped off Twitter for nearly two hours with the blessing of Musk’s ‘verification’"] by Sean Hollister, The Verge, 2022 November 9</ref><ref>[https://techcrunch.com/2022/11/09/fake-twitter-blue-check-lebron-musk/ "Fake Twitter accounts flock to blue check mark chaos"] by Taylor Hatmaker, Techcrunch, 2022 November 9</ref><ref>[https://www.thenational.scot/news/23114671.twitter-chaos-blue-tick-tony-blair-george-bush-iraq-posts/ "Twitter chaos over blue-tick 'Tony Blair' and 'George Bush' Iraq posts"] by Xander Elliards, The National, 2022 November 10</ref> Unsurprisingly, some of those impersonating celebrities went beyond shitposting to promote [[cryptocurrency]] scams.<ref name="timeimpersonators">[https://time.com/6229960/twitter-bans-accounts-elon-musk-impersonators/ "Twitter Bans Accounts Mocking 'Free Speech Absolutist' Elon Musk"] by Billy Perrigo, Time, 2022 November 7</ref>

Musk, who previously tweeted that "comedy is now legal on Twitter" after purchasing the company (in reference to—before he bought the company—the [[Babylon Bee]] getting suspended from Twitter for [[transphobia]]),<ref>[https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2022/11/07/elon-musk-twitter-comedy/ "Elon Musk’s Twitter is a safe space for bros who think they’re funny"] by Monica Hesse, Washington Post, 2022 November 7</ref> used his "free speech absolutist" principles to permaban the impersonation accounts off the platform.<ref>[https://apnews.com/article/elon-musk-twitter-impersonators-ban-6c5cc834a38a29a6fb38e4a85441a3a1 "Musk threatens to boot Twitter account impersonators"] by Frank Bajak, AP News, 2022 November 7</ref> Consequently, an especially popular permaban speedrun during this period, particularly among comedians and Internet personalities, was for people with already verified accounts to rename themselves as Elon Musk and start trolling the "Chief Twit".<ref name="timeimpersonators"/><ref>[https://www.theverge.com/2022/11/6/23443871/elon-musk-twitter-permaban-impersonation-parody "Elon Musk’s response to fake verified Elon Twitter accounts: a new permanent ban policy for impersonation"] by Richard Lawler, The Verge, 2022 November 6</ref>

In late March 2023, Musk once again announced that beginning April 1 2023, Twitter will start removing "legacy verified checkmarks" in favor of a system where users and organizations pay for "verified" checkmarks ($8-$11 a month for users and $12,000 a year for organizations), though purportedly there were exemptions for the top 10,000 organizations by follower count. Predictably, most people balked, feeling that there was no value in a system where "verified" only means that one has given Musk money.<ref>[https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/elon-musk-twitter-blue-check-rcna77603 "It looks like Elon Musk played himself with Twitter Blue"] by Zeeshan Aleem, MSNBC, 2023 March 31</ref><ref>[https://www.theverge.com/2023/3/31/23664923/twitter-verification-for-organizations-free-for-most-followed "Twitter’s $1,000 checkmark will be free for the 10,000 most-followed companies"]</ref><ref>[https://apnews.com/article/elon-musk-twitter-blue-check-marks-2a9fbe4ea805763f50d4de2c417ce4ff "Twitter celebs balk at paying Elon Musk for blue check mark"] by Matt O'Brien, AP News, 2023 March 27</ref> As April 1st passed, it was clear that whether or not the check was removed was haphazard and entirely on Musk's whims; while many people's verified check marks stayed, in a sign of his continued hostility to American media (and his tendency to break promises), the one notable verified checkmark he took away was from the Twitter account of the [[New York Times]].<ref>[https://apnews.com/article/twitter-blue-check-elon-musk-5b3d64e23ae21572ada42a0110e27c5e "What’s happening with Twitter blue check marks?"] by Matt O'Brien, AP News, 2023 April 3</ref>

Evidently, the checkmark purge had been set back about three weeks. On April 20, 2023, the remaining nonpaying verified users began losing their checkmarks... for the most part.<ref name="FriedFish">Sara Fischer and Ina Fried (April 21, 2023). [https://www.axios.com/2023/04/21/musk-twitter-blue-checks-verification-celebrities-free "Musk takes away blue checks, Twitter shrugs"]. ''Axios''.</ref> Things went just swell after that. Imposter accounts immediately flooded the site, including imposters for government agencies who immediately began shitposting misinformation.<ref>Lauren Sforza (April 21, 2023). [https://thehill.com/policy/technology/3963163-blue-check-chaos-twitter-policy-spurs-confusion-and-scramble-to-prove-authenticity/ "Blue check chaos: Twitter policy spurs confusion and scramble to prove authenticity"]. ''The Hill''.</ref><ref>Nicole Carpenter (April 21, 2023). [https://www.polygon.com/23693433/twitter-blue-check-stephen-king-lebron-james-elon-musk "Twitter's de-verification debacle, explained"]. ''Polygon''.</ref><ref>[https://apnews.com/article/twitter-elon-musk-blue-checkmark-celebrities-544cfd66ed3a62f51a8a80c20e11ac5b "Confusion as Musk’s Twitter yanks blue checks from agencies"] by Matt O'Brien and Kathleen Foody, Associated Press, 2023 April 21</ref> [[IRS]] accounts lost verification, opening the door to potential [[scam]]s.<ref>Daysia Tolentino (April 21, 2023). [https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/fake-accounts-pop-twitter-legacy-blue-check-removals-rcna80833 "Fake accounts pop up on Twitter following legacy blue check removals"]. ''NBC News''.</ref> The attempt to monetize legacy verified users didn't work very well. Twitter only saw a net increase of 28 paid subscriptions among them in the first day (or about 400, according to a separate claim).<ref name="AMere28Independent">Ariana Baio (April 22, 2023). [https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/twitter-elon-musk-blue-check-accounts-b2324909.html "Only 28 legacy verified users signed up for Twitter Blue hours after Elon Musk took away their checkmarks"]. ''The Independent''.</ref><ref>Chance Townsend (April 22, 2023). [https://mashable.com/article/twitter-blue-28-signups "Twitter Blue nets 28 signups so far since legacy checkmark purge"]. ''Mashable''.</ref><ref>Kari Paul (April 22, 2023). [https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2023/apr/21/elon-musk-twitter-blue-rollout "Fake accounts, chaos and few sign-ups: the first day of Twitter Blue was messy"]. ''The Guardian''.</ref> Two days in, the net signups had risen to about 700 (about $5,600 in profit).<ref name="AMere28Independent"/> That's out of around 300,000 legacy verified users.<ref>Barbara Ortutay (April 21, 2023). [https://apnews.com/article/twitter-blue-check-marks-elon-musk-pay-celebrities-c8bc4520e7e739ca3c5376817ab82b25 "Twitter begins removing blue checks from users who don't pay"]. ''The Associated Press''.</ref> Some of those new subscriptions (at least three) were personally paid for by Musk himself.<ref name="FriedFish"/><ref name="AMere28Independent"/> Bizarrely (considering Twitter's trouble with advertisers), Musk also started demanding that any business not spending $1000 a month on Twitter needed to subscribe in order to run advertisements on the platform.<ref>[https://gizmodo.com/elon-musk-twitter-blue-advertisers-required-1850361922 "Twitter Demands Advertisers Pay for a Blue Check or Spend $1,000 a Month"] by Thomas Germain, Gizmodo, 2023 April 21</ref> Let us know how that ultimatum works out for you.

In fact, several prominent Twitter users responded to Musk's move by announcing that they intended to block every single Twitter Blue subscriber, due to a perceived low quality content and higher prevalence of [[trolls]], [[cryptocurrency|crypto]]-bros, Musk sycophants, and scammers in that group.<ref>[https://mashable.com/article/block-the-blue-twitter-campaign-dril "Dril and other Twitter power users begin campaign to 'Block the Blue' paid checkmarks"] by Matt Binder, Mashable, 2023 April 21</ref><ref>[https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2023/04/22/block-the-blue-twitter-verified/ "Twitter users #BlockTheBlue as ‘verified’ accounts take on new meaning"] by Kelsey Ables, Washington Post, 2023 April 22</ref> Musk managed to turn Twitter verification into a "digital dunce cap", as one ''Forbes'' writer put it, adding: "It's honestly shocking to see the blue checkmark become so hated so quickly. There may not be anything like it in the relatively short history of social media." But Musk wasn't finished. He retaliated with seemingly-mandatory verification for his detractors. For one case — {{wpl|dril}} (a popular shitposting account) — Twitter repeatedly added the checkmark, and dril repeatedly removed it.<ref>Matt Novak (April 22, 2023). [https://www.forbes.com/sites/mattnovak/2023/04/22/elon-musk-made-the-twitter-checkmark-a-digital-dunce-cap/ "Elon Musk Made The Twitter Checkmark A Digital Dunce Cap"]. ''Forbes''.</ref><ref>William Hughes (April 22, 2023). [https://www.avclub.com/celebrities-now-working-to-remove-their-apparently-mand-1850366148 "Celebrities, including dril, now working to remove their apparently mandatory Twitter checkmarks"]. ''The A.V. Club''.</ref> So apparently "spite checkmarks" are a thing now.<ref>Mike Pearl (April 22, 2023). [https://mashable.com/article/twitter-verifies-dril-mashable-block-the-blue "Twitter gives dril a spite checkmark"]. ''Mashable''.</ref> Ultimately, Twitter provided "complimentary" paid verification to anyone with over a million followers. Including dead people.<ref>Althea Legaspi (April 22, 2023). [https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/twitter-blue-badges-added-to-celebrity-accounts-without-subscription-1234722041/ "Twitter Users With a Million Followers Are Getting 'Paid' Blue Checks, Like It or Not"]. ''Rolling Stone''.</ref><ref>Zoe Kleinman (April 23, 2023). [https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-65365366 "Twitter restores blue tick to high profile accounts"]. ''BBC News''.</ref><ref> Katherine Tangalakis-Lippert (April 22, 2023). [https://www.businessinsider.com/twitter-blue-adding-a-verified-check-mark-to-dead-celebrities-2023-4 "Twitter is adding verified check marks to the accounts of dead celebrities, making them look like paid Twitter Blue subscribers"]. ''Business Insider''.</ref> [[John McCain]] will be happy to hear from beyond the grave that he remains verified on Twitter.

What makes this particularly hilarious is that the verification system arose out of a legal dispute circa Twitter's inception, where the company agreed that they are liable for any damages caused by impersonation. In June 2009, MLB manager Tony La Russa sued Twitter over a parody account impersonating him. That account mocked the then-manager of the St. Louis Cardinals with tweets like: “Lost 2 out of 3, but we made it out of Chicago without one drunk driving incident or dead pitcher.” <ref>[https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/tony-la-russa-twitter-lawsuit-63155/ Tony La Russa Twitter lawsuit settled.] ''The Hollywood Reporter''.</ref> While the lawsuit was settled out of court, it nevertheless was the catalyst that caused Twitter to roll out the Verified Accounts feature as it was originally implemented for more than a decade.

====Shitposters vs. advertisers====
{{cquote|Go fuck yourself. Go. Fuck. Yourself. Is that clear?|||Elon Musk's message to advertisers in late November 2023, after yet even more advertisers paused Twitter ads over a Musk [[antisemitic]] tweet.<ref>[https://www.reuters.com/technology/elon-musk-curses-out-advertisers-who-left-x-over-antisemitic-content-2023-11-29/ "Elon Musk curses out advertisers who left X over antisemitic content"] by Sheila Dang, Reuters, 2023 November 30</ref>}}
Two days after the acquisition, [[Hillary Clinton]] tweeted a condemnation of a recent assault of [[Nancy Pelosi]]'s husband. As the alleged suspect was reportedly fueled by conspiracy theories and misinformation, Clinton also accused the "Republican Party and its mouthpieces" of regularly spreading "hate and deranged conspiracy theories", linked the assault to the misinformation, and demanded accountability. Musk responded back with a tweet containing a "news article"... an article that happened to be a completely deranged, hateful conspiracy theory about Pelosi's husband from a well known [[fake news]] site,<ref>[https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-responds-hillary-clinton-paul-pelosi-attack-rumor-2022-10 "Musk responds to Clinton after she links GOP 'hate and deranged conspiracy theories' to Paul Pelosi attack"] by Katie Balevic, Business Insider, 2022 October 30</ref><ref name="HillPelosiConspiracyTheory">[https://thehill.com/homenews/house/3711430-musk-tweets-at-hillary-clinton-suggesting-conspiracy-surrounding-paul-pelosi-attack/ "Musk tweets at Hillary Clinton suggesting conspiracy surrounding Paul Pelosi attack"] by Zach Schonfeld, The Hill, 2022 October 30</ref> essentially proving Clinton's point. According to his biography by Walter Isaacson, Musk was ridiculed for the exchange by his brother and privately regretted it.<ref>Virginia Chamlee (September 11, 2023). [https://people.com/elon-musk-privately-regretted-pushing-paul-pelosi-conspiracy-book-claims-7968074 "Elon Musk Privately Said That Spreading a Paul Pelosi Attack Conspiracy Was Among His 'Dumbest Mistakes': Book"]. ''People''.</ref> In January 2023, he apologized for it.<ref>Jyoti Mann (January 29, 2023). [https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-apologizes-tweeting-baseless-paul-pelosi-conspiracy-theory-2023-1 "Elon Musk apologizes for tweeting a baseless conspiracy theory about the attack on Paul Pelosi"]. ''Business Insider''.</ref>

Although a re-evaluation of contracts is not unusual whenever leadership changes, Musk's buyout caused quite a bit more concerns than you typically see during an acquisition. Before the buyout, Musk had built up a following among the generally right-wing "shitpost" crowd due to Musk's "free speech absolutist" philosophy and, starting in the early 2020s, increasing numbers of tweets dabbling with fringe right-wing memes, including a tweet with the "[[red pill]]" meme and the use of "[[woke]]" as a [[snarl word]].<ref>[https://www.theverge.com/2020/5/18/21262407/elon-musk-red-pill-far-right-twitter-tesla-spacex "Elon Musk is playing Twitter footsie with the fringe right"] by Russell Brandom, The Verge, 2020 May 18</ref><ref>[https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-says-wading-into-politics-stop-woke-mind-virus-2022-5 "Elon Musk says he's wading into politics to stop the 'woke mind virus' from destroying civilization"]</ref> Some of these shitposters (some who have had their accounts suspended on Twitter and elsewhere for things like [[transphobia]], [[COVID-19]] misinformation, the [[Big Lie]] of [[Donald Trump]], and [[racist]] and [[homophobic]] slurs) therefore cheered when Musk bought Twitter.<ref>[https://time.com/6226238/twitter-elon-musk-right-wing-influencers-politicians-celebrate/ "As Elon Musk Buys Twitter, the Right Is Celebrating"] by Nik Popli, Time, 2022 October 28</ref> 

Advertisers, however, make up 90% of Twitter's revenue, and advertisers have long considered "brand safety" to be of utmost importance. Many companies do not want to see their advertisements placed next to any inappropriate content, which includes fake news, extremism, and hate.<ref>[https://www.bannerflow.com/blog/the-ultimate-guide-to-brand-safety/ "Brand Safety: The Ultimate Guide"], Bannerflow</ref> When even the "Chief Twit" CEO is tweeting out hateful misinformation from a fake news site, it is no surprise that many advertisers paused their spending on Twitter  shortly after the buyout in order to evaluate what direction Musk will take with Twitter's content moderation policy.<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2022/nov/03/general-mills-twitter-ads-halt-musk-takeover "General Mills latest to halt Twitter ads as Musk takeover sparks brand exodus"] by Kari Paul, Guardian, 2022 November 3</ref> In 2024, a global survey revealed that over a quarter of advertisers plan to decrease their spending on the platform over the next year, citing extreme content and the risk to their brands.<ref>Hanna Ziady, [https://lite.cnn.com/2024/09/05/business/advertisers-x-withdrawal/index.html Advertisers plan to withdraw from X in record numbers]. ''[[CNN]]'', 5 September 2024.</ref>

The fake-verified-blue-check debacle added the concerns of advertisers, as trolls not only impersonated celebrities, but also corporations. Probably the most notable corporate impersonation was a fake "official" account created to impersonate {{wpl|Eli Lilly and Company|Eli Lilly}}, which made a shitpost tweet on November 10 2022 that declared that "insulin is free now". Of further concern to companies was Twitter's slow response time to complaints that demanded that these fake accounts be taken down, largely because of Musk's massive headcount reduction in Twitter's communications department. This further pissed off advertisers, causing more of them to pause advertising due to concerns over "brand safety".<ref>[https://gizmodo.com/twitter-eli-lilly-elon-musk-insulin-1849779323 "How Much Did Twitter's Verification Chaos Cost Insulin Maker Eli Lilly and Twitter Itself?"] by Kyle Barr, Gizmodo, 2022 November 14</ref><ref>[https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/11/14/twitter-fake-eli-lilly/ "A fake tweet sparked panic at Eli Lilly and may have cost Twitter millions"] by Drew Harwell, Washington Post, 2022 November 14</ref>

Musk's initial reaction to the advertiser pause, of course, was to deflect. First, he blamed "activists" for the revenue drop (claiming "they're trying to destroy [[free speech]] in America"),<ref>[https://www.cnbc.com/2022/11/04/elon-musk-says-twitter-has-had-massive-revenue-drop.html "Elon Musk says Twitter has had ‘massive’ revenue drop as advertisers pause spending"] by Annie Palmer and Lora Kolodny, CNBC, 2022 November 4</ref> and then he threatened to "thermonuclear name & shame" advertisers who were "boycotting".<ref>[https://archive.ph/AZOfg "Thank you. A thermonuclear name & shame is exactly what will happen if this continues."], Elon Musk, Twitter, @elonmusk, 2022 November 4, archived on 2022 November 5</ref> Then he used his "free speech" principles to block a prominent marketing executive{{efn|Lou Paskalis, CEO of MMA Global, and a former senior vice president with Bank of America as an Enterprise Media Executive, among many other media leadership roles<ref>[https://www.linkedin.com/in/loupaskalis Lou Paskalis], LinkedIn page</ref>}} who questioned how brand safety can be maintained when Musk "just laid off 75% of the moderation team."<ref>[https://www.thewrap.com/elon-musk-blocked-twitter-advertiser-content-moderation/ "Elon Musk Blocks Top Marketer Who Questioned Twitter’s Retreat From Content Moderation"] by Loree Seitz, The Wrap, 2022 November 4</ref>

Musk, however, equally pissed off the shitposters by insisting that "Twitter will continue to combat hate & harassment & enforce its election integrity policies" and actually agreeing to talk with civil rights leaders.<ref>[https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/right-wingers-turning-elon-musk-moderation-1234623259/ "Right-Wingers Are Already Turning on Elon Musk"] by Nikki McCann Ramirez, Rolling Stone, 2022 November 2</ref>{{efn|Not that Musk impressed civil rights leaders much — the [[NAACP]] and other civil rights groups ended up calling for companies to boycott advertising on Twitter "until actions are taken to make (Twitter) a safe space".<ref>[https://www.engadget.com/twitter-losing-advertisers-boycott-193748977.html "Advertisers continue to flee Twitter as civil rights groups call for a boycott"] by K. Bell, Engadget, 2022 November 4</ref>}} Pissing off the shitposters further, Musk also defended and stood by Twitter's head of safety and integrity Yoel Roth,<ref>[https://www.newsweek.com/elon-musk-actions-twitter-already-angering-conservatives-1756659 "Elon Musk's Actions on Twitter Are Already Angering Conservatives"] by Giulia Carbonaro, Newsweek, 2022 November 4</ref> who was a previous target of the [[MAGA]] crowd when fact-checking labels started to be added to [[Donald Trump]]'s tweets, and old tweets made from Roth resurfaced that called Trump a "[[racist]] tangerine".<ref>[https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-twitter-employee-bias-yoel-roth-2020-5 "Trump is attacking a Twitter employee over the company's decision to fact-check him because the employee criticized Trump in past tweets"] by Aaron Holmes, Business Insider, 2020 May 28</ref>

====Musk vs. Twitter employees====
Musk, however, wasn't done pissing people off: the next step he undertook was to try to piss off Twitter's employees. On November 10 2022, Musk sent his first email to all Twitter employees as CEO. In the email, Musk warned that the "road ahead is arduous and will require intense work to succeed" and painted a bleak picture of Twitter's future. In the process, he nixed Twitter's previous generous work-from-home policy instituted during the [[COVID-19 pandemic]].<ref>[https://www.fastcompany.com/90809471/the-email-elon-musk-just-sent-to-twitter-employees-is-a-masterclass-in-how-not-to-communicate "The email Elon Musk just sent to Twitter employees is a masterclass in how not to communicate"] by Chris Stokel-Walker, FastCompany, 2022 November 10</ref> (Of course, the letter failed to mention that a significant portion of Twitter's financial woes at the time were Musk-inflicted damage, caused by Musk massively overpaying for Twitter and adding $13 billion in corporate debt, meaning Twitter was on the hook to pay $1 billion in interest payments annually.)<ref>[https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-email-ends-remote-work-twitter-staff-office-2022-11 "Read the 2:30 a.m. email Elon Musk sent to staff, his first, announcing the end of remote working at Twitter
Kate Duffy and Kali Hays 10 hours ago"] by Kate Duffy and Kali Hays, Business Insider, 2022 November 10</ref><ref name="nytimestwitecon">[https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/10/technology/elon-musk-twitter-employees.html "‘Economic Picture Ahead Is Dire,’ Elon Musk Tells Twitter Employees"] by Kate Conger, Ryan Mac, and Mike Isaac, New York Times, 2022 November 10</ref>

Multiple Twitter executives (including the aforementioned Roth) that made it past Musk's initial firings expressed confidence in the genius of Musk's plans by handing in their resignation papers that week.<ref name="nytimestwitecon"/><ref>[https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/11/10/twitter-security-resignations/ "Twitter’s content moderation head quits as departures alarm the FTC"]by Joseph Menn, Cat Zakrzewski, Faiz Siddiqui, Nitasha Tiku, and Drew Harwell, Washington Post, 2022 November 10</ref> Later that week, Musk fired multiple employees for the cardinal sin of responding to Musk's super-genius public tweets explaining how, when it came to his tweets about the technical details of Twitter, Musk had absolutely no clue what he was talking about. <ref>[https://www.engadget.com/twitter-fired-employees-called-out-elon-musk-063109091.html "Twitter fired employees who publicly called out Elon Musk"] by M. Moon, Engadget, 2022 November 15</ref>

The next week, on Wednesday November 16, Musk sent a mass email ultimatum to all employees, declaring that Twitter was shifting to an "engineer-driven operation" of whom the employees "will need to be extremely hardcore" going forward, "working long hours at high intensity". Within that email was a button asking them to commit to Musk's "hardcore" vision. Those that disagreed with Musk's genius visionary management style (e.g., seemingly a "slave-driving" {{wpl|karoshi}}-style work environment where one must also be an ass-kissing yes-man to Musk) could resign from Twitter at 5PM on Thursday November 17, with three months' severance pay.<ref>[https://www.axios.com/2022/11/16/elon-musk-twitter-memo-hardcore "Musk's "hardcore" marching orders"] by Scott Rosenberg, Axios, 2022 November 16</ref><ref>[https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/11/16/musk-twitter-email-ultimatum-termination/ "Musk issues ultimatum to staff: Commit to 'hardcore' Twitter or take severance"] by Faiz Siddiqui and Jeremy B. Merrill, Washington Post, 2022 November 16</ref> Twitter stalled and short-changed severance payments for many who took the option, later the subject of a class-action lawsuit.<ref>Vittoria Elliott and Chris Stokel-Walker(January 6, 2023). [https://www.wired.com/story/twitter-employees-severance/ "Twitter Promised Them Severance. They Got Nothing"]. ''Wired''.</ref><ref>Emma Roth (January 16, 2023). [https://www.theverge.com/2023/1/16/23557210/twitter-workers-class-action-severance-lawsuit "Laid-off Twitter workers must drop class-action severance lawsuit, judge says"]. ''The Verge''.</ref>

The result was predictable, given Musk's callous and disrespectful attitude toward his employees: a reported mass exodus, to the point where Twitter had to shut its doors on Friday November 18 in order to protect its systems and data.<ref name="cnnexodus">[https://www.cnn.com/2022/11/17/media/twitter-exodus-reliable-sources "Inside Twitter as ‘mass exodus’ of staffers throws platform’s future into uncertainty"] by Oliver Darcy, CNN, November 17</ref> Initial reports estimated the exodus to include at least 1200 full-time employees,{{efn|Out of 3700, which in itself was down from 7500 full-time employees at the end of October 2022, before Musk's initial mass layoffs}} including 96% of the "services" team and several entire departments.<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/18/technology/elon-musk-twitter-workers-quit.html "Elon Musk’s Twitter Teeters on the Edge After Another 1,200 Leave"] By Ryan Mac, Mike Isaac and Kellen Browning, New York Times, 2022 November 18</ref> The team dedicated to countering [[child sexual abuse]] on the platform was cut in half, leaving behind an "overwhelmed skeleton crew".<ref>[https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2022-11-29/elon-musk-job-cuts-decimated-twitter-team-tackling-child-sexual-abuse Job cuts by Elon Musk decimated Twitter team tackling child sexual abuse] By Olivia Solon and Jillian Deutsch, Bloomberg News (via The Los Angeles Times), 2022 November 29</ref><ref>Alexandra S. Levine and Thomas Brewster (November 18, 2022). [https://www.forbes.com/sites/alexandralevine/2022/11/18/elon-musk-twitter-csam-lawsuit/ "Elon Musk Inherited Twitter's Child Abuse Nightmare — Experts Say He's Making It Worse"]. ''Forbes''.</ref><ref> David Ingram, Lora Kolodny, and Brandy Zadrozny (December 13, 2022). [https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/elon-musk-says-can-stop-child-exploitation-twitter-far-s-axed-jobs-pus-rcna61233 "Elon Musk says he can stop child exploitation on Twitter. So far, he’s axed jobs and pushed out watchdogs."] ''NBC News''.</ref> One former Twitter executive commented that with so many employees leaving, Twitter "will struggle just to keep the lights on".<ref name="cnnexodus"/> "#RIPTwitter" became the #1 trending topic on US Twitter in reaction to this news.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20221118024639/https://twitter.com/explore/tabs/trending Twitter: United States Trends,] archived on 2022 November 18</ref><ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/17/technology/twitter-elon-musk-ftc.html "Resignations Roil Twitter as Elon Musk Tries Persuading Some Workers to Stay"] by Ryan Mac, Mike Isaac, and David McCabe, New York Times, 2022 November 17</ref>

On December 13 2022, reports emerged that Twitter was not paying any rent for the offices Musk was requiring employees to work from, and was discussing denying severance payments to the thousands of people who had been laid off since the takeover.<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/13/technology/elon-musk-twitter-shakeup.html "Musk Shakes Up Twitter’s Legal Team as He Looks to Cut More Costs"] by Ryan Mac, Mike Isaac, and Kate conger, New York Times, 2022 December 13</ref> Twitter was later sued by its landlord for allegedly failing to pay its rent.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Fung |first=Brian |date=January 3, 2023 |title=Twitter sued by landlord for allegedly failing to pay rent |work=CNN |url=https://www.cnn.com/2023/01/03/tech/twitter-landlord-lawsuit/index.html |access-date=February 7, 2023}}</ref> Twitter employees were evicted from the company's office in Singapore — noted as its headquarters for the Asia-Pacific region — for unpaid rents as well. Reportedly, this fate was set to hit about a dozen Twitter offices for the same reason.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Cao |first=Sissi |date=January 12, 2023 |title=Twitter Employees Were Evicted From Their Singapore Office Over Unpaid Rent |work=Observer |url=https://observer.com/2023/01/twitter-employees-evicted-singapore-office-rent/ |access-date=February 7, 2023}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Ladden-Hall |first=Dan |date=January 12, 2023 |title=Twitter Offices Closing Down After Not Paying Rent: Report |work=The Daily Beast |url=https://www.thedailybeast.com/twitter-offices-closing-down-after-not-paying-rent-report |access-date=February 7, 2023}}</ref> Around the same time, the company began auctioning off supplies from its offices such as coffee machines, chairs, statues, and sculptures.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Soni |first=Mallika |date=January 18, 2023 |title=Elon Musk can't pay rent? Twitter is auctioning its coffee machines |work=The Hindustan Times |url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/elon-musk-twitter-elon-musk-can-t-pay-rent-twitter-is-auctioning-its-coffee-machines-101674020911743.html |access-date=February 7, 2023}}</ref><ref>Rachel Treisman (January 18, 2023). [https://www.npr.org/2023/01/18/1149731084/twitter-office-supplies-auction-online "Twitter auctioned off office supplies, including a pizza oven and neon bird sign"]. NPR.</ref>

In early February 2023, around the time a major global outage occurred on the platform,{{efn|Reportedly this outage was caused by an employee who had deleted data for an internal service. The team that originally managed this service had left the company in November.<ref name="platformerfired">[https://www.platformer.news/p/elon-musk-fires-a-top-twitter-engineer "Elon Musk fires a top Twitter engineer over his declining view count"] by Zoë Schiffer and Casey Newton, Platformer, 2023 February 9</ref>}} Twitter also managed to piss off developers of third-party clients, maintainers of non-nefarious bots, celebrities that use tools for social media management, social media researchers, and more by announcing that third-party access to the Twitter API   that made this third-party ecosystem possible would no longer be free for ''anyone.''<ref>[https://www.engadget.com/twitter-shutting-off-free-api-prepare-174340770.html "Twitter is shutting down its free API, here's what's going to break"] by Karissa Bell, Engadget, 2023 February 8</ref><ref>[https://www.polygon.com/23591537/twitter-api-change-tweetbot-fandom-harassment-elon-musk "Twitter’s API changes could spell harassment for fan accounts"] by Allegra Rosenberg, Polygon, 2023 February 8</ref> Meanwhile, in a sign of Musk's continuing [[Egotheism|god complex]], a report emerged around that time that Musk fired an engineer simply for suggesting that his declining engagement numbers on the platform were simply because public interest in his shitshow was waning.<ref name="platformerfired"/> This revelation also resulted in Musk ordering a change to Twitter's "ranked timeline" that ensured that Musk's tweets were heavily promoted, whether you liked it or not.<ref>[https://www.theverge.com/2023/2/14/23600358/elon-musk-tweets-algorithm-changes-twitter "Yes, Elon Musk created a special system for showing you all his tweets first"] by Zoe Schiffer and Casey Newton, Verge, 2023 February 14</ref>  

The company shed more employees in February 2023, leaving Twitter with a little less than 2,000 employees (down from around 7,500 in October 2022).<ref>Kate Conger, Ryan Mac and Mike Isaac (February 26, 2023). [https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/26/technology/twitter-layoffs.html "In Latest Round of Job Cuts, Twitter Is Said to Lay Off at Least 200 Employees"]. ''The New York Times''. [https://archive.ph/l7hAz (Archived)].</ref> In the same month, according to {{wpl|Netblocks||,}} Twitter had four outages; in addition, researchers and users were noticing more bugs popping up that affected Twitter's usability. On March 6th, yet another major site-wide outage was reported. (According to Netblocks, Twitter only had nine outages in the entire year of 2022).<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/28/technology/twitter-outages-elon-musk.html "‘Sometimes Things Break’: Twitter Outages Are on the Rise"] by Ryan Mac, Mike Isaac, and Kate Conger, New York Times, 2023 Feburary 28</ref><ref>[https://www.techradar.com/news/twitters-latest-meltdown-proves-elon-musk-is-still-doing-it-wrong "Twitter's latest meltdown proves Elon Musk is still doing it wrong"] by Lance Ulanoff, Techradar, 2023 March 6</ref> 

On March 7 2023, Musk received widespread criticism for bullying and mocking {{wpl|Haraldur Ingi Þorleifsson||,}} an entrepreneur who founded a prominent web design company called ''Ueno'' whose company Twitter acquired in 2021.<ref>[https://techcrunch.com/2021/01/06/twitter-acquihires-creative-agency-ueno-to-help-design-new-products/ "Twitter acqui-hires creative agency Ueno to help design new products"] by Sarah Perez, TechCrunch, 2021 January 6</ref> Þorleifsson was also disabled and a wheelchair user, having {{wpl|muscular dystrophy||.}} Reportedly Þorleifsson was fired from Twitter during the February layoffs, but received no email confirmations about the termination, merely noticing that he was locked out of his Twitter account. So he appealed to Musk directly on Twitter to determine whether he had been sacked. Musk callously responded with multiple tweets with shitpost memes as well as claims that "this guy (who is independently wealthy) did no actual work", along with a questioning of Þorleifsson's disability, calling it an "excuse". (Surprisingly, Musk issued a rare apology for the extremely unprofessional, possibly litigable behavior a few hours afterwards.)<ref>[https://fortune.com/2023/03/07/elon-musk-apology-disabled-former-twitter-employee/ "Elon Musk shares rare regrets for brutally mocking a disabled former Twitter employee: ‘I would like to apologize’"] by Verne Kopytoff, Fortune, 2023 March 7</ref><ref>[https://www.thedailybeast.com/elon-musk-mocks-wheelchair-bound-twitter-employee-he-publicly-fired "Musk Apologizes After Mocking Disabled Twitter Employee He Publicly Fired"] by Noah Kirsch, Daily Beast, 2023 March 7</ref>

====Content moderation dictator====
{{cquote|Please be super vocal if there is something dumb I'm doing or not doing. That would be greatly appreciated.|||Elon Musk to Jack Dorsey in April 2022 regarding Twitter acquisition<ref>[https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/23112929/elon-musk-text-exhibits-twitter-v-musk.pdf Elon Musk text exhibits (Twitter v. Musk)] by Elon Musk (2022-02-31 15;23:49 CDT) ''Document Cloud''.</ref>{{rp|13}}}}
All of the pandering to advertisers about content moderation (including a previous assertion in early November that Musk would not make major decisions about restoring banned accounts before setting up a "content moderation council" with diverse viewpoints)<ref>[https://www.marketwatch.com/story/people-banned-from-twitter-wont-have-accounts-restored-for-weeks-elon-musk-says-01667421209 "People banned from Twitter won’t have accounts restored for weeks, Elon Musk says"] by Associated Press, posted in MarketWatch, 2022 November 2</ref> ended up being a bunch of [[bullshit]]. By November 19 2022, Musk's Twitter had reinstated several accounts previously banned for hate, harassment, and election conspiracy bullshit. These names included [[manosphere]] grifter [[Andrew Tate]] (suspended in 2017 for advocating that women should "[[Blaming the victim|bare [sic] some responsibility]]" for being sexually assaulted), [[Jordan Peterson]] (suspended for [[transphobic]] tweets about {{wpl|Elliot Page||),}} [[Babylon Bee]] (suspended for [[transphobic]] tweets about {{wpl|Rachel Levine||),}} and [[Donald Trump]] (banned for [[2021 U.S. coup attempt|inciting violence]] in early 2021, and still promoting the [[Big Lie]] 2020 election conspiracy at the time of his reinstatement).<ref>[https://www.buzzfeed.com/ryanschocket2/twitter-accounts-reinstated-by-elon-musk "These Are The Banned Twitter Accounts That Elon Musk Has Reinstated, Is Considering Reinstating, And Those He Refuses To Reinstate"] by Ryan Schocket, Buzzfeed Staff, 2022 November 19</ref><ref>[https://www.vox.com/the-goods/23318861/andrew-tate-tiktok-instagram-youtube-banned "You can ignore Andrew Tate"] by Rebecca Jennings, Vox, 2022 August 24</ref><ref>[https://www.cnn.com/2022/11/19/business/twitter-musk-trump-reinstate/index.html "Elon Musk restores Donald Trump's Twitter account"] by Clare Duffy and Paul LeBlanc, CNN, 2022 November 19</ref> 

Musk, however, was also still pissing off some shitposters at that time due to announcing what effectively was a shadowban system ("Negative/hate tweets will be max deboosted & demonetized") on November 18, and refusing to reinstate [[Alex Jones]]'s Twitter account.<ref>[https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/elon-musk-shadowbanning-policy-causes-right-wingers-fume-1234633498/ "Right Wingers Fume After Musk Announces Shadowbanning Policy"] by Nikki Mccann Ramirez, Rolling Stone, 2022 November 18</ref>

On November 29 2022, Twitter announced that it would no longer enforce its policy against misleading information about [[COVID-19]], potentially opening up the platform further to scam artists and grifters pushing [[anti-vaccination]] or potentially dangerous [[alternative medicine]] woo.<ref>[https://techcrunch.com/2022/11/29/twitter-covid-29-misleading-info-policy-change/ "Twitter says it’s no longer enforcing COVID-19 misleading information policy"] by Natasha Lomas, TechCrunch, 2022 November 29</ref> To no one's surprise, this category includes Musk himself, who managed to combine a tasteless [[transphobic]] joke with a baseless call to prosecute {{wpl|Anthony Fauci}} (based on [[bullshit]] repeated ''[[ad nauseam]]'' by extremist [[Republicans]] like [[Rand Paul]] and [[Jim Jordan]]) in a couple of tweets made in mid December 2022.<ref>[https://thehill.com/policy/technology/3771492-musk-fires-back-after-criticism-of-gender-pronouns-tweet-about-fauci/ "Musk fires back after criticism of gender pronouns tweet about Fauci"] by Zach Schonfeld, The Hill, 2022 December 12</ref> 

On December 12 2022, Musk's Twitter dissolved its Trust and Safety Council, an advisory group of around 100 independent civil, human rights, and other organizations formed in 2016 to address hate speech, child exploitation, and other problems on the platform.<ref>[https://www.npr.org/2022/12/12/1142399312/twitter-trust-and-safety-council-elon-musk "Musk's Twitter has dissolved its Trust and Safety Council"], Associated Press, 2022 December 12, reported on NPR</ref> In addition, on this same day, reports emerged that the once cordial relationship between Yoel Roth and Musk had developed into a feud after Roth left the company. This culminated in Musk releasing internal documents concerning Roth managing [[Donald Trump]]'s ban, and (using a tired tactic of his) calling Roth a [[pedophile]]. Musk's baseless pedophile claim resulted in an escalation of threats against Roth, forcing him to flee his home.<ref>[https://www.cnn.com/2022/12/12/tech/twitter-files-yoel-roth/index.html "Former top Twitter official forced to leave home due to threats amid ‘Twitter Files’ release"] by Donie O'Sullivan, CNN, 2022 December 12</ref> 

Reports emerged that Musk used his "free speech absolutism" to ban activists who documented extremism and violence among the [[alt-right]], under the guise of them being "[[antifa]]". Reportedly the bans were enacted at the request of the notoriously whiny anti-left agitator [[Andy Ngo]].<ref>[https://theintercept.com/2022/11/29/elon-musk-twitter-andy-ngo-antifascist/ "Left-Wing Voices Are Silenced on Twitter as Far-Right Trolls Advise Elon Musk"] by Robert Mackey and Micah Lee, Intercept, 2022 November 29</ref> In addition, again unsurprisingly, some users claimed to be banned from Twitter simply for being even remotely critical of Musk in a tweet.<ref>[https://www.businessinsider.com/twitter-users-criticizing-musk-being-banned-told-they-violated-rules-2022-11 "Some Twitter users who criticized Elon Musk say they've been suspended or told they violated rules due to 'hateful conduct'"] by Jyoti Mann, Business Insider, 2022 November 28</ref> A Twitter bot account that tracked the location of Musk's private jet (using public information), which made headlines in January 2022 when the operator refused a $5000 payment from Musk to delete the account,<ref>[https://www.engadget.com/elon-musk-elonjet-twitter-bot-221826608.html "Teen wants $50,000 to stop tracking Elon Musk’s private jet"] by Igor Bonifacic, Engadget, 2022 January 30</ref> was, in the name of "free speech absolutism", banned from Twitter on December 14 2022.<ref>[https://www.forbes.com/sites/dereksaul/2022/12/14/twitter-suspends-account-tracking-elon-musks-private-jet/ "Twitter Suspends Account Tracking Elon Musk's Private Jet"] by Derek Saul, Forbes, 2022 December 14</ref>

Musk's "free speech absolutism" became suspect when he banned the Twitter accounts of several mainstream media journalists who had been covering Musk,<ref>[https://www.cnn.com/2022/12/15/media/twitter-musk-journalists-hnk-intl/index.html "Elon Musk’s Twitter bans CNN, NYT, WaPo journalists without explanation"] by Oliver Darcy, CNN, 2022 December 15</ref> as well as the Twitter account of rival social network {{wpl|Mastodon (social network)|Mastodon.}}<ref>[https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/twitter-suspends-mastodon-account-1234648316/ "Elon Musk’s Twitter Suspends Rival Mastodon Account"] by Charisma Madarang, Rolling Stone, 2022 December 15</ref> On December 18, Musk further dented his "free speech absolutism" claim when he banned links to content on several other social networks, as well as some link aggregators.<ref>[https://www.cnn.com/2022/12/18/tech/twitter-ban-social-media-links/index.html "Elon Musk’s Twitter bans links to other social media sites, including Facebook and emerging rivals"] by Briang Fung, CNN, 2022 December 18</ref><ref>[https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/social-media/twitter-bans-promotion-social-media-sites-facebook-instagram-truth-soc-rcna62305 "Twitter bans promotion of accounts on other social media sites, including Facebook, Instagram and Truth Social"] by Julianne McShane, Jason Abbruzzese and Ezra Kaplan, NBC News, 2022 December 18</ref> In April 2023, Musk's Twitter started blocking links to the blogging platform {{wpl|Substack||,}} on the grounds that they were launching a Twitter-like service called ''Substack Notes''.<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/07/technology/twitter-substack-elon-musk.html "Twitter Takes Aim at Posts That Link to Its Rival Substack"] by Kate Conger and Ryan Mac, New York Times, 2023 April 7</ref> On April 19, 2023, Twitter suspended a reporter from ''{{wpl|Wired (magazine)|Wired}}'' for simply reporting on an incident where [[Matt Walsh]]'s Twitter account was hacked.<ref>[https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/matt-walsh-wired-reporter-dell-cameron-twitter-suspension-1234720045/ "He Reported on a Twitter Hack. Musk’s Free Speech Haven Kicked Him Out"] by CT Jones, Rolling Stone, 2023 April 19</ref>

As one would expect, more companies continued "pausing" their Twitter commitments due to the chaos, including pauses that went beyond advertising, such as a decision by {{wpl|CBS News}} to (very temporarily)<ref>[https://variety.com/2022/digital/news/cbs-news-resumes-twitter-activity-security-concerns-1235438017/ "CBS News Resumes Twitter Posting After Hiatus Over ‘Security Concerns’"] by Todd Spangler, Variety, 2022 November 20</ref> step back from Twitter on November 18 2022.<ref>[https://variety.com/2022/digital/news/cbs-news-pauses-twitter-posting-1235437572/ "CBS News Suspends Twitter Posting ‘In Light of the Uncertainty’ About Musk-Owned Social Platform"] by Todd Spangler, Variety, 2022 November 18</ref> By one account, half of Twitter's top 100 advertisers had paused advertising on Twitter by mid November 2022;<ref>[https://www.mediamatters.org/elon-musk/less-month-elon-musk-has-driven-away-half-twitters-top-100-advertisers "In less than a month, Elon Musk has driven away half of Twitter’s top 100 advertisers"] by Sharon Kann and Angelo Carusone, Media Matters, 2022 November 22</ref> this figure had increased to 72 out of 100 by December 17 2022.<ref>[https://www.cnn.com/2022/12/22/tech/twitter-layoffs-continue/index.html "Twitter layoffs continue under Elon Musk"] by Clare Duffy, CNN, 2022 December 23</ref> Also during that month, advertisers started to be told that they "needed to become comfortable" with Musk's unpredictability and uncertainty.<ref>[https://www.theinformation.com/articles/twitters-efforts-to-court-advertisers-turns-them-off "Twitter’s Efforts to Court Advertisers Turns Them Off"] by Sahil Patel and Erin Woo, The Information, 2023 January 11</ref> As of February 2023, over half (625) of Twitter's top 1,000 pre-acquisition advertisers had fled.<ref>[https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/10/tech/twitter-top-advertiser-decline/index.html "More than half of Twitter’s top 1,000 advertisers stopped spending on platform, data show"] by Clare Duffy, CNN, 2023 February 13</ref><ref>Shirin Ghaffary (March 24, 2023). [https://www.vox.com/technology/2023/3/23/23651151/twitter-advertisers-elon-musk-brands-revenue-fleeing "Why advertisers aren't coming back to Twitter"]. ''Vox''.</ref> Asked during an April 2023 interview to name a single advertiser who had left and then returned, Musk could not do so.<ref>Eleanor Hawkins and Sara Fischer (April 18, 2023). [https://www.axios.com/2023/04/18/musk-twitter-advertisers-media-blitz "Musk tries media blitz to win back Twitter advertisers"]. ''Axios''.</ref>

In early April 2023, Musk released the source code of Twitter's recommendation engine. Among the findings, Musk has his own special category in the engine (perhaps explaining why users report seeing his messages so prominently), and certain topics like "[[Ukraine]]" seemed to be suppressed. Separately, in further signs of the "free speech absolutism" of Musk's Twitter, others noted that if one uses certain words like "[[transgender]]", "[[gay]]", "[[lesbian]]", or "[[bisexual]]" in a Tweet, the message wouldn't preview when shared via direct message (which implies these are now flagged as inflammatory or sensitive terms).<ref>[https://www.axios.com/2023/04/03/elon-musks-twitter-free-speech-checkmarks-ranking "At Elon Musk's Twitter, speech is anything but free"] by Ina Fried, Axios, 2023 April 3</ref> Shortly thereafter, Twitter revoked its policy banning targeted [[deadnaming]] and [[misgendering]] of transgender people — a move by Musk that had been anticipated since November 2022.<ref>Evan Urquhart (November 1, 2022). [https://slate.com/technology/2022/11/elon-music-twitter-transgender-harassment-misinformation.html "One of the Biggest Red Flags of Elon Musk's Twitter Takeover"]. ''Slate''.</ref><ref name="Ortutay4182023">Barbara Ortutay (April 18, 2023). [https://apnews.com/article/twitter-elon-musk-transgender-deadnaming-hateful-conduct-ae1b7285bb906e04b26ff9751ec0c2ce "Twitter removes policy against deadnaming transgender people"]. ''The Associated Press''.</ref>

Continuing Musk's war with media, in April 2023, Twitter started randomly labeling various news outlets such as [[NPR]], [[BBC]], {{wpl|RTVE||,}} and [[CBC]] as "government-funded media" – which Twitter says implies government may have editorial say – or "state-affiliated media" (which generally suggests propaganda), rather than "publicly-funded media" (which even on Twitter remains non-pejorative). Previously Twitter only used the more concerning labels for media outlets that essentially served as government mouthpieces (such as Russia's [[RT]] or China's {{wpl|Xinhua}}); in contrast, under Musk these labels were slapped on outlets that, while publicly funded by various degrees, had editorial independence from the government; in some cases (such as NPR), the government provided very little of the operating budget.<ref>[https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2023/4/17/new-zealand-radio-threatens-to-quit-twitter-over-government-tag "New Zealand radio threatens to quit Twitter over ‘government’ tag"], Al Jazeera, 2023 April 17</ref><ref>[https://time.com/6272623/media-twitter-dispute-labeling/ "These Are All the Media Outlets Disputing Twitter's New Labels"] by Armani Syed, Time, 2023 April 18</ref> Multiple media outlets around the world, beginning with NPR and [[PBS]], responded to the inaccurate labels by exiting Twitter.{{efn|Exiting at the same time, Sweden's {{wpl|Sveriges Radio}} instead cited declining audience reach as a reason for exiting.<ref>[https://apnews.com/article/twitter-sweden-public-radio-musk-038a4e4a2555c66f82b6eb960e64e257 "Sweden public radio exits Twitter, says audience already has"], AP News, 2023 April 18</ref>}}<ref>[https://thehill.com/policy/technology/3955259-musk-media-reach-boiling-point-over-twitter-changes/ "Musk, media reach boiling point over Twitter changes"] by Rebecca Klar, Hill, 2023 April 18</ref> Twitter soon removed media labels entirely, including for Russian and Chinese state media.<ref>Patrick Hipes (April 22, 2023). [https://deadline.com/2023/04/twitter-government-funded-media-labels-removed-npr-pbs-1235334112/ "Twitter Removes 'Government-Funded Media' Labels From NPR, PBS, Others After Backlash"]. ''Deadline''.</ref>

In May 2023, reports emerged of widely-circulated animal abuse content suggested prominently by Twitter's internal search engine. This included a particularly notorious video, which appeared as a suggestion if a user searched for "[[cat]]".<ref>Ben Collins (May 12, 2023). [https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/cat-dog-torture-videos-litter-twitter-adding-concerns-moderation-rcna84190 "Cat and dog torture videos litter Twitter, adding to concerns about moderation]. ''NBC News''.</ref> Between that and reports of widely-viewed child abuse content (again, after gutting the team dedicating to fighting child exploitation, along with other moderation crews), priorities are ''clearly'' in the right place.<ref>Michael H. Keller and Kate Conger (February 6, 2023). [https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/06/technology/twitter-child-sex-abuse.html "Musk Pledged to Cleanse Twitter of Child Abuse Content. It’s Been Rough Going."] ''The New York Times''. [https://archive.ph/jeLpQ (Archived.)]</ref><ref>Ben Goggin, Lora Kolodny, and David Ingram (January 6, 2023). [https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/musk-twitter-elon-child-abuse-material-rcna63621 "On Musk's Twitter, users looking to sell and trade child sex abuse material are still easily found"]. ''NBC News''.</ref> It is unknown why companies are hesitant to place advertisements for their products next to this sort of content.

On June 1 2023, [[the Daily Wire]] reported that they had been in talks with Twitter to set up a paid advertiser campaign to promote a [[transphobic]] "documentary" by [[Matt Walsh]] called ''What is a Woman?''. Twitter staff, however, backed out after reviewing the film, and warned the Daily Wire that although they could still post the video, the film would be flagged as "hateful content" under Twitter's policies. This, naturally, infuriated Twitter's right-wing trolls. At this point, Musk decided to throw his safety employees under the bus, and (after a small bit of hesitation) worked to ensure that the hateful content promoted by the Daily Wire would not be labeled as hateful content on Twitter. Musk later shared the video on his feed with the comment "every parent should watch this" (while [[Elon Musk#Transphobia|also promoting a number of anti-trans talking points]] elsewhere). This incident resulted in yet even more staff resignations, among them Ella Irwin (VP of trust and safety, who had just taken the post when previous head Yoel Roth left in November 2022), Maie Aiyed (Twitter brand safety partnerships program director), and AJ Brown (head of brand safety and ad quality).<ref>[https://mashable.com/article/elon-musk-the-daily-wire-twitter-resignations-explained "Right-wing Musk fans win Twitter CEO's loyalty. Staff loses."] by Matt Binder, Mashable, 2023 June 2</ref><ref>[https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-65786326 "Elon Musk's Twitter loses second trust and safety chief"], BBC, 2023 June 2</ref>

On June 21 2023, Elon Musk used his increasingly [[doublespeak]]-y "free speech absolutism" principles, as well as his increasing [[transphobia]], to declare that "cis" and "[[cisgender]]" were now considered slurs on Twitter and that users who engaged in "harassment" with these words would face consequences.<ref>[https://gizmodo.com/elon-musk-cis-cisgender-slur-twitter-1850559321 "Elon Musk Declares ‘Cisgender’ a Slur on Free Speech Twitter"] by Jody Serrano, Gizmodo, 2023 June 21</ref> He did this again in Late October.<ref>[https://archive.is/aMQjW The word “cis” is a heterosexual slur. Shame on anyone who uses it.] by Elon Musk (7:41 PM · Oct 30, 2023) ''Twitter'' (archived from 30 Oct 2023 21:29:23 UTC).</ref> In 2024, trying to post the word cisgender (an actual medical term) on Twitter/X now results in an automatic content warning ("This post contains language that may be considered a slur by X and could be used in a harmful manner in violation of our rules.").<ref>[https://techcrunch.com/2024/05/14/on-elons-whim-x-now-treats-cisgender-as-a-slur/ On Elon’s whim, X now treats ‘cisgender’ as a slur] by Amanda Silberling (9:33 AM PDT • May 14, 2024) ''Tech Crunch''.</ref>

At the beginning of July 2023, Musk (fresh off of making headlines for immaturely challenging social media rival CEO [[Mark Zuckerberg]] to a {{wpl|UFC}} style "cage match")<ref name="nyccage">[https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/01/technology/elon-musk-mark-zuckerberg-cage-match.html "A ‘Cage Match’ Between Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg May Be No Joke"] by Ryan Mac and Mike Isaac, New York Times, 2023 July 1</ref>{{efn|Musk made this challenge despite Musk being 13 years older than Zuckerberg and reportedly out of shape. In addition, Zuckerberg reportedly was actively training in Brazilian jujitsu.}} decided to impose severe rate limits on Twitter, which in effect broke the user experience for most Twitter users.<ref name="forbesrate">[https://www.forbes.com/sites/paultassi/2023/07/02/no-one-believes-elon-musks-explanation-for-breaking-twitter/ "No One Believes Elon Musk’s Explanation For Breaking Twitter"] by Paul Tassi, Forbes, 2023 July 2</ref>{{efn|Rate limits were only 300 posts a day for new unverified accounts, 600 posts for all other unverified accounts, and 6000 for "verified" (read: paid for) accounts. This limit was later increased to 500, 1000, and 10,000. These numbers are much smaller than it may first seem, since quickly scrolling past a post counts as a view, and each reply to a post likewise counts.<ref name="techradarrate">[https://www.techradar.com/computing/twitter/twitter-crisis-explained-what-are-rate-limits-and-when-will-they-end "Twitter crisis explained: what are rate limits and when will they end?"] by Christian Guyton, TechRadar, 2023 July 3</ref>}} Musk also enacted a change which required one to be logged in before viewing content; previously public tweets were viewable by anyone. Although Musk claimed that the new supposed "temporary" "emergency" rate limits were enacted to deal with "extreme levels of data scraping & system manipulation" purportedly being done by [[artificial intelligence]] companies, many commentators didn't buy that explanation, speculating that either Musk refused to pay for some critical Twitter infrastructure, or that the forced login change caused a technical issue severe enough to effectively self-{{wpl|DDoS}} the site.<ref>[https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-66087172 "Confusion at Twitter continues over Elon Musk's tweet limits"] by Shiona McCallum and Liv McMahon, BBC, 2023 July 3</ref><ref name="techradarrate"/><ref name="forbesrate"/> The changes also broke Twitter management tools like {{wpl|TweetDeck||.}}<ref>[https://techcrunch.com/2023/07/03/tweetdeck-suffers-as-musk-enforces-read-limits-on-twitter/ "TweetDeck suffers as Musk enforces read limits on Twitte"] by Ivan Mehta, Techcrunch, 2023 July 3</ref> Advertising industry experts saw the change as yet another blunder that would drive away advertisers en masse (of those that hadn't fled already, that is).<ref>[https://www.reuters.com/business/media-telecom/musks-twitter-rate-limits-could-undermine-new-ceo-ad-experts-say-2023-07-03/ "Musk's Twitter rate limits could undermine new CEO, ad experts say"] by Jody Gordy, Reuters, 2023 July 3</ref>{{efn|Per the [[New York Times]], ad revenue in May 2023 was down 59 percent from a year earlier.)<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/01/business/twitter-rate-limit-elon-musk.html "Musk Says Twitter Is Limiting Number of Posts Users Can Read"] by Eduardo Medina and Ryan Mac, New York Times, 2023 July 1</ref>}} This sudden self-[[Fun:Pwned|PWNED]] moment caused a surge in interest in rival platforms, such as [[Social media platforms#Fediverse & Mastodon|Mastodon]], {{wpl|Bluesky Social|Bluesky|,}}<ref>[https://www.reuters.com/technology/what-does-twitter-rate-limit-exceeded-mean-users-2023-07-03/ "What does Twitter 'rate limit exceeded' mean for users?"], Reuters, 2023 July 4</ref> Spill,<ref>[https://www.thewrap.com/spill-twitter-alternative-elon-musk/ "Spill Becomes Latest Trendy Twitter Alternative After Elon Musk Enrages Users Again"] by Jeremy Fuster, The Wrap, 2023 July 3</ref> and even [[Social media platforms#Truth Social|Troof Social]].<ref>[https://www.newsweek.com/elon-musk-twitter-limits-truth-social-trump-1810474 "Donald Trump Handed Big Win After Elon Musk Misstep"] by Ewan Palmer, Newsweek, 2023 July 3</ref> 

Probably not entirely coincidentally, on Monday July 3, 2023, Zuckerberg's new rival Twitter clone, {{wpl|Threads (app)|Threads|,}} showed up on mobile application stores for "pre-saving" with a scheduled launch date of July 6, 2023.<ref>[https://mashable.com/article/threads-twitter-alternative-instagram-meta "Threads, Meta's Twitter clone, is arriving very soon"] by Caitlin Welsh, Mashable, 2023 July 4</ref> This launch was reportedly quite successful, with 100 million reported users signed up in less than a week, in part thanks to Threads sharing a user base with [[Instagram]]. On Monday July 10 2023, Musk's response to this was to engage in extremely cringe and embarrassing juvenile taunts, challenging Zuckerberg to a literal [[penis|dick measuring]] contest and calling Zuckerberg the old and tired default insult of the [[alt-right]], a "[[cuck]]".<ref>[https://www.thedailybeast.com/elon-musk-calls-mark-zuckerberg-a-cuck-as-threads-nears-100m-users "Musk Melts Down as Threads Nears 100M Users: ‘Zuck is a Cuck’"] by Erik Uebelacker, Daily Beast, 2023 July 9</ref><ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2023/jul/10/elon-musk-mark-zuckerberg-cuck-twitter-threads "Elon Musk goes low against Zuckerberg as Twitter-Threads spat intensifies"] by Martin Pengelly, Guardian, 2023 July 10</ref>

Not coincidentally, also on Monday July 10, 2023, Musk's shithole got praised by the fucking [[Taliban]] of all things for its "pro-free speech policies" while calling out Threads as "[[bullshit|intolerant]]" for not putting up with [[extremist]] pollution.<ref>[https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/taliban-spokesman-endorses-twitter-threads-1234785692/ "Twitter Beats Out Threads for Coveted Taliban Leader Endorsement"] by Nikki McCann Ramirez, Rolling Stone, 2023 July 10</ref>

In December 2023 Elon Musk lost a court case related to California's content moderation policy. This is one case of Musk putting Twitter into two court cases, one with the state of California, and the other related to a Media Matters Lawsuit.<ref>[https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/society-equity/elon-musks-x-fails-block-californias-content-moderation-law-2023-12-29/  Elon Musk's X fails to block California's content moderation law.] ''Reuters'', 28 December 2023.</ref> <ref>[https://apnews.com/article/elon-musk-media-matters-lawsuit-advertising-neonazi-1fe499daa600f513af27ffa68d2e8b91  Musk’s X sues liberal advocacy group Media Matters over its report on ads next to hate groups’ posts] ''Associated Press'', 21 November 2023.</ref>

====Sucking up to authoritarians====
According to a report by the non-profit news organization ''Rest of the World'' in April 2023, since Musk took over Twitter, Twitter's compliance with government demands for censorship or surveillance rose to over 80%, from around 50%.<ref>[https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/elon-musk-twitter-free-speech-hypocrisy-rcna81961 "New data exposes Elon Musk’s free speech charade"] by Zeeshan Aleem, 2023 April 28</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Brandom|first=Russell|date=27 April 2023|title=Twitter is complying with more government demands under Elon Musk|url=https://restofworld.org/2023/elon-musk-twitter-government-orders/|work=Rest of World}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Hamilton |first=Katherine |title=Twitter Has Complied With Almost Every Government Request For Censorship Since Musk Took Over, Report Finds |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/katherinehamilton/2023/04/27/twitter-has-complied-with-almost-every-government-request-for-censorship-since-musk-took-over-report-finds/ |work=Forbes |date=27 April 2023}}</ref>

In late January, Musk continued to demonstrate how his "free speech absolutist" claim was [[bullshit]] (particularly when it came to appeasing [[authoritarian]] demands) when Twitter [[censor]]ed links to a [[BBC]] documentary critical of [[Narendra Modi]] (a documentary which in particular highlighted Modi's troubling connections to the [[Narendra_Modi#2002_Gujarat_riots|2002 Gujarat riots.]])<ref>[https://theintercept.com/2023/01/24/twitter-elon-musk-modi-india-bbc/ "Elon Musk Caves to Pressure from India to Remove BBC Doc Critical of Modi"] by Murtaza Hussain and Ryan Grim, Intercept, 2023 January 24</ref>

In May 2023, Musk was criticized for yet another dent in his purported "free speech absolutism" claim. Prior to a critical election in [[Turkey]], where voters determined whether or not [[Recep Tayyip Erdoğan]] would be re-elected, Twitter announced that certain content would be restricted in order to prevent the entire site from being blocked in that country (a tactic the often-authoritarian Erdoğan government had used quite often in the past to suppress criticism). This move was seen by many as kowtowing to Erdoğan.<ref>[https://www.newsweek.com/turkey-election-elon-musk-accused-censoring-erdogan-critics-twitter-1800134 "Turkey Election: Elon Musk Accused of Censoring Erdogan Critics on Twitter"] by Fatma Khaled, Newsweek, 2023 May 13</ref> In response to a critical tweet by journalist [[Matthew Yglesias]], Musk defended the decision by implying that it was preferable to have a few tweets throttled rather than have Twitter throttled in its entirety. This earned a strong rebuke from [[Wikipedia]] co-founder {{wpl|Jimmy Wales||,}} who cited Wikipedia's own censorship battles with Erdoğan's government to chide Musk for not treating "freedom of expression as a principle rather than a slogan."<ref>[https://www.thewrap.com/elon-musk-wikipedia-twitter-turkey-censorship/ "Wikipedia Founder Crushes Elon Musk for Caving to Twitter Censorship in Turkey: ‘Treat Freedom of Expression as a Principle Rather Than a Slogan’"] by Mason Bissada, The Wrap, 2023 May 13</ref>{{efn|Wikipedia was {{wpl|Block of Wikipedia in Turkey|blocked in Turkey}} beginning in 2017 when the organization refused to remove pages that the government found offensive. Rather than kowtow to Erdoğan, Wikipedia chose to take it to the courts. On December 26 2019, Turkey's block of Wikipedia was ruled unconstitutional.<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/26/world/europe/wikipedia-ban-turkey.html "Turkey’s Ban on Wikipedia Is Unconstitutional, Court Says"] by Mihir Zaveri, New York Times, 2019 December 26</ref>}} 

In August 2023, unsealed court documents revealed that in February that year, Twitter dragged its feet and fought back in providing data from [[Donald Trump]]'s account to the government, in accordance with a search warrant related to an investigation into Trump's role in the [[2021 U.S. coup attempt]] (an investigation that eventually led to an indictment). The repeated delays were such that Twitter eventually ended up earning a $350,000 contempt of court fine.<ref>[https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2023/08/twitter-held-in-contempt-fined-350k-over-trump-data-delay/ "Twitter held in contempt, fined $350K over Trump data delay"] by Ashley Belanger, Ars Technica, 2023 August 9</ref><ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/04/us/politics/trump-indictment-jack-smith-charges.html "How Jack Smith Structured the Trump Election Indictment to Reduce Risks"] by Charlie Savage, New York Times, 2023 August 4</ref> Judge {{wpl|Beryl Howell}} specifically singled out Musk in a February 7 hearing, wondering if the foot-dragging was "because the new CEO wants to cozy up with the former president". Another federal prosecutor named Renato Mariotti noted that it was an unusual step for Twitter to hire "expensive lawyers to fight a lawful search warrant", and believed that Trump was getting special treatment from Musk.<ref>[https://www.salon.com/2023/08/16/special-treatment-suggests-musk-trying-to-cozy-up-to-by-trying-to-tip-him-off/ ""Special treatment": Judge suggests Musk trying to "cozy up" to Trump by trying to tip him off"] by Gabriella Ferrigine, Salon, 2023 August 16</ref>

In contrast to his capitulation towards right-wing populist government moderation requests, Musk was much more openly hostile in a case involving [[Brazil]], which (not coincidentally) was led by the "left-wing" government of [[Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva]] at the time. In December 2022, supporters of the defeated president [[Jair Bolsonaro]] [[2021 U.S. coup attempt#2022-23 Brazilian coup_attempts|attempted to storm the headquarters]] of the Brazillian Federal Police. As part of the inquiries into the attacks, in January 2023, the Brazil Supreme Court asked social media platforms to hand over information and suspend accounts linked to any illegal activities relating to such. Musk expressed concern, but ultimately complied with the order on that date. However, on April 2024, Brazil Supreme Court justice {{wpl|Alexandre de Moraes}} asked for some additional accounts to be blocked. In this case, Musk openly defied the Supreme Court's orders, removing  Twitter's legal representative from Brazil in protest. As a legal representative is required by law in Brazil for any foreign country to operate, de Moraes gave Musk a deadline of August 29 2024 to comply with the court or else Twitter would be banned in Brazil. Predictably, Musk did nothing, so on that date, the ban was enacted — even using a {{wpl|Virtual private network|VPN}} to attempt to bypass the ban and access Twitter would result in a fine.<ref>[https://theconversation.com/elon-musks-feud-with-brazilian-judge-is-much-more-than-a-personal-spat-its-about-national-sovereignty-freedom-of-speech-and-the-rule-of-law-238264 "Elon Musk’s feud with Brazilian judge is much more than a personal spat − it’s about national sovereignty, freedom of speech and the rule of law"] by Yasmin Curzi de Mendonça, Conversation, 2024 September 9</ref><ref>[https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/9/10/before-brazil-and-elon-musk-xs-history-of-run-ins-with-left-and-right "Before Brazil and Elon Musk: X’s history of run-ins with left and right"] by Dwayne Oxford, Al-Jazeera, 2024 September 10</ref> Aside from Brazil, Musk has been much more willing to apply his "free speech absolutism" motif and moan about "censorship" when it comes to moderation requests from Western democracies such as the [[EU]] and [[Australia]]. (Of course, his capitulations to right-wing authoritarians demonstrate that the "absolutism" part of Musk's motif is simply [[bullshit]].)<ref>[https://www.theverge.com/2024/9/4/24235213/x-brazil-suppression-speech-elon-musk-india-turkey "Elon Musk is absolutely not a ‘free speech absolutist’"] by Gaby Del Valle, The Verge, 2024 September 4</ref>

====The lie of free speech absolutism====
{{cquote|"This guy blew up my life by saying I condone pedophilia, and then he turns around and does this <nowiki>[</nowiki>unbanning an account that posted [[child sexual abuse]]<nowiki>]</nowiki>."|||Yoel Roth<ref name="wapotwittercsam"/>}}
{{cquote|Not all [[rhetoric]] about "free spdech" is meant to protect free speakers. [[Oligarch]]s claim to be "[[Cancel culture|canceled]]" ([[Putin]]) while [[Russian invasion of Ukraine|they are invading countries]], or crown themselves "free speech absolutists" (Musk) while using their platforms to censor. If [[freedom of speech]] is treated as negative [[freedom]], as removing barriers for those who already control countries and information spaces, free speakers will not have much of a chance. As {{wpl|Simone Weil}} put it, those who "most deserve to express themselves" will not in fact have the freedom to do so.|||Timothy Snyder<ref>''On Freedom'' by Timothy Snyder (2024) Crown. ISBN 9780593728727.</ref>{{rp|190-191}}}}

Musk purchased Twitter in October 2022, and two months later he suspended several journalists who had been critical of him on Twitter: Matt Binder (@mattbinder) of ''Mashable'', Drew Harwell (@drewharwell) of ''[[The Washington Post]]'', Steven L. Herman (@W7VOA) of ''Voice of America'', Micah Lee (@micahflee) of ''The Intercept'', Linette Lopez of ''Business Insider'', Ryan Mac (@rmac18) of ''[[The New York Times]]'', Donie O'Sullivan (@donie) of ''[[CNN]]'', [[Keith Olbermann]] (@keitholbermann), Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) and Tony Webster (@webster).<ref>[https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/social-media/twitter-suspends-journalists-covering-elon-musk-company-rcna62032 Twitter suspends journalists who have been covering Elon Musk and the company: Musk joined a Twitter Space to say the suspensions were related to new rules banning private jet trackers. Twitter suspended an account that tweeted the whereabouts of his plane.]</ref> Ostensibly, the suspensions were because of use of private jet trackers, but such information is openly available on the web<ref>[https://jetspy.com/ JetSpy]</ref> and the accounts were suspended without warning.<ref>[https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/social-media/twitter-suspends-journalists-covering-elon-musk-company-rcna62032 Twitter suspends journalists who have been covering Elon Musk and the company: Musk joined a Twitter Space to say the suspensions were related to new rules banning private jet trackers. Twitter suspended an account that tweeted the whereabouts of his plane.] by Jason Abbruzzese et al. (Dec. 15, 2022, 5:08 PM PST / Updated Dec. 16, 2022, 12:52 AM PST) ''NBC News''.</ref> It's a lesson in how to preserve "[[freeze peach]]" by silencing one's critics. Musk continued to throttle journalists but more subtly by downgrading Twitter posts that have external links (such as to full journalistic reports).<ref>[https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/11/27/musk-x-throttle-links-threads-bluesky/ Musk admits X throttles links as ‘news influencers’ take over] by Will Oremus (November 27, 2024 at 9:05 a.m. EST) ''The Washington Post''.</ref> Musk has even throttled posts with links to specific news outlets that he doesn't like, such as ''[[The New York Times]]''.<ref>[https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2023/08/15/twitter-x-links-delayed/ Elon Musk’s X is throttling traffic to websites he dislikes: The site formerly known as Twitter added a five-second delay when a user clicked on a shortened link to the New York Times, Facebook and other sites Musk commonly attacks, a Washington Post analysis found] by Jeremy B. Merrill & Drew Harwell (Updated August 16, 2023 at 11:53 a.m. EDT; Published August 15, 2023 at 1:27 p.m. EDT) ''The Washington Post''.</ref>

In July 2023, Musk un-suspended the account of a [[QAnon]] influencer named Dominick McGee after some of the account's followers complained that the account had been suspended for its political messaging. In reality, McGee had been suspended for posting a partly-censored {{wpl|Child pornography|CSAM}} image of a toddler being tortured. This image was taken from one of the most notorious child abuse videos in the world, made by an Australian man named {{wpl|Peter Scully||,}} who was convicted of child sexual abuse in the Philippines and sentenced to 129 years' imprisonment.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20230727001349/https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1684247923612057601 The reason for suspension should be shown, along with ability to appeal quickly and easily. There are so many layers of software (20+ million lines) that this is much harder than it should be. I’m told that this account was suspended for posting child exploitation pictures associated with the criminal conviction of an Australian man in the Philippines. https://cnn.com/2022/11/10/asi…] by Elon Musk (5:02 PM · Jul 26, 202) ''Twitter'' (archived from July 27, 2023).</ref><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20230726203446/https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1684248597603155976 Only people on our CSE team have seen those pictures. For now, we will delete those posts and reinstate the account.] by Elon Musk (5:05 PM · Jul 26, 2023) ''Twitter'' (archived from July 26, 2023).</ref><ref>[https://www.cnn.com/2022/11/10/asia/australian-129-years-jail-philippines-child-sex-intl-hnk/index.html Australian who sexually abused children in the Philippines given 129-year jail term] by Kathleen Magramo (1:36 AM EST, November 10, 2022) ''CNN''.</ref><ref name="wapotwittercsam">[https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2023/07/27/twitter-csam-dom-lucre-elon-musk/ "Twitter under fire for reinstating account that posted child sex abuse"] by Joseph Menn and Drew harwell, Washington Post, 2023 July 28</ref> Such material, even when partially censored, is considered child sexual abuse material (CSAM), and therefore illegal.<ref>[https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2023/07/27/twitter-csam-dom-lucre-elon-musk Twitter under fire for reinstating account that posted child sex abuse: It’s only the latest incident of banned imagery making its way onto the site since Musk bought it] by Joseph Menn & Drew Harwell (Updated July 28, 2023 at 10:31 a.m. EDT|Published July 27, 2023 at 5:46 p.m. EDT) ''The Washington Post''.</ref>

Musk has insisted that stopping the spread of CSAM on Twitter is one of his highest priorities. However, in June 2023, the Stanford Cyber Policy Center reported that Twitter had been letting through known CSAM material that should have been automatically detected by {{wpl|PhotoDNA||,}} a widely used database of detected child exploitation images. According to Stanford Internet Observatory's chief technologist David Thiel, PhotoDNA appeared to be at least partially down for a period of time in 2023. Due to this, plus a lack of a rapid response to fix the issue (due to the trust and safety teams being gutted), "tons of known CSAM" flooded Twitter for a significant period before the issue was fixed.<ref name="wapotwittercsam"/><ref>[https://stacks.stanford.edu/file/druid:jd797tp7663/20230606-sio-sg-csam-report.pdf "Cross-Platform Dynamics of Self-Generated CSAM"] by David Thiel, Renée DiResta and Alex Stamos, Stanford Internet Observatory, 2023 June 7</ref>

Following the October 7, 2023 attack on [[Israel]] by [[Hamas]] and the Israeli retaliation in Gaza, an explosion of [[antisemitic]] posts on X/Twitter went unchecked. Musk, thinking that he could solve the problem, must have thought he could just go to Israel, meet with Prime Minister [[Netanyahu]], make a statement ("We need to do everything possible to stop the hate."), and that would be the end of it.<ref name=harwell>[https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2023/11/28/pizzagate-musk-twitter-x-controversy Elon Musk boosts Pizzagate conspiracy theory that led to D.C. gunfire: The far-right theory motivated a gunman to fire multiple rounds inside the Comet Ping Pong pizzeria in Northwest Washington in 2016. Musk boosted the theory to his 164 million followers anyway.] by Drew Harwell (November 28, 2023) ''The Washington Post''.</ref> It would seem very unlikely given that Musk refuses to do anything about Twitter antisemitism since the Trust and Safety team at X likely remains eviscerated from the time it was dissolved in December 2022,<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2022/dec/12/twitter-safety-council-dissolved-before-meeting Twitter abruptly dissolves safety council moments before meeting: The firm’s turmoil appears to deepen since Elon Musk’s takeover with Yoel Roth forced to flee home amid personal attacks] (Mon 12 Dec 2022 21.56 EST) ''The Guardian''.</ref> and since Musk boosted the previously-thought-to-be-moribund [[Pizzagate]] conspiracy theory one day after meeting with Netanyahu.<ref name=harwell/>

Despite Musk's claims of free speech absolutism, he has consistently capitulated to right-wing authoritarians (India's Narendra Modi and Turkey's Recep Tayyip Erdogan)<ref>[https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/11/08/india-twitter-online-censorship How India tamed Twitter and set a global standard for online censorship] by Karishma Mehrotra & Joseph Menn (November 8, 2023 at 10:00 p.m. EST) ''The Washington Post''.</ref><ref>[https://restofworld.org/2023/elon-musk-twitter-government-orders/ Twitter is complying with more government demands under Elon Musk: The company has not refused a single request since Musk took ownership, according to self-reported data.] by Russell Brandom (27 April 2023) ''Rest of World''.</ref> but not when it involves censoring [[far-right]] anti-[[Democracy|democratic]] ideas<ref>[https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/amid-probe-into-musk-brazils-top-court-says-every-company-is-subject-2024-04-08/ Amid probe into Musk, Brazil's top court says 'every company is subject to the constitution'] (April 8, 20241:08 PM PDT) ''Reuters''.</ref> or his own critics.<ref>[https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2024/03/25/musk-x-lawsuit-slapp-center-digital-hate/ Musk tried to ‘punish’ critics, judge rules, in tossing a lawsuit: In a win for hate-speech researchers, a federal judge in California dismisses X’s lawsuit under the state’s anti-SLAPP law] by Will Oremus & Taylor Telford (March 25, 2024) ''The Washington Post''.</ref>

In September 2024, the account of journalist Ken Klippenstein was suspended from Twitter for publishing the Trump campaign's internal evaluation of [[JD Vance]] that the mainstream media refused to publish.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.commondreams.org/news/ken-klippenstein-x|title=X Suspends Journalist Ken Klippenstein Over Publication of JD Vance Dossier|last=Wilkins|first=Brett|date=September 26, 2024|publisher=''Common Dreams''}}</ref>

In 2024, [[British]] graphic novelist Darryl Cunningham was unable to find a US or UK publisher for his book about Musk, ''Elon Musk: Investigation into a New Master of the World'' even though the French language edition had already been published (''Elon Musk: Enquête sur un nouveau maître du monde''<ref>''Elon Musk: Enquête sur un nouveau maître du monde'' by Darryl Cunningham (2024) Delcourt. ISBN 2413086129.</ref>) Delcourt had lawyers review every word and image in the book and had not used any information that had not already been published.<ref name=barnett>[https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2024/nov/23/we-live-in-a-climate-of-fear-graphic-novelists-elon-musk-book-cant-find-uk-or-us-publisher ‘We live in a climate of fear’: Graphic novelist’s Elon Musk book can’t find UK or US publisher: Darryl Cunningham blames fear of ‘legal consequences’ for reluctance to take on book, now only available in French] by David Barnett (23 Nov 2024 11.00 EST) ''The Guardian''.</ref> It would seem to be a widespread act of self-censorship by English-language publishers on the possible threat of what would be extremely expensive legal action by Musk. There was justifiable fear by the publishers about a [[SLAPP suit]] from Musk if they published; in 2023, Musk had filed a defamation SLAPP suit against [[Media Matters for America]] with the presumed intent of crushing the organization.<ref>[https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2024/03/elon-musk-media-matters-supreme-court.html Elon Musk’s Supreme Court Endgame in Defamation Lawsuit] by Rebecca Buckwalter-Poza (March 25, 202410:00 AM) ''Slate''.</ref>

====The right-wing edgelord troll====
Musk continued his descent from futuristic tech CEO into just another shitposting [[edgelord]] [[troll]] on November 28 2022. The overnight tweetstorm included tweets with a [[Pepe the Frog]] image, an image of [[Baked Alaska]] that was quickly deleted, and a fake "CNN headline" created by a small right-leaning satire site called ''Genesius Times'' (tweeted, of course, without any context to the real source whatsoever).<ref>[https://deadline.com/2022/11/elon-musks-twitter-pepe-the-frog-tweet-adl-cnn-1235182744/ "Elon Musk’s Pepe The Frog Tweet Decried By ADL As His Overnight Tweetstorm Also Highlights Guns, Revolutionary War Imagery & Fabricated CNN Headline"] by Tom Tapp, Deadline, 2022 November 28</ref><ref>[https://www.dailydot.com/debug/elon-musk-tim-gionet-baked-alaska-twitter/ "Elon Musk quietly deletes meme featuring prominent white nationalist Capitol rioter"] by Mikael Thalen, Daily Dot, 2022 November 28</ref><ref>[https://apnews.com/article/fact-checking-040398325285 "Image of CNN report about Elon Musk came from parody site"] by Sophia Tulp, AP, 2022 April 8</ref> Musk continued to be Very Concerned about [[doublespeak|what he called]] "[[free speech]]", <ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20221128212622/https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1597336812732575744 "The Twitter Files on free speech suppression soon to be published on Twitter itself. The public deserves to know what really happened …"], @elonmusk, Twitter, 2022 November 28</ref> while also simultaneously displaying "concerns" in other tweets about there needing to be a "counter-narrative" for supposed "far left San Francisco/Berkeley views"<ref>[https://www.sfgate.com/tech/article/elon-musk-blasts-san-francisco-17607597.php "Elon Musk blasts San Francisco’s ‘far left’ views on Twitter as advertisers flee"] by Joshua Bote, SFGate, 2022 November 23</ref> and claiming that a supposed "[[woke]] [[Meme|mind virus]] has thoroughly penetrated entertainment and is pushing civilization towards suicide."<ref>[https://www.standard.co.uk/news/world/twitter-elon-musk-woke-mind-virus-tesla-b1042726.html "Elon Musk says he’s ‘not right wing’ but ‘woke mind virus pushing civilisation toward suicide’"] by Lydia Chantler-Hicks, Evening Standard, 2022 November 25</ref> Of course, all those advertisers who paused Twitter ads, in Musk's mind, also hated "free speech" as well, because apparently "free speech" in Muskland means "paying Elon Musk money".<ref>[https://www.vice.com/en/article/4ax8qp/elon-musk-wonders-does-the-company-that-fought-the-fbi-in-court-to-prevent-giving-it-the-text-messages-of-terrorists-hate-free-speech-because-it-stopped-giving-me-money "Elon Musk Wonders: Does the Company that Fought the FBI in Court to Prevent Giving it the Text Messages of Terrorists Hate Free Speech Because It Stopped Giving Me Money?"] by Jason Koebler, Vice, 2022 November 28</ref> Meanwhile, Twitter's radically reduced anti-propaganda team experienced noticeable difficulty stopping an apparent pro-China spam campaign that was attempting to flood out any information on Twitter regarding the {{wpl|2022 COVID-19 protests in China||.}}<ref>[https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/11/27/twitter-china-spam-protests/ "Twitter grapples with Chinese spam obscuring news of protests"] by Joseph Menn, Washington Post, 2022 November 27</ref> 

An analysis of Musk's replies and exchanges on his Twitter account by ''{{wpl|Le Monde||,}}'' published on November 28 2022, indicated that increasingly Musk was living in a right-wing "filter bubble". Musk's approving chats heavily consisted of accounts associated with [[Gamergate]] and/or [[alt-right]] figures, conservative activists, [[cryptocurrency|crypto]] bros, and Tesla "fan groups" that praised every announcement he made and LOLed at every shitpost he tweeted. On the flip side, Musk tended to mock and act flippantly toward criticisms coming from Democratic politicians, as well as making fun of the mainstream American media in general (the latter probably due to Musk's thin-skinned inability to handle criticism.)<ref>[https://www.lemonde.fr/en/pixels/article/2022/11/28/on-twitter-elon-musk-finds-comfort-in-his-right-wing-filter-bubble_6005914_13.html "On Twitter, Elon Musk finds comfort in his right-wing 'filter bubble'"] by Damien Leloup , Léa Sanchez and Olivier Clairouin, Le Monde, 2022 November 28</ref> 

A March 2023 [[BBC]] analysis of Twitter by {{wpl|Marianna Spring}} indicated that at that time, due to Musk's decimation of safety teams, [[trolls]] ran rampant on the platform, targeted harassment campaigns (including those originated by state-sanctioned campaigns) aimed at curbing freedom of expression were common, and abusive [[misogyny]] had increased.<ref>[https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-64804007 "Twitter insiders: We can't protect users from trolling under Musk"] by Marianna Spring, BBC, 2023 March 6</ref> Musk's response to the article was to tweet that "trolls are kinda fun"; also predictably, Twitter trolls responded to the report by directing a torrent of abusive posts at the reporter.<ref>[https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-64989720 "How Elon Musk's tweets unleashed a wave of hate"] by Marianna Spring, BBC, 2023 March 21</ref> 

In early April 2023, Musk unexpectedly changed the Twitter logo above the home icon (and elsewhere) into the logo for the {{wpl|Dogecoin}} [[cryptocurrency]]. Not coincidentally, at that time, Musk was being sued by a group of investors accusing Musk of running a "[[pyramid scheme]]" with Dogecoin, by [[pump and dump|manipulating the Dogecoin market with his tweets.]]<ref>[https://variety.com/2023/digital/news/elon-musk-twitter-logo-doge-dogecoin-meme-1235572343/ "Why Did Elon Musk Change the Twitter Logo to the Dogecoin Cryptocurrency Meme?"] by Todd Spangler, Variety, 2023 April 3</ref><ref>[https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nysd.581639/gov.uscourts.nysd.581639.1.0.pdf Keith Johnson v. Elon Musk,] United States District Court Southern District of New York, Case No 1:22-cv-5037</ref>

Due to Musk firing Twitter's communications team, as of March 2023 (under a new policy change instituted by Musk), any mail sent to these accounts will be automatically replied to with a "poop emoji". Which [[ironically]] happens to also be a great description of Twitter under Musk's leadership.<ref>[https://www.npr.org/2023/03/20/1164654551/twitter-poop-emoji-elon-musk "Got a question for Twitter's press team? The answer will be a poop emoji"] by Rachel Tresiman, NPR, 2023 March 20</ref>

====Climate change misinformation/disinformation====
In the past, Musk had advocated pro-sustainable energy stances (and was a significant spokesman of such), as one would expect from the CEO of the company that essentially kick-started the electric vehicle market with Tesla.<ref>[https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/elon-musk-climate-hero "Elon Musk, Climate Hero?"] by Dana Goodyear, New Yorker, 2015 May 7</ref> Publicly during this time period, Musk was strongly concerned about climate change, and was fervently against climate science deniers. In 2017, Musk told {{wpl|Rolling Stone}} that "climate change is the biggest threat that humanity faces this century, except for [[AI]]".<ref>[https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/elon-musk-the-architect-of-tomorrow-120850/ "Elon Musk: The Architect of Tomorrow"] by Neil Strauss, Rolling Stone, 2017 November 15</ref> In October 2016, in response to a {{wpl|CNBC}} interview where the coal baron (and [[Last Week Tonight|John Oliver]] arch-nemesis)<ref>[https://slate.com/culture/2019/11/john-oliver-coal-baron-squirrel-slapp-lawsuit-bob-murray.html "John Oliver Taunts Coal Baron Enraged by Giant Talking Squirrel With Giant Singing Squirrels"] by Marissa Matrinelli, Slate, 2019 November 11</ref> {{wpl|Robert E. Murray}} called Tesla a fraud, Musk tweeted "Real fraud going on is denial of climate science."<ref>[https://futurism.com/elon-musk-says-denial-of-climate-change-is-fraud "Elon Musk Says Denial of Climate Change is 'Fraud'"] by Jess Vilvestre, Futurism, 2016 October 13</ref> Musk even broke off his council associations with [[Donald Trump]] after Trump stepped away from the {{wpl|Paris Agreement||.}}<ref>[https://www.theverge.com/2017/6/1/15726292/elon-musk-trump-advisory-council-paris-climate-decision "Elon Musk steps down from Trump advisory councils over Paris climate decision"] by Sean O'Kane, The Verge, 2017 June 1</ref> 

Since taking Twitter over, Musk's priorities have shifted to shitposting [[transphobic]] jokes and hanging out with his [[conspiracy theory]]-loving sycophants on the platform. While Musk is not a climate change denier (at least at this time), this shift in focus has resulted in a considerably diminished focus on his previous stance championing the fight against climate change. 

Besides allowing vicious attacks on climate scientists on Twitter<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/may/14/climate-crisis-deniers-target-scientists-abuse-musk-twitter Climate crisis deniers target scientists for vicious abuse on Musk’s Twitter: Abusive, often violent tweets denying the climate emergency have become a barrage since Elon Musk acquired the platform, say UK experts] by Anna Fazackerley (14 May 2023 02.00 EDT) ''The Guardian''.</ref> (to the point with many climate scientists, fed up with the racism, sexism, and climate-denying [[trolls]] and bots on the platform, have simply left)<ref>[https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/5/24/climate-scientists-flee-twitter-as-hostility-surges "Climate scientists flee Twitter as hostility surges"], Al Jazeera, 2023 May 24</ref> and prioritizing results from [[climate change]] [[denialism|deniers]] on Twitter,<ref>[https://apnews.com/article/elon-musk-twitter-inc-technology-science-social-media-a7e2e3214abb4470dcb6e2837aa39c2e Climate misinformation ‘rocket boosters’ on Musk’s Twitter] by David Klepper (January 19, 2023) ''AP''.</ref> Musk has himself posted climate change misinformation:<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20230625101820/https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1672793968587702272 Important to note that what happens on Earth’s surface (eg farming) has no meaningful impact on climate change. Overwhelmingly, the risk of climate change is due to moving billions of tons of carbon from deep underground into the atmosphere. Over time, if we keep doing this, the chemical makeup of our atmosphere will change enough to induce meaningful climate change.] by Elon Musk (2:28 AM · Jun 25, 2023) ''Twitter'' (archived from June 25, 2023).</ref>
{{cquote|Important to note that what happens on Earth’s surface (eg farming) has no meaningful impact on climate change. Overwhelmingly, the risk of climate change is due to moving billions of tons of carbon from deep underground into the atmosphere.}}

In fact, land use change (LUC) impacts the balance of the Earth's carbon cycle by altering the land's carbon carrying capacity, for example where rainforest is replaced by farmland. According to the annual Global Carbon Budget study<ref>[https://essd.copernicus.org/articles/14/4811/2022/ Global Carbon Budget 2022] by Pierre Friedlingstein et al. (2022) ''Earth Syst Sci Data'' 14(11): 4811–4900. doi.org/10.5194/essd-14-4811-2022.</ref>, 11% of the annual net increase in atmospheric CO<sub>2</sub> concentration is currently a direct result of LUC, while cumulatively LUC is responsible for one third of anthropogenic CO<sub>2</sub> emissions since 1750. While the impact of fossil fuel combustion is undoubtedly greater, it is straight up climate denial to state that LUC has "no meaningful impact".

LUC also significantly impacts the atmospheric concentration of the other key greenhouse gases, methane<ref>[https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0167880910002914 Methane emission from rice fields as affected by land use change] by Moniruzzaman Khan Eusufzai et al. (2010) ''Agr Ecosyst Environ'' 139(4): 742-748. doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2010.11.003.</ref><ref>[https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0038071714003575 Soil methane oxidation and land-use change – from process to mitigation] by Kevin R. Tate (2015) ''Soil Biol Biochem'' 80: 260-272. doi.org/10.1016/j.soilbio.2014.10.010.</ref><ref>[https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0167880922000159 Impact of land use change on soil methane fluxes and diffusivity in Pampean plains, Argentina] by María De Bernardi et al. (2022) ''Agr Ecosyst Environ'' 329: 107866. doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2022.107866.</ref> and nitrous oxide<ref>[https://bg.copernicus.org/articles/12/7299/2015/ Reviews and syntheses: Soil N<sub>2</sub>O and NO emissions from land use and land-use change in the tropics and subtropics: a meta-analysis] by J. van Lent et al. (2015) ''Biogeosciences'' 12(23): 7299-7313. doi.org/10.5194/bg-12-7299-2015.</ref><ref>[http://www.international-agrophysics.org/,109238,0,2.html Impact of land use change on greenhouse gases emissions in peatland: a review] by Ryusuke Hatano (2019) ''Int Agrophys'' 33(2): 167–173. doi.org/10.31545/intagr/109238.</ref><ref>[https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1877343520300476 From research to policy: optimizing the design of a national monitoring system to mitigate soil nitrous oxide emissions] by Stephen M Ogle et al. (2020) ''Curr Opin Env Sust'' 47: 28-36. doi.org/10.1016/j.cosust.2020.06.003.</ref>.

LUC additionally affects climate conditions by changing biophysical properties such as albedo, evapotranspiration and surface roughness<ref>[https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0264837718311554 Local biophysical effects of land use and land cover change: towards an assessment tool for policy makers] by Gregory Duveiller et al. (2020) ''Land Use Policy'' 91: 104382. doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2019.104382.</ref><ref>[https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/pce.12488 Modelling the influence of land-use changes on biophysical and biochemical interactions at regional and global scales] by N. Devaraju et al. (2015) ''Plant Cell Environ'' 38: 1931-1946. doi.org/10.1111/pce.12488.</ref>. Although these effects are generally more localised than changes in atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations, localised climate change is still relevant when considering climate change impacts.

If human civilisation had acted more quickly to transition away from fossil fuels, we could afford to ignore the effect of LUC on climate in the short to medium term. However, as decades of inaction has brought us to the point of climate crisis, addressing the impact of LUC will be necessary if we are to meet goals such as the Paris Agreement to limit global temperature rise to 1.5°C<ref>[https://unfccc.int/topics/introduction-to-land-use UNFCCC - Introduction to Land Use]</ref> and the European Union's ambition of net zero emissions by 2050 <ref>[https://www.eea.europa.eu/ims/greenhouse-gas-emissions-from-land European Environment Agency - Greenhouse gas emissions from land use, land use change and forestry in Europe]</ref>.

Aside from the issue of LUC, modern agriculture and forestry systems are also highly dependent on petroleum-based fertilizers, energy-intensive machinery for planting and harvesting, and transportation networks that are still largely powered by fossil fuels. The IPCC groups these factors alongside the effect of LUC itself under the heading Agriculture, Forestry and Other Land Use (AFOLU), which they say was responsible for 22% of net global CO<sub>2</sub>-eq GHG emissions in the year 2019.<ref>[https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/syr/ IPCC AR6 Synthesis Report]</ref>

Musk has also downplayed the threat of climate change to various degrees on several occasions. In an August 2022 tweet, for instance, Musk seemed to put more prominence in [[Depopulation conspiracy theory|depopulation conspiracy theories]] than climate change. ("Population collapse due to low birth rates is a much bigger risk to civilization than global warming.")<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20220826042900/https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1563020169160851456 "Population collapse due to low birth rates is a much bigger risk to civilization than global warming."] by Elon Musk, @elonmusk, 2022 August 26, archived on 2022 August 26</ref> On May 5 2023, in response to a tweet from [[Mike Cernovich]] calling "global warming" "the largest scam in human history.", Musk replied that "global warming risk is overblown in the short term, but significant in the long term."<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20230505134900/https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1654324102415482880 "Global warming risk is overblown in the short term, but significant in the long term"] by Elon Musk, @elonmusk, Twitter, 2023 May 5, archived on 2023 May 5</ref> 

Musk has also taken several public stances against government and business initiatives that address climate change, but didn't happen to benefit the pockets of Musk. For instance, Musk came out against [[Joe Biden]]'s {{wpl|Build Back Better Plan}} bill, due to what critics saw as irritation at other automobile companies getting more subsidies than Tesla.<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2021/dec/08/elon-musk-slams-build-back-better-electric-car-incentive "Elon Musk slams Biden’s Build Back Better bill and its electric car incentives"] by Oliver Milman, Guardian, 2021 December 8</ref> Likewise, right after Tesla was booted from {{wpl|S&P Dow Jones Indices|S&P's}} "ESG index", Musk called [[Socially responsible investing|environmential, social, and governance (ESG)]] a "scam" that was " weaponized by phony [[social justice warriors]]". (The reason for S&P excluding Tesla was due to [[racism]] at Tesla's factories.)<ref>[https://newrepublic.com/article/166561/elon-musk-newest-acolyte-rights-critical-energy-theory-nonsense "Elon Musk Is the Newest Acolyte of the Right’s Critical Energy Theory Nonsense"] by Kate Aronoff, New Republic, 2022 May 23</ref>

====The future====
Musk's Twitter problems were so significant, they affected his primary company Tesla as well. Between April 4 2022 (the date Musk first disclosed he took a 9% stake in Twitter) and December 15, 2022, Musk's primary company, Tesla, lost a staggering ''$705 billion'' in market capitalization. The Twitter purchase was not the only reason for the decline; however, it was clear that Twitter played a significant factor. Many investors were not happy with Musk seemingly abandoning Tesla in order to badly mismanage Twitter. Investors also were not happy at Musk using Tesla stock as a "piggy bank" to help finance propping up his favorite shitposting platform.<ref>[https://www.forbes.com/sites/dereksaul/2022/12/15/elon-musk-has-now-sold-229-billion-in-tesla-shares-since-buying-twitter-and-dragged-down-teslas-market-cap-by-700-billion-in-the-process/?sh=3d46de9568b6 "Elon Musk Has Now Sold $22.9 Billion In Tesla Shares Since Buying Twitter—And Dragged Down Tesla's Market Cap By $700 Billion In The Process"] by Derek Saul, Forbes, 2022 December 15</ref> Many analysts also noted that Tesla's previously sky-high stock price relied, in part, on Musk's reputation as a genius [[futurist]]. Musk's mismanagement misadventures at Twitter cracked that facade, and thus damaged the Tesla brand and helped damage Tesla's stock price. As an added headache, Musk's increasingly hyper-partisan [[conspiracy theory]] and political oriented tweets added additional Tesla brand damage. This is particularly so, considering that the left-leaning people Musk is obsessively attacking were always the ones most likely to buy a Tesla, while conservatives are the least likely to do so.<ref>[https://www.forbes.com/sites/alanohnsman/2022/11/23/elon-musk-tesla-stock-twitter/?sh=1dc984dd6f81 "How Elon Musk’s Twitter Takeover Is Ruining His Own Myth — And Tesla’s Stock"] by Alan Ohnsman, Forbes, 2022 November 23</ref>

Perhaps with this in mind, on December 18, 2022, Musk posted a Twitter poll asking whether or not he should continue as CEO of Twitter, claiming he would abide by the results. The poll closed on Monday, with the result (57.5%) clearly showing most voters in favor of him leaving the CEO position.<ref>[https://www.cnbc.com/2022/12/19/elon-musk-in-twitter-poll-asks-if-he-should-step-down-as-twitter-ceo.html "Elon Musk polled Twitter on whether he should step down as CEO. Most voters said yes"] by Ashley Kapoot and Lora Kolodny, CNBC, 2022 December 19</ref> After initially appearing to want to [[moving the goalposts|move the goalposts]] and change the rules for the poll,<ref>[https://www.cnn.com/2022/12/20/tech/elon-musk-twitter-polls/index.html "After Twitter users voted to oust Elon Musk as CEO, he wants to change how polls work"] by Clare Duffy, CNN, 2022 December 20</ref> on Tuesday December 20 2022, Musk gave in... sort of. Musk tweeted that he would "resign as CEO as soon as I find someone foolish enough to take the job!", while still maintaining that he would run the "software & servers teams".<ref>[https://www.newyorker.com/culture/infinite-scroll/is-this-the-end-of-elon-musks-twitter-odyssey "Is This the End of Elon Musk’s Twitter Odyssey?"] by Kyle Chayka, New Yorker, 2022 December 21</ref> Of course, this was seen by many as mere "window dressing", and that he would retain significant influence over the company regardless of whether he was CEO or not.<ref>[https://abcnews.go.com/Business/elon-musks-resignation-twitter-hell-give-control-experts/story?id=95649617 "Does Elon Musk's resignation from Twitter mean he'll give up control? Experts weigh in"] by Max Zahn, ABC News, 2022 December 22</ref> 

On May 12, 2023, Musk announced that {{wpl|Linda Yaccarino}}, previously an advertising chief executive at NBCUniversal, would become Twitter's new CEO. Musk would still be involved as executive chairman and chief technology officer.<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/12/technology/yaccarino-twitter-ceo-musk.html "Elon Musk Appoints Linda Yaccarino Twitter’s New Chief"] by Tiffany Hsu, Sapna Maheshwari, Benjamin Mullin and Ryan Mac, New York Times, 2023 May 12</ref><ref>[https://www.cbsnews.com/news/elon-musk-announces-new-ceo-twitter-linda-yaccarino/ "Elon Musk says he's found "a new CEO" for Twitter. It's said to be NBCU's Linda Yaccarino."] by Aimee Picchi, CBS News, 2023 May 12</ref>{{efn|Yaccarino's political positions are generally described as conservative by most sources,<ref>[https://www.vox.com/technology/2023/5/11/23720327/elon-musk-new-twitter-ceo-linda-yaccarino "Who is Linda Yaccarino, Elon Musk’s pick for new Twitter CEO?"] by Shirin Ghaffary, Vox, 2023 May 12</ref><ref>[https://www.bbc.com/news/business-65574826 "Elon Musk names Linda Yaccarino new Twitter CEO"], BBC News, 2023 May 12</ref> and it is not surprising that the announcement was criticized by liberals concerned about her previous appointment by [[Donald Trump]] to the {{wpl|President's Council on Sports, Fitness, and Nutrition}}, as well as some of the far-right figures she followed in her Twitter feed (such as [[Libs of TikTok]], [[Jack Posobiec]], and {{wpl|Sidney Powell}}).<ref>[https://newrepublic.com/post/172699/linda-yaccarino-reported-twitter-ceo-right-wing-tendencies "Elon Musk Is the Only One Happy About New Twitter CEO Linda Yaccarino"] by Prem Thakker, New Republic, 2023 May 12</ref> Yaccarino, however, is also affiliated with the [[World Economic Forum]]<ref>[https://www.weforum.org/people/linda-yaccarino World Economic Forum, People, Linda Yaccarino]</ref> — long a subject of derision among [[conspiracy theorists]]. Additionally, in the past she made statements praising diversity at NBC and favoring [[face masks]] and [[vaccines]] during the [[COVID-19 pandemic]], to the point where as a member of the {{wpl|Ad Council}} she helped [[Joe Biden]]'s administration create a [[COVID-19 vaccine|COVID-19 vaccination]] marketing campaign.<ref>[https://apnews.com/article/twitter-musk-new-ceo-a5df68e9a1e5f982368390c73aeabb50 "Twitter’s new CEO is an NBCUniversal executive with deep ad industry ties"] by Wyatte Grantham-Philips and Barbara Ortutay, AP News, 2023 May 12</ref> This caused many of the more reactionary and conspiratorial right-wing Twitter accounts to have a meltdown as well,<ref>[https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-linda-yaccarino-new-twitter-ceo-world-economic-forum-2023-5 "Some of Elon Musk's fans are furious newly appointed Twitter CEO Linda Yaccarino chairs a World Economic Forum committee"] by Aaron McDade, Business Insider, 2023 May 12</ref> with many of them taking to Twitter to scream the usual [[snarl words]] and [[conspiracy]] memes (such as "[[globalist]]", "[[New World Order]]", and "[[woke]]") at her.<ref>[https://gizmodo.com/linda-yaccarino-twitter-ceo-wef-conspiracy-elon-musk-1850433392 "Twitter Conspiracy Bozos Are Freaking Out Over Elon's WEF-Friendly CEO Pick"] by Thomas Germain, Gizmodo, 2023 May 13</ref> Many of these angry reactionary right tweeters also threatened to leave the platform, to the point where the "#RIPTwitter" hashtag once again trended.<ref>[https://www.thewrap.com/twitter-elon-musk-linda-yaccarino-ceo-riptwitter/ "#RipTwitter Trends as Right-Wingers Disapprove of Elon Musk’s New CEO Hire: ‘The Death of the Platform’"] by Mason Bissada, The Wrap, 2023 May 13</ref>}}

By March 2024, according to the market research firm Sensor Tower, the number of Twitter daily app users worldwide had declined 15% since November 2022 (when Musk took over), and had declined 23% in the United States specifically. In comparison, most social media apps were experiencing modest growth worldwide during that period, and (with the exception of [[TikTok]]) were flat or modestly down in the United States.<ref>[https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/fewer-people-using-elon-musks-x-struggles-keep-users-rcna144115 "
Fewer people are using Elon Musk’s X as the platform struggles to attract and keep users, according to analysts"] by David Ingram, NBC News, 2024 March 22</ref> [[Fake news]] was still very prevalent on the Twitter platform, so much so that in December 2023, Twitter became the first tech company to face a formal investigation within the [[European Union]] under the {{wpl|Digital Services Act||.}}<ref>[https://apnews.com/article/twitter-x-musk-social-media-europe-82b2780d9abf123dc769d124aa04f24f "European Union investigating Musk’s X over possible breaches of social media law"] by Kelvin Chan, Associated Press, 2023 December 18</ref> Hate speech, including noxious [[AI]] generated images straight from [[4chan]]'s [[/pol/]], also thrived on the platform;<ref>[https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2023/12/14/ai-hate-memes-antisemitic-musk-x/ "Bigots use AI to make Nazi memes on 4chan. Verified users post them on X."] by Will Oremus, Washington Post, 2023 December 14</ref> rather than address the hate speech, Musk responded by suing watchdog organizations like the {{wpl|Center for Countering Digital Hate}} and the [[Anti-Defamation League]].<ref>[https://www.cnbc.com/2023/09/13/x-formerly-twitter-hate-speech-running-rampant-ccdh.html "Elon Musk’s X sued this nonprofit after it exposed hate speech, and its new research shows little has changed"] by Jonathan Vanian, CNBC, 2023 September 13</ref> With major advertisers still staying clear of Twitter's toxic environment,<ref>[https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2023/12/stop-comparing-xs-dismal-ad-sales-to-twitters-past-success-x-exec-says/ "Elon Musk’s X ad revenue reportedly fell $1.5B this year amid boycotts"] by Ashley Belanger, Ars Technica, 2023 December 13</ref> Twitter also was noteworthy for being infested with tons of shady advertisements, including [[cryptocurrency]] scams, "dropshipping" scams, and health care scams and misinformation.<ref>[https://www.pcmag.com/news/twitter-users-are-reporting-an-increase-in-crypto-scam-ads "Twitter Users Report an Increase in Crypto Scam Ads"] by Emily Price, PCMag, 2024 January 6</ref><ref>[https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/twitters-remaining-advertisers-roasted-community-notes-1234946004/ "Twitter’s Scammy Advertisers Are Getting Wrecked by Community Notes"] by Miles Klee, Rolling Stone, 2024 January 12</ref>

Even with the above, what the future holds for the platform is uncertain, but more than likely it will become even more of a lawless wasteland than it was before. If it manages to still exist, that is.

==Mental health issues==
Musk has been variously described as having non-professionally diagnosed [[PTSD]], [[autism|being autistic]], and bipolar disorder by himself, relatives and friends.<ref name=isaacson/>{{rp|19,268,310-311}} He says he was prescribed ketamine, and takes it once in a while, [[Antidepressant|to treat depression]].<ref>Clare Duffy (March 18, 2024). [https://www.cnn.com/2024/03/18/tech/elon-musk-ketamine-use-don-lemon-interview "Elon Musk details his prescription ketamine use, says investors should want him to 'keep taking it'"]. ''CNN''.</ref><ref>Julaine Allan (March 20, 2024). [https://theconversation.com/elon-musk-says-ketamine-can-get-you-out-of-a-negative-frame-of-mind-what-does-the-research-say-226223 "Elon Musk says ketamine can get you out of a 'negative frame of mind'. What does the research say?"]. ''The Conversation''.</ref>

Grimes, one of Musk's baby mamas, described his bipolar manic phase as "demon mode".<ref name=isaacson/>{{rp|310-311}}

==Sociopathy==
[[File:Space X Starship SN9.jpg|thumb|165px|[[Penis enlargement|Compensating much?]]<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20211116003639/https://twitter.com/elonmusk/ Elon Musk] ''Twitter'' (archived from November 16, 2021).</ref>]]
{{cquote|{{plainlist|
* '''Court lawyer''': Do you have some kind of unique ability to identify narcissistic sociopaths?
* '''Musk''': You mean by looking in the mirror?
* ...
* '''Court lawyer''': And, sir, since you've brought it up, do you think that you're a  narcissistic sociopath?
* '''Musk''': No.<ref>[https://cryptome.org/2020/08/musk-2020-02-21.pdf Tesla Inc. v. Martin Tripp] Case No. 3:18-CV-00296-LRH-CBC (2/21/2020) ''United States District Court, District of Nevada''.</ref>}}}} 
For someone who has ostensibly created some ventures that could be called good for society (pioneering electric vehicle manufacture, installing rooftop solar, more questionably others), Musk and Tesla have exhibited repeated and disturbing signs of narcissistic [[Antisocial personality disorder|sociopathy]]<ref name=gotmusked>[https://gotmusked.com/content/sociopathic-tendencies/ Sociopathic Tendencies] ''Got Musked''.</ref><ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=01LK1hxpwcY Is Elon Musk a psychopath?] by Common Sense Skeptic (Apr 6, 2021) ''YouTube''.</ref> (superficial charm, lying, intentionally causing harm to others).

Musk believes in the 
theory
 conjecture that all of existence is a [[simulated reality]] and has dedicated millions of dollars towards proving an [[unfalsifiable]] [[hypothesis]] true,<ref>[https://www.forbes.com/sites/janetwburns/2016/10/13/elon-musk-and-friends-are-spending-millions-to-break-out-of-the-matrix/ Elon Musk And Friends Are Spending Millions To Break Out Of The Matrix] by Janet Burns (Oct 13, 2016,02:00pm EDT) ''Forbes''.</ref> rather than using that money to do something beneficial. Presumably, he believes in this idea because he believes it could absolve him of any accountability regarding his actions. Musk's apparent belief that reality is a simulation would appear to be a [[rationalization]] for Musk doing whatever the fuck he wants. When one is the richest person on the planet one can do a very good job of creating a [[walled garden]] to keep out things that one doesn't want to confront by just throwing [[money]] at them.

Adjacent to Musk's sociopathy, is his support for longtermism — the idea that interplanetary colonization or creating virtual realities of trillions of virtual people in space is more important than dealing with current world problems or even foreseeable [[extinction level event]]s, including [[climate change]]. Musk has shown support for longtermerist ideas, including William MacAskill's book ''What We Owe the Future'',<ref>[https://www.salon.com/2022/08/20/understanding-longtermism-why-this-suddenly-influential-philosophy-is-so/ Understanding "longtermism": Why this suddenly influential philosophy is so toxic: Whatever we may "owe the future," it isn't a bizarre and dangerous ideology fueled by eugenics and capitalism] by Émile P. Torres August 20, 2022 12:00PM (EDT) ''Salon''.</ref> calling the book "a close match for my philosophy."<ref>[https://newrepublic.com/article/168047/longtermism-future-humanity-william-macaskill The Heavy Price of Longtermism: Longtermists focus on ensuring humanity’s existence into the far future. But not without sacrifices in the present.] by Alexander Zaitchik (October 24, 2022) ''The New Republic''.</ref>

===Musk, himself===
{{cquote|…his gift is not empathy with people.|||Musk's brother, Kimbal, making the understatement of the year<ref name=ball>[https://time.com/person-of-the-year-2021-elon-musk/ Person of the Year: Elon Musk] by Molly Ball et al. (Dec. 13, 2021) ''Time''.</ref>}}
{{cquote|We’ve got civilizational suicidal empathy going on... [[bullshit|I believe in empathy]]... but you need to have empathy for civilization as a whole and not commit to a civilizational suicide... the fundamental weakness of Western Civilization is empathy...|||Elon Musk on [[Joe Rogan]]'s podcast, desiring to "save civilization" by being an [[asshole]] to everyone he disagrees with.<ref>[https://www.cnn.com/2025/03/05/politics/elon-musk-rogan-interview-empathy-doge/index.html "Elon Musk wants to save Western civilization from empathy"] by Zachary B. Wolf, CNN, 2025 March 5</ref><ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sSOxPJD-VNo #2281 Joe Rogan Experience #2281 - Elon Musk], YouTube, 1:16:00-1:18:35</ref>}}
Musk either thinks that he is a big gorilla, or he knows that is a [[manospherian]], declaring to his first wife at their wedding in 2000, "I am the [[Manosphere glossary#Alpha|alpha]] in this relationship." He later treated her like a slightly privileged employee, later telling her often, "If you were my employee, I would fire you."<ref>[https://www.marieclaire.com/sex-love/a5380/millionaire-starter-wife/ "I Was a Starter Wife": Inside America's Messiest Divorce] by Justine Musk (September 10, 2010) ''Marie Claire''.</ref> In 2020, Musk tweeted a call to "Take the [[Red pill]] 🌹".<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20200517174612if_/https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1262076474565242880 Take the red pill 🌹] by Elon Musk (17 May 2020) ''Twitter'' (archived from May 17, 2020).</ref> The term "red pill" was popularized by the manosphere and absorbed into the larger [[alt-right]]. It is possible however that Musk was referring to the original use in the film series ''[[The Matrix]]'', which would agree with his simulated reality belief. Years after ''The Matrix'' was released, the filmmakers revealed in 2016 that films were actually a reflection of their [[transsexuality]].<ref>[https://www.themarysue.com/the-matrix-trans-lens/ Lilly Wachowski Acknowledges Re-Examination of The Matrix With Lens Focused on Transness] by Jessica Lachenal (Apr 5<sup>th</sup>, 2016, 5:04 pm) ''The Mary Sue''.</ref> Although the red rose in Musk's tweet is a symbol of [[social democracy]], Musk is known to be strongly against this ideology.

On March 6, 2020, during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic when vaccines were not available, Musk said, "The coronavirus panic is dumb".<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20200323022033/https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1236029449042198528 The coronavirus panic is dumb] by Elon Musk (12:42 - 6. March 2020) ''Twitter'' (archived from March 23, 2020).</ref> (It was no doubt a sheer coincidence that he would have stood to lose money if his employees stayed home.) By March 17, state and local officials were ordering lockdowns to prevent further spread of COVID and the overburdening hospitals that did eventuate. On March 19, Musk stated, "Based on current trends, probably close to zero new cases in the US too by the end of April".<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20200322021228/https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1240754657263144960 Based on current trends, probably close to zero new cases in US too by end of April] by Elon Musk (4.38 - 19 Mar 2020) ''Twitter'' (archived from March 22, 2020).</ref> Contrary to what the boy genius predicted, daily case counts have yet to drop to zero as of December 2021, and the daily peak was 218,000 in January 2021 before vaccines were widely available.<ref>[https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#trends_dailycases COVID Data Tracker] ''Centers for Disease Control''.</ref> By April, Musk was complaining about lockdowns.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20200430151239/https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1255380013488189440 FREE AMERICA NOW] by Elon Musk (23:14 - 28. Apr. 2020) ''Twitter'' (archived from April 30, 2020).</ref> In May 2020, Musk opened his Fremont, [[California]] Tesla factory in defiance of Alameda County health orders. As a result, he personally caused 450 COVID cases.<ref name="450cases">[https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2021/03/12/hundreds-covid-cases-reported-tesla-plant-following-musks-defiant-reopening-county-data-shows/ Hundreds of covid cases reported at Tesla plant following Musk’s defiant reopening, county data shows] by Faiz Siddiqui (March 12, 2021 at 7:24 p.m. PST) ''The Washington Post''.</ref>

By July 2023, Musk's position on COVID-19 was considerably more [[crank|cranky]] and in line with the [[anti-vaccination movement]], in line with his general tilt towards [[conspiracy theories]]. After basketball player {{wpl|Bronny James}} collapsed of cardiac arrest, Musk, without any evidence, tried to [[deceit|insinuate]] that the [[COVID-19 vaccine]] may have caused this, stating that "{{wpl|Myocarditis}} is a known side-effect" of the vaccine. When Twitter users helpfully added a fact-check to this post that actually the risk of myocarditis is significantly higher from a COVID-19 infection than the vaccine, this fact check was removed.<ref name="BronnyJamesNote">[https://www.forbes.com/sites/antoniopequenoiv/2023/07/25/twitter-deletes-fact-check-of-musk-connecting-bronny-james-cardiac-arrest-to-covid-vaccine/ "Twitter Deletes Fact-Check Of Musk Connecting Bronny James’ Cardiac Arrest To Covid Vaccine"] by Antonio Pequeno IV, Forbes, 2023 July 25</ref> Myocarditis also is not the most common cause of cardiac arrest in young athletes.<ref>[https://www.insider.com/elon-musk-bronny-james-cardiac-arrest-anti-covid-vaccine-2023-7 "Elon Musk is using Bronny James' cardiac arrest to baselessly spout anti-vaccine talking points"] by Rebecca Cohen and Hilary Brueck, Bsuiness Insider, 2023 July 25</ref>

{{quotebox|'''Tesla engineer''': "You mean, program the robot? Or design that tool?"

'''Musk''': "Did you fucking do this?"

'''Engineer''': "I’m not sure what you’re referring to? (apologetically)

'''Musk''': "You’re a fucking idiot! Get the fuck out and don’t come back!"<ref>[https://www.wired.com/story/elon-musk-tesla-life-inside-gigafactory/ Dr. Elon & Mr. Musk: Life Inside Tesla’s Production Hell: Unfettered genius. Unpredictable rages. Here's what it was like to work at Tesla as Model 3 manufacturing ramped up and the company's leader melted down.] </ref>
}}

After resigning, a Tesla employee returned to work just to say goodbye to colleagues. Musk shoved and threatened the employee by saying "I will [[nuke]] you."<ref>[https://www.businessinsider.com.au/elon-musk-reportedly-shoved-and-threatened-to-nuke-ex-tesla-employee-2019-4 ‘I will nuke you’: Elon Musk was accused of shoving and threatening a former Tesla employee] by 
Graham Rapier (Apr. 6, 2019, 8:32 AM) ''Business Insider''.</ref>

Regarding 
alleged
 rampant [[racism]] against [[African Americans]] at a Tesla factory, for which Tesla is being sued by the State of [[California]], Musk advised that victims of racism should get a "thick skin".<ref>[https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Is-the-world-s-richest-person-the-world-s-worst-17585788.php Is the world's richest person the world's worst boss? What it's like working for Elon Musk] by Russ Mitchell (Nov. 15, 2022) ''Los Angeles Times'' via ''SFGate''.</ref>

On a private jet, Musk allegedly offered a flight attendant a [[horse]] in exchange for sex after he had exposed his erect penis and touched her. The attendant refused and was awarded $250,000 in an out-of-court settlement.<ref>[https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-sexual-misconduct-claim-involved-horse-for-erotic-massage-2022-5 A sexual misconduct claim against Elon Musk involved him offering to buy a SpaceX flight attendant a horse in exchange for an erotic massage] by Cheryl Teh (May 19, 2022) ''Business Insider''.</ref>

Musk told the UN he would donate much of his fortune to end world hunger if they told him exactly how they would spend it, and then, when they gave him precisely what he wanted, a detailed program explaining exactly what they would use his money for, [[Moving the goalposts|he refused]].<ref>Johnny Wood, [https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2021/11/elon-musk-un-world-hunger-famine/ How Billionaire Elon Musk's Fortune Could End World Hunger]. weforum.org, 19 November 2021.</ref> Naturally he reneged on his part of the deal—almost as if he only said it in the first place to try to make himself look good.

Musk has thought of himself as a [[utilitarian]]. He once stated that the "Goal of government should be to maximize the happiness of the people."<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20200728004007/https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1286675982297051142 Goal of government should be to maximize the happiness of the people. Giving each person money allows them to decide what meets their needs, rather than the blunt tool of legislation, which creates self-serving special interests.] by Elon Musk (07:53 - 24. Jun 2020) ''Twitter'' (archived from July 28, 2020).</ref> He has promoted the [[effective altruism]] movement,<ref>[https://www.philanthropy.com/article/is-elon-muk-on-board-with-effective-altruism Is Elon Musk on Board With ‘Effective Altruism?] by Nicholas G. Evans (April 21, 2023) ''The Chronicle of Philanthropy''.</ref> and he used [[Roko's basilisk]] as a pickup line on someone who was his partner.<ref>[https://www.inverse.com/article/51313-grimes-elon-musk-shares-new-single-that-has-a-roko-s-basilisk-message "Elon Musk Shares Grimes’ New Song That Has a 'Roko's Basilisk' A.I. Message."] by Mike Brown (29 November 2018) ''Inverse''.</ref>

There is apparently an idea even in his own family that people in general loathe Musk. His brother Kimbal clearly knows it and understands why.<ref name=ball/> Following Musk's appointment to be co-head with [[Vivek Ramaswamy]] of the two-headed DOGE, Musk's own mother, Maye, felt compelled to defend him on [[Fox News]], saying:<ref>[https://www.the-independent.com/news/world/americas/us-politics/elon-musk-mother-wealth-interview-b2654225.html Elon Musk’s mom says it’s ‘degrading’ to call her son ‘wealthy’: He’s ‘the genius of the world’: Maye Musk’s comments sparked mockery on social media, with many making the comparisons to a nerdy cartoon character sheepishly saying his mom thinks he’s cool] by Justin Baragona (27 November 2024 11:04 EST) ''Independent''.</ref><ref>[https://bsky.app/profile/atrupar.com/post/3lbuf252zps2u Elon's mom is on Fox buttering up her son and answering questions about whether anybody actually likes him. Cringe.] by Aaron Rupar (November 26, 2024 at 7:46 AM) ''BlueSky''.</ref>
{{cquote|I don’t like the word ‘wealthy’ or ‘billionaire’ or things like that because I think it’s degrading! I think he’s the genius of the world, and people are loving him for that! … They love him because of what he does, and they respect him. And I’m very proud of him.}}
At least calling Musk a wealthy billionaire is a statement of fact.

In 2025 on Rogan's show, Musk tried to excuse his sociopathy, specifically his complete lack of empathy, by claiming it was a flaw in Western civilization. This was despite his strong embrace of [[classical antiquity]] is a superficial and [[Cherry picking|cherry-picked]] way.<ref>[https://pharos.vassarspaces.net/2025/04/25/elon-musk-joe-rogan-empathy-western-civilization/ Who Needs Empathy? Why Some White Nationalists Condemn Western Civilization] by Curtis Dozier (April 25, 2025) ''Pharos''.</ref>

====Musk's addictive personality====
Despite multiple studies showing that excessive work hours leads to ''less'' productivity overall,<ref>[https://www.cnbc.com/2015/01/26/working-more-than-50-hours-makes-you-less-productive.html "Memo to work martyrs: Long hours make you less productive"] by Bob Sullivan, CNBC, 2015 January 26</ref> Musk self-promotes himself as a workaholic who is obsessed with working extremely long hours,<ref>[https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-tesla-twitter-productivity-days-off-year-work-week-2023-5 "Elon Musk's productivity hack is taking 2 or 3 days off a year, working 7 days a week, and getting 6 hours of sleep a night"] by Nidhi Pandurangi, Business Insider, 2023 May 17</ref> and frequently expects his employees to do the same.<ref>[https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-warns-tesla-workers-challenging-production-mass-market-ev-2024-1 "Elon Musk warns Tesla workers they'll be sleeping on the production line to build its new mass-market EV"] by Tom Carter, Business Insider, 2024 January 25</ref> Curiously, in spite of his self-styled "workaholic" image, Musk also manages to allocate excessively long hours posting to [[Twitter]]. It is not unknown for Musk to go on tweeting binges for multiple hours on end, even exceeding 24-hour spans on occasion.<ref>[https://archive.ph/Zwxiq "Elon made exactly 100 posts on here since yesterday including replies that began at 12:18 AM ET on Saturday and continued until 5:08 AM ET on Sunday. They seemed to be pretty much uninterrupted for 29 hours straight and pretty much every major far-right account was engaged with."] by Ron Filipkowski (@RonFilipkowski), Twitter, 2024 February 4, archived on 2024 February 6</ref> In one alleged report, venture capitalist and Tesla board member Antonio Gracias once took Elon's {{wpl|iPhone}} and locked it in a hotel safe in order to prevent Musk from engaging in an ill-advised late-night tweeting binge. Musk later got hotel security to open the safe at 3AM just so that he could start tweeting again.<ref>[https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-phone-locked-hotel-safe-stop-tweeting-walter-isaacson-2023-7 "A Tesla board member once locked Elon Musk's phone in a safe to keep him off Twitter. The billionaire forced hotel security to open it, biographer says."] by Grace Kay and Kali Hays, Business Insider, 2023 July 6</ref>

In early 2024, the ''[[Wall Street Journal]]'' reported an additional allegation that could explain some of Musk's erratic behavior in the 2020s: Musk is a frequent recreational drug user. While Musk is well-known for his love of [[cannabis|weed]], the report further alleged drugs used included [[LSD]], [[cocaine]], [[MDMA]], and {{wpl|ketamine||.}}<ref name="muskdrugs">[https://www.businessinsider.com/larry-ellison-elon-musk-hawaii-dry-out-drugs-report-2024-2 "Former Tesla director Larry Ellison invited Elon Musk to Hawaii to 'dry out' from drugs, report says"] by Katherine Tangalakis-Lippert and Lloyd Lee, Business Insider, 2024 February 4</ref> Musk's propensity to take drugs was reportedly to the point where business associates and board members were worried it would affect his career.<ref>[https://jalopnik.com/tesla-board-members-asked-elon-musk-to-go-to-rehab-rep-1851225242 "Tesla Board Members Asked Elon Musk To Go To Rehab: Report"] by Bradley Brownell, Jalopnik, 2024 February 5</ref> In late 2022, {{wpl|Larry Ellison}} allegedly went so far as to urge Musk to travel to his private Hawaiian island for a period of time in order to pause his work and "dry out" from drugs.<ref name="muskdrugs"/>

In late May 2025, the ''[[New York Times]]'' added additional allegations. Reportedly, by the time Musk allied with [[Donald Trump]] in late 2024, Musk was taking so much ketamine, it was affecting his bladder (a known effect of chronic ketamine abuse). In addition to frequent (sometimes daily) ketamine usage, he continued to use MDMA as well as [[Psilocybin|psychedelic mushrooms]] and [[amphetamines|Adderall]]. Musk also allegedly struggled with binge eating and, in addition to bingeing on social media, also binged on video games. Reportedly Musk rejected traditional therapy and [[Antidepressant|antidepressants]] as solutions for his obsessive-compulsive behaviors.<ref name="nytdrugs">[https://archive.ph/qacZq "On the Campaign Trail, Elon Musk Juggled Drugs and Family Drama"] by Kirsten Grind and Megan Twohey, New York Times, 2025 May 30</ref>

===Companies, by proxy===
Tesla has repeatedly rolled out new and potentially-dangerous (a not fully-functional 'auto pilot',<ref name=tesladeaths>[https://www.tesladeaths.com/ Tesla Deaths] (2021).</ref><ref>[https://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/backseat-tesla-driver-unapologetic-after-arrest-for-reckless-driving/2544875/ Backseat Tesla Driver Unapologetic After Arrest for Reckless Driving: Soon after he was released, Param Sharma took to his Instagram page and uploaded a video that shows a driverless Tesla on The Embarcadero in San Francisco — with him in the backseat] by Sergio Quintana (Published May 13, 2021; Updated on May 14, 2021 at 7:20 am) ''NBC Bay Area''.</ref> 'Insane' mode<ref>[https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2021/10/10/tesla-full-self-driving/ Tesla tempted drivers with ‘insane’ mode and now is tracking them to judge safety. Experts say it’s ludicrous. Tesla’s system for rating drivers’ safety came under criticism as the company prepared to roll out its Full Self-Driving software to more owners.] by Faiz Siddiqui (October 10, 2021 at 6:00 a.m. EDT) ''The Washington Post''.</ref>) or on-its-face features (driver-accessible video games<ref>[https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2021/12/23/tesla-video-games/ Tesla halts use of video games in moving cars amid safety probe: The move comes after the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration opened a probe into the ‘Passenger Play’ feature this week.] by Faiz Siddiqui (December 23, 2021) ''The Washington Post''.</ref>) that are tested on existing car owners rather than going through extensive in-house testing.<ref name=gotmusked/> Tesla has 3 times the number of driver deaths compared to other vehicles in its car class (BMW, Lexus, and Mercedes).<ref name=tesladeaths/>

In 2021, Tesla was sued by six women who worked at Tesla factories, alleging that there was  "rampant sexual harassment" and "nightmarish conditions" at the factories.<ref name=siddiqui1>[https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2021/12/14/tesla-sexual-harassment/ Six Tesla workers file additional lawsuits alleging sexual harassment] by Faiz Siddiqui (December 14, 2021 at 3:07 p.m. EST) ''The Washington Post''.</ref> The lawsuit alleged that the abuse is effectively encouraged by Musk's lewd tweets.<ref name=siddiqui1/> A woman who was an engineer at SpaceX has also said that she suffered sexual harassment there and that there was rampant [[misogyny]].<ref>[https://www.lioness.co/post/at-spacex-we-re-told-we-can-change-the-world-just-don-t-try-to-stop-the-sexual-harassment At SpaceX, we're told we can change the world. I couldn't, however, stop getting sexually harassed.] by Ashley Kosak (2021) ''Lioness''.</ref>

A former contract worker at Tesla was awarded $137 million in a discrimination suit against Tesla that had alleged [[racist]] epithets, [[discrimination]] and a hostile work environment.<ref>[https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2021/10/04/tesla-discrimination-case/ Jury orders Tesla to pay more than $130 million in discrimination suit, which alleged racist epithets and hostile work environment] by Faiz Siddiqui (October 5, 2021 at 1:47 a.m. EDT) ''The Washington Post''.</ref>

Being a [[whistleblower]] seems to be grounds for immediate termination at Tesla despite it being illegal for Tesla to do so.<ref>[https://www.smeissner.com/tesla-whistleblower/ Tesla Whistleblower] ''Meissner Associates''.</ref><ref>[https://archive.fo/uHXi1 Since 2017, > 30 @tesla employees have been victim of whistleblower retaliation $TSLA Employees blew the whistle on fraud, safety , harassment, sexual assault & more. Most disturbing, many were terminated immediately after contacting Musk or ethics hotline. …] by Luis Carruthers (4:43 PM · Jul 23, 2019) ''Twitter'' (archived from 26 Dec 2021 02:49:10 UTC).</ref><ref>[https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2020-12-08/tesla-called-her-a-criminal-now-shes-representing-herself-at-the-ninth-circuit-court-of-appeals Tesla called her a criminal. Her fight could be a milestone for employees’ rights] by Russ Mitchell (Dec. 8, 2020 5 AM PT) ''Los Angeles Times''.</ref>

As part of Musk's shambolic 2022 takeover of [[Twitter]], the entire Twitter office in Ghana was terminated except for one employee; this had been its only office in the entire continent of Africa. The employees were not mentioned by name and were not offered severance pay,<ref>[https://www.cnn.com/2022/11/09/tech/elon-musk-twitter-layoffs-india-africa-hnk-intl/index.html Layoffs could weaken Twitter in its biggest global growth markets] by Diksha Madhok (7:58 AM EST, Wed November 9, 2022) ''CNN''.</ref> thus they were being treated like objects and not like people.

In a rare ray of humanity behind Musk's wall of misanthropy, Tesla attempted to fully automate the production of Tesla Model 3 in 2018, thus getting rid of those pesky workers once and for all. It turned out to be a disaster with employees having to work overtime to fix the mess that the robots made. It was so bad that it was first known time that Musk admitted to ever being wrong.<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/apr/16/elon-musk-humans-robots-slow-down-tesla-model-3-production Elon Musk drafts in humans after robots slow down Tesla Model 3 production: ‘Humans are underrated,’ says CEO after company failed to hit weekly production target in first quarter of 2018] by Samuel Gibbs (16 Apr 2018 05.36 EDT) ''The Guardian''.</ref> Musk even said, "Humans are underrated",<ref>[https://archive.is/6jAjG Yes, excessive automation at Tesla was a mistake. To be precise, my mistake. Humans are underrated.] by Elon Musk (:54 PM · Apr 13, 2018) ''Twitter'' (archived from 19 Oct 2024 17:34:33 UTC).</ref> a rare moment of self-awareness on his part.

===Self-serving philanthropy===
{{main|Charity}}
{{cquote|Musk clearly has utter disregard for conventions around charitable giving, and he has all the altruism of a turnip. Why should he pay professional staff to run the foundation correctly&nbsp;– and even to create some charitable impact&nbsp;– since none of it really matters to him?|||Alan Cantor<ref name=cantor/>}}
Musk likes to [[Style over substance|project an image]] of philanthropy, notably claiming that his for-profit companies are themselves philanthrophic,{{lie}} but half of all his charitable giving can be attributed to self-interest. Examples are:<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/10/us/elon-musk-charity.html Elon Musk Has a Giant Charity. Its Money Stays Close to Home. After making billions in tax-deductible donations to his philanthropy, the owner of Tesla and SpaceX gave away far less than required in some years — and what he did give often supported his own interests.] by David A. Fahrenthold and Ryan Mac (March 10, 2024) ''The New York Times''.</ref><ref name=cantor>[https://www.alancantorconsulting.com/2024/03/the-charity-of-elon-musk/ The “Charity” of Elon Musk] by Alan Cantor (March 2024) ''Alan Cantor Consulting''.</ref>
*Donating money to Cameron County and the city of Brownsville where SpaceX is headquartered, and doing so less than two hours after his SpaceX rocket exploded over the county. Some of the money that went to the city eventually went to business revitalization, including a bar and upscale restaurants. Musk was effectively trying to entice employees to move to Brownsville, whose downtown had been described as dusty.
*Failure of his Musk Foundation to give away the required minimum amount each year.
*He founded a non-profit, gated school, Ad Astra, initially with only 14 students, all of whom are either his or those of SpaceX executives. After moving to Texas, half of the 50 students were related to SpaceX employees.
*Donations to the semi-non-profit [[OpenAI]], which has its own sociopathic end product of ChatGPT.
*Under- or unfulfilled promises of donations, and lack of focus (guided by tweets) for those donations that do not involve self-interest.
*Donations to rural schools through the [[UN]] in Rwanda and [[Kazakhstan]] to help them gain internet access… through Musk's Starlink.
*Donating money to a charity to help a SpaceX customer and fellow billionaire, Jared Isaacman, who didn't want to fork up the money himself.
*One of Musk's major donations, which went to his Musk Foundation, saved him $2 billion in taxes.

==Elon and the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad Tweets==
[[File:Elon Musk Marquis de Sade.jpg|thumb|200px|Musk in 2012,<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20180617195134/https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/214636339474345984 Wore Marquis de Sade outfit for a party last night. Was v popular with women who'd read 50 Shades :)] by Elon Musk (1:31 - 18 jun. 2012) ''Twitter'' (archived from June 17, 2018).</ref> right before he told his friend not to come to school the next day.{{nofact}}]]
Despite being a rock star of scientific progress and innovation, a busy professional with a million things to do and a good understanding of the essential importance of good communication, Musk still finds time to tweet stupid shit every now and then.  He apparently loves Tweeting so much, he bought 9.2% of Twitter, making him the single largest shareholder of the company.<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/04/technology/elon-musk-twitter.html Elon Musk becomes Twitter’s largest shareholder], NY Times, April 2022</ref>  You might also notice Twitter has 11 board members, and 9.2% is more than 1/11th of the company, enough to permanently make yourself a board member without any voting necessary.  Which is exactly what happened.<ref>[https://www.wsj.com/articles/twitter-to-name-elon-musk-to-its-board-of-directors-11649162614 Elon Musk to Join Twitter’s Board of Directors After Becoming Largest Shareholder: Tesla chief executive has built up a 9.2% stake in social-media company] by Sarah E. Needleman & Will Feuer (April 5, 2022 7:13 pm ET) ''Wall Street Journal''.</ref>

After taking over Twitter, Musk's tweets took a huge turn for the worse. Increasingly, Musk started directly promoting [[conspiracy theories]] on his feed (such as all but endorsing the [[The Great Replacement|Great Replacement Theory]] in late 2023)<ref>[https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/elon-musk-great-replacement-conspiracy-theory-1234941337/ "Elon Musk All but Endorses the Great Replacement Conspiracy Theory"] by Miles Klee, Rolling Stone, 2024 January 5</ref> As CEO of Twitter, Musk went out of the way to amplify the voices of noxious [[trolls]] like the conspiracy nutjob [[Alex Jones]] or the [[manosphere]] grifter [[Andrew Tate]].<ref>[https://www.cnn.com/2023/12/12/media/elon-musk-x-conspiratorial-rabbit-hole/index.html "Elon Musk is going down a conspiratorial rabbit hole and taking X with him"] by Oliver Darcy, CNN, 2023 December 2023</ref><ref>[https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/elon-musk-great-replacement-conspiracy-theory-1234941337/]</ref> Musk simultaneously used his "free speech absolutism" to block (or even sue) organizations and individuals that were critical of him.<ref>[https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/11/21/musk-media-matters-texas/ "Elon Musk provides yet another platform for far-right attacks"] by Philip Bump, Washington Post, 2023 November 21</ref><ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2024/mar/25/elon-musk-hate-speech-lawsuit "Judge dismisses ‘vapid’ Elon Musk lawsuit against group that cataloged racist content on X"] by Nick Robins-Early, Guardian, 2024 March 5</ref>

Musk's behavior on Twitter after he bought it was so extreme, it actually affected the reputation of the businesses he ran. In 2024, market intelligence firm Caliber reported that Tesla's "consideration" score in the United States (e.g. whether people would consider buying a Tesla car) fell from 70% in November 2021 to a low of 31% in February 2024, a decline that Caliber attributed in large part due to Musk's polarizing persona.<ref>[https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/would-be-tesla-buyers-snub-company-musks-reputation-dips-2024-04-01/ "Would-be Tesla buyers snub company as Musk's reputation dips"] by Hyunjoo Jin and Nick Carey, Reuters, 2024 April 1</ref>

==="Marx was a capitalist"===
{{cquote|By the way, I am actually a [[socialist]]. Just not the kind that shifts resources from most productive to least productive, pretending to do good, while actually causing harm. True socialism seeks greatest good for all.|||Musk, bravely taking the controversial view that he likes good things, not bad things<ref name="ActuallySocialist">[https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1008013111058526209 By the way, I am actually a socialist. Just not the kind that shifts resources from most productive to least productive, pretending to do good, while actually causing harm. True socialism seeks greatest good for all.] by Elon Musk (8:47 AM - 16 Jun 2018) ''Twitter'' (archived from July 14, 2018).</ref>}}

{{quotebox|'''Taylor Harris:''' What would you proclaim yourself as? Anything specifically?

'''Musk:''' A socialist

'''Musk:''' [[Marx]] was a [[capitalist]]. He even wrote [[Das Kapital|a book about it]].

'''Musk:''' And I don’t trust that [[Engels]] guy. He could have made up most of 2nd & 3rd volumes. Nobody actually knows.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20180618121519/https://twitter.com/AntVenom/status/1007752907641507840 What would you proclaim yourself as? Anything specifically?] by Taylor Harris as @AntVenom (3:33 PM - 15 Jun 2018). ''Twitter'' (archived from June 18, 2018). Includes Musk's replies from the same day.</ref>}}

Musk makes the common mistake of mixing up Marxist socialism with modern welfare social democracy. While he may be somewhat right in his interpretation of Marxist socialism as "the greatest good for all", modern welfare social democracy concerns itself with reducing poverty and misery and funding a large range of basic social services without abandoning capitalism. In either case, he describes socialism in a way that neither makes sense in Marxist socialism nor modern welfare social-democracy "the kind that shifts resources from most productive to least productive, pretending to do good, while actually causing harm". This is a gross misrepresentation of Marxist socialism and doesn't remotely resemble modern welfare social democracy.  And it's simply asinine to claim Marx was a capitalist simply because he wrote a book titled ''Capital''.  Was Hitler a ''strugglist'', given the title of his own book?

===Unions===
{{main|Trade union}}
{{quotebox|'''Musk:''' If you must know, I am a [[utopian]] [[anarchist]] of the kind best described by {{w|Iain Banks}} [a leftist writer]<ref name="UtopianAnarchist">[https://web.archive.org/web/20180616231027/https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1008120904759402501 If you must know, I am a utopian anarchist of the kind best described by Iain Banks] by Elon Musk (3:55 PM - 16 Jun 2018) ''Twitter'' (archived from June 16, 2018).</ref>

'''Cory Doctorow:''' Iain Banks was an ardent trade unionist, @Elonmusk<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20180617182634/https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1008409974299508736 Iain Banks was an ardent trade unionist, @Elonmusk] by Cory Doctorow (17 Jun 2018) ''Twitter'' (archived from June 17, 2018). Also includes the subsequent tweets.</ref>

'''Musk:''' Iain certainly wasn’t pro-union in the Culture books. At all. And wouldn’t be in the case of Tesla. Banks was about [[freedom]] through & through. Maybe for a single buyer (monopsony) vs single seller (monopoly), I would be too, but that’s a special case.

'''Doctorow:''' Banks consistently endorsed the freedom of workers to form collective bargaining units. The existence of a [[thought experiment]]s in which this was obviated by eg [[FTL]] [faster-than light travel] is by no means an indication that a marginal improvement in EV tech would have turned him into a strikebreaker

'''Musk:''' I endorse freedom to form a union too, as well as freedom not to do so if they feel Tesla is a good company. UAW has major conflicts of interest & failed our car plant already when they abandoned us in 2010. Tesla can only hire 5% of applicants, so must be doing something right.

'''David Slack:''' Unions don’t exist only at “bad” companies, Mr. Musk. They exist to provide workers with a voice to negotiate with management, insuring that conditions do not become intolerable or unsafe, that good companies do not become bad ones. Good companies should welcome unions.

'''Musk:''' You think all companies are bad and all unions good? That’s a very bigoted position.}}

Typical [[DARVO]] strawman tactic, taking someone's statement that unions help keep companies from drifting into becoming bad ones, and twisting it to claim they're saying all companies are bad.

In 2023, Musk stated: "I disagree with the idea of unions … I think the unions naturally try to create negativity in a company."<ref>[https://www.cnn.com/2023/12/05/business/tesla-denmark-sweden-union-strike/index.html Tesla's clash with Swedish workers risks spilling over into a regional fight] by Anna Cooban (December 5, 2023) ''CNN Business''.</ref><ref>[https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/uaw-launches-bid-organize-tesla-entire-non-union-auto-sector-2023-11-29/ UAW launches bid to organize Tesla and 'entire non-union auto sector' in US] by David Shepardson (November 29, 2023) ''Reuters''.</ref>

In a 2018 post to Twitter, Musk threatened to pull the stock options of any workers who unionized at Tesla.<ref>[https://archive.is/3ykWN "Nothing stopping Tesla team at our car plant from voting union. Could do so tmrw if they wanted. But why pay union dues & give up stock options for nothing? Our safety record is 2X better than when plant was UAW & everybody already gets healthcare."] - @elonmusk. 6:44 AM on May 21, 2018.</ref>

===Boring boneheads===
After his flagship company, Tesla, posted a massive loss it could be imagined that analysts would want to know why. Musk was busy telling everyone that things were fine when he said:
{{quotebox|"Boring bonehead questions are not cool. Next," ... "We're going to go to YouTube. Sorry, these questions are so dry. They're killing me."<ref>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-43987141 Elon Musk: No 'bonehead' analyst questions please] ''BBC News'' 3 May 2018</ref>}}
This briefly bummed out the investors and Tesla stock dropped 5% (about $3 billion).<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/03/business/tesla-elon-musk.html Elon Musk Rejects ‘Boring, Bonehead Questions,’ and Tesla’s Stock Slides] ''The New York Times'' 3 May 2018</ref>

===Tesla===
In 2019, Musk tweeted that the company may go private. 

{{quotebox|Am considering taking Tesla private at $420. Funding secured.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20180808210243/https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1026872652290379776 Am considering taking Tesla private at $420. Funding secured.] by Elon Musk (9:48 AM - 7 Aug 2018) ''Twitter'' (archived from August 8, 2018).</ref>}}

For whatever reason he did this (who knows?), he broke the law as it was of a speculative nature. While the company wasn't destined to go private, the market took the tweet seriously, and some investors lost millions in the speculation game. Investors initiated a lawsuit, which is still in the courts.<ref>[https://www.businessinsider.com/tesla-must-face-shareholder-lawsuit-over-musks-going-private-tweet-2020-4?IR=T A federal judge just ruled that Tesla must face a shareholder lawsuit over Elon Musk's tweet saying he was considering taking the company private] ''Business Insider'' 15 April 2020</ref> Somehow Musk survived this colossally stupid move.  Though in fairness, Tesla is currently worth about 10x what it was when Musk made that tweet; had he gone through with the deal it would've been the greatest business deal in modern history.

However, clearly, this wasn't enough. In 2020, while he was busy denying the serious nature of COVID-19, he also made a casual claim that his company was "over-valued".<ref>[https://www.barrons.com/news/tesla-shares-tumble-as-musk-says-stock-is-overvalued-01588364705?tesla=y Tesla Shares Tumble As Musk Says Stock Is Overvalued] ''Barron's'' 1 May 2020</ref>

{{quotebox|Tesla stock price is too high imo<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20200501160419/https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1256239815256797184 Tesla stock price is too high imo] by Elon Musk (8:11 AM - 1 May 2020) ''Twitter'' (archived from May 1, 2020).</ref>}}

This led to a huge drop in market value with himself losing billions in value. It is unlikely any of this will stop Musk from making stupid, pointless, destructive comments in the future about the value or future of the company.

Tesla claims in its annual reports to shareholders that it's ethical and that it does "not knowingly accept products or services from suppliers that include forced labor or human trafficking in any form."<ref>[https://digitalassets.tesla.com/tesla-contents/image/upload/2022-modern-slavery-act-transparency-statement.pdf?itid=lk_inline_enhanced-template Tesla Modern Slavery Transparency Statement] ''Tesla''.</ref><ref name=halper>[https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/interactive/2023/electric-vehicles-forced-labor-china EV makers’ use of Chinese suppliers raises concerns about forced labor: U.S. law barring parts and products from the Xinjiang region poses a challenge for Tesla and other auto companies] by Evan Halper (Sept. 18 at 5:00 p.m.) ''The Washington Post''.</ref> However, some materials that go into Teslas come from Xinjiang, [[China]], where forced labor is rampant, and where there is a ban on imports of parts into the US (due to the [[Uyghur genocide]]).<ref name=halper/> It would seem to be either [[willful ignorance]] or just plain [[hypocrisy]].<ref name=halper/>

===Bigotry===
====Transphobia====
Musk, despite his brainchild Tesla being well-known for its inclusiveness of LGBTQ+ people,<ref>Eamon Barrett, [https://www.yahoo.com/video/elon-musk-flaunts-tesla-perfect-080658210.html Elon Musk flaunts Tesla's perfect score on LGBTQ equality index, saying his company respects 'personal choices']. (Jun 2, 2022). ''Fortune''.</ref> has also made quite a few attacks on the use of pronouns for non-binary individuals. After facing much backlash after infamously tweeting "pronouns suck",<ref>[https://observer.com/2020/07/elon-musk-grimes-twitter-transphobia-pronouns-suck/ Elon Musk's transphobia on Twitter is not a joke]. ''Observer.'' 28 July 2020.</ref> Musk went on to make the following even-more damning follow-up tweet a few months later:

{{cquote|I absolutely support trans, but all these pronouns are an esthetic nightmare.|||Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 14, 2020<ref name="BI">[https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-gender-pronouns-human-rights-campaign-lgbtq-transphobia-2020-12 Elon Musk should apologize for 'insensitive' comments mocking gender pronouns, says a group that ranked Tesla as a top LGBTQ-friendly workplace]. ''Business Insider.'' 18 December, 2020.</ref>}}

It also didn't help Musk's case that he additionally shared a [[meme]] of a soldier rubbing his face with bloody hands and a hat with the words "I Love To Oppress", with the caption ""when you put he/him in ur bio"<ref name="BI"/><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20201214061143/https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1338365886542049282 when you put he/him in ur bio] by Elon Musk (10:11 PM - 13 Dec 2020) ''Twitter'' (archived from December 14, 2020).</ref> The meme is known as "The Eternal Anglo"<ref>[https://knowyourmeme.com/photos/1643110-the-eternal-anglo The Eternal Anglo - I LOVE TO OPPRESS.jpg] ''Know Your Meme''.</ref> The term 'The Eternal Anglo' is based on the [[antisemitic]] 1940 film {{wpl|The Eternal Jew (film)|''The Eternal Jew''}} produced in [[Nazi Germany]]. The Eternal Anglo meme is purportedly primarily used by [[fascist]]ic German and Slavic speakers to [[Demonization|demonize]] English-speaking countries<ref>[https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=The%20eternal%20Anglo Eternal Anglo] (February 16, 2017) ''Urban Dictionary''.</ref> but has morphed into other usage within the larger [[alt-right]].

In 2022, Musk's transgender daughter cut ties with him, saying "<i>I no longer live with or wish to be related to my biological father in any way, shape or form</i>". She has legally changed her name to Vivian Jenna Wilson.<ref>Daniel Arkin and Diana Dasrath, [https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/elon-musks-daughter-granted-name-gender-change-rcna34984 Elon Musk's daughter granted name and gender change] (June 23, 2022) ''NBC News''</ref> In response, Musk blamed [[Political beliefs of academics|"full-on communism" in universities]],<ref>Roula Khalaf, [https://www.ft.com/content/5ef14997-982e-4f03-8548-b5d67202623a Elon Musk: "Aren't you entertained?"]. (October 7, 2022). ''The Financial Times''. [https://archive.today/J7VoS (Archived on November 20, 2022)]</ref><ref>Andrea Blanco, [https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/elon-musk-daughter-vivian-children-trans-b2199979.html Elon Musk discusses estranged relationship with daughter: "Can't win them all"]. (October 11, 2022). ''The Independent''.</ref> showing the typical right-wing ignorance of what [[communism]] actually is.

In April 2023, as if to demonstrate why his own child would want to distance themselves from him, Musk continued his anti-trans campaign by removing the Twitter policy against [[deadnaming]].<ref name="Ortutay4182023"/> In June 2023, he promoted [[Matt Walsh]]'s anti-trans "What is a Woman?" [[schlockumentary]].<ref>Daysia Tolentino and David Ingram (June 2, 2023). [https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/social-media/musk-elon-twitter-ella-irwin-trans-video-what-is-a-woman-stream-rcna87429 "Musk’s response to an anti-trans video sparks 24 hours of chaos at Twitter"]. ''NBC News''.</ref><ref>Robert Carnevale (June 2, 2023). [https://www.thewrap.com/elon-musk-promotes-daily-wire-trans-documentary/ "Elon Musk Promoted the Matt Walsh Transgenderism Doc 'What Is a Woman' After Twitter Originally Restricted It"]. ''The Wrap''.</ref><ref>Prem Thakker (June 2, 2023). [https://newrepublic.com/post/173184/elon-musk-personally-elevates-transphobic-video-originally-flagged-hate-speech "Elon Musk Personally Elevates Transphobic Video Originally Flagged as Hate Speech"]. ''The New Republic''.</ref> Further, he agreed with a post by [[Jordan Peterson]] suggesting that transgender-affirming therapists should be imprisoned.<ref>Prem Thakker (June 2, 2023). [https://newrepublic.com/post/173201/elon-musk-calls-imprison-therapists-helping-trans-kids "Elon Musk Calls to Imprison Therapists Helping Trans Kids"]. ''The New Republic''.</ref> Musk also announced that he will personally "be actively lobbying to criminalize making severe, irreversible changes to children below the age of consent".<ref name="RebStar">Rebecca Hernandez
(June 3, 2023). [https://www.starobserver.com.au/news/elon-musk-announces-plans-to-lobby-against-gender-affirming-care/224252 "Elon Musk Announces Plans to Lobby Against Gender-Affirming Care"]. ''The Star Observer''.</ref><ref>Paul Squire and Aaron McDade (June 2, 2023). [https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-shares-anti-trans-content-twitter-2023-6 "Elon Musk spent the last 24 hours spreading increasingly unhinged anti-trans content"]. ''Business Insider''.</ref> He further agreed that [[DropTheT|"LGB" should be separated from "TQ+"]];<ref name="RebStar"/> a potentially peculiar statement since the Q (either "Queer" or "Questioning") is part of the LGB; in fact it encompasses all three of those. Further, Musk himself doesn't proclaim any sort of non-heterosexual identity and thus has little grounds to decide on such topics.

In July 2024, during an interview with [[Jordan Peterson]], Musk admitted that part of his motivation for his turn towards [[reactionary]] politics is due to his estrangement from Vivian. Musk claimed that Vivian (who, in the interview, he deadnamed once again) was "killed" by the "[[woke]] [[Meme|mind virus]]" and claimed that he was "tricked" into agreeing to gender-affirming care procedures such as puberty blockers, which he falsely claimed were a "sterilization drug".<ref>[https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2024/07/22/elon-musk-jordan-peterson-interview/74506785007/ "Musk says estranged child's gender-affirming care sparked fight against 'woke mind virus'"] by Anthony Robledo, USA Today, 2024 July 22</ref><ref>[https://qz.com/elon-musk-transgender-child-woke-mind-virus-peterson-1851602197 "Elon Musk says his transgender child was figuratively 'killed by the woke mind virus'"] by William Gavin, QZ, 2024 July 23</ref> Vivian responded by slamming Musk as a largely absent father who berated her for exhibiting feminine traits and pressured her to appear more masculine. Vivian also slammed Musk's characterization of gender-affirming care, stating that they were lifesaving for her and other people with severe gender dysphobia, and that the requirements to be approved for taking puberty blockers as a minor were far more onerous than Musk characterized.<ref>[https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/elon-musk-transgender-daughter-vivian-wilson-interview-rcna163665 "Elon Musk's transgender daughter, in first interview, says he berated her for being queer as a child"] by David Ingram, NBC News, 2024 July 25</ref> A few weeks later, Vivian slammed a depiction of her in a 2023 biography / hagiography of Musk, claiming that the biography was "genuinely defamatory" and that she "was treated as a VILLAIN BACKSTORY-ORIGIN" in order "to get clicks" from [[reactionaries]] addicted to "[[culture war]] [[bullshit]]".<ref>[https://www.advocate.com/news/elon-musk-trans-daughter-vivian-wilson-biography-reaction "Elon Musk's trans daughter, Vivian Wilson, slams his biography as 'genuinely defamatory"] by Ryan Adamczeski, Advocate, 2024 August 12</ref>

====Antisemitism====
{{main|Antisemitism}}
In 2023, Musk continued to flirt with antisemitism. Shortly after [[George Soros]] sold all of his Tesla stock, Musk targeted him not for selling the stock but by comparing Soros to the Jewish X-Men villain and ''Holocaust survivor'' {{wpl|Magneto (Marvel Comics)|Magneto}} ("Soros reminds me of Magneto"<ref name=magneto/>) from Marvel Comics, and Tweeting:<ref name=magneto>[https://web.archive.org/web/20230516035255/https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1658291808592629761 Soros reminds me of Magneto] by Elon Musk (2:02 AM · May 16, 2023) ''Twitter'' (archived from May 16, 2023).</ref><ref>[https://www.washingtonpost.com/arts-entertainment/2023/05/16/george-soros-elon-musk-adl Musk says George Soros ‘hates humanity,’ compares him to Jewish supervillain: The CEO of the Anti-Defamation League condemned Elon Musk’s comparison of Soros to Magneto — a Marvel villain who opposes humanity] by Avi Selk & Herb Scribner (May 16, 2023) ''The Washington Post''.</ref>
{{cquote|You assume they are good intentions [of Soros]. They are not. He wants to erode the very fabric of civilization. Soros hates humanity.}}
It doesn't help matters that antisemitic tweets greatly increased after Musk took over Twitter,<ref>[https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/03/20/antisemitic-tweets-soared-twitter-after-musk-took-over-study-finds/ Antisemitic tweets soared on Twitter after Musk took over, study finds] by Cristiano Lima & David DiMolfetta (March 20, 2023 at 9:02 a.m. EDT) ''The Washington Post''.</ref> which one must assume Musk is perfectly fine with since he eviscerated the Trust and Safety team at Twitter.<ref>[https://www.npr.org/2022/12/12/1142399312/twitter-trust-and-safety-council-elon-musk Musk's Twitter has dissolved its Trust and Safety Council] (December 12, 20229:59 PM ET) ''Associated Press'' via ''NPR''.</ref> Within a few days of Musk claiming a free-speech absolutist defense ("I mean, uh, freedom of speech. I’m allowed to say what I want.") for saying bigoted shit like this, he also censored remarks critical of [[Recep Tayyip Erdogan]] on Twitter in deference to [[autocratic]] rule in [[Turkey]].<ref>[https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2023/05/17/elon-musk-george-soros-cnbc-israeli-government Israeli government blasts Musk attack on Soros for ‘reeking of antisemitism’] by Avi Selk (May 17, 2023) ''The Washington Post''.</ref>

In mid-November 2023, Musk agreed with a post from a Twitter account (with a long history of posting extremist, conspiracy-tinged, bigoted content<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20230430125458/https://twitter.com/breakingbaht @breakingbaht] ''Twitter'' (archived on 2023 April 30).</ref><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20230505215451/https://twitter.com/breakingbaht @breakingbaht] ''Twitter'' (archived on 2023 May 5).</ref><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20230522213153/https://twitter.com/breakingbaht @breakingbaht] ''Twitter'' (archived on 2023 May 22).</ref>) that accused Jewish communities of pushing "dialectical hatred against whites" and spoke of an antisemitic, [[Great Replacement]] / [[white genocide]]-like conspiracy theory that falsely asserted that Jews want to use "hordes of minorities" to displace the white population.{{efn|Compare the sentiment to [[Elon Musk#Youth and skeletons in the family closet|that expressed by Elon Musk's grandfather]]. Even pop-pop's wording — "hordes of Coloured people" — is strikingly similar.}}<ref>[https://archive.li/4rPGl Okay. Jewish communties{{sic}} have been pushing the exact kind of dialectical hatred against whites that they claim to want people to stop using against them. I'm deeply disinterested in giving the tiniest shit now about western Jewish populations coming to the disturbing realization that those hordes of minorities that support flooding their country don't exactly like them too much. You want truth said to your face, there it is.] by "The Artist Formerly Known as Eric" (@breakingbaht) (2023 November 15) ''Twitter'' (archived on 2023 November 15).</ref> Musk's reply to this post was "You have said the actual truth."<ref name="ActualTruth">[https://www.cbsnews.com/news/elon-musk-antisemitic-comments-x-post-actual-truth/ "Elon Musk expresses support for antisemitic post on X, calling it "the actual truth""] by Aimee Picchi, CBS News, 2023 November 16</ref> This Tweet coincided with a report from ''[[Media Matters for America]]'' (MMFA) detailing how advertisements for major brands were being placed within Twitter threads that praised [[Adolf Hitler]] and [[Nazis]].<ref>[https://www.mediamatters.org/twitter/musk-endorses-antisemitic-conspiracy-theory-x-has-been-placing-ads-apple-bravo-ibm-oracle "As Musk endorses antisemitic conspiracy theory, X has been placing ads for Apple, Bravo, IBM, Oracle, and Xfinity next to pro-Nazi content"] by Eric Hananoki, Media Matters, 2023 November 16</ref> Musk's antisemitic tweet combined with the MMFA report resulted in backlash from both the White House and the [[EU]], alarm from Jewish leaders and organizations, and departures of yet even more advertisers from the Twitter platform.<ref>[https://www.cbsnews.com/news/elon-musk-actual-truth-antisemitic-post-backlash-advertisers/ "Elon Musk faces growing backlash over his endorsement of antisemitic X post"] by Aimee Picchi, CBS News, 2023 November 17</ref><ref>[https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/antisemites-are-saying-elon-musk-side-latest-tweets-jews-rcna125617 "Antisemites are saying Elon Musk is on their side after his latest tweets about Jews"] by David Ingram, NBC News, 2023 November 16</ref> This was not the first time that brands suspended advertising on Twitter due to ads appearing next to pro-Nazi content; a similar incident occurred in mid-August 2023.<ref>[https://www.cnn.com/2023/08/16/tech/x-ads-pro-nazi-account-brand-safety/index.html "Two brands suspend advertising on X after their ads appeared next to pro-Nazi content"] by Claire Duffy and Brian Fung, CNN, 2023 August 17</ref>

====White supremacy, fascism, and racism====
{{main|White genocide}}
Musk is so racist, that even his fellow racist [[Steve Bannon]] thinks he's too much so (which is saying something):
{{cquote|He should go back to South Africa. Why do we have South Africans, the most racist people on earth, white South Africans, we have them making any comments at all on what goes on in the United States?<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jan/12/steve-bannon-calls-elon-musk-racist Steve Bannon condemns Elon Musk as ‘racist’ and ‘truly evil’: Ex-Trump adviser denounces tech CEO’s embrace of some forms of immigration and vows to ‘take this guy down’] by Chris Michael (12 Jan 2025 11.49 EST) ''The Guardian''.</ref>}}
After decades of mostly ignoring his natal country, Musk claimed that "They are openly pushing for [[South African genocide conspiracy|genocide of white people in South Africa]]" in 2023, based on a single political rally by the country's third-largest party, the Marxist-Leninist Economic Freedom Fighters, in which an apartheid-era song was sung that included the lyrics "shoot to kill", "kill the Boer" and "kill the farmer".<ref>[https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/08/01/musk-south-africa-apartheid-chant-malema Elon Musk raises the specter of ‘white genocide’] by Ishaan Tharoor (August 1, 2023 at 7:29 p.m. EDT) ''The Washington Post''.</ref>

In November 2023, shortly after agreeing with an antisemitic-oriented post that flirted with [[white genocide]] conspiracy theories, Musk replied to an exchange between the [[alt-right]] [[racist]] pundit [[Jack Posobiec]] and the far-right Dutch {{wpl|Forum for Democracy|FvD}} politician/pundit {{wpl|Eva Vlaardingerbroek||.}} In the thread, Posobiec complained that "white people are the only ones who are supposed to hate their own race in order to be considered good people... and white culture is the only one where hatred of it is considered a virtue".<ref>[https://archive.li/kI1Wc "White people are the only ones who are supposed to hate their own race in order to be considered good people Whiteness is the only culture identified by those outside it and not those who are part of it And white culture is the only one where hatred of it is considered a virtue"] by Jack Posobiec (@JackPosobiec), Twitter, archived on 2023 November 16</ref> Vlaardingerbroek agreed with the sentiment, insisting that "everyone is allowed to be proud of their race, except for white people, because we’ve been brainwashed into believing that our history was somehow 'worse' than that of other races."<ref>[https://archive.li/HY7iO "Everyone is allowed to be proud of their race, except for white people, because we’ve been brainwashed into believing that our history was somehow “worse” than that of other races. That false narrative needs to die - and if we really want to do the comparing game, white people have also done A LOT of good for the world."] by Eva Vlaardingerbroek (@EvaVlaar), Twitter, 2023 November 16</ref> These statements, of course, were obvious [[racist]] [[loaded language]] based on a perceived [[persecution complex]] against whites, similar to such alt-right memes as [[It's Okay To Be White]]. Of course, Musk completely agreed with the statements, replying that it was "time for this nonsense to end and shame ANYONE who perpetuates these lies!"<ref>[https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/twitter-linda-yaccarino-elon-musk-antisemitism-loses-ibm-1234883598/ "Twitter CEO Says Platform Is Fighting Antisemitism a Day After Owner Elon Musk Endorsed It"] by Miles Klee, Rolling Stone, 2023 November 16</ref> <ref>[https://www.livemint.com/news/trends/elon-musk-on-great-replacement-theory-low-birth-rate-not-immigration-to-blame-for-europe-falling-white-population/amp-11714280085982.html Elon Musk on ‘Great Replacement Theory’ says THIS, not immigration to blame for Europe's ‘falling white population’] Mint</ref>

====Supporting far-right hooligans====
Musk and his Twitter platform played a significant role in the [[2024 United Kingdom riots]]. The genesis of these riots, which began in late July 2024, occurred when false rumors spread online that the suspect of a deadly mass stabbing event was a Muslim immigrant.<ref name="cnnriots">[https://www.cnn.com/2024/08/09/tech/uk-protests-social-media/index.html "UK riots show how social media can fuel real-life harm. It’s only getting worse"] by Brian Fung, CNN, 2024 August 9</ref> These claims were amplified by noxious far-right personalities such as [[Nigel Farage]], [[Laurence Fox]], and [[Tommy Robinson]] (the later who was reinstated on Twitter in November 2023 after previously being banned for breaching Twitter's "hateful conduct" policy).<ref>[https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/katie-hopkins-tommy-robinson-twitter-x-b2442281.html "Tommy Robinson and Katie Hopkins reinstated on X as Elon Musk overturns Twitter bans"] by Holly Evans, Independent, 2023 November 6</ref> Musk did his best to amplify the riots himself: he engaged with Robinson, tweeted exaggerated [[bullshit]] such as "[[civil war]] is inevitable", and bizarrely compared UK authorities pursuing the hooligan perpetrators to "[[woke]] [[Stasi]]".<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/article/2024/aug/06/britain-race-riots-tommy-robinson-elon-musk "Where are the brave inciters of Britain’s race riots? From Tommy to Elon, they’re far, far away"] by Marina Hyde, Guardian, 2024 August 6</ref><ref>[https://www.independent.co.uk/space/elon-musk-tommy-robinson-prime-minister-southport-spacex-b2590114.html "Elon Musk engages with Tommy Robinson as social media warned over misinformation"] by Martyn Landi, Independent, 2024 August 2</ref><ref>[https://newrepublic.com/post/184743/elon-musk-stoke-civil-war-uk-race-riots "Elon Musk Won’t Quit Trying to Stoke Civil War in the U.K."] by Paige Oamek, New Republic, 2024 August 9</ref> Twitter was identified as one of the primary outlets that spread the misinformation that fueled the riots. Critics directly linked actions Musk took as CEO of Twitter to the riots, such as disbanding the trust and safety team and setting up a "blue check" system that allowed nefarious actors to boost disinformation [[propaganda]].<ref name="cnnriots"/><ref>[https://www.npr.org/2024/08/10/nx-s1-5066896/uks-worst-riots-in-years-were-incited-by-online-disinformation-about-asylum-seekers "UK's worst riots in years were incited by online disinformation about asylum seekers"], NPR Weekend Edition, Transcript, 2024 August 10</ref>

In reality, the riots were hardly at the level of a "civil war" — they represented only a tiny minority of the UK population. The rioting was way out of step with UK public opinion. Even [[Reform UK]] voters reacted negatively to the hooliganism.<ref>[https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/elon-musk-uk-civil-war-far-right-riots-keir-starmer-southport-rcna165316 "Elon Musk says civil war is coming to the U.K. The British beg to differ."] by Yuliya Talmazan, NBC News, 2024 August 8</ref><ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/08/world/europe/interpreter-uk-riots.html "Trying to Capitalize on Anti-Migrant Riots Could Backfire on U.K.’s Far Right"] by Amanda Taub, New York Times, 2024 August 8</ref> The riots also amplified concerns that the far right was now a significant threat to British society. A poll taken by {{wpl|YouGov}} after the riots showed that 47 percent of Britons professed this belief. This percentage, up 15 points since the previous poll in February 2024, was nearly as high as the percentage of Britons identifying [[Islamic]] extremism as a threat. <ref>[https://yougov.co.uk/politics/articles/50265-almost-half-of-britons-now-believe-right-wing-extremists-are-a-major-threat-following-2024-riots "Almost half of Britons now believe right-wing extremists are a major threat following 2024 riots"] by Matthew Smith, YouGov, 2024 August 7</ref> By August 2024, many of the far-right hooligan gatherings were countered by much larger groups of anti-racism protesters that defended hooligan targets such as immigration centers.<ref>[https://www.cnn.com/2024/08/07/uk/uk-far-right-counter-protests-intl/index.html "‘More of us than you’: Thousands of anti-racism protesters turn out to counter far-right rallies in UK"] by Christian Edwards and Rob Picheta, CNN, 2024 August 8</ref>

Despite Musk being seriously out of step with British public opinion, Musk feuded with prime minister [[Keir Starmer]] after he called Musk out on his [[bullshit]] "civil war" tweet. Backed by [[alt-right]] [[memes]] shared by far-right agitators such as [[Andy Ngo]], Musk reacted to the news of police arresting violent rioters by bizarrely comparing Britain to the [[Soviet Union]]. Musk also applied Soviet-style [[whataboutism]] to the government's decision to provide extra protection for mosques during the riots, wailing "shouldn’t you be concerned about attacks on all communities?" at a time when attacks other communities were obviously not occurring.<ref>[https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/elon-musk-kier-starmer-uk-riots-posts-b2591881.html "Elon Musk launches Twitter tirade over far-right riots as minister brands billionaire ‘deeply irresponsible’"] by Millie Cooke, Independent, 2024 August 6</ref> Musk even shared (and quickly deleted) a [[fake news]] image that promoted a [[conspiracy theory]] about the UK building "[[concentration camps|detainment camps]]" on the [[Falkland Islands]] for rioters.<ref>[https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cp35w0kj2y4o "Musk shares faked far-right 'detainment camp' for rioters post"], BBC, 2024 August 8</ref>

Predictably, Musk's support for hooliganism corresponded with a significant British increase in interest in Twitter competitors {{wpl|Bluesky (social network)|Bluesky}} and {{wpl|Threads (social network)|Threads|,}} including from [[Labour]] MPs who were seeking refuge from Twitter's increasing far-right toxicity.<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/technology/article/2024/aug/12/labour-mps-begin-quitting-x-over-hate-and-disinformation "Labour MPs begin quitting X over ‘hate and disinformation’"] by Eleni Courea, Guardian, 2024 August 12</ref><ref>[https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/bluesky-signups-surge-uk-amid-musks-row-with-government-over-riots-2024-08-13/ "Bluesky signups surge in UK amid Musk's feud with government over riots"] by Deborah Mary Sophia, Reuters, 2024 August 13</ref> In September 2024, data from Similarweb showed that active daily users of Twitter in the UK dropped from 8 million in 2023 to only 5.6 million at that time, with more than a third of that fall happening after the hooligan riots.<ref>[https://archive.ph/oFnou#selection-5013.44-5013.226 "With Bluesky, the social media echo chamber is back in vogue"] by Jemima Kelly, Financial Times, 2024 September 22, archived on 2024 September 24</ref>

In 2025, Musk indicated his support for looting during the peak of the {{wpl|January 2025 Southern California wildfires}} by adding the [[Clown World]] emoji to his reposting of a Twitter troll account that claimed that looting was legal.<ref>[https://archive.is/WpJ2J 🤡🌎] by Elon Musk (8:13 PM · Jan 11, 2025) ''Twitter'' (archived from 13 Jan 2025 16:11:32 UTC).</ref><ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jan/13/gavin-newsom-elon-musk-fires-looting Newsom accuses Musk of encouraging looting in LA fires disinformation spat: Billionaire reposted false claim as Republicans seek to condition disaster aid to Democratic-controlled California] by Robert Tait (13 Jan 2025 11.12 EST) ''The Guardian''.</ref>

==="Pedo guy" lawsuit===
Musk's most ghastly batshit insanity is the accusation of a child-rescuing hero of being a pedophile. While several young soccer players were stuck in a cave, Musk flew to [[Thailand]] and tried to offer help however he could.<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/07/world/asia/elon-musk-thai-cave-rescue.html Elon Musk Thinks a Mini-Submarine Could Help in Thai Cave Rescue] ''The New York Times'' 7 July 2018</ref> Regardless whether or not his mission to help out was merely a PR stunt, it seemed his help was rather useless and he was getting in the way.<ref>[https://www.vox.com/2018/7/18/17576302/elon-musk-thai-cave-rescue-submarine Elon Musk and the Thai cave rescue: a tale of good intentions and bad tweets] ''Vox'' 18 July 2018</ref> A semi-professional spelunker, Vern Unsworth, helped bring the trapped children to safety.<ref>[https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/6792661/who-vernon-unsworth-thai-cave-rescue-pedo-guy-elon-musk-sue/ HERO'S LAWSUIT Who is Vernon Unsworth? Thailand cave diver dubbed ‘paedo guy’ by Elon Musk] ''The Sun'' 7 December 2019</ref> He was critical of some of Musk's efforts to help, including criticism of the feasibility of Musk's proposed amazing-cave-submarine-child-rescue-awesome-mobile.<ref name=levin>[https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/jul/15/elon-musk-british-diver-thai-cave-rescue-pedo-twitter Elon Musk calls British diver in Thai cave rescue 'pedo' in baseless attack] by Sam Levin (16 July 2018) ''The Guardian''.</ref> Unsworth risked his life to reach the boys, comfort the scared children and rescue them.<ref>[https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/exclusive-interview-with-thai-cave-rescue-hero-vernon-unsworth-if-the-brits-hadn-t-been-called-in-it-would-have-been-too-late-qhdpbw8bm Exclusive interview with Thai cave rescue hero Vernon Unsworth: ‘If the Brits hadn’t been called in, it would have been too late’] ''The Times'' 15 July 2018</ref> As thanks for this he was accused of being a pedophile by Musk.<ref>[http://www.latimes.com/business/autos/la-fi-hy-musk-pedophile-twitter-fight-20180715-story.html Cave diver criticizes Musk’s kid-sub rescue plan. Musk suggests he’s a pedophile] ''Los Angeles Times'' 15 July 2018</ref> Musk's petty hissy fit in the form of a vague accusation of pedophilia didn't go away even after Musk deleted the tweet and gave a halfhearted retraction.<ref>[http://fortune.com/2018/07/18/elon-musk-pedo-apology/ Elon Musk Has Finally Apologized to the Thai Cave Diver He Called a ‘Pedo’] ''Fortune'' 18 July 2018</ref> A week later, Musk flat-out called him a pedophile on social media...twice.<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/jul/15/elon-musk-british-diver-thai-cave-rescue-pedo-twitter Elon Musk calls British diver in Thai cave rescue 'pedo' in baseless attack] ''The Guardian'' 16 July 2018</ref><ref>[https://www.cnbc.com/2018/09/05/tesla-ceo-elon-musk-calls-british-cave-diver-child-rapist.html Elon Musk attacks British cave diver for a third time, calling him a ‘child rapist’] by Ryan Browne (5 September 2018) ''CNBC''.</ref>

In September 2018, Unsworth filed suit for defamation, with Musk somehow winning,<ref>[https://www.newsweek.com/elon-musk-pedo-guy-vern-unsworth-thailand-1477942 Elon Musk 'Set Out to Destroy Me,' Says Cave Diver After Losing 'Pedo Guy' Defamation Lawsuit Against Tesla Boss] ''Newsweek'' 18 December 2019</ref> despite none of his accusations having a shred of truth to them — the Private Investigator hired by Musk having [[scam]]med him.<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2019/oct/08/elon-musk-diver-vernon-unsworth-pedo-idiot Elon Musk claims his investigator tricked him about diver he called a 'pedo'] ''The Guardian'' 9 October 2019</ref> The court was mostly hung up on whether Musk was just casually slinging the term or actually trying to defame Unsworth.

During the trial, he essentially defended his right to be a Twitter troll.<ref>[https://mashable.com/article/elon-musk-vernon-unsworth-pedo-guy-defamation-lawsuit-twitter-troll Elon Musk defends his right to be a Twitter troll at 'pedo guy' trial Billionaires gonna troll.] by Rachel Kraus (December 4, 2019) ''Mashable''.</ref>

===Doxing federal employees===
In the middle of November 2024, Musk reposted two tweets that contained the names of federal government employees that he wants gone.<ref name="doxgov">{{cite news|url=https://www.cnn.com/2024/11/27/business/elon-musk-government-employees-targets/index.html|title=Elon Musk publicized the names of government employees he wants to cut. It’s terrifying federal workers|date=November 27, 2024|work=[[CNN]]}}</ref> This has terrified government workers, who fear not only losing their jobs, but being the targets of harassment and even violence by the Chief Twit and his horde of rabid fans.<ref name="doxgov"/>

==Natalism==
{{main|Pro-natalism}}
[[File:Musk-pa-Troll.jpg|thumb|right|350px|Trolling Musk's habit making single mothers with his Fedex-ed sperm, his eugenics adjacency, his Cybertruck fiasco, and his takeover of Twitter, all in one go.<ref>[https://www.eugen-x.com/ Have Elon's Next Baby] ''Eugen-X''.</ref>]]
If we are taking Musk at his word, one of his central concerns is that of {{wpl|natalism||,}} which he said was "the biggest issue in 20 years" as of 2019 (and he has since continued signaling his interest, often via Tweet).<ref name="PopMars">Sarah Jones (July 7, 2022). [https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2022/07/elon-musk-tries-to-populate-mars-himself.html "Is Elon Musk Trying to Populate Mars Himself?"]. ''Intelligencer'' (''New York'').</ref> He believes that people should be having more children, and is himself the father of roughly a dozen.<ref>Kenzie Bryant (September 11, 2023). [https://www.vanityfair.com/style/2023/09/elon-musk-grimes-shivon-zilis-children "All Is Well Again in House Elon Musk"]. ''Vanity Fair''.</ref> He sometimes expresses his natalist beliefs in totalizing and dramatic ways. For example, in a reply to {{wpl|Eva Vlaardingerbroek||,}} he once claimed that a "major part of the fall of Rome was low birth rates".<ref>Elon Musk (September 18, 2023). [https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1703888466990530913 "A major part of the fall of Rome was low birth rates"]. ''Twitter''.</ref> After which, he actually went ''to'' Rome to tell people to have more children.<ref>(December 16, 2023). [https://www.euronews.com/next/2023/12/16/elon-musk-talks-x-advertising-and-birth-rates-in-rome "Elon Musk urges people in developed countries to have more children"]. ''Euronews'' (with ''Agence France-Presse'').</ref> Musk claims that "population collapse due to low birth rates is a much bigger risk to civilization than global warming".<ref name="SmartPeople"/> He has also insinuated that low birth rates are "a massive [[genocide]] of the next generation of humans", a result which he attributed "instrumentally" to overpopulation alarmist {{wpl|Paul R. Ehrlich||.}}<ref>Elon Musk (February 13, 2024). [https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1757543126829514992 "Ehrlich was instrumental in causing a massive genocide of the next generation of humans"]. ''Twitter''.</ref> Despite his repulsion towards Ehrlich, Musk has something in common with him: draconian disregard for personal {{wpl|bodily autonomy||.}} While Ehrlich advocated mass sterilization,<ref name="RealNatal"/> Musk has advocated stripping voting rights from childless people.<ref>Josh Marcus (July 4, 2023). [https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/elon-musk-children-voting-rights-b2369096.html "Elon Musk supports eliminating voting rights for people without children"]. ''The Independent''.</ref>

There is perhaps more under the surface here. Musk is more especially concerned that ''people with high [[IQ]] scores'' aren't having enough children.<ref>Cheryl Teh (March 7, 2023). [https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-smart-boys-more-sex-concerning-2023-3 "Elon Musk says it's 'super concerning' that smart youths aren't having as much sex as those with average IQs, referencing data from a study published 23 years ago"]. ''Business Insider''.</ref><ref name="SmartPeople">Abigail Adams (September 11, 2023). [https://people.com/elon-musk-wants-smart-people-to-have-kids-executive-he-welcomed-twins-with-says-new-book-7967996 "Elon Musk 'Wants Smart People to Have Kids,' Executive He Welcomed Twins with Says in New Book"]. ''People''.</ref> (He is himself "confident" in his own intelligence, and expresses a fear that the future will look like ''[[Idiocracy]]''.<ref name="PopMars"/>) His concern, then, perhaps isn't quite that too few children are coming into the world, but that too few children with high-IQ parents are. This view of his has sometimes been derided as "hipster [[eugenics]]",<ref>Pete Shanks (September 21, 2023). [https://www.geneticsandsociety.org/biopolitical-times/natalism-and-hipster-eugenics "Natalism and Hipster Eugenics"]. ''Center for Genetics and Society''.</ref> or "low-key eugenic",<ref name="PopMars"/> and it isn't hard to see why. Musk reportedly has associated with other prominent Silicon Valley oriented "pro-natalists", such as Simone and Malcolm Collins, who share similar views.<ref name="nytdrugs"/> 

Why Musk is so interested is debatable. He has indicated various reasons, and some of them appear dubious, such as his bullshit proclamation that Mars will need colonists.<ref name=low/><ref name="PopMars"/> ''WIRED'' speculated that it could be a cold, capitalist calculation about labor supply: more children, more workers.<ref name="RealNatal">Virginia Heffernan (October 26, 2022). [https://www.wired.com/story/real-reason-elon-musk-population-panic/ The Real Reason Elon Musk Wants You to Have More Babies]. ''WIRED''.</ref> That would perhaps explain why Jeff Bezos,<ref>Steve Mollman (December 16, 2023). [https://fortune.com/2023/12/16/jeff-bezos-elon-musk-human-population-outer-space-mars-spacex-blue-origin/ "Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk say human population not nearly big enough: 'If we had a trillion humans, we would have at any given time a thousand Mozarts'"]. ''Fortune''.</ref> the late [[Shinzō Abe]], and the villains from ''{{wpl|They Live||''}} are mostly in agreement with Musk, at least. Assuming Musk's adherence to this sort of eugenic natalism is genuine, it may offer a certain {{wpl|explanatory power}} for some other positions he has taken, which could in fact be outgrowths from this central belief. For instance, [[Elon Musk#White genocide|his fear of a white genocide scenario]] may (somewhat speculatively, but his engagements with the account @eyeslasho appear to support this<ref>Thomas Germain (January 10, 2024). [https://gizmodo.com/elon-musk-endorses-tweet-saying-students-at-black-colle-1851156533 "Elon Musk Seems to Endorse Tweet Saying Students at Black Colleges Have Low IQs"]. ''Gizmodo''.</ref>) stem from [[racialist]] anxiety towards reproduction by non-white, non-Asian people. His natalism also appears to have informed his views on birth control and abortion.<ref>Andréa Becker (October 16, 2023). [https://slate.com/technology/2023/10/elon-musk-grimes-babies-pronatalism-research.html "Elon Musk's Feud With Grimes Is a Warning"]. ''Slate''.</ref><ref>Charisma Madarang (April 18, 2023). [https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/elon-musk-tucker-carlson-fox-birth-control-abortion-1234717505/ "Elon Musk and Tucker Carlson Discuss the Urge to Impregnate Women"]. ''Rolling Stone''.</ref>

Musk's references to transgender medicine as "sterilization",<ref>Samantha Riedel (April 14, 2023). [https://www.them.us/story/elon-musk-twitter-transphobic-tweets "Elon Musk Suggests Doctors Who Treat Trans Youth Should 'Go to Prison for Life'"]. ''Them''.</ref><ref>Noor Al-Sibai (March 18, 2023). [https://futurism.com/neoscope/elon-musk-trans-debate "Oh, Great, Elon Musk Has Entered the Trans Kids 'Debate' Chat"]. ''Neoscope'' (''Futurism''.).</ref> beyond their inaccuracy (at least for nonsurgical interventions such as hormone replacement),<ref>{{Cite journal |date=2019 |editor-last=Poretsky |editor-first=Leonid |editor2-last=Hembree |editor2-first=Wylie C. |title=Transgender Medicine |url=https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-030-05683-4 |journal=Contemporary Endocrinology |language=en |pages=83-84 |doi=10.1007/978-3-030-05683-4 |issn=2523-3785}}</ref> could possibly be another outgrowth from his eugenic natalism. {{wpl|Grimes}} suggested it was indeed a factor (alongside a perceived dislike of "[[woke]] culture"), and had a half-decent response invoking the existence of modern fertility interventions.<ref>Joey Nolfi (August 10, 2023). [https://ew.com/celebrity/grimes-long-conversation-elon-musk-trans-issues/ "Grimes had 'long conversation' with Elon Musk about trans issues: 'He's unhappy with woke people'"]. ''Entertainment Weekly''.</ref><ref>Steven Levy (August 8, 2023). [https://www.wired.com/story/grimes-big-interview/ "Grimes on Living Forever, Dying on Mars, and Giving Elon Musk Ideas for His Best (Worst) Tweets"]. ''WIRED''.</ref> (For example: {{wpl|clomifene}} has been successfully used to boost fertility in both transgender men and women,<ref>{{Cite journal |last=de Nie |first=Iris |last2=van Mello |first2=Norah M. |last3=Vlahakis |first3=Emanuel |last4=Cooper |first4=Charlie |last5=Peri |first5=Angus |last6=den Heijer |first6=Martin |last7=Meißner |first7=Andreas |last8=Huirne |first8=Judith |last9=Pang |first9=Ken C. |date=2023-01-17 |title=Successful restoration of spermatogenesis following gender-affirming hormone therapy in transgender women |url=https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9873819/ |journal=Cell Reports Medicine |volume=4 |issue=1 |pages=100858 |doi=10.1016/j.xcrm.2022.100858 |issn=2666-3791 |pmid=36652919}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Ghofranian |first=Atoosa |last2=Estevez |first2=Samantha L. |last3=Gellman |first3=Caroline |last4=Gounko |first4=Dmitry |last5=Lee |first5=Joseph A. |last6=Thornton |first6=Kimberly |last7=Copperman |first7=Alan B. |date=2023-12-01 |title=Fertility treatment outcomes in transgender men with a history of testosterone therapy |url=https://www.fertstertreports.org/article/S2666-3341(23)00108-3/fulltext |journal=F&S Reports |volume=4 |issue=4 |pages=367–374 |doi=10.1016/j.xfre.2023.10.006 |issn=2666-3341}}</ref> and "extended sperm search and microfreeze" is reportedly effective for the latter.<ref>Jacqueline Mroz (October 21, 2022). [http://archive.today/2022.10.21-114609/https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/21/science/sperm-retrieval-essm-transgender-fertility.html "A New Procedure Could Expand Reproductive Choices for Transgender Women"]. ''The New York Times''.</ref>)

In reality, many of the root causes of the low global birth rates are actually a byproduct of human progress — notably advances in education and health, more freedoms and opportunities in society, and equal rights for women (along with some additional negative external factors like ballooning costs for raising kids).<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2023/09/18/opinion/human-population-global-growth.html "The World’s Population May Peak in Your Lifetime. What Happens Next?"] by Dean Spears, New York Times, 2023 September 26</ref><ref>[https://www.vox.com/23971366/declining-birth-rate-fertility-babies-children "You can’t even pay people to have more kids"] by Anna North, Vox, 2023 November 27</ref>

===Musk may have personally lowered the US birth rate===
Musk, despite his personal life, has done things in the public sphere that likely reduced the overall birth rate of the [[United States]]. It is unclear whether his proclamations on 
Twitter
 X have affected the birth rate in any measurable way. His (probable) net-negative contributions include but are not limited to:
*'''Raising the cost of housing by electing Donald Trump.''' Elon Musk takes personal credit for the 2024 election of Donald Trump.<ref name="2024outcome"/> In 2026, Trump said he is intentionally raising the cost of housing.<ref>(January 29, 2026). [https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/watch-trump-says-he-wants-to-drive-housing-prices-up-not-down "WATCH: Trump says he wants to drive housing prices up, not down"]. ''PBS''.</ref><ref>(January 29, 2026). [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kAimMtJWOhs "Trump on home prices: "I want to drive housing prices up'"]. ''LiveNOW from FOX'', via YouTube.</ref> Analyses suggest his tariffs/deportation policies raised the cost of materials and labor for housing construction.<ref>(December 16, 2025). [https://www.americanprogress.org/article/trump-administration-tariffs-could-result-in-450000-fewer-new-homes-through-2030/ "Trump Administration Tariffs Could Result in 450,000 Fewer New Homes Through 2030"]. ''Center for American Progress''.</ref><ref>(February 25, 2025). [https://www.urban.org/urban-wire/mass-deportations-would-worsen-our-housing-crisis "Mass Deportations Would Worsen Our Housing Crisis"]. ''Urban Institute''.</ref> Musk's DOGE cuts to HUD housing programs had been criticized, as this may have raised the cost of housing.<ref>(May 5, 2025). [https://nationalfairhousing.org/trump-and-doge-want-to-zero-out-critical-fair-housing-funding-in-the-fy-26-budget/ "Trump and DOGE Want to Zero Out Critical Fair Housing Funding in the FY26 Budget"]. ''National Fair Housing Alliance''.</ref><ref>(March 11, 2025). [https://www.cbpp.org/blog/doge-driven-hud-cuts-will-make-it-harder-for-people-to-afford-housing-exit-homelessness "DOGE-Driven HUD Cuts Will Make It Harder for People to Afford Housing, Exit Homelessness"]. ''Center on Budget and Policy Priorities''.</ref> Research suggests reduced home ownership rates due to higher cost of housing is directly related to reduced birth rates, as people have less of a stable and private space to raise a large family.<ref>Snejana Farberov (September 22, 2025). [https://www.realtor.com/news/trends/birth-rates-plummet-home-prices-surge-housing-market-family-planning/ "U.S. Birth Rates Plummet as Home Prices Surge: Here’s How the Housing Market Is Shaping Family Planning"]. ''Realtor.com''.</ref><ref>Eliza Relman (July 30, 2025). [https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-baby-boom-housing-boom-home-price-affordability-parenting-2025-7 "Housing boom, baby boom"]. ''Business Insider''. {{blockquote|A 10% increase in home prices led to a 1% decrease in births among non-homeowners in the 1990s and early 2000s, the economists Lisa Dettling and Melissa Schettini Kearney found in a 2012 paper published in the National Bureau of Economic Research.}}</ref> In 2024, Musk opposed Kamala Harris's plan to provide "up to $25,000 in federal down payment assistance to first-time homebuyers who have consistently paid their rent on time"; Musk called it a "perfect formula to create [[inflation]]."<ref>Callum Conway-Shaw (August 22, 2024). [https://www.ibtimes.co.uk/elon-musk-critics-say-kamala-harris-25k-payment-first-time-homebuyers-perfect-formula-1726430 "Elon Musk And Critics Say Kamala Harris' $25K Payment For First-time Homebuyers Is 'Perfect Formula For Inflation'"]. ''International Business Times''.</ref>
*'''Promoting long work hours.''' [[Ironically]] for Musk (who significantly promotes "hardcore" working hours in his businesses), excessively long working hours have been additionally identified as a significant factor in reducing birth rates in studies of [[South Korea]], which has one of the lowest fertility rates in the world.<ref>Kim T. [https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10355408/ The impact of working hours on pregnancy intention in childbearing-age women in Korea, the country with the world's lowest fertility rate.] PLoS One. 2023 Jul 19;18(7):e0288697. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0288697. PMID: 37467184; PMCID: PMC10355408.</ref><ref>[Ahn J, Lee SH, Park MY, Oh SH, Lee W. [https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8640650/ The Association Between Long Working Hours and Infertility]. Saf Health Work. 2021 Dec;12(4):517-521. doi: 10.1016/j.shaw.2021.07.005. Epub 2021 Jul 14. PMID: 34900371; PMCID: PMC8640650.]</ref> One Japanese company ({{wpl|Itochu}}) in 2010 banned late-night working and restricted overtime in an attempt to boost productivity. Not only was productivity successfully boosted, so was the internal birth rate within the company.<ref>[https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-07-12/itochu-overtime-ban-offers-solutions-for-japan-birthrate-decline "A Japanese Company Bans Late-Night Work. A Baby Boom Soon Follows"] by Kanoko Matsuyama, Bloomberg, 2023 July 12</ref>
*'''Removing options for remote work (a.k.a. "work from home").''' Musk ''detests'' remote work, calling it "morally wrong" in a May 2023 interview with {{wpl|CNBC||.}}<ref>[https://www.entrepreneur.com/business-news/elon-musk-says-remote-work-is-morally-wrong/452358 "Elon Musk Says Remote Work Is 'Morally Wrong,' Calls It 'Messed Up'"] by Madeline Garfinkle, Entrepreneur, 2023 May 17</ref> He put this belief into wide application when he entered the federal government under DOGE; partly at Musk's urging, one of Trump's first actions as president was removing remote work options for federal workers.<ref>Jack Kelly (January 21, 2025). [https://www.forbes.com/sites/jackkelly/2025/01/21/trump-ends-remote-work-for-federal-employees-hoping-to-shrink-the-federal-workforce/ "Trump Ends Remote Work For Federal Employees, Hoping To Shrink The Federal Workforce"]. ''Forbes''.</ref><ref>Andrew Howard and Danny Nguyen (February 24, 2025). [https://www.politico.com/news/2025/02/24/musk-federal-employees-administrative-leave-022452 "Musk threatens federal employees still working from home with administrative leave"]. ''Politico''.</ref> A study by the ''Economic Innovation Group'' suggests that more flexible work options, such as the remote work that many companies were forced to implement during the [[COVID-19 pandemic]], may have some limited positive effects on fertility.<ref>[https://eig.org/remote-work-family-formation/ "Early Remote Work Impacts on Family Formation"] by Lyman Stone and Adam Ozimek, Economic Innovation Group, 2023 March 7</ref> This was likewise suggested by a 2025 working paper, "Work from Home and Fertility".<ref>Elizabeth Nolan Brown (January 2026). [https://reason.com/2025/12/28/work-from-home-have-more-kids/ "Research Suggests People Who Work From Home Are Having More Babies"]. ''Reason''.</ref>
*'''Promoting c-sections for "brain size".''' Musk says humans can have larger brains through "heavy use of c-sections".<ref>Jack Izzo (January 7, 2025). [https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/elon-musk-c-sections/ "Musk Claimed C-Sections Allow Babies to Have Larger Brains?"]. ''Snopes''.</ref> This claim is questionable at best, and while it's unclear whether anybody had any c-sections due to his posts, some research suggests delivering a baby by c-section is related to fertility problems and thus a lower chance of conceiving subsequent children.<ref>(July 9, 2020). [https://www.psu.edu/news/research/story/women-who-deliver-c-section-are-less-likely-conceive-subsequent-children "Women who deliver by C-section are less likely to conceive subsequent children"]. The Pennsylvania State University.</ref>

Poor national policies that favor corporate work over the health and support of families (as in the United States, a country which lacks federally mandated paid paternity leave, universal health care, and universal child care) may also contribute to low birth rates.<ref>[https://abcnews.go.com/US/lack-paid-family-leave-support-work-partly-blame/story?id=60330818 "Lack of paid family leave, support at work partly to blame for 30-year low in fertility rates: Experts"] by Kaelyn Forde, ABC News, 2019 January 12</ref>

Musk has made the extraordinary claim that AI and robotics (of the sort his companies intend to sell to people) will make everyone rich and work-free, with a "universal high income".<ref>Brent D. Griffiths (January 3, 2026). [https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-ai-universal-high-income-ubi-2026-1 "A future without work? What Elon Musk, Bill Gates, and others in AI are saying about the future."] ''Business Insider''.</ref> This would solve many of the above-stated issues, but it is optimistic, to put it politely, and [[utopia]]n. Or possibly [[dystopia]]n, if you are so rude as to ask silly questions about whether [[wealth inequality]] will remain in such a world.

==Donald Trump==
[[File:Trump. Building a brighter future for all. Endorsed by Elon Musk. 2024.jpg|thumb|right|165px|Cheap-ass billionaires Trump and Musk can't even pay for their own damn billboards]]
{{cquote|Merry Christmas to alll...none of which are as the THUGS we have inside our Country who, with their... Green New Scam... All Electric Car Lunacy, and so much more, are looking to destroy our once great USA. MAY THEY ROT IN HELL... MERRY CHRISTMAS!|||Donald Trump bringing some holiday cheer on Christmas 2023, and sharing his frank opinion about Musk's core EV business.<ref>[https://archive.ph/MM0tR "Merry Christmas to all, including Crooked Joe Biden’s ONLY HOPE, Deranged Jack Smith, the out of control Lunatic who just hired outside attorneys, fresh from the SWAMP (unprecedented!), to help him with his poorly executed WITCH HUNT against “TRUMP” and “MAGA.” Included also are World Leaders, both good and bad, but none of which are as evil and “sick” as the THUGS we have inside our Country who, with their Open Borders, INFLATION, Afghanistan Surrender, Green New Scam, High Taxes, No Energy Independence, Woke Military, Russia/Ukraine, Israel/Iran, All Electric Car Lunacy, and so much more, are looking to destroy our once great USA. MAY THEY ROT IN HELL. AGAIN, MERRY CHRISTMAS!"]. @realDonaldTrump, ''Truth Social'', 2023 December 23, archived on 25 December 2023.</ref>}}
Musk was very critical of [[Donald Trump]] until Trump became President. Musk then changed his mind and joined Trump initiatives including a council of business advisors and a project to promote manufacturing in the US.<ref>[http://uk.businessinsider.com/why-elon-musk-is-changing-position-on-trump-2017-1 Here's why Elon Musk is changing his tune on Trump] ''Business Insider'' 29 January 2017</ref> Musk's attacks on the media seemed in accord with Trump's complaints about [[fake news]] and were supported by Trump's son [[Donald Trump Jr.]]<ref>[https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2018/05/elon-musk-melts-down-blames-scumbag-tesla-critics-for-electing-trump Elon Musk melts down, blames scumbag tesla critics for electing trump] ''Vanity Fair'' 23 May 2018</ref> He also supported Trump's campaign to shift global tariffs on car imports and exports to be more favorable to American car exports.<ref>[https://www.wired.com/story/musk-trump-twitter-tariff-tiff/ Elon Musk's and Donald Trump's Twitter Tariff Tiff] ''Wired'' 12 March 2018</ref> He left Trump's presidential council in June of 2017, citing Trump's withdrawal from the Paris Climate Agreement.<ref>[https://techcrunch.com/2017/06/01/elon-musk-leaving-trump-advisory-councils-following-paris-agreement-withdrawal/ Elon Musk leaving Trump advisory councils following Paris agreement withdrawal] ''TechCrunch'' 1 June 2017</ref>

Musk claimed to have voted for [[Barack Obama]] twice (2008, 2012), Hillary Clinton (2016), and Joe Biden (2020), before supporting fascism from 2022 onward, starting with DeSantis<ref>[https://archive.is/0UB7Z Elon Musk’s Political Shift: How The Billionaire Moved From Backing Obama To Endorsing DeSantis] by Sara Dorn (November 27, 2022) ''Forbes'' (archived from 1 Dec 2022 13:41:51 UTC).</ref> continuing with Trump and [[Alternative for Germany]] in 2024.<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/dec/20/elon-musk-claims-only-afd-can-save-germany Outrage as Elon Musk claims ‘only AfD can save Germany’] by Kate Connolly (20 Dec 2024 13.08 EST) ''The Guardian''.</ref> One is reminded of the villainous surgeon in the horror film ''Get Out'' trying to lure his victim into a feeling of trust, "By the way, I would have voted for Obama for a third term, if I could. Best President in my lifetime, hands down."<ref>[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5052448/quotes/ ''Get Out'': Quotes] ''IMDb''.</ref> As evidence of Musk's saying things that are politically expedient that he clearly does not believe in, in 2023 he pledged to the Chinese government that his companies would adhere to "'core [[socialist]] values", so that he could avert an EV price war with China.<ref name=dua/>

By 2024, Musk had significantly shifted his politics towards [[Trumpism]]. As a result, after an assassination attempt on Trump, Musk quickly endorsed him and even said that he planned to support Trump's presidential bid with an undisclosed sum of cash.<ref name="cnnallintrump"/><ref>[https://archive.ph/WbFde "How Elon Musk Chose Trump"] by Theodore Schleifer and Ryan Mac, New York Times, 2024 July 18</ref> Musk even began appearing on stage with Trump at campaign rallies, and set up a {{wpl|Political action committee|PAC}} to directly campaign for Trump.<ref name="trumpallin"/> During one rally, Musk enthusiastically jumped around Trump like an idiot.<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/07/style/elon-musk-donald-trump-campaign-rally.html Elon Musk’s Giant Leap] NYTimes</ref>

Musk's turn towards Trumpism naturally included [[Other]]-demonizing conspiracy theories. During the 2024 election campaign, Musk claimed on his [[Twitter]] account, without evidence, that Democrats were trying to fill the country with undocumented immigrants, [[Hypocrisy|such as himself]],<ref name=proudian/> who would subsequently reward them with permanent power.<ref name="trumpallin"/> [[Ironically]] given [[Authoritarianism of Donald Trump|Trump's authoritarianism]] and the [[authoritarianism]] of adjacent entities such as [[Project 2025]], Musk also repeatedly warned that [[Psychological projection|the 2024 race could be the last free election in America]] should [[Kamala Harris]] win.<ref name="trumpallin"/>

===Giving the Nazi salute===
{{multiple image
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 | image1 = Nazi detector.png|Neo-Nazi detector
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 | alt2 = Elon Musk giving a Hitler Salute at the Trump inauguration
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}}
While celebrating Trump's reelection on January 20, 2025, Musk gave the {{wpl|Hitler salute}} three times on television.<ref>[https://www.irishstar.com/news/us-news/breaking-elon-musk-hitler-salute-34518373 Elon Musk 'makes Nazi salute' two or three times during inauguration speech] by Emily Hodgkin (Jan 20 2025) ''Irish Star''.</ref><ref>[https://www.jpost.com/international/article-838444 Did Elon Musk Sieg Heil at Trump's inauguration? Musk was seen making the gesture twice on live television.] by Mathilda Heller (January 20, 2025 22:29; Updated: January 21, 2025 21:18) ''The Jerusalem Post''.</ref> Despite the obvious modern-day meaning of the gesture, made doubly-clear during the first Trump term at, for example the [[Unite the Right]] rally, several news organizations (presumably to evade potential defamation suits from Musk) twisted themselves into knots to avoid almost any description of Musk’s hand gesture that directly called it a “Hitler Salute” and claiming that it was too “ambiguous”, thereby giving him free rein to troll for Hitler: CNN’s Erin Burnett,<ref>[https://x.com/BonillaJL/status/1881453980661801364 CNN's Erin Burnett and Kasie Hunt omit @elonmusk saying "I'm giving you my heart" after greeting the crowd, failing the "smear @elonmusk as a Nazi without saying Nazi so as to avoid another defamation lawsuit" challenge] by Eric Bonilla (1:29 PM · Jan 20, 2025) ''Twitter''.</ref><ref>[https://newsbusters.org/node/287584/print CNN, Going for Their Next Defamation Lawsuit, Smear Elon Musk as a Nazi] by Jorge Bonilla (January 20<sup>th</sup>, 2025 9:31 PM) ''Newsbusters''. Note: inflammatory headline by wingnut website ''Newsbusters''; Burnett made no such statement that the headline implied.</ref> ''The New York Times'' calling the gesture ambiguous, "Elon Musk Ignites Online Speculation Over the Meaning of a Hand Gesture",<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/20/us/politics/elon-musk-hand-gesture-speech.html Elon Musk Ignites Online Speculation Over the Meaning of a Hand Gesture: Speaking at a celebratory rally in Washington, Mr. Musk twice extended his arm out with his palm facing down, drawing comparisons to the Nazi salute.] by Ryan Mac (Jan. 20, 2025) ''The New York Times''.</ref> and shockingly even the [[ADL]] cut him slack, "It seems that @elonmusk made an awkward gesture in a moment of enthusiasm, not a Nazi salute, but again, we appreciate that people are on edge."<ref>[https://archive.ph/hL9ZF This is a delicate moment. It’s a new day and yet so many are on edge. Our politics are inflamed, and social media only adds to the anxiety. It seems that @elonmusk made an awkward gesture in a moment of enthusiasm, not a Nazi salute, but again, we appreciate that people are on edge. In this moment, all sides should give one another a bit of grace, perhaps even the benefit of the doubt, and take a breath. This is a new beginning. Let’s hope for healing and work toward unity in the months and years ahead.] by ADL (10:52 PM · Jan 20, 2025) ''Twitter'' (archived from 20 Jan 2025 23:00:42 UTC).</ref>

Many people have said that this was an awkward gesture because Elon is [[Autism|autistic]], to the horror and frustration of actually autistic people and therapists quickly calling these excuses obviously wrong and ableist, something those who made the accusations<ref group=note>akin to saying “the left is hypocritical for going after an autistic man”, never mind the fact that you can criticize people without being bigoted.</ref><ref>[https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/columnist/2025/01/23/musk-salute-fascist-democrats-cancel-culture/77845518007/ Elon is Hitler? Liberals regress to cancel culture to compensate for their loss. | Opinion]</ref><ref>[https://apnews.com/article/musk-gesture-salute-antisemitism-0070dae53c7a73397b104ae645877535 Musk’s straight-arm gesture embraced by right-wing extremists regardless of what he meant]</ref> actually perpetuate ableism by excusing awful behavior by saying that’s just “being autistic”.<ref>[https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/opinion/yes-elon-it-was-a-nazi-salute-and-autism-is-no-excuse/a633559066.html Yes, Elon, it was a Nazi salute... and autism is no excuse]</ref><ref>[https://www.huffpost.com/entry/elon-musk-autism-salute_l_67913d9fe4b0dd8cd970142e Some Are Excusing Elon Musk's Disturbing Salute As Autism — And Autistic People Have Thoughts]</ref><ref>[https://news.yahoo.com/news/people-excusing-elon-musks-disturbing-183544349.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly9kdWNrZHVja2dvLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAMtxaf05oCCMe73sGCraKIFEhffv0pj-pmDaWYpl9DVPWSONyem6rrHKtb2ph7tHrqdu1BAfBEXgOQiwqlb3AKx1mXWfeH7EbMaeSXenpVm07FtVbiEiNX16GxN6pgjsoKZTE2W8WvjapIzx9a_KljmN-0mYvRHWYQp1W8SaZOxy After Some People Claimed Elon Musk's Disturbing Salute Was Because Of Autism, Others With Autism Have Weighed In]</ref> It's worth noting that the reputation of autism is pretty awful and autistic people always have to counter stereotypes and misconceptions that constantly make life harder for them. Being a far-right incel is one of those stereotypes.<ref group=note>Common examples include [[Elliot Rodger]], Alek Minassian. Irony being should the far right get its way [[Aktion T4|they wouldn’t exist]].</ref><ref>[https://www.ambitiousaboutautism.org.uk/about-us/media-centre/blog/how-misunderstandings-and-stigma-around-autism-can-impact-mental-health ]</ref><ref>[https://myautismmind.com/autism-stereotypes/ Breaking Down the Top 10 Autism Stereotypes: Unveiling the Truth]</ref>

Others have said that it was a 'Roman Salute', something which was the inspiration for the fascist salute in the first place. Some have also said that it was a [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bellamy_salute Bellamy Salute], an old gesture made during the pledge of allegiance, which in 1942 would be replaced with the “hand-over-heart” gesture specifically because of its resemblance to the fascists' salutes. When those defending Elon were asked to do the gesture if they claimed it wasn’t so bad, they would refuse. <ref>[https://thehill.com/homenews/media/5110403-scott-jennings-elon-musk-salute/ CNN panelist dares Scott Jennings to perform Musk salute on live TV]</ref>

This stunt actually led the Raphael Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention to issue a red flag alert for genocide in the United States.<ref> {{cite web | title=New Red Flag Alert for Genocide -- for the USA | website=Lemkin Institute  | date=2024-11-04 | url=https://lemkininstitute.com/so/2ePI6uVmv | ref={{sfnref|Lemkin Institute |2024}} | access-date=2025-01-23}}</ref>

The [[reality]] is that there was no uniform "Roman salute", and the modern visual conception of the Roman salute likely began with Jacques-Louis David's 1784 painting, "Oath of the Horatii". The salute has a long history of misrepresentation, so what it means at any point in time is whatever the popular conception is, but since the [[Hollywood]] representation of Nazis with the salute during and following [[World War II]], that is what it is now strongly and exclusively associated with.<ref name=bondwong>[https://hyperallergic.com/984855/the-revisionist-history-of-the-nazi-salute/ The Revisionist History of the Nazi Salute: Elon Musk’s defenders were quick to claim that his hand motion was actually an ancient “Roman salute” — but that gesture never existed.] by Sarah E. Bond and Stephanie Wong (January 22, 2025) ''Hyperallergic''.</ref><ref>''The Roman Salute: Cinema, History, Ideology'' by Martin M. Winkler (2021) Ohio State University Press. ISBN 9780814258309.</ref> 

To play [[Devil's advocate]], if Elon didn’t mean it to be a Nazi salute, him following it up by making Nazi jokes (which would be then condemned by the ADL) doesn’t help matters.<ref>[https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5103537-adl-which-had-defended-musk-takes-issue-with-his-nazi-puns/ ADL, which had defended Musk, takes issue with his Nazi puns]</ref> He would also make his intention clear instead of leaving it ambiguous. It also doesn’t help when [[White Supremacy|white supremacists]] like [[Nick Fuentes]] and [[Gab|Andrew Torba]] celebrated the event, Musk refrained from disavowing or condemning them.<ref>[https://www.wired.com/story/neo-nazis-love-elon-musk-nazi-like-salutes-trumps-inauguration/ Neo-Nazis Love the Nazi-Like Salutes Elon Musk Made at Trump’s Inauguration]</ref>

Musk's former friend, Philip Low, asserted Musk indeed meant it to be a Nazi salute, but added: "Elon is not a Nazi, per se. He is something much better, or much worse, depending on how you look at it.  Nazis believed that an entire race was above everyone else. Elon believes he is above everyone else." He speculated on several alternative reasons Musk could have done it.<ref>Nur Ibrahim (January 28, 2025). [https://www.snopes.com/news/2025/01/28/elon-musk-billionaire-nazi/ "Former Friend of Elon Musk Says Billionaire 'Believes He Is Above Everyone Else'"]. ''Snopes''.</ref><ref>[https://archive.li/PkWxL Dr. Philip Low’s Post] by Philip Low (January 28, 2025 at 7:56 AM) ''LinkedIn'' (archived from 28 Jan 2025 14:33:40 UTC).</ref><ref name=low>[https://archive.li/PkWxL Philip Low on Elon Musk] by Philip Low, with additional commentary (January 24 at 7:56 AM) ''Facebook'' (archived from 28 Jan 2025 14:35:22 UTC).</ref><ref>[https://www.snopes.com/news/2025/01/28/elon-musk-billionaire-nazi/ Former Friend of Elon Musk Says Billionaire 'Believes He Is Above Everyone Else': Philip Low shared his views on Musk's alleged Nazi salute in widely shared posts on Facebook and LinkedIn.] by Nur Ibrahim (Jan. 28, 2025) ''Snopes''.</ref>

In Dorothy Thompson's "{{w|Who Goes Nazi?||"}} essay appearing in ''Harper's Magazine'' some eighty years earlier, she describes one archetype who may come close enough:
{{cquote|It is an interesting and somewhat macabre parlor game to play at a large gathering of one’s acquaintances: to speculate who in a showdown would go Nazi.&nbsp;… Mr. G is a ''very'' intellectual young man who was an infant prodigy. He has been concerned with general ideas since the age of ten and has one of those minds that can scintillatingly [[Rationalization|rationalize]] everything. I have known him for ten years and in that time have heard him enthusiastically explain Marx, social credit, technocracy, [[Keynesian economics]], Chestertonian distributism, and everything else one can imagine. Mr. G will never be a Nazi, because he will never be anything. His brain operates quite apart from the rest of his apparatus. He will certainly be able, however, fully to explain and apologize for Nazism if it ever comes along. But Mr. G is always a “deviationist.” When he played with communism he was a [[Trotskyist]]; when he talked of Keynes it was to suggest improvement; Chesterton’s economic ideas were all right but he was too bound to Catholic philosophy. So we may be sure that Mr. G would be a Nazi with purse-lipped qualifications. He would certainly be purged.|||''Harper's Magazine'', 1941<ref>Dorothy Thompson (August 1941). [https://harpers.org/archive/1941/08/who-goes-nazi/ "Who Goes Nazi?"]. ''Harper's Magazine''.</ref>}}
Low, the CEO of NeuroVigil, and the son of a Holocaust survivor, had a more specific analysis of Musk's Nazi salutes:<ref name=low/>
{{cquote|
#He was concerned that the “Nazi wing” of the MAGA movement, under the influence of Steve Bannon, would drive him away from Trump, somewhere in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, rather than in the West Wing which is where he wants to be. He was already feeling raw over the fact that Trump did not follow his recommendation for Treasury Secretary and that the Senate also did not pick his first choice;
#He was upset that he had had to go to Israel and Auschwitz to make up for agreeing with a Nazi sympathizer online and wanted to reclaim his "power" just like when he told advertisers to "go fuck yourself". This has nothing to do with Asperger’s;
#There are some Jews he actually hates: [[ChatGPT|Sam Altman]] is amongst them;
#He enjoys a good thrill and knew exactly what he was doing;
#His narcissistic self was hoping the audience would reflect his abject gesture back to him, thereby showing complete control and dominion over it, and increasing his leverage over Trump. That did not happen. 
}}

===DOGE===
{{main|Technocracy|DOGE}}
Under Trump, Musk was the head of a quasi-government agency known as the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) from February-November 2025. (The title is a reference to {{w|Doge (meme)|a zombified Internet meme|.)}} Although Musk could claim to be a scientist based on receiving a bachelor of arts degree in physics (though some of the details are sketchy, e.g. degree awarded two years after completion of courses).<ref>[https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/musk-physics-degree/ Does Elon Musk Have an Undergraduate Degree in Physics?] by Alex Kasprak (Dec. 21, 2022) ''Snopes''.</ref>{{efn|Calling Musk an artist might have been more appropriate were it not for his design of the Cybertruck.}} Nonetheless, the activities of DOGE have caused "cruel and arbitrary chaos."<ref>[https://oversightdemocrats.house.gov/news/exposing-doges-dark-dealings "Exposing DOGE's dark dealings"] - ''House Oversight Democrats''.</ref> This includes unleashing a wave of anti-science bullshit, including targeting any programs that mention [[DEI]] and [[climate change]], sacking scientists, science-based programs, science grants and contracts throughout the Federal government, causing collateral damage throughout the US and the world.<ref>[https://archive.ph/LutCj How Trump’s attacks on ‘climate alarmism’ have already transformed U.S. science] by Ruby Mellen (December 24, 2025) ''The Washington Post'' (archived from 27 Dec 2025 12:46:09 UTC).</ref><ref>[https://www.sciencenews.org/article/extreme-heat-climate-change-research Life-saving research on extreme heat comes under fire] by Nikk Ogas (November 17, 2025 at 9:00 am) ''Science News''.</ref><ref>[https://www.sciencenews.org/article/public-health-cuts-infectious-diseases How U.S. public health cuts could raise risks of infectious diseases] by Tina Hesman Saey (April 4, 2025 at 1:00 pm) ''Science News''.</ref><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20250426011636/https://doge.gov/ Department of Government Efficiency] e.g., "Great work by @NSF canceling 701 wasteful DEI grants ($203M in savings), including 'Building Racial Equity in Marine Science.' This brings the total to over $325M saved in the past 2 weeks." (archived from April 26, 2025).</ref><ref>[https://www.npr.org/2025/02/18/nx-s1-5301049/national-science-foundation-fires-roughly-10-of-its-workforce National Science Foundation fires roughly 10% of its workforce] by Jonathan Lambert (February 18, 20257:11 PM ET) ''NPR''.</ref>

Musk claimed the purpose of DOGE was to target the "[[tyranny]] of the bureaucracy",<ref>Jennifer Clarke (May 30, 2025). [https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c23vkd57471o "What is Doge and why has Musk left?"]. ''BBC News''.</ref> but in reality it consisted largely of government-inexperienced, college-aged techies running roughshod through government agencies and breaking things. They quickly fired by accident the people maintaining America's [[nuclear weapon|nuclear arsenal]] (as one does).<ref>Geoff Brumfiel (February 14, 2025). [https://www.npr.org/2025/02/14/nx-s1-5298190/nuclear-agency-trump-firings-nnsa "Trump firings cause chaos at agency responsible for America's nuclear weapons"]. ''NPR''.</ref><ref>Stephen Young (April 16, 2025). [https://thebulletin.org/2025/04/doges-staff-firing-fiasco-at-the-nuclear-weapon-agency-means-everything-but-efficiency/ "DOGE's staff firing fiasco at the nuclear weapon agency means everything but efficiency"]. ''[[Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists]]''.</ref> They then attempted to re-hire those people, only to struggle to reach many of them since they had been locked out of their government e-mail accounts.<ref>Brandon Drenon (February 18, 2025). [https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4g3nrx1dq5o "US government tries to rehire nuclear staff it fired days ago"]. ''BBC News''.</ref><ref>Peter Alexander and Alexandra Marquez (February 15, 2025). [https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/national-security/trump-administration-wants-un-fire-nuclear-safety-workers-cant-figure-rcna192345 "Trump administration wants to un-fire nuclear safety workers but can’t figure out how to reach them"]. ''NBC''.</ref> This was not an entirely unique story in DOGE's saga.<ref>Matthew Perrone (February 24, 2025). [https://apnews.com/article/fda-layoffs-trump-doge-rehired-medical-devices-85d4743e4ce88dbe3b99c813bad4b702 "FDA moves to rehire medical device, food safety and other staffers fired days earlier"]. ''The Associated Press''.</ref><ref>Allan Smith, Melanie Zanona and Laura Strickler (February 18, 2025). [https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/doge/usda-accidentally-fired-officials-bird-flu-rehire-rcna192716 "USDA says it accidentally fired officials working on bird flu and is now trying to rehire them"]. ''NBC''.</ref> Cybersecurity and data concerns also emerged about DOGE, e.g. their handling of Americans' sensitive and personal [[Social Security]] data.<ref>Andrew R. Chow (March 19, 2025). [https://time.com/7268032/doge-cybersecurity-elon-musk/ "Cybersecurity Experts Are Sounding the Alarm on DOGE"]. ''TIME''.</ref><ref>(February 19, 2025). [https://www.hks.harvard.edu/faculty-research/policy-topics/science-technology-data/doge-putting-countrys-data-and-computing "DOGE is putting the country’s data and computing infrastructure at risk, HKS expert argues"]. ''The John F. Kennedy School of Government''.</ref><ref>Jenna McLaughlin (April 15, 2025). [https://www.npr.org/2025/04/15/nx-s1-5355896/doge-nlrb-elon-musk-spacex-security "A whistleblower's disclosure details how DOGE may have taken sensitive labor data"]. ''NPR''.</ref>

==Backlash against Musk in Europe==
Musk's promotion of far-right political movements, attacks on elected politicians, and giving of a Nazi salute at the {{wpl|second inauguration of Donald Trump}} prompted an accelerated backlash against him across Europe.<ref name=McFall300125>Marni Rose McFall [https://www.newsweek.com/activists-brand-tesla-vehicles-swasticar-stickers-2023645 Activists Brand Tesla Vehicles with 'Swasticar' Stickers] ''Newsweek'' 30 January 2025</ref>

A picture of Musk making the salute alongside the words "Heil Tesla" and the word "Boycott" alongside the Tesla logo were projected onto Tesla's Gigafactory in Berlin by Left-wing activist groups {{wpl|Led By Donkeys||,}} from the United Kingdom, and the Center for Political Beauty, from Germany. Musk reponded by tweeting, "Frankly, they need better dirty tricks. The 'everyone is Hitler' attack is sooo tired."<ref>Gabe Whisnant and Jesus Mesa [https://www.newsweek.com/elon-musk-controversial-salute-image-beamed-tesla-factory-berlin-2019279 Elon Musk Controversial Salute Image Beamed on Tesla Factory in Berlin] ''Newsweek'' 22 January 2025</ref>

A dozen Tesla cars were torched in an arson attack outside a dealership in Tolouse, France. Eight Teslas were burned out and another four were badly damaged in a criminal act that investigators confirmed had been targeted at the vehicles and not at the premises.<ref>[https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20250303-dozen-teslas-torched-outside-french-dealership-authorities Dozen Teslas torched outside French dealership: authorities] ''AFP'' 3 March 2025</ref>

===Everyone Hates Elon===
'''Everyone Hates Elon''' is a UK-based activist group founded following Musk's Nazi salute at the second inauguration of President Donald Trump which hit the headline by branding hundreds of Tesla vehicles in London with stickers saying "don't buy swasticars."<ref name=McFall300125 />

===People vs Elon===
{{cquote|Elon Musk has used Twitter to amplify hate. Well, we’re turning every tweet into a weapon against the far right. Every time he tweets far-right talking points, he will trigger hundreds of small donations to groups fighting for a just and welcoming UK.|||People vs Elon spokesperson<ref name=Mortimer270125>Josiah Mortimer [https://bylinetimes.com/2025/01/27/elon-musk-is-accidentally-helping-to-raise-thousands-for-progressive-causes-in-the-uk/ Elon Musk is Accidentally Helping to Raise Thousands for Progressive Causes in the UK] ''Byline Times'' 27 January 2025</ref>}}{{cquote|People vs Elon is aimed at anyone who feels powerless watching the world’s richest man use his immense wealth and power to amplify far-right ideologies – from calling to free far-right activist Tommy Robinson to ‘make Europe great again’. I think lots of people across the UK have been desperate to stand up against this type of hate. It felt like people wanted do something tangible and immediate in protest.|||Jack Steadman, People vs Elon<ref name=moss100325>Emily Moss [https://www.civilsociety.co.uk/news/charity-campaign-projects-to-raise-100000-from-elon-musks-social-media-posts.html Charity campaign projects to raise £100,000 from Elon Musk’s social media posts] ''Civil Society'' 10 March 2025</ref>}}

'''People vs Elon''' is a UK-based fundraising campaign launched by Jack Steadman on 26 January 2025 which collects micro-donation pledges from donors for as little as 1p for every time Musk tweets and then uses those funds to support UK organisations campaigning for anti-racism, immigrants, and LGBTQ+ rights.<ref name=McFall300125 /> It was inspired by #DefeatByTweet, which raised over $12m from Trump’s social media posts during his 2020 and 2024 election campaigns.<ref name=moss100325 /> With Musk tweeting approximately 2,000 times per month, a 1p per tweet would result in a £20 monthly donation.<ref name=moss100325 /> As of March 2025, the campaign has over 650 supporters and is projected to raise at least £100,000 in its first year. A number of organisations funded by the campaign have stated its importance.

*Naomi Evans, Everyday Racism:<ref name=Mortimer270125 /> 
{{Quotebox|As teachers we see first hand the impact of the far right rhetoric on social media and dangerous commentary from the likes of Elon Musk. We are working every day to counter it. People vs Elon is an antidote to his lies – thousands of microdonations that will help groups like ours to counter hate.}}

*Georgina Laming, Director of Campaigns at Hope not Hate: <ref name=Mortimer270125 /> 
{{Quotebox|Since buying X, Elon Musk has done more than just tweet – he has amplified far-right figures, spread harmful disinformation, and called for Stephen Yaxley Lennon (Tommy Robinson) to be released from prison. History has shown us that fascism can be defeated. But only when people come together and take collective action. That’s what we must do today.}}

*Leila Zadeh, CEO of Rainbow Migration:<ref name=Mortimer270125 /> 
{{Quotebox|We can’t let the richest man in the world poison our politics. He is seeking to demonise trans people and refugees as he continues to amass record wealth. Most people know their problems are caused by wealth hoarders and hatemongers, not trans people or people seeking safety.}}

*Carenza Arnold, Women for Refugee Women:<ref name=Mortimer270125 /> 
{{Quotebox|Elon Musk demonises refugees and amplifies misogynists like Andrew Tate. But polling shows the majority of the British public don’t like Elon Musk and his friends. Now we’re seeing the British people put their money where their mouth is – standing with women and refugees.}}

===Royal Society Rumble===
[[File:MuskFRS.jpg|thumb|165px|FRS? FFS! How the hell did that happen?]]
{{cquote|Elon Musk should be expelled from the British Royal Society. Not because he peddles conspiracy theories and makes Nazi salutes, but because of the huge damage he is doing to scientific institutions in the US.|||{{wpl|Geoffrey Hinton}} on Xitter<ref name=davis030325>Nicola Davis [https://amp.theguardian.com/technology/2025/mar/03/elon-musk-royal-society-fellowship-survives-fractious-members-meeting Elon Musk survives as fellow of Royal Society despite anger among scientists] ''The Guardian'' 3 March 2025</ref>}}{{cquote|Only craven, insecure fools care about awards and memberships. History is the actual judge, always and forever. Your comments above are carelessly ignorant, cruel and false. That said, what specific actions require correction? I will make mistakes, but endeavor to fix them.|||Musk's response.<ref name=davis030325 />}}

The '''{{wpl|Royal Society}}''' is the UK’s national academy of sciences. Founded in 1660, it is the oldest continuously existing scientific academy in the world and has played a crucial role in the advancement of science.<ref name=stallard040325>Esme Stallard and Victoria Gill [https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c3e44ge0xnwo Elon Musk sparks row at Royal Society but remains a member] ''BBC News'' 4 March 2025</ref> Concerns have been raised that Musk's conduct is not compatible with the continuation of his membership, to which he had been elected in 2018 as a "modern {{wpl|Isambard Kingdom Brunel|Brunel|"}}<ref name=davis230824>Nicola Davis [https://www.theguardian.com/technology/article/2024/aug/23/royal-society-facing-calls-to-expel-elon-musk-amid-concerns-about-conduct Royal Society facing calls to expel Elon Musk amid concerns about conduct] ''The Guardian'' 23 August 2024</ref> in apparent recognition of his work in the space and electric vehicle industries.<ref>[https://royalsociety.org/people/elon-musk-13829/ Mr Elon Musk FRS] ''The Royal Society''</ref>

74 fellows wrote a letter to society president Adrian Smith in August 2024 raising doubts as to whether Musk was “a fit and proper person to hold the considerable honour of being a fellow of the Royal Society” following his [[Elon Musk#Supporting far-right hooligans|support for far-right hooligans]] during the [[2024 United Kingdom riots]].<ref name=davis230824 /><ref name=jones251124>Frances Jones [https://www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-charities-and-societies-2024-11-royal-society-fellow-resigns-over-elon-musk-membership/ Royal Society fellow resigns over Elon Musk membership] ''Research Professional News'' 25 November 2024</ref> Highlighting a key passage from the society's code of contact,<ref>[https://royalsociety.org/about-us/how-we-are-governed/governance/ Governance] ''The Royal Society''</ref> the letter reiterated:<ref name=davis230824 />
{{Quotebox|When speaking or publicising statements in a personal capacity, Fellows and Foreign Members must still strive to uphold the reputation of the Society and those who work in it, and be mindful that what is said or stated in a personal capacity could still impact the Society.}}

Oxford University Professor {{wpl|Dorothy V. M. Bishop|Dorothy Bishop|,}} one of those 74 signatories,<ref name=else130225>Holly Else [https://archive.ph/cH9xA Royal Society will meet amid campaign to revoke Elon Musk’s fellowship] ''Nature'' 13 February 2025</ref> resigned her fellowship in November 2024 citing concerns about Musk's persecution of {{wpl|Anthony Fauci||,}} poor regulatory practice at {{wpl|Neuralink||,}} promotion of vaccine 
hesitancy
 denial, climate change denial, spreading deepfakes and misinformation, and the bleak future for US science if he is given unfettered powers to cut budgets.<ref name=jones251124 /> She stated:<ref>Dorothy Bishop [https://deevybee.blogspot.com/2024/11/why-i-have-resigned-from-royal-society.html Why I have resigned from the Royal Society] ''BishopBlog'' 25 November 2024</ref>
{{Quotebox|Any pleasure I may take in the distinction of the honour of [being a Royal Society fellow] is diminished by the fact it is shared with someone who appears to be modelling himself on a Bond villain, a man who has immeasurable wealth and power which he will use to threaten scientists who disagree with him.}}

An open letter<ref>Stephen Curry [https://occamstypewriter.org/scurry/2025/02/11/open-letter-president-royal-society-stand-up-values/ An open letter to the President of the Royal Society – time to stand up for your values] ''Reciprocal Space'' 11 February 2025</ref> written by Imperial College Professor Stephen Curry and signed by nearly 3,500 members of the international scientific community expressed concern over "continued silence and apparent inaction" from the Society over Musk's fellowship, highlighting his endangerment of MP {{wpl|Jess Philips}} with false accusations that she was a “rape genocide apologist” and stating:<ref name=jones120225>Frances Jones [https://www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-charities-and-societies-2025-2-second-royal-society-fellow-resigns-over-musk-s-membership/ Royal Society fellow resigns over Elon Musk membership] ''Research Professional News'' 12 February 2025</ref><ref name=else130225 /><ref>Andrew Millar [https://www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-views-of-the-uk-2025-february-i-do-not-want-a-fellowship-that-can-include-such-actions/ ‘I do not want a fellowship that can include such actions’] ''Research Professional News'' 13 February 2025</ref><ref>[https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/uks-royal-society-discuss-fellows-behaviours-amid-musk-controversy-2025-02-15/ UK's Royal Society to discuss fellows' behaviours amid Musk controversy] ''Reuters'' 15 February 2025</ref>
{{Quotebox|The situation is rendered more serious because Mr Musk now occupies a position within a Trump administration in the USA that has over the past several weeks engaged in an assault on scientific research in the US that has fallen foul of federal courts. It has sought to impose huge cuts in funding and a regime of censorship (particularly with regard to EDI and climate issues) that is a direct threat to freedom of expression and academic freedom.}}

Edinburgh University Professor {{wpl|Andrew Millar}} resigned his fellowship in February 2025 citing the society's “inability to take proportionate action on Elon Musk’s current promotion of disinformation.”<ref name=jones120225 /><ref name=else130225 /> Reiterating Bishop's concerns he stated:<ref>Andrew Millar [https://www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-views-of-the-uk-2025-february-i-do-not-want-a-fellowship-that-can-include-such-actions/ ‘I do not want a fellowship that can include such actions’] ''Research Professional News'' 13 February 2025</ref>
{{Quotebox|These actions are not compatible with the conduct required of a fellow, and I do not want a fellowship that can include such actions. They undermine the purpose of the Royal Society.}}

A March 2025 private meeting of over 150 fellows resulted in a public statement on "the need to stand up for science and for scientists around the world in the face of the growing challenges science faces,"<ref>[https://royalsociety.org/news/2025/03/royal-society-statement/ Royal Society statement] ''The Royal Society''</ref> and rumours that a letter would be sent to Musk.<ref name=stallard040325 /> So, nothing will be done, in other words.

==See also==
*[[Nikola Tesla]] – from whom his company’s name came. Although ironically, Musk identifies more with Tesla's nemesis, [[Thomas Edison]], than with Tesla himself.<ref>[https://bigthink.com/technology-innovation/this-elon-musk-interview-reveals-if-he-prefers-nikola-tesla-or-thomas-edison Elon Musk interview reveals whether he prefers Nikola Tesla to Thomas Edison] ''Big Think'' 4 February 2019</ref><ref group="note">Also interesting is that he did not name the company "Tesla". It was incorporated in July 2003 as "Tesla Motors"; Musk did not become involved with the company until February of 2004. This is a recurring theme with Musk, rewriting history to give himself credit for things he didn't actually do.</ref>
*[[Henry Ford]]
*[[Engineers and woo]]
*[[Joe Rogan]]

==External links==
*[https://elonmusk.today/ Elon Musk Today] — Bullshit Musk has said

==Notes==
{{reflist|group=note}}

==References==
{{reflist|3|70%}}

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