Elon Musk

This is the face of a man who can wipe out your retirement fund with a dumb tweet.

It just works
Technology

Programming for Dummies

* Strategic Defense Initiative
* Information technology and the British government
* Bit
* Alan Turing
* Ghost box
* Industrial Revolution
* HAARP
* Uber
* Physics
* Cyberwarfare

v \- t \- e

“”Elon won't go home. I can't get rid of him. Until I don't like him.

—Donald Trump[1]

“”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 troll?

—Will Oremus[2]

Elon Reeves Musk (1971–) is a former illegal immigrant[note 1], fascist/Nazi sympathizer, robber baron, and current centibillionaire who is one of the richest people in the world — sometimes the richest, depending on swings in Tesla's stock price.[4][5][note 2][note 3] Musk has expressed a wide range of erratically-shifting and sometimes contradictory beliefs. To name a few among these: he has endorsed antisemitic and/or racist ideas,[6][7][8][9] conspiracy theories,[10][11][12][note 4] and occasional pro-Russia/China positions,[31][32][33] but has often taken the exact opposite position before on any given issue. Despite this, he has also fostered an enormous cult of personality.[34][35][36] But he is best known for his S3XY electric vehicles[37], his "plans" to colonise Mars,[38][39][40] and most recently his brief involvement with the 2nd Donald Trump administration. By 2023, Musk had been recognized by the 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.[41]

He is also the embodiment of the hi-tech messiah complex of the 21st century with a detailed history of terrible Twitter shitposting.[42] To give one shining example of his typical eccentric flair: he once brought a two-hundred year old  musket to a  video-game studio to demand a cameo in their cyberpunk game.[43] Musk is notable for massively promoting several firms that have pushed cutting-edge innovation forward in the fields of green technology, cars in space, artificial intelligence, hyperloop, and space travel, and several  charities. Musk, however, also oversees questionable labor practices[44][45] and has a strange view of modern capitalism.

Musk is also notable for his significant political shifts over the years. In 2012, Musk described himself as a moderate with middle of the road political views.[46] At that time, his politics were far secondary to his futurism persona — his social media was all about his companies' progress, with the goal of such companies being lofty concepts such as minimizing climate change and bullshit such as "colonizing" Mars.[47][48] By 2024, Musk had largely abandoned this persona in favor of reactionary stances, becoming a Trumpism-aligned persona obsessed with the supposed dangers of "woke". His Twitter feed increasingly looked less like a promotion for his Tesla and SpaceX companies and more like the feed of a far-right activist.[49][50] Prior concerns of Musk, such as the threat climate change posed to the world, were largely abandoned[49][51] in favor of supporting far-right hooligans,[52] downplaying the impact of the Holocaust at an AfD rally,[53] and performing two Nazi salutes on stage at Trump's 2025 inauguration.[54]

Musk had heavily promoted Trump's campaign in the 2024 U.S. presidential election,[55] and claims to be personally responsible for Trump's victory in that election.[56] By January 2025, Musk was so heavily in Trump's orbit that he was widely mockingly described as the de facto 47th president of the United States.[57] The peak in this was his ~130-day involvement with the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (or "DOGE", a reference to a zombified Internet meme). Musk claimed the purpose of DOGE was to target the "tyranny of the bureaucracy",[58] 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 arsenal (as one does).[59][60] 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.[61][62] This was not an entirely unique story in DOGE's saga.[63][64] Cybersecurity and data concerns also emerged about DOGE, e.g. their handling of Americans' sensitive and personal Social Security data.[65][66][67] The legality of DOGE's actions appeared questionable at best,[68][69] including their highly-significant[70][71][72] dismantling of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the U.S. Institute of Peace;[73][74] USAID was created by President John F. Kennedy in 1961,[75] and the U.S. Institute of Peace was signed off by President Ronald Reagan in 1984.[76]

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.[77][78] 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".[79] He alleged that Trump "is in the Epstein files. That is the real reason they have not been made public."[80][81][82] Trump then threatened to investigate federal subsidies/contracts with Musk's companies (and made a weird comment about his black eye),[83][84] after which, Musk deleted his allegations and tried for a "water under the bridge" approach.[85] Which is always wise to do after one finishes burning the bridge.

Musk has found endless controversy (and legal problems) due to bizarre and even despicable tweets ranging from COVID-19 misinformation and anti-lockdown stubbornness,[86] to market-destabilizing comments, to even labeling a Tham Luang cave rescue diver as a pedophile.[87] Other bizarre tweets include denying that a neo-Nazi was in fact, a neo-Nazi,[88][11] and creepily declaring that he wanted to impregnate megastar musician Taylor Swift after she endorsed Kamala Harris for the 2024 U.S. presidential election.[89]

In 2023, Musk deliberately shut down Starlink access to the Ukrainian military as they were carrying out a military operation in Crimea. Musk also drew the ire of the Taiwanese government and the praise of the Chinese Communist Party when he publicly supported the PRC claim over Taiwan.[90]

Musk has shown some willingness to admit when he's wrong, though this is rather rare (and may be PR). Two examples include his regret for promoting a conspiracy theory about Nancy Pelosi's husband,[91] and regret for cheering on a particularly egregious antisemitic post.[92]

## Contents

* 1 Youth and skeletons in the family closet
* 2 Business ventures
* 2.1 The Boring Company: Burn it all down
* 2.2 Tesla Motors
* 2.2.1 Coins for cars
* 2.2.2 Cybertruck
* 2.2.3 Uh, when did you buy that Tesla?
* 2.3 Twitter
* 2.3.1 Trashing Twitter's verification system
* 2.3.2 Shitposters vs. advertisers
* 2.3.3 Musk vs. Twitter employees
* 2.3.4 Content moderation dictator
* 2.3.5 Sucking up to authoritarians
* 2.3.6 The lie of free speech absolutism
* 2.3.7 The right-wing edgelord troll
* 2.3.8 Climate change misinformation/disinformation
* 2.3.9 The future
* 3 Mental health issues
* 4 Sociopathy
* 4.1 Musk, himself
* 4.1.1 Musk's addictive personality
* 4.2 Companies, by proxy
* 4.3 Self-serving philanthropy
* 5 Elon and the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad Tweets
* 5.1 "Marx was a capitalist"
* 5.2 Unions
* 5.3 Boring boneheads
* 5.4 Tesla
* 5.5 Bigotry
* 5.5.1 Transphobia
* 5.5.2 Antisemitism
* 5.5.3 White supremacy, fascism, and racism
* 5.5.4 Supporting far-right hooligans
* 5.6 "Pedo guy" lawsuit
* 5.7 Doxing federal employees
* 6 Natalism
* 7 Donald Trump
* 7.1 Giving a Nazi salute
* 8 Backlash against Musk in Europe
* 8.1 Everyone Hates Elon
* 8.2 People vs Elon
* 8.3 Royal Society Rumble
* 9 See also
* 10 External links
* 11 Notes
* 12 References

## Youth and skeletons in the family closet[edit]

Joshua N. Haldeman in 1945 as SCP candidate for the Canadian Parliament

“”Accelerating Starship development to build the Martian Technocracy

—Musk[93]

Musk's maternal grandfather, Joshua N. Haldeman (a.k.a., "10450-1",[note 5] as per Technocracy's edict[95][96]), was a chiropractor, a member of the Technocracy movement[97] and of the Social Credit Party of Canada (SCP)[98] In 1942, Technocracy was described as propagandistic and an incipient fascist cult.[99][96] Technocracy and the SCP held antisemitic conspiracist views, as did Haldeman.[96] "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…"[96] Haldeman moved to apartheid South Africa because he believed that country led "'White Christian Civilization' in its fight against the 'International Conspiracy' of Jewish bankers and the 'hordes of Coloured people' they controlled."[96]

Musk's father, Errol Musk (1946–), was an engineer who by his initial account traded an airplane that he owned for half-ownership of three emerald mines in Zambia.[100] Errol had admitted that the mines were illegal. In a loter 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:[101]:13

“”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:[102]

“”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 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. Errol used the 'I'm not prejudiced, but...' argument to claim that he himself was not racist:[101]:13

“” 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.

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 African 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.[103]: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.[100][102]

## Business ventures[edit]

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.

“”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[104]

* Zip2: started in 1995 (apparently "with investments from 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.[105]
* 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[note 6] 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,[note 7] including development of the most powerful launch vehicle currently in use and testing it by putting an advertisement in Earth orbit (a Tesla).[note 8] 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".[106][107] 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[108] and is also developing the most powerful space rocket yet, the Starship rocket In 2023, SpaceX made a "successful" launch of the Starship rocket the resulted in what SpaceX called a "rapid unscheduled disassembly before stage separation" and destruction of the launchpad — oops![109][110] The subsequent launch was also deemed a 'success' by SpaceX[111] and finally the fifth test launch in 2024 saw the recovery of the Super Heavy booster, that landed in the launch tower.
* Tesla Motors: founded in 2003 by ~~Musk~~[112] Martin Eberhard (who was shoved out by Musk)[113] 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.[114]
* 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.[115] 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.")[115]
* Thud: started in 2018, a company intended to produce comedic/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.[116]
* 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.[117] This turned out to be a minor temper tantrum, as there's no evidence the site ever had any content.[118] Not to be confused with Pravda.ru, which actually has content of the bovine fecal variety.

