All through historical past, the world’s richest folks — virtually all males — have typically operated from the shadows, taking up governments they don’t like quietly.
Not the world’s present richest man.
In latest months, Elon Musk has taken on authorities after authorities, largely left or liberal administrations, in public on-line wars centred round his declare that they’re curbing free speech. However typically, the spats have additionally come amid makes an attempt by governments to manage social media — the place Musk, the proprietor of X, has a direct enterprise curiosity as properly.
From Brazil to Australia, France to the UK, and naturally the USA, right here’s a take a look at the battles Musk has stirred, and the way they’ve performed out for him and his firms.
Brazil
Latin America’s largest nation and economic system banned X in August after Musk refused to adjust to a court docket order to nominate a authorized consultant in Brazil.
The court docket had additionally ordered X to dam a collection of far-right accounts. Musk had rejected that demand too, clashing publicly with Supreme Court docket Justice Alexandre de Moraes.
However the choose didn’t again down both. Along with the ban, he ordered X to pay greater than $3m in fines. The court docket additionally froze the Brazilian financial institution accounts of Starlink, Musk’s satellite tv for pc communications agency.
Then, on the choose’s order, the Brazilian authorities transferred $1.3m from X’s native checking account and $2m from Starlink’s native checking account to settle the superb.
Musk first tried to avoid the ban: for a short interval final week, X was on-line once more in Brazil, after the social media platform rewired how its servers are accessed. However de Moraes threatened it with a every day superb for flouting the ban, and X quickly went darkish once more.
Finally, the multi-billionaire seems to have accepted defeat — at the least for now. Final week, X’s attorneys informed the Brazilian Supreme Court docket that the corporate would appoint a authorized consultant within the nation and block the accounts accused of spreading hate speech and disinformation in its bid to get X obtainable within the nation once more.
There may be lots at stake: Brazil is X’s third-largest market with 21 million customers.
Australia
Throughout the Pacific Ocean from Brazil, Musk described the Australian authorities as “fascists” in an X put up after its centre-left Labor Social gathering administration introduced laws that will superb media platforms 5 % of world income for spreading info that’s “moderately verifiable as false, deceptive or misleading and fairly more likely to trigger or contribute to severe hurt”.
“Misinformation and disinformation pose a severe menace to the protection and wellbeing of Australians, in addition to to our democracy, society and economic system. Doing nothing and permitting this drawback to fester will not be an choice,” Communications Minister Michelle Rowland mentioned final week.
Musk’s argument, once more – that the legislation goes towards the precept of free speech.
Musk isn’t the one critic of the brand new laws. David Coleman, shadow minister of communications, had issues too.
“On this invoice, for those who’re an instructional, one thing you say mainly can’t be misinformation. However for those who’re an odd Australian who disagrees with an instructional, it may be misinformation,” Coleman mentioned final week.
However the Australian authorities has in flip accused Musk of being inconsistent on the matter of free speech. The X proprietor, his critics say, has accepted calls from right-wing or authoritarian governments to crack down on many accounts.
“Elon Musk’s had extra positions on free speech than the Kama Sutra. You recognize, when it’s, in its business pursuits, he’s the champion of free speech and when it doesn’t prefer it, he’s, you already know, he’s going to close all of it down,” Authorities Companies Minister Invoice Shorten mentioned in an interview on 9 Community’s Immediately breakfast present.
France
Final month, Telegram CEO Pavel Durov was arrested at a Paris airport after arriving from Azerbaijan. Based on Paris authorities, he was arrested after which detained as a consequence of failure to manage alleged drug trafficking, organised crime, “terrorism” and fraud on his on-line messaging platform.
Musk, in a collection of X posts, criticised the arrest. In a sarcastic put up, replying to the breaking story of Durov’s arrest, he wrote, “POV: It’s 2030 in Europe and also you’re being executed for liking a meme”.
POV: It’s 2030 in Europe and also you’re being executed for liking a meme https://t.co/OkZ6YS3u2P
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 24, 2024
He posted a #FreePavel on X a number of hours after Durov’s arrest.
Musk later took to X to criticise fellow multi-billionaire Mark Zuckerberg, responding to a put up questioning why the Meta CEO hasn’t confronted authorized penalties for allegations just like these towards Durov.
Russia, the place Durov was born, imposed a ban on Telegram in 2018 after the app refused to adjust to a court docket mandate requiring it to supply entry to its encryption keys. Nonetheless, the ban was ultimately lifted in 2020.
UK
Early in August, Musk ensnared himself in one other disagreement on X, this time with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, after far-right and anti-immigration riots throughout Britain.
Responding to a put up suggesting that mass migration and open borders have been in charge for the riots, Musk posted: “Civil battle is inevitable”.
The UK authorities hit again. “There’s no justification for feedback like that,” a spokesperson for Starmer informed reporters. “What we’ve seen on this nation is organised, violent thuggery that has no place, both on our streets or on-line. We’re speaking a couple of minority of thugs that don’t converse for Britain … I feel you may inform from that that the prime minister doesn’t share these sentiments.”
Musk would additional antagonise Starmer with one more X put up, with the hashtag #TwoTierKier — a time period popularised by Reform UK chief Nigel Farage — implying that individuals on the far proper are policed extra closely than these on the left.
Why aren’t all communities protected in Britain? @Keir_Starmer https://t.co/gldyguysNe
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 6, 2024
London Metropolitan Police Commissioner Mark Rowley pushed again on Musk’s feedback in an interview with Sky Information, saying, “We now have commentators from both finish of the political spectrum who wish to throw accusations of bias on the police as a result of we stand within the center, we function independently beneath the legislation with out worry or favour … The intense voices who echo these are of extra concern to me as a result of the chance is … they legitimise the violence that the officers I’m sending [out] at this time, will face on the streets … they’re placing them in danger.”
US
Musk mentioned earlier he voted for President Joe Biden in 2020, however forward of the 2024 election, he has made clear that he backs former President Donald Trump.
On X, he has known as Biden a “damp sock puppet”, and criticised the president’s insurance policies on immigration and well being.
In November 2023, after a Musk put up the place he appeared in charge Jews for mass immigration into the US, the White Home described his feedback as “abhorrent”, “racist” and “anti-Semitic”.
However he has additionally labored with the US authorities to supply Starlink satellite tv for pc entry to Ukraine amid its battle with Russia — although in latest months, Kyiv has alleged that Moscow’s forces too have accessed the service by way of third international locations.
Most just lately, following the second alleged assassination try on Trump, an X account person requested: “Why [do] they wish to kill Donald Trump?”
In a now-deleted put up, Musk responded, “And nobody is even attempting to assassinate Biden/Kamala.”
The remark drew a firestorm of criticism for Musk, together with from the White Home.