### The Boring Company: Burn it all down[edit]

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.[119][note 9] By September of the same year, however, nothing has been done, and the future of the project remains in doubt.[120][note 10] So far, the Boring Company is not very exciting.[122]

As of 2023, 5 TBC projects were cancelled or moribund (Baltimore-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 cars are not the solution to traffic.[123]

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.[124] Both UK and California government officials warned Musk that it was generally illegal to own flamethrowers in both jurisdictions.[124]

### Tesla Motors[edit]

Either the logo of the most valuable car manufacturer in history or the drawing of a uterus

Advanced driver assistance features

“”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[125]

“”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[126]

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.[127][128] 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.[129] 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.[130] Tesla also makes cars that can drive themselves, but they seem to have a habit of crashing while doing so.[131]

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.[132] This number of Tesla crashes is far more than all other vehicles with driver assistance combined.[132] 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.[132] Musk's "decisions — such as widely expanding the availability of the features and stripping the vehicles of radar sensors — appear to have contributed to the reported uptick in incidents".[132]

#### Coins for cars[edit]

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,[133] 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,[134] which Musk loudly insists didn't happen,[135] just before refusing to accept Bitcoin for their cars in May 2021.[136][137] 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.[138] 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.[139] 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[edit]

The Cybertruck 2019 prototype introduction in 2019 with its shattered "bulletproof" window

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.[140] 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.[140][141][142][143] The design has been derogatively compared to the Casspir, a troop transport vehicle from Musk's natal Apartheid South Africa.[144] 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.[143] 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.[145][146] 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, preppers, have largely rejected it for its design flaws and its inability to function well off-road.[143]

The infamy of Musk and the Cybertruck has lead to many nicknames for the truck, including "refrigerator on wheels",[142] Swasticar,[147] Incel Camino, ClusterTruck, and FyreTruck[148][note 11]

#### Uh, when did you buy that Tesla?[edit]

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."[149] So, when did Musk go crazy and did most Tesla purchases occur? As of mid-2025, the median number of Tesla sales occorred just after the end of 2022 (47%), and the first significant sales of Teslas started in 2016 (1%).[150] So when did Musk's "crazy" behavior begin?

2018: <18% of 2025 Tesla owners purchased on or before this year

2018: Musk accused by the SEC of manipulating Tesla stock prices[151]
2019: <11% of 2025 Tesla owners purchased on or before this year
2018-2019: Musk's "pedo guy" defamation lawsuit[152]
2020: <18% of 2025 Tesla owners purchased on or before this year
2020: Musk fired Tesla workers for staying home during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, before vaccines were widely available[153]
2021: <30% of 2025 Tesla owners purchased on or before this year
2021: Musk spoke out against government subsidies, but only after his companies received billions in government subsidies[154]
2022: <48% of 2025 Tesla owners purchased on or before this year
2022: Musk compared Justin Trudeau to Hitler[155]

2022: Musk purchased Twitter in October, antisemitic and racist tweets increased massively within 24 hours of the purchase[156] In December, Musk eliminated Twitter's Trust and Safety Council[157]

### Twitter[edit]

Musk purchased Twitter for $44 billion on October 28, 2022,[158] 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.[159] In a short time, he's fired the CEO, CFO and CLO,[160] and this happened. Not great, to say the least.

#### Trashing Twitter's verification system[edit]

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.[161] 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 "Official" Nintendo tweeting a picture of 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".[162][163][164] Unsurprisingly, some of those impersonating celebrities went beyond shitposting to promote cryptocurrency scams.[165]

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),[166] used his "free speech absolutist" principles to permaban the impersonation accounts off the platform.[167] 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".[165][168]

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 was 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.[169][170][171] 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.[172]

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.[173] Things went just swell after that. Imposter accounts immediately flooded the site, including imposters for government agencies who immediately began shitposting misinformation.[174][175][176] IRS accounts lost verification, opening the door to potential scams.[177] 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).[178][179][180] Two days in, the net signups had risen to about 700 (about $5,600 in profit).[178] That's out of around 300,000 legacy verified users.[181] Some of those new subscriptions (at least three) were personally paid for by Musk himself.[173][178] 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.[182] 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, crypto-bros, Musk sycophants, and scammers in that group.[183][184] 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 — dril (a popular shitposting account) — Twitter repeatedly added the checkmark, and dril repeatedly removed it.[185][186] So apparently "spite checkmarks" are a thing now.[187] Ultimately, Twitter provided "complimentary" paid verification to anyone with over a million followers. Including dead people.[188][189][190] 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.” [191] 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[edit]

“”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.[192]

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,[193][194] 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.[195] In January 2023, he apologized for it.[196]

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 amounts 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.[197][198] 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.[199]

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.[200] 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.[201] 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.[202]

The fake-verified-blue-check debacle added the concerns of advertisers, as trolls not only impersonated celebrities, they also impersonated corporations. Probably the most notable corporate impersonation was a fake "official" account created to impersonate 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".[203][204]

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"),[205] and then he threatened to "thermonuclear name & shame" advertisers who were "boycotting".[206] Then he used his "free speech" principles to block a prominent marketing executive[note 12] who questioned how brand safety can be maintained when Musk "just laid off 75% of the moderation team."[208]

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.[209][note 13] Pissing off the shitposters further, Musk also defended and stood by Twitter's head of safety and integrity Yoel Roth,[211] 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".[212]

#### Musk vs. Twitter employees[edit]

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.[213] (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.)[214][215]

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.[215][216] 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. [217]

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" 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.[218][219] Twitter stalled and short-changed severance payments for many who took the option, later the subject of a class-action lawsuit.[220][221]

The result was predictable, given Musk's callous and disrespectful attitude towards 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.[222] Initial reports estimated the exodus to include at least 1200 full-time employees,[note 14] including 96% of the "services" team and several entire departments.[223] The team dedicated to countering child sexual abuse on the platform was cut in half, leaving behind an "overwhelmed skeleton crew".[224][225][226] One former Twitter executive commented that with so many employees leaving, Twitter "will struggle just to keep the lights on".[222] "#RIPTwitter" became the #1 trending topic on US Twitter in reaction to this news.[227][228]

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.[229] Twitter was later sued by its landlord for allegedly failing to pay its rent.[230] 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.[231][232] Around the same time, the company began auctioning off supplies from its offices such as coffee machines, chairs, statues, and sculptures.[233][234]

In early February 2023, around the time a major global outage occurred on the platform,[note 15] 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.[236][237] Meanwhile, in a sign of Musk's continuing 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.[235] 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.[238]

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).[239] In the same month, according to 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).[240][241]

On March 7 2023, Musk received widespread criticism for bullying and mocking Haraldur Ingi Þorleifsson, an entrepreneur who founded a prominent web design company called Ueno whose company Twitter acquired in 2021.[242] Þorleifsson was also disabled and a wheelchair user, having 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.)[243][244]

#### Content moderation dictator[edit]

“”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[245]: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)[246] 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 "bare [sic] some responsibility" for being sexually assaulted), Jordan Peterson (suspended for transphobic tweets about Elliot Page), Babylon Bee (suspended for transphobic tweets about Rachel Levine), and Donald Trump (banned for inciting violence in early 2021, and still promoting the Big Lie 2020 election conspiracy at the time of his reinstatement).[247][248][249]

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.[250]

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.[251] To no one's surprise, this category includes Musk himself, who managed to combine a tasteless transphobic joke with a baseless call to prosecute 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.[252]

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.[253] 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.[254]

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.[255] In addition, again unsurprisingly, some users claimed to be banned from Twitter simply for being even remotely critical of Musk in a tweet.[256] 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,[257] was, in the name of "free speech absolutism", banned from Twitter on December 14 2022.[258]

Musk's "free speech absolutism" became suspect when he banned the Twitter accounts of several mainstream media journalists who had been covering Musk,[259] as well as the Twitter account of rival social network Mastodon.[260] 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.[261][262] In April 2023, Musk's Twitter started blocking links to the blogging platform Substack, on the grounds that they were launching a Twitter-like service called Substack Notes.[263] On April 19, 2023, Twitter suspended a reporter from Wired for simply reporting on an incident where Matt Walsh's Twitter account was hacked.[264]

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 CBS News to (very temporarily)[265] step back from Twitter on November 18 2022.[266] By one account, half of Twitter's top 100 advertisers had paused advertising on Twitter by mid November 2022;[267] this figure had increased to 72 out of 100 by December 17 2022.[268] Also during that month, advertisers started to be told that they "needed to become comfortable" with Musk's unpredictability and uncertainty.[269] As of February 2023, over half (625) of Twitter's top 1,000 pre-acquisition advertisers had fled.[270][271] Asked during an April 2023 interview to name a single advertiser who had left and then returned, Musk could not do so.[272]

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).[273] 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.[274][275]

Continuing Musk's war with media, in April 2023, Twitter started randomly labeling various news outlets such as NPR, BBC, 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 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.[276][277] Multiple media outlets around the world, beginning with NPR and PBS, responded to the inaccurate labels by exiting Twitter.[note 16][279] Twitter soon removed media labels entirely, including for Russian and Chinese state media.[280]

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".[281] 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.[282][283] 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 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).[284][285]

On June 21 2023, Elon Musk use 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.[286] He did this again in Late October.[287] 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.").[288]

At the beginning of July 2023, Musk (fresh off of making headlines for immaturely challenging social media rival CEO Mark Zuckerberg to a UFC style "cage match")[289][note 17] decided to impose severe rate limits on Twitter, which in effect broke the user experience for most Twitter users.[290][note 18] 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-DDoS the site.[292][291][290] The changes also broke Twitter management tools like TweetDeck.[293] 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).[294][note 19] This sudden self-PWNED moment caused a surge in interest in rival platforms, such as Mastodon, Bluesky,[296] Spill,[297] and even Truth Social.[298]

Probably not entirely coincidentally, on Monday July 3 2023, Zuckerberg's new rival Twitter clone, Threads, showed up on mobile application stores for "pre-saving" with a scheduled launch date of July 6 2023.[299] 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 dick measuring contest and calling Zuckerberg the old and tired default insult of the alt-right, a "cuck".[300][301]

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 "intolerant" for not putting up with extremist pollution.[302]

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.[303] [304]

#### Sucking up to authoritarians[edit]

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%.[305][306][307]

In late January, Musk continued to demonstrate how his "free speech absolutist" claim was bullshit (particularly perhaps when it came to appeasing authoritarian demands) when Twitter censored links to a BBC documentary critical of Narendra Modi (a documentary which in particular highlighted Modi's troubling connections to the 2002 Gujarat riots.)[308]

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.[309] In response to a critical tweet by journalist Matt 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 founder 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."[310][note 20]

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.[312][313] Judge 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.[314]

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 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 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 VPN to attempt to bypass the ban and access Twitter would result in a fine.[315][316] 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.)[317]

#### The lie of free speech absolutism[edit]

“”"This guy blew up my life by saying I condone pedophilia, and then he turns around and does this [unbanning an account that posted child sexual abuse]."

—Yoel Roth[318]

“”Not all rhetoric about "free spdech" is meant to protect free speakers. Oligarchs claim to be "canceled" (Putin) while 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 Simone Weil put it, those who "most deserve to express themselves" will not in fact have the freedom to do so.

—Timothy Snyder[319]: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).[320] Ostensibly, the suspensions were because of use of private jet trackers, but such information is openly available on the web[321] and the accounts were suspended without warning.[322] 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).[323] Musk has even throttled posts with links to specific news outlets that he doesn't like, such as The New York Times.[324]

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 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 Peter Scully, who was convicted of child sexual abuse in the Philippines and sentenced to 129 years' imprisonment.[325][326][327][318] Such material, even when partially censored, is considered child sexual abuse material (CSAM), and therefore illegal.[328]

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 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.[318][329]

Following the 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.[330] 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,[331] and since Musk boosted the previously-thought-to-be-moribund Pizzagate conspiracy theory one day after meeting with Netanyahu.[330]

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)[332][333] but not when it involves censoring far-right anti-democratic ideas[334] or his own critics.[335]

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.[336]

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[337]) Delcourt had lawyers review every word and image in the book and had not used any information that had not already been published.[104] 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.[338]

#### The right-wing edgelord troll[edit]

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).[339][340][341] Musk continued to be Very Concerned about what he called "free speech", [342] while also simultaneously displaying "concerns" in other tweets about there needing to be a "counter-narrative" for supposed "far left San Francisco/Berkeley views"[343] and claiming that a supposed "woke mind virus has thoroughly penetrated entertainment and is pushing civilization towards suicide."[344] 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".[345] 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 2022 COVID-19 protests in China.[346]

An analysis of Musk's replies and exchanges on his Twitter account by 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, 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.)[347]

A March 2023 BBC analysis of Twitter by 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.[348] 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.[349]

In early April 2023, Musk unexpectedly changed the Twitter logo above the home icon (and elsewhere) into the logo for the 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 manipulating the Dogecoin market with his tweets.[350][351]

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.[352]

#### Climate change misinformation/disinformation[edit]

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.[353] Publicly during this time period, Musk was strongly concerned about climate change, and was fervently against climate science deniers. In 2017, Musk told Rolling Stone that "climate change is the biggest threat that humanity faces this century, except for AI".[354] In October 2016, in response to a CNBC interview where the coal baron (and John Oliver arch-nemesis)[355] Robert E. Murray called Tesla a fraud, Musk tweeted "Real fraud going on is denial of climate science."[356] Musk even broke off his council associations with Donald Trump after Trump stepped away from the Paris Agreement.[357]

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[358] (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)[359] and prioritizing results from climate change deniers on Twitter,[360] Musk has himself posted climate change misinformation:[361]

“”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[362], 11% of the annual net increase in atmospheric CO2 concentration is currently a direct result of LUC, while cumulatively LUC is responsible for one third of anthropogenic CO2 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[363][364][365] and nitrous oxide[366][367][368].

LUC additionally affects climate conditions by changing biophysical properties such as albedo, evapotranspiration and surface roughness[369][370]. 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[371] and the European Union's ambition of net zero emissions by 2050 [372].

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 CO2-eq GHG emissions in the year 2019.[373]

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 theories than climate change. ("Population collapse due to low birth rates is a much bigger risk to civilization than global warming.")[374] 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."[375]

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 Build Back Better Plan bill, due to what critics saw as irritation at other automobile companies getting more subsidies than Tesla.[376] Likewise, right after Tesla was booted from S&P's "ESG index", Musk called 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.)[377]

#### The future[edit]

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.[378] 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. Particularly considering that the left-leaning people that Musk is obsessively attacking were always the ones most likely to buy a Tesla, while conservatives are the least likely to do so.[379]

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.[380] After initially appearing to want to move the goalposts and change the rules for the poll,[381] 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".[382] 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.[383]

On May 12 2023, Musk announced that 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.[384][385][note 21]

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.[394] 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 Digital Services Act.[395] Hate speech, including noxious AI generated images straight from 4chan's /pol/, also thrived on the platform;[396] rather than address the hate speech, Musk responded by suing watchdog organizations like the Center for Countering Digital Hate and the Anti-Defamation League.[397] With major advertisers still staying clear of Twitter's toxic environment,[398] Twitter also was noteworthy for being infested with tons of shady advertisements, including cryptocurrency scams, "dropshipping" scams, and health care scams and misinformation.[399][400]

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[edit]

Musk has been variously described as having non-professionally diagnosed PTSD, being autistic, and bipolar disorder by himself, relatives and friends.[101]:19,268,310-311 He says he was prescribed ketamine, and takes it once in a while, to treat depression.[401][402]

Grimes, one of Musk's baby mamas, described his bipolar manic phase as "demon mode".[101]:310-311

## Sociopathy[edit]

Compensating much?[403]

* 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.[404]

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 exhibit repeated and disturbing signs of narcissistic sociopathy[405][406] (superficial charm, lying, intentionally causing harm to others).

Musk believes in the theory that all of existence is a simulated reality and has dedicated millions of dollars towards proving an unfalsifiable hypothesis true,[407] rather than using that money to do something beneficial. Presumably, he believes in this theory 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 events, including climate change. Musk has shown support for longtermerist ideas, including William MacAskill's book What We Owe the Future,[408] calling the book "a close match for my philosophy."[409]

### Musk, himself[edit]

“”…his gift is not empathy with people.

—Musk's brother, Kimbal, making the understatement of the year[410]

“”We’ve got civilizational suicidal empathy going on... 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.[411][412]

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 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."[413] In 2020, Musk tweeted a call to "Take the Red pill 🌹".[414] 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.[415] 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".[416] 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".[417] 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.[418] By April, Musk was complaining about lockdowns.[419] 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.[420]

By July 2023, Musk's position on COVID-19 was considerably more cranky and in line with the anti-vaccination movement, in line with his general tilt towards conspiracy theories. After basketball player Bronny James collapsed of cardiac arrest, Musk, without any evidence, tried to insinuate that the COVID-19 vaccine may have caused this, stating that "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.[12] Myocarditis also is not the most common cause of cardiac arrest in young athletes.[421]

> 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!"[422]

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."[423]

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".[424]

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.[425]

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, he refused.[426] Of course, he reneged on his part of the deal.

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."[427] He has promoted the effective altruism movement,[428] and he used Roko's basilisk as a pickup line on someone who was his partner.[429]

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.[410] 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:[430][431]

“”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-picked way.[432]

#### Musk's addictive personality[edit]

Despite multiple studies showing that excessive work hours leads to less productivity overall,[433] Musk self-promotes himself as a workaholic who is obsessed with working extremely long hours,[434] and frequently expects his employees to do the same.[435] 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.[436] In one alleged report, venture capitalist and Tesla board member Antonio Gracias once took Elon's 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.[437]

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 weed, the report further alleged drugs used included LSD, cocaine, MDMA, and ketamine.[438] Musk's propensity to take drugs was reportedly to the point where business associates and board members were worried that it would affect his career.[439] In late 2022, 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.[438]

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 psychedelic mushrooms and Adderall. Musk also allegedly struggled with binge eating and, in addition to binging on social media, also binged on video games. Reportedly Musk rejected traditional therapy and antidepressants as solutions for his obsessive-compulsive behaviors.[440]

### Companies, by proxy[edit]

Tesla has repeatedly rolled out new and potentially-dangerous (a not fully-functional 'auto pilot',[441][442] 'Insane' mode[443]) or on-its-face features (driver-accessible video games[444]) that are tested on existing car owners rather than going through extensive in-house testing.[405] Tesla has 3 times the number of driver deaths compared to other vehicles in its car class (BMW, Lexus, and Mercedes).[441]

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.[445] The lawsuit alleged that the abuse is effectively encouraged by Musk's lewd tweets.[445] A woman who was an engineer at SpaceX has also said that she suffered sexual harassment there and that there was rampant misogyny.[446]

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.[447]

Being a whistleblower seems to be grounds for immediate termination at Tesla despite it being illegal for Tesla to do so.[448][449][450]

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,[451] 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.[452] Musk even said, "Humans are underrated.",[453] which means that Musk underrates humans.

### Self-serving philanthropy[edit]

See the main article on this topic: Charity

“”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 – and even to create some charitable impact – since none of it really matters to him?

—Alan Cantor[454]

Musk likes to project an image of philanthropy, notably claiming that his for-profit companies are themselves philanthrophic,Do You Believe That? but half of all his charitable giving can be attributed to self-interest. Examples are:[455][454]

* Donating money to Cameron County and the city of Brownsville where SpaceX is headquarters, 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, that included 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[edit]

Musk in 2012,[456] right before he told his friend not to come to school the next day.[citation NOT needed]

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.[457] 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.[458]

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 Great Replacement Theory in late 2023)[459] 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.[460][461] Musk simultaneously used his "free speech absolutism" to block (or even sue) organizations and individuals that were critical of him.[462][463]

Musk's behavior on Twitter after he bought it was so extreme, it actually effected the reputation of the businesses he ran. In 2024, market intelligence firm Caliber reported that Tesla's "consideration" score in the United States (eg 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.[464]

### "Marx was a capitalist"[edit]

“”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[465]

> Taylor Harris: What would you proclaim yourself as? Anything specifically?

> Musk: A socialist

> Musk: Marx was a capitalist. He even wrote 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.[466]

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[edit]

See the main article on this topic: Trade union

> Musk: If you must know, I am a utopian anarchist of the kind best described by Iain Banks [a leftist writer][467]

> Cory Doctorow: Iain Banks was an ardent trade unionist, @Elonmusk[468]

> 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 experiments 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."[469][470]

In a 2018 post to Twitter, Musk threatened to pull the stock options of any workers who unionized at Tesla.[471]

### Boring boneheads[edit]

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:

> "Boring bonehead questions are not cool. Next," ... "We're going to go to YouTube. Sorry, these questions are so dry. They're killing me."[472]

This briefly bummed out the investors and Tesla stock dropped 5% (about $3 billion).[473]

### Tesla[edit]

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

> Am considering taking Tesla private at $420. Funding secured.[474]

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.[475] 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".[476]

> Tesla stock price is too high imo[477]

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."[478][479] 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).[479] It would seem to be either willful ignorance or just plain hypocrisy.[479]

### Bigotry[edit]

#### Transphobia[edit]

Musk, despite his brainchild Tesla being well-known for its inclusiveness of LGBTQ+ people,[480] 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",[481] Musk went on to make the following even-more damning follow-up tweet a few months later:

“”I absolutely support trans, but all these pronouns are an esthetic nightmare.

—Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 14, 2020[482]

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"[482][483] The meme is known as "The Eternal Anglo"[484] The term 'The Eternal Anglo' is based on the antisemitic 1940 film The Eternal Jew produced in Nazi Germany. The Eternal Anglo meme is purportedly primarily used by fascistic German and Slavic speakers to demonize English-speaking countries[485] but has morphed into other usage within the larger alt-right.

In 2022, Musk's transgender daughter cut ties with him, saying "I no longer live with or wish to be related to my biological father in any way, shape or form". She has legally changed her name to Vivian Jenna Wilson.[486] In response, Musk blamed "full-on communism" in universities,[487][488] 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.[275] In June 2023, he promoted Matt Walsh's anti-trans "What is a Woman?" schlockumentary.[489][490][491] Further, he agreed with a post by Jordan Peterson suggesting that transgender-affirming therapists should be imprisoned.[492] Musk also announced that he will personally "be actively lobbying to criminalize making severe, irreversible changes to children below the age of consent".[493][494] He further agreed that "LGB" should be separated from "TQ+";[493] 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 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").[495][496] 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 characteristics 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.[497] 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".[498]

#### Antisemitism[edit]

See the main article on this topic: 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 Magneto ("Soros reminds me of Magneto"[499]) from Marvel Comics, and Tweeting:[499][500]

“”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,[501] which one must assume Musk is perfectly fine with since he eviserated the Trust and Safety team at Twitter.[502] Within a few days that Musk claimed 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.[503]

In mid-November 2023, Musk agreed with a post from a Twitter account (with a long history of posting extremist, conspiracy tinged, bigoted content[504][505][506]) 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.[note 22][507] Musk's reply to this post was "You have said the actual truth."[8] 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.[508] 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.[509][510] 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.[511]

#### White supremacy, fascism, and racism[edit]

See the main article on this topic: White genocide

Musk is so racist, that even his fellow racist Steve Bannon thinks he's too racist (which is saying something):

“”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?[512]

After decades of mostly ignoring his natal country, Musk claimed that "They are openly pushing for 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".[513]

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 FvD politician/pundit 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".[514] 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."[515] 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!"[516] [517]

#### Supporting far-right hooligans[edit]

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.[518] 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).[519] 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".[520][521][522] 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.[518][523]

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.[524][525] The riots also amplified concerns that the far-right was now a significant threat to British society. A poll taken by 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. [526] 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.[527]

Despite Musk being seriously out of step with Briton 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 Union-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 such attacks were obviously not occurring.[528] Musk even shared (and quickly deleted) a fake news image that promoted a conspiracy theory about the UK building "detainment camps" on the Falkland Islands for rioters.[529]

Predictably, Musk's support for hooliganism corresponded with a significant British increase in interest in Twitter competitors Bluesky and Threads, including from Labour MPs who were seeking refuge from Twitter's increasing far-right toxicity.[530][531] 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.[532]

In 2025, Musk indicated his support for looting during the peak of the 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.[533][534]

### "Pedo guy" lawsuit[edit]

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.[535] Regardless of whether or not his mission to help out was nothing but a PR stunt, it seemed his help was rather useless and was getting in the way.[536] A semi-professional spelunker, Vern Unsworth helped bring the trapped children to safety.[537] 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.[152] Unsworth risked his life to reach the boys, comfort the scared children and rescue them.[538] As thanks for this he was accused of being a pedophile by Musk.[539] 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 half-hearted retraction.[540] A week later, Musk sprayed a full out pedophile on social media...twice.[541][542]

In September 2018, Unsworth filed suit for defamation, with Musk somehow winning,[543] despite none of his accusations having a shred of truth to them — the Private Investigator hired by Musk having scammed him.[544] The court was mostly hung up if 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.[545]

### Doxing federal employees[edit]

In the middle of November 2024, Musk reposted two tweets that contained the names of federal government employees that he wants gone.[546] 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.[546]

## Natalism[edit]

See the main article on this topic: Pro-natalism

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.[547]

If we are taking Musk at his word, one of his central concerns is that of 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).[548] He believes that people should be having more children, and is himself the father of roughly a dozen.[549] He sometimes expresses his natalist beliefs in totalizing and dramatic ways. For example, in a reply to Eva Vlaardingerbroek, he once claimed that a "major part of the fall of Rome was low birth rates".[550] After which, he actually went to Rome to tell people to have more children.[551] Musk claims that "population collapse due to low birth rates is a much bigger risk to civilization than global warming".[552] 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 Paul R. Ehrlich.[553] Despite his repulsion towards Ehrlich, Musk has something in common with him: draconian disregard for personal bodily autonomy. While Ehrlich advocated mass sterilization,[554] Musk has advocated stripping voting rights from childless people.[555]

There is perhaps more under the surface here. Musk is more especially concerned that people with high IQ scores aren't having enough children.[556][552] (He is himself "confident" in his own intelligence, and expresses a fear that the future will look like Idiocracy.[548]) 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",[557] or "low-key eugenic",[548] 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.[440]

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.[47][548] WIRED speculated that it could be a cold, capitalist calculation about labor supply: more children, more workers.[554] That would perhaps explain why Jeff Bezos,[558] the late Shinzō Abe, and the villains from 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 explanatory power for some other positions he has taken, which could in fact be outgrowths from this central belief. For instance, his fear of a white genocide scenario may (somewhat speculatively, but his engagements with the account @eyeslasho appear to support this[559]) 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.[560][561]

Musk's references to transgender medicine as "sterilization",[562][563] beyond their inaccuracy (at least for nonsurgical interventions such as hormone replacement),[564] could possibly be another outgrowth from his eugenic natalism. 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.[565][566] (For example: clomifene has been successfully used to boost fertility in both transgender men and women,[567][568] and "extended sperm search and microfreeze" is reportedly effective for the latter.[569])

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).[570][571] However, 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.[572][573] One Japanese company (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.[574] 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.[575] 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.[576] (Unsurprisingly, Musk detests remote work, calling it "morally wrong" in a May 2023 interview with CNBC.)[577]

## Donald Trump[edit]

Cheap-ass billionaires Trump and Musk can't even pay for their own damn billboards

“”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.[578]

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.[579] 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.[580] He also supported Trump's campaign to shift global tariffs on car imports and exports to be more favorable to American car exports.[581] He left Trump's presidential council in June of 2017, citing Trump's withdrawal from the Paris Climate Agreement.[582]

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[583] continuing with Trump and Alternative for Germany in 2024.[584] 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."[585] 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.[31]

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.[49][586] Musk even began appearing on stage with Trump at campaign rallies, and set up a PAC to directly campaign for Trump.[55] During one rally, Musk enthusiastically jumped around Trump like an idiot.[587]

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, such as himself,[588] who would subsequently reward them with permanent power.[55] Ironically given Trump's authoritarianism and the authoritarianism of adjacent entities such as Project 2025, Musk also repeatedly warned that the 2024 race could be the last free election in America should Kamala Harris win.[55]

### Giving a Nazi salute[edit]

Nazi detector

Musk in 2025

While celebrating Trump's reelection on January 20, 2025, Musk gave the Hitler salute three times on television.[589][590] 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 by avoiding 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 reign to troll for Hitler: CNN’s Erin Burnett,[591][592] The New York Times calling the gesture ambiguous, "Elon Musk Ignites Online Speculation Over the Meaning of a Hand Gesture",[593] 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."[594]

Many people, have said that this was an awkward gesture because Elon is autistic, to the horror and frustration of actually autistic people and therapists quickly calling these excuses as obviously wrong and ableist, something those who made the accusations[note 23][595][596] actually perpetuate ableism by excusing awful behaviour by saying that’s just “being autistic”.[597][598][599] To note that the reputation of autism is pretty awful and autistic people always have to denounce many stereotypes and misconceptions that constantly make life harder for them. Being a far right incel is one of those stereotypes.[note 24][600][601]

Others have said that it was a 'Roman Salute', something which was the inspiration for the fascists salute in the first place. Some have also said that it was a 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 fascist's salutes. When those defending Elon were asked to do the gesture if they claimed it wasn’t so bad, they would refuse. [602]

This stunt actually led the Raphael Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention to issue a red flag alert for genocide in the United States.[603]

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.[604][605]

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.[606] He would also make his intention clear instead of leaving it ambiguous. It also doesn’t help when white supremacists like Nick Fuentes and Andrew Torba celebrated the event, Musk refrained from disavowing or condemning them.[607]

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.[608][609][47][610]

In Dorothy Thompson's "Who Goes Nazi?" essay appearing in Harper's Magazine some eighty years earlier, she describes one archetype who may come close enough:

“”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. … 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 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[611]

Low, the CEO of NeuroVigil, and the son of a Holocaust survivor, had a more specific analysis of Musk's Nazi salutes:[47]

1. 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;
2. 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;
3. There are some Jews he actually hates: Sam Altman is amongst them;
4. He enjoys a good thrill and knew exactly what he was doing;
5. 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.

## Backlash against Musk in Europe[edit]

Musk's promotion of far-right political movements, attacks on elected politicians, and giving of a Nazi salute at the second inauguration of Donald Trump prompted an accelerated backlash against him across Europe.[612]

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 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."[613]

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.[614]

### Everyone Hates Elon[edit]

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."[612]

### People vs Elon[edit]

“”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[615]

“”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[616]

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.[612] It was inspired by #DefeatByTweet, which raised over $12m from Trump’s social media posts during his 2020 and 2024 election campaigns.[616] With Musk tweeting approximately 2,000 times per month, a 1p per tweet would result in a £20 monthly donation.[616] 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:[615]

> 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: [615]

> 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:[615]

> 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:[615]

> 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[edit]

FRS? FFS! How the hell did that happen?

“”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.

—Geoffrey Hinton on Xitter[617]

“”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.[617]

The 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.[618] 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 Brunel"[619] in apparent recognition of his work in the space and electric vehicle industries.[620]

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 support for far-right hooligans during the 2024 United Kingdom riots.[619][621] Highlighting a key passage from the society's code of contact,[622] the letter reiterated:[619]

> 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 Dorothy Bishop, one of those 74 signatories,[623] resigned her fellowship in November 2024 citing concerns about Musk's persecution of Anthony Fauci, poor regulatory practice at Neuralink, promotion of vaccine hesitancy, climate change denial, spreading deep fakes and deep fakes and misinformation, and the bleak future for US science if given unfettered powers to cut budgets.[621] She stated:[624]

> 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[625] 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 Jess Philips with false accusation that she was a “rape genocide apologist” and stating:[626][623][627][628]

> 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 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.”[626][623] Reiterating Bishop's concerns he stated:[629]

> 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,"[630] and rumours that a letter would be sent to Musk.[618]

## See also[edit]

* Nikola Tesla – from whom his company’s name came. Although ironically, Musk identifies more with Tesla's nemesis, Thomas Edison, than with Tesla himself.[631][note 25]
* Henry Ford
* Engineers and woo
* Joe Rogan

## External links[edit]

* Elon Musk Today — Bullshit Musk has said

## Notes[edit]

1. ↑

“”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[3]
2. ↑ 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 Bezos or of just about any other multibillionaire.
3. ↑ 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.
4. ↑ Sources about Elon Musk boosting the Pizzagate and QAnon conspiracy theories.
* Pizzagate: The Hill;[13] The Washington Post;[14] Forbes;[15] Rolling Stone;[16][17] Independent;[18] CNN.[19]
* QAnon in general: Wired;[20] Musk on Twitter[21][22]
* Boosting QAnon figures and tropes: New York Daily News;[23] Forbes;[24] Euronews;[25] Newsweek;[26][27] Haaretz;[28] Daily Dot;[29] Media Matters for America[30]
5. ↑ 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.[94]
6. ↑ Seriously though, 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.
7. ↑ If you're into space exploration, the videos of the rocket stages landing are pure nerdgasm.
8. ↑ 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 Debunking Musk, Pt 2 for more details and sources.
9. ↑ 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.
10. ↑ There is, however, an alternative proposal that requires only mature technologies, namely the Chicago Crossrail.[121]
11. ↑ FyreTruck is both a reference to Cybertruck fires and the fraudulent and disastrous Fyre Festival.
12. ↑ 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[207]
13. ↑ 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".[210]
14. ↑ 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
15. ↑ 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.[235]
16. ↑ Exiting at the same time, Sweden's Sveriges Radio instead cited declining audience reach as a reason for exiting.[278]
17. ↑ 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.
18. ↑ 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.[291]
19. ↑ Per the New York Times, ad revenue in May 2023 was down 59 percent from a year earlier.)[295]
20. ↑ Wikipedia was 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.[311]
21. ↑ Yaccarino's political positions are generally described as conservative by most sources,[386][387] and it is not surprising that the announcement was criticized by liberals concerned about her previous appointment by Donald Trump to the 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 Sidney Powell).[388] Yaccarino, however, is also affiliated with the World Economic Forum[389] — 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 Ad Council she helped Joe Biden's administration create a COVID-19 vaccination marketing campaign.[390] This caused many of the more reactionary and conspiratorial right-wing Twitter accounts to have a meltdown as well,[391] 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.[392] Many of these angry reactionary right tweeters also threatened to leave the platform, to the point where the "#RIPTwitter" hashtag once again trended.[393]
22. ↑ Compare the sentiment to that expressed by Elon Musk's grandfather. Even pop-pop's wording — "hordes of Coloured people" — is strikingly similar.
23. ↑ 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.
24. ↑ Common examples include Elliot Rodger, Alek Minassian. Irony being should the far right get its way they wouldn’t exist.
25. ↑ 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.

## References[edit]

1. ↑ (November 13, 2024). Live updates: Johnson nominated for Speaker, Thune elected Senate GOP leader / Trump speaks on Elon Musk. The Hill.
2. ↑ 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.
3. ↑ 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.
4. ↑ Aimee Picchi (January 8, 2021). "Elon Musk tops Jeff Bezos as the world's richest person". CBS News.
5. ↑ Chloe Taylor (March 2, 2023). "Elon Musk loses crown as world’s richest person—just 48 hours after regaining it". Fortune.
6. ↑ Jessica Guynn (November 17, 2023). "Has Elon Musk gone too far? Outrage grows over antisemitic 'actually truth' post". USA Today.
7. ↑ David Goldman (November 17, 2023). "Elon Musk agrees with antisemitic X post that claims Jews 'push hatred' against White people ". CNN.
8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 "Elon Musk expresses support for antisemitic post on X, calling it "the actual truth"" by Aimee Picchi, CBS News, 2023 November 16
9. ↑ Adam Kovac (September 6, 2023; periodically updated). "Elon Musk has made some disturbing comments about Jews. Here's a list". The Forward.
10. ↑ Clare Duffy (December 11, 2023). "Elon Musk’s X is encouraging users to follow conspiracy theorist Alex Jones after reinstating his account". CNN.
11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 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.
12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 "Twitter Deletes Fact-Check Of Musk Connecting Bronny James’ Cardiac Arrest To Covid Vaccine" by Antonio Pequeno IV, Forbes, 2023 July 25
13. ↑ Elon Musk deletes ‘Pizzagate’ meme following widespread backlash by Dominick Mastrangelo (11/28/23 4:22 PM ET) The Hill.
14. ↑ 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.
15. ↑ Elon Musk Endorses Debunked 'Pizzagate' Conspiracy Theory—And Deletes Post by Brian Bushard (Nov 28, 2023,12:53pm EST) Forbes.
16. ↑ 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.
17. ↑ 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.
18. ↑ 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.
19. ↑ Elon Musk is now boosting the ‘Pizzagate’ conspiracy theory by Clare Duffy (November 21, 20230 CNN.
20. ↑ 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.
21. ↑ 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 "!"
22. ↑ Q*Anon by Elon Musk (Nov 23, 2023 · 1:04 AM UTC) Twitter (archived from nitter.net).
23. ↑ Elon Musk tweets support for QAnon Shaman Jacob Chansley by Brian Niemietz (March 11, 2023 at 3:11 a.m.) New York Daily News.
24. ↑ 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.
25. ↑ How Elon Musk has repeatedly amplified false claims and boosted disinformation accounts on Twitter by Sophia Khatsenkova ( 27/04/2023 - 07:00) Euronews.
26. ↑ 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.
27. ↑ QAnon Followers Are Reading Into Elon Musk's White Rabbit Tweet by Anders Anglesey (Dec 13, 2022 at 8:32 AM EST) Newsweek.
28. ↑ 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.
29. ↑ 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.
30. ↑ 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.
31. ↑ 31.0 31.1 Shubhangi Dua (July 7, 2023). "Elon Musk pledges Tesla to China’s 'core socialist values' to avert EV price war". Interesting Engineering.
32. ↑ (October 4, 2022). "Kremlin welcomes Elon Musk proposal for Ukraine settlement denounced by Kyiv". Reuters.
33. ↑ Oliver Darcy (September 12, 2023). "An explosive Elon Musk biography is just hitting shelves. But the book's acclaimed author is already walking back a major claim". CNN Business.
34. ↑ The Elon Musk personality cult lives strong Felix Salmon (Jan 7, 2023) Axios.
35. ↑ The Cult of Personality of Elon Musk by Quincy de Vries (2022 winning submission) The Orwell Society.
36. ↑ 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.
37. ↑ Does Tesla models spell S3XY CARS? Cyber Backpack (archived from January 29, 2023).
38. ↑ Emperor Elon Musk? SpaceX founder clarifies if he’ll lead humans on Mars The South African 13 March 2018
39. ↑ Elon Musk Reveals His Love Of Anime And The Desire To Build A Mecha Forbes 16 October 2018
40. ↑ Elon Musk on Twitter[a w] 7 September 2018
41. ↑ Elon Musk breaks Guinness World Record for ‘largest loss of personal fortune in history’ by Giulia Carbonaro (Updated: 13/01/2023) Euronews.
42. ↑ Elon Musk drops first SoundCloud track, 'RIP Harambe.' Yes, you read that right Mashable UK 31 March 2019
43. ↑ Robin Valentine (September 20, 2023). "Elon Musk demanded a cameo in Cyberpunk 2077 while wielding a 200-year-old gun: 'I was armed but not dangerous'". PC Gamer.
44. ↑ Tesla and Elon Musk's Tweet Violated Labor Laws Protecting Unions, Judge Rules Time 29 September 2019
45. ↑ Tesla workers speak out: 'Anything pro-union is shut down really fast' The Guardian 10 September 2018
46. ↑ "Tesla’s Elon Musk Relishes Being the Winner, Not Loser" by Phil LeBeau, CNBC, 2012 November 13
47. ↑ 47.0 47.1 47.2 47.3 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).
48. ↑ "Elon Musk's mission to Mars" by Rory Carroll, Guardian, 20213 July 17
49. ↑ 49.0 49.1 49.2 "Elon Musk is going all-in on Donald Trump" by Chris Isidore, CNN, 2024 July 24
50. ↑ "Elon Musk’s X feed becomes megaphone for his far-right politics" by Faiz Siddiqui and Jeremy B. Merrill, Washington Post, 2024 August 12
51. ↑ "‘The dumbest climate conversation of all time’: experts on the Musk-Trump interview" by Oliver Milman, Guardian, 2024 August 13
52. ↑ "Who Is Tommy Robinson? Elon Musk Champions Far-Right UK Activist—And Splits With Farage" by Alison Durkee, Forbes, 2025 January 6
53. ↑ "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
54. ↑ "What Elon Musk’s Salute Was All About" by Katrin Bennhold, New York Times, 2025 January 25
55. ↑ 55.0 55.1 55.2 55.3 "Musk Is Going All In to Elect Trump" By Theodore Schleifer, Maggie Haberman, Ryan Mac and Jonathan Swan, New York Times, 2024 October 11
56. ↑ (June 5, 2025). "Without me, Trump would have lost the election, Dems would control the House and the Republicans would be 51-49 in the Senate.". Twitter. (Archived version).
57. ↑ "Democrats taunt Trump with ‘President Musk’ moniker" by Alex Gangitano and Mike Lillis, Hill, 2024 December 29
58. ↑ Jennifer Clarke (May 30, 2025). "What is Doge and why has Musk left?". BBC News.
59. ↑ Geoff Brumfiel (February 14, 2025). "Trump firings cause chaos at agency responsible for America's nuclear weapons". NPR.
60. ↑ Stephen Young (April 16, 2025). "DOGE's staff firing fiasco at the nuclear weapon agency means everything but efficiency". Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists.
61. ↑ Brandon Drenon (February 18, 2025). "US government tries to rehire nuclear staff it fired days ago". BBC News.
62. ↑ Peter Alexander and Alexandra Marquez (February 15, 2025). "Trump administration wants to un-fire nuclear safety workers but can’t figure out how to reach them". NBC.
63. ↑ Matthew Perrone (February 24, 2025). "FDA moves to rehire medical device, food safety and other staffers fired days earlier". The Associated Press.
64. ↑ Allan Smith, Melanie Zanona and Laura Strickler (February 18, 2025). "USDA says it accidentally fired officials working on bird flu and is now trying to rehire them". NBC.
65. ↑ Andrew R. Chow (March 19, 2025). "Cybersecurity Experts Are Sounding the Alarm on DOGE". TIME.
66. ↑ (February 19, 2025). "DOGE is putting the country’s data and computing infrastructure at risk, HKS expert argues". The John F. Kennedy School of Government.
67. ↑ Jenna McLaughlin (April 15, 2025). "A whistleblower's disclosure details how DOGE may have taken sensitive labor data". NPR.
68. ↑ David Ingram (February 4, 2025). "Elon Musk and DOGE are hacking the government". NBC.
69. ↑ Alan Kronenberg (March 20, 2025). "100 Days of Presidency That Tested the Law". U.S. News & World Report.
70. ↑ (February 9, 2025). "Vatican Charity Says Trump Administration's Gutting of USAID Is 'Reckless' and Could Kill Millions". U.S. News & World Report (Associated Press).
71. ↑ Kim Hjelmgaard (February 12, 2025). "USAID cuts fallout: Wasted food, 'free-for-all' ISIS camps, less HIV prevention". USA Today.
72. ↑ Mallapaty, Smriti (2025-04-17). "25 million deaths: what could happen if the US ends global health funding". Nature. 641 (8061): 17–18\. doi:10.1038/d41586-025-01191-z. ISSN 1476-4687.17-18&rft.date=2025-04-17&rft_id=info:doi/10.1038/d41586-025-01191-z&rft.issn=1476-4687&rft.aulast=Mallapaty&rft.aufirst=Smriti&rft_id=https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-01191-z&rfr_id=info:sid/rationalwiki.org:Elon+Musk" class="Z3988">
73. ↑ (March 18, 2025). "DOGE's USAID dismantling likely violates the Constitution, judge rules". PBS.
74. ↑ Gary Fields (May 19, 2025). "Judge bars Trump administration from shutting peace institute that sought to end violent conflicts". The Associated Press.
75. ↑ (February 3, 2025). "What to know about USAID, and why it’s a target for the Trump administration". PBS.
76. ↑ Aneeta Mathur-Ashton (March 18, 2025). "U.S. Institute of Peace is DOGE’s Next Target". U.S. News & World Report.
77. ↑ Alice Tecotzky (May 30, 2025). "Trump gifts a large key to Elon Musk in Oval Office goodbye, says work of DOGE 'geniuses' will continue". Business Insider.
78. ↑ (August 3, 2022). "Book: Netanyahu was not the first recipient of Trump White House key". Israel National News.
79. ↑ Bernd Debusmann Jr (June 4, 2025). "Musk urges Americans to tell lawmakers to 'kill the bill'". BBC News.
80. ↑ Dave Smith (June 5, 2025). "Elon Musk says Trump 'is in the Epstein files. That is the real reason they have not been made public'". Fortune.
81. ↑ Mike Wendling (June 6, 2025). "Trump and Musk trade insults as row erupts in public view". BBC News.
82. ↑ Elon Musk (June 5, 2025). "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.
83. ↑ Joe Walsh (June 5, 2025). "Trump threatens to cut off Elon Musk's federal subsidies. That could cost Tesla and SpaceX billions.". CBS.
84. ↑ "What Did Trump Say About Elon Musk’s Black Eye?". The Wall Street Journal.
85. ↑ Rachel Treisman (June 11, 2025). "Elon Musk says some of his social media posts about Trump 'went too far'". NPR.
86. ↑ "Elon Musk promoted coronavirus misinformation for months. Then his own infection kept him out of SpaceX's astronaut launch." by Morgan McFall Johnsen, Business Insider, 2020 November 25
87. ↑ Elon Musk calls British diver in Thai cave rescue 'pedo' in baseless attack The Guardian 16 July 2018
88. ↑ Elon Musk Shares Fake Voltaire Quote Actually From Neo-Nazi by Matt Novak (May 27, 2023,02:51pm EDT) Forbes.
89. ↑ "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
90. ↑ National Review, Retrieved on September 13, 2023.
91. ↑ Virginia Chamlee (September 11, 2023). "Elon Musk Privately Said That Spreading a Paul Pelosi Attack Conspiracy Was Among His 'Dumbest Mistakes': Book". People.
92. ↑ Andrew Higgins (January 22, 2024). "Elon Musk, on Rehabilitation Tour, Calls Himself 'Aspirationally Jewish'". The New York Times.
93. ↑ Accelerating Starship development to build the Martian Technocracy by Elon Musk (1:20 PM - 23 Jun 2019) Twitter (archived from June 25, 2019).
94. ↑ 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.
95. ↑ 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).
96. ↑ 96.0 96.1 96.2 96.3 96.4 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.
97. ↑ See the wikipedia version of Technocracy, Inc.
98. ↑ Joshua N Haldeman, DC: The Canadian Years, 1926-1950 (1995) J. Can. Chiropr. Asso. 39(3):172-186.
99. ↑ Technocracy Springs to Life With Big Splurge of Publicity by John C. Rogers (March 18, 1942) Buffalo Evening News, page 37.
100. ↑ 100.0 100.1 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).
101. ↑ 101.0 101.1 101.2 101.3 Elon Musk by Walter Isaacson (2023) Simon & Schuster. ISBN 1982181281.
102. ↑ 102.0 102.1 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).
103. ↑ Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future by Ashlee Vance (2015) Ecco. ISBN 0062301233.
104. ↑ 104.0 104.1 ‘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.
105. ↑ "Elon Musk". Xprize Foundation.
106. ↑ Dorothy Cucci (December 2, 2022). "Peter Thiel thinks Elon Musk is a 'fraud,' and 6 other unexpected details about the billionaires' love-hate relationship". Business Insider.
107. ↑ Anthony Ha (August 6, 2008). "Private rocket company SpaceX gets $20M from The Founders Fund". VentureBeat.
108. ↑ NASA Names Astronauts For First Commercial Flights BBC News 3 August 2018
109. ↑ Was the SpaceX launch really a ‘success’? by Jackie wattles (4:58 PM EDT, Fri April 21, 2023) CNN.
110. ↑ ‘Rapid unscheduled disassembly’: SpaceX Starship explodes after test flight launch by Natalie Dreier (April 20, 2023 at 12:25 pm PDT) KIRO.
111. ↑ SpaceX Starship megarocket launches on 2nd-ever test flight, explodes in 'rapid unscheduled disassembly' by Josh Dinner (November 18, 2023) Space.
112. ↑ Does it matter if founders run tech companies? The San Francisco Chronicle 26 September 2018
113. ↑ Tesla's Founder Sues Tesla's CEO Wired 11 June 2009
114. ↑ "OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT: What all it does, how it started and more". The Times of India. January 25, 2023.
115. ↑ 115.0 115.1 Exclusive: Musk’s Neuralink faces federal probe, employee backlash over animal tests by Rachael Levy (December 5, 20225:46 PM PST) Reuters.
116. ↑ Elon Musk wanted The Onion; he got Thud by Jacob Kastrenakes (Jul 2, 2019, 8:30am EDT) The Verge.
117. ↑ 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).
118. ↑ http://Pravduh.com Archive.org.
119. ↑ The Latest: Musk Says O’Hare Express Line Could Open in 2021 Associated Press News 14 June 2018
120. ↑ Rahm Emanuel wanted to expand O’Hare airport and partner with Elon Musk on high-speed rail. Now what? Chicago Tribune 4 September 2018
121. ↑ Chicago Crossrail High Speed Rail Alliance.
122. ↑ Kiel Porter, Elon Musk’s Boring Co. Is Turning Into a $900 Million Flop. Archived from Bloomberg, 31 July 2025.
123. ↑ Oh look, it's a Tesla traffic jam in Las Vegas' Boring Company tunnel, Mashable, January 6 2022.
124. ↑ 124.0 124.1 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.
125. ↑ 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.
126. ↑ 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.
127. ↑ 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.
128. ↑ Tesla on fire: UK director Michael Morris' car bursts into flames (17th June 2018, 02:54 PDT) BBC.
129. ↑ Teslas catch fire at 1/10th the rate of regular cars by Mark Kane (Apr 18, 2021 at 7:46am ET) Inside EVs.
130. ↑ Due to Those Batteries, Tesla Car Fires Require Outlandish Volumes of Water to Extinguish by Joe Kukura (22 June 2021) SFist.
131. ↑ 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.
132. ↑ 132.0 132.1 132.2 132.3 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.
133. ↑ 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.
134. ↑ 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.
135. ↑ Elon Musk clarifies that ‘Tesla has not sold any Bitcoin’ by Jessica Bursztynsky (May 17 20215:48 AM EDT) CNBC.
136. ↑ Tesla Backtracked on Accepting Bitcoin, but There Are Car Dealers That Take It by Clifford Atiyeh (May 16, 2021) Car and Driver.
137. ↑ Tesla will no longer accept Bitcoin over climate concerns, says Musk (13th May 2021, 01:56 PDT) BBC.
138. ↑ 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.
139. ↑ coindesk
140. ↑ 140.0 140.1 Tesla Engineers Hated the Cybertruck So Much They Started Secretly Designing an Alternative by Sharon Adarlo (9.13.23, 2:01 PM EDT) Futurism.
141. ↑ 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.
142. ↑ 142.0 142.1 Deadliest Tesla Cybertuck Crash Yet Highlights Car’s ‘Horrifying’ Safety Concerns by Matt Charnock (November 27, 2024) Underscore_SF.
143. ↑ 143.0 143.1 143.2 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.
144. ↑ 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.
145. ↑ See the Wikipedia article on Crumple zone.
146. ↑ Road safety: what progress has been made? Road Safety Facts.EU.
147. ↑ Tesla Cybertruck Defaced With Swastika by Wall Street by Marni Rose McFall (Feb 24, 2025) Newsweek.
148. ↑ Our 6 favorite nicknames for the Tesla Cybertruck by Nate Swanner (Jan 31, 2025 10:00 PM EST) Autoblog.
149. ↑ 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.
150. ↑ Number of Tesla vehicles delivered worldwide from 1st quarter 2016 to 1st quarter 2025 Statista (archived from July 10, 2025).
151. ↑ Elon Musk Charged With Securities Fraud for Misleading Tweets (Sept. 27, 2018) U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (archived from April 26, 2025).
152. ↑ 152.0 152.1 Elon Musk calls British diver in Thai cave rescue 'pedo' in baseless attack by Sam Levin (16 July 2018) The Guardian.
153. ↑ 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).
154. ↑ 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.
155. ↑ 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.
156. ↑ A running list of Elon Musk's biggest controversies by Justin Klawans (June 11, 2025) The Week.
157. ↑ Musk's Twitter has dissolved its Trust and Safety Council (December 12, 20229:59 PM ET) Associated Press via NPR.
158. ↑ Elon Musk Completes $44 Billion Deal to Own Twitter by Kate Conger and Lauren Hirsch (28 October 2022) The New York Times.
159. ↑ "Racist tweets quickly surface after Musk closes Twitter deal", The Washington Post 28 October 2022.
160. ↑ "Elon Musk closes deal to acquire Twitter, fires top executives: Source", ABC News 28 October 2022.
161. ↑ "Why Twitter Verifies Users: The History Behind the Blue Checkmark" by Craig Kanalley, Huffington Post, 2013 March 12
162. ↑ "Mario flipped off Twitter for nearly two hours with the blessing of Musk’s ‘verification’" by Sean Hollister, The Verge, 2022 November 9
163. ↑ "Fake Twitter accounts flock to blue check mark chaos" by Taylor Hatmaker, Techcrunch, 2022 November 9
164. ↑ "Twitter chaos over blue-tick 'Tony Blair' and 'George Bush' Iraq posts" by Xander Elliards, The National, 2022 November 10
165. ↑ 165.0 165.1 "Twitter Bans Accounts Mocking 'Free Speech Absolutist' Elon Musk" by Billy Perrigo, Time, 2022 November 7
166. ↑ "Elon Musk’s Twitter is a safe space for bros who think they’re funny" by Monica Hesse, Washington Post, 2022 November 7
167. ↑ "Musk threatens to boot Twitter account impersonators" by Frank Bajak, AP News, 2022 November 7
168. ↑ "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
169. ↑ "It looks like Elon Musk played himself with Twitter Blue" by Zeeshan Aleem, MSNBC, 2023 March 31
170. ↑ "Twitter’s $1,000 checkmark will be free for the 10,000 most-followed companies"
171. ↑ "Twitter celebs balk at paying Elon Musk for blue check mark" by Matt O'Brien, AP News, 2023 March 27
172. ↑ "What’s happening with Twitter blue check marks?" by Matt O'Brien, AP News, 2023 April 3
173. ↑ 173.0 173.1 Sara Fischer and Ina Fried (April 21, 2023). "Musk takes away blue checks, Twitter shrugs". Axios.
174. ↑ Lauren Sforza (April 21, 2023). "Blue check chaos: Twitter policy spurs confusion and scramble to prove authenticity". The Hill.
175. ↑ Nicole Carpenter (April 21, 2023). "Twitter's de-verification debacle, explained". Polygon.
176. ↑ "Confusion as Musk’s Twitter yanks blue checks from agencies" by Matt O'Brien and Kathleen Foody, Associated Press, 2023 April 21
177. ↑ Daysia Tolentino (April 21, 2023). "Fake accounts pop up on Twitter following legacy blue check removals". NBC News.
178. ↑ 178.0 178.1 178.2 Ariana Baio (April 22, 2023). "Only 28 legacy verified users signed up for Twitter Blue hours after Elon Musk took away their checkmarks". The Independent.
179. ↑ Chance Townsend (April 22, 2023). "Twitter Blue nets 28 signups so far since legacy checkmark purge". Mashable.
180. ↑ Kari Paul (April 22, 2023). "Fake accounts, chaos and few sign-ups: the first day of Twitter Blue was messy". The Guardian.
181. ↑ Barbara Ortutay (April 21, 2023). "Twitter begins removing blue checks from users who don't pay". The Associated Press.
182. ↑ "Twitter Demands Advertisers Pay for a Blue Check or Spend $1,000 a Month" by Thomas Germain, Gizmodo, 2023 April 21
183. ↑ "Dril and other Twitter power users begin campaign to 'Block the Blue' paid checkmarks" by Matt Binder, Mashable, 2023 April 21
184. ↑ "Twitter users #BlockTheBlue as ‘verified’ accounts take on new meaning" by Kelsey Ables, Washington Post, 2023 April 22
185. ↑ Matt Novak (April 22, 2023). "Elon Musk Made The Twitter Checkmark A Digital Dunce Cap". Forbes.
186. ↑ William Hughes (April 22, 2023). "Celebrities, including dril, now working to remove their apparently mandatory Twitter checkmarks". The A.V. Club.
187. ↑ Mike Pearl (April 22, 2023). "Twitter gives dril a spite checkmark". Mashable.
188. ↑ Althea Legaspi (April 22, 2023). "Twitter Users With a Million Followers Are Getting 'Paid' Blue Checks, Like It or Not". Rolling Stone.
189. ↑ Zoe Kleinman (April 23, 2023). "Twitter restores blue tick to high profile accounts". BBC News.
190. ↑ Katherine Tangalakis-Lippert (April 22, 2023). "Twitter is adding verified check marks to the accounts of dead celebrities, making them look like paid Twitter Blue subscribers". Business Insider.
191. ↑ Tony La Russa Twitter lawsuit settled. The Hollywood Reporter.
192. ↑ "Elon Musk curses out advertisers who left X over antisemitic content" by Sheila Dang, Reuters, 2023 November 30
193. ↑ "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
194. ↑ "Musk tweets at Hillary Clinton suggesting conspiracy surrounding Paul Pelosi attack" by Zach Schonfeld, The Hill, 2022 October 30
195. ↑ Virginia Chamlee (September 11, 2023). "Elon Musk Privately Said That Spreading a Paul Pelosi Attack Conspiracy Was Among His 'Dumbest Mistakes': Book". People.
196. ↑ Jyoti Mann (January 29, 2023). "Elon Musk apologizes for tweeting a baseless conspiracy theory about the attack on Paul Pelosi". Business Insider.
197. ↑ "Elon Musk is playing Twitter footsie with the fringe right" by Russell Brandom, The Verge, 2020 May 18
198. ↑ "Elon Musk says he's wading into politics to stop the 'woke mind virus' from destroying civilization"
199. ↑ "As Elon Musk Buys Twitter, the Right Is Celebrating" by Nik Popli, Time, 2022 October 28
200. ↑ "Brand Safety: The Ultimate Guide", Bannerflow
201. ↑ "General Mills latest to halt Twitter ads as Musk takeover sparks brand exodus" by Kari Paul, Guardian, 2022 November 3
202. ↑ Hanna Ziady, Advertisers plan to withdraw from X in record numbers. CNN, 5 September 2024.
203. ↑ "How Much Did Twitter's Verification Chaos Cost Insulin Maker Eli Lilly and Twitter Itself?" by Kyle Barr, Gizmodo, 2022 November 14
204. ↑ "A fake tweet sparked panic at Eli Lilly and may have cost Twitter millions" by Drew Harwell, Washington Post, 2022 November 14
205. ↑ "Elon Musk says Twitter has had ‘massive’ revenue drop as advertisers pause spending" by Annie Palmer and Lora Kolodny, CNBC, 2022 November 4
206. ↑ "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
207. ↑ Lou Paskalis, LinkedIn page
208. ↑ "Elon Musk Blocks Top Marketer Who Questioned Twitter’s Retreat From Content Moderation" by Loree Seitz, The Wrap, 2022 November 4
209. ↑ "Right-Wingers Are Already Turning on Elon Musk" by Nikki McCann Ramirez, Rolling Stone, 2022 November 2
210. ↑ "Advertisers continue to flee Twitter as civil rights groups call for a boycott" by K. Bell, Engadget, 2022 November 4
211. ↑ "Elon Musk's Actions on Twitter Are Already Angering Conservatives" by Giulia Carbonaro, Newsweek, 2022 November 4
212. ↑ "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
213. ↑ "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
214. ↑ [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
215. ↑ 215.0 215.1 "‘Economic Picture Ahead Is Dire,’ Elon Musk Tells Twitter Employees" by Kate Conger, Ryan Mac, and Mike Isaac, New York Times, 2022 November 10
216. ↑ "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
217. ↑ "Twitter fired employees who publicly called out Elon Musk" by M. Moon, Engadget, 2022 November 15
218. ↑ "Musk's "hardcore" marching orders" by Scott Rosenberg, Axios, 2022 November 16
219. ↑ "Musk issues ultimatum to staff: Commit to 'hardcore' Twitter or take severance" by Faiz Siddiqui and Jeremy B. Merrill, Washington Post, 2022 November 16
220. ↑ Vittoria Elliott and Chris Stokel-Walker(January 6, 2023). "Twitter Promised Them Severance. They Got Nothing". Wired.
221. ↑ Emma Roth (January 16, 2023). "Laid-off Twitter workers must drop class-action severance lawsuit, judge says". The Verge.
222. ↑ 222.0 222.1 "Inside Twitter as ‘mass exodus’ of staffers throws platform’s future into uncertainty" by Oliver Darcy, CNN, November 17
223. ↑ "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
224. ↑ 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
225. ↑ Alexandra S. Levine and Thomas Brewster (November 18, 2022). "Elon Musk Inherited Twitter's Child Abuse Nightmare — Experts Say He's Making It Worse". Forbes.
226. ↑ David Ingram, Lora Kolodny, and Brandy Zadrozny (December 13, 2022). "Elon Musk says he can stop child exploitation on Twitter. So far, he’s axed jobs and pushed out watchdogs." NBC News.
227. ↑ Twitter: United States Trends, archived on 2022 November 18
228. ↑ "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
229. ↑ "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
230. ↑ Fung, Brian (January 3, 2023). "Twitter sued by landlord for allegedly failing to pay rent". CNN. Retrieved February 7, 2023.
231. ↑ Cao, Sissi (January 12, 2023). "Twitter Employees Were Evicted From Their Singapore Office Over Unpaid Rent". Observer. Retrieved February 7, 2023.
232. ↑ Ladden-Hall, Dan (January 12, 2023). "Twitter Offices Closing Down After Not Paying Rent: Report". The Daily Beast. Retrieved February 7, 2023.
233. ↑ Soni, Mallika (January 18, 2023). "Elon Musk can't pay rent? Twitter is auctioning its coffee machines". The Hindustan Times. Retrieved February 7, 2023.
234. ↑ Rachel Treisman (January 18, 2023). "Twitter auctioned off office supplies, including a pizza oven and neon bird sign". NPR.
235. ↑ 235.0 235.1 "Elon Musk fires a top Twitter engineer over his declining view count" by Zoë Schiffer and Casey Newton, Platformer, 2023 February 9
236. ↑ "Twitter is shutting down its free API, here's what's going to break" by Karissa Bell, Engadget, 2023 February 8
237. ↑ "Twitter’s API changes could spell harassment for fan accounts" by Allegra Rosenberg, Polygon, 2023 February 8
238. ↑ "Yes, Elon Musk created a special system for showing you all his tweets first" by Zoe Schiffer and Casey Newton, Verge, 2023 February 14
239. ↑ Kate Conger, Ryan Mac and Mike Isaac (February 26, 2023). "In Latest Round of Job Cuts, Twitter Is Said to Lay Off at Least 200 Employees". The New York Times. (Archived).
240. ↑ "‘Sometimes Things Break’: Twitter Outages Are on the Rise" by Ryan Mac, Mike Isaac, and Kate Conger, New York Times, 2023 Feburary 28
241. ↑ "Twitter's latest meltdown proves Elon Musk is still doing it wrong" by Lance Ulanoff, Techradar, 2023 March 6
242. ↑ "Twitter acqui-hires creative agency Ueno to help design new products" by Sarah Perez, TechCrunch, 2021 January 6
243. ↑ "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
244. ↑ "Musk Apologizes After Mocking Disabled Twitter Employee He Publicly Fired" by Noah Kirsch, Daily Beast, 2023 March 7
245. ↑ Elon Musk text exhibits (Twitter v. Musk) by Elon Musk (2022-02-31 15;23:49 CDT) Document Cloud.
246. ↑ "People banned from Twitter won’t have accounts restored for weeks, Elon Musk says" by Associated Press, posted in MarketWatch, 2022 November 2
247. ↑ "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
248. ↑ "You can ignore Andrew Tate" by Rebecca Jennings, Vox, 2022 August 24
249. ↑ "Elon Musk restores Donald Trump's Twitter account" by Clare Duffy and Paul LeBlanc, CNN, 2022 November 19
250. ↑ "Right Wingers Fume After Musk Announces Shadowbanning Policy" by Nikki Mccann Ramirez, Rolling Stone, 2022 November 18
251. ↑ "Twitter says it’s no longer enforcing COVID-19 misleading information policy" by Natasha Lomas, TechCrunch, 2022 November 29
252. ↑ "Musk fires back after criticism of gender pronouns tweet about Fauci" by Zach Schonfeld, The Hill, 2022 December 12
253. ↑ "Musk's Twitter has dissolved its Trust and Safety Council", Associated Press, 2022 December 12, reported on NPR
254. ↑ "Former top Twitter official forced to leave home due to threats amid ‘Twitter Files’ release" by Donie O'Sullivan, CNN, 2022 December 12
255. ↑ "Left-Wing Voices Are Silenced on Twitter as Far-Right Trolls Advise Elon Musk" by Robert Mackey and Micah Lee, Intercept, 2022 November 29
256. ↑ "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
257. ↑ "Teen wants $50,000 to stop tracking Elon Musk’s private jet" by Igor Bonifacic, Engadget, 2022 January 30
258. ↑ "Twitter Suspends Account Tracking Elon Musk's Private Jet" by Derek Saul, Forbes, 2022 December 14
259. ↑ "Elon Musk’s Twitter bans CNN, NYT, WaPo journalists without explanation" by Oliver Darcy, CNN, 2022 December 15
260. ↑ "Elon Musk’s Twitter Suspends Rival Mastodon Account" by Charisma Madarang, Rolling Stone, 2022 December 15
261. ↑ "Elon Musk’s Twitter bans links to other social media sites, including Facebook and emerging rivals" by Briang Fung, CNN, 2022 December 18
262. ↑ "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
263. ↑ "Twitter Takes Aim at Posts That Link to Its Rival Substack" by Kate Conger and Ryan Mac, New York Times, 2023 April 7
264. ↑ "He Reported on a Twitter Hack. Musk’s Free Speech Haven Kicked Him Out" by CT Jones, Rolling Stone, 2023 April 19
265. ↑ "CBS News Resumes Twitter Posting After Hiatus Over ‘Security Concerns’" by Todd Spangler, Variety, 2022 November 20
266. ↑ "CBS News Suspends Twitter Posting ‘In Light of the Uncertainty’ About Musk-Owned Social Platform" by Todd Spangler, Variety, 2022 November 18
267. ↑ "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
268. ↑ "Twitter layoffs continue under Elon Musk" by Clare Duffy, CNN, 2022 December 23
269. ↑ "Twitter’s Efforts to Court Advertisers Turns Them Off" by Sahil Patel and Erin Woo, The Information, 2023 January 11
270. ↑ "More than half of Twitter’s top 1,000 advertisers stopped spending on platform, data show" by Clare Duffy, CNN, 2023 February 13
271. ↑ Shirin Ghaffary (March 24, 2023). "Why advertisers aren't coming back to Twitter". Vox.
272. ↑ Eleanor Hawkins and Sara Fischer (April 18, 2023). "Musk tries media blitz to win back Twitter advertisers". Axios.
273. ↑ "At Elon Musk's Twitter, speech is anything but free" by Ina Fried, Axios, 2023 April 3
274. ↑ Evan Urquhart (November 1, 2022). "One of the Biggest Red Flags of Elon Musk's Twitter Takeover". Slate.
275. ↑ 275.0 275.1 Barbara Ortutay (April 18, 2023). "Twitter removes policy against deadnaming transgender people". The Associated Press.
276. ↑ "New Zealand radio threatens to quit Twitter over ‘government’ tag", Al Jazeera, 2023 April 17
277. ↑ "These Are All the Media Outlets Disputing Twitter's New Labels" by Armani Syed, Time, 2023 April 18
278. ↑ "Sweden public radio exits Twitter, says audience already has", AP News, 2023 April 18
279. ↑ "Musk, media reach boiling point over Twitter changes" by Rebecca Klar, Hill, 2023 April 18
280. ↑ Patrick Hipes (April 22, 2023). "Twitter Removes 'Government-Funded Media' Labels From NPR, PBS, Others After Backlash". Deadline.
281. ↑ Ben Collins (May 12, 2023). "Cat and dog torture videos litter Twitter, adding to concerns about moderation. NBC News.
282. ↑ Michael H. Keller and Kate Conger (February 6, 2023). "Musk Pledged to Cleanse Twitter of Child Abuse Content. It’s Been Rough Going." The New York Times. (Archived.)
283. ↑ Ben Goggin, Lora Kolodny, and David Ingram (January 6, 2023). "On Musk's Twitter, users looking to sell and trade child sex abuse material are still easily found". NBC News.
284. ↑ "Right-wing Musk fans win Twitter CEO's loyalty. Staff loses." by Matt Binder, Mashable, 2023 June 2
285. ↑ "Elon Musk's Twitter loses second trust and safety chief", BBC, 2023 June 2
286. ↑ "Elon Musk Declares ‘Cisgender’ a Slur on Free Speech Twitter" by Jody Serrano, Gizmodo, 2023 June 21
287. ↑ 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).
288. ↑ On Elon’s whim, X now treats ‘cisgender’ as a slur by Amanda Silberling (9:33 AM PDT • May 14, 2024) Tech Crunch.
289. ↑ "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
290. ↑ 290.0 290.1 "No One Believes Elon Musk’s Explanation For Breaking Twitter" by Paul Tassi, Forbes, 2023 July 2
291. ↑ 291.0 291.1 "Twitter crisis explained: what are rate limits and when will they end?" by Christian Guyton, TechRadar, 2023 July 3
292. ↑ "Confusion at Twitter continues over Elon Musk's tweet limits" by Shiona McCallum and Liv McMahon, BBC, 2023 July 3
293. ↑ "TweetDeck suffers as Musk enforces read limits on Twitte" by Ivan Mehta, Techcrunch, 2023 July 3
294. ↑ "Musk's Twitter rate limits could undermine new CEO, ad experts say" by Jody Gordy, Reuters, 2023 July 3
295. ↑ "Musk Says Twitter Is Limiting Number of Posts Users Can Read" by Eduardo Medina and Ryan Mac, New York Times, 2023 July 1
296. ↑ "What does Twitter 'rate limit exceeded' mean for users?", Reuters, 2023 July 4
297. ↑ "Spill Becomes Latest Trendy Twitter Alternative After Elon Musk Enrages Users Again" by Jeremy Fuster, The Wrap, 2023 July 3
298. ↑ "Donald Trump Handed Big Win After Elon Musk Misstep" by Ewan Palmer, Newsweek, 2023 July 3
299. ↑ "Threads, Meta's Twitter clone, is arriving very soon" by Caitlin Welsh, Mashable, 2023 July 4
300. ↑ "Musk Melts Down as Threads Nears 100M Users: ‘Zuck is a Cuck’" by Erik Uebelacker, Daily Beast, 2023 July 9
301. ↑ "Elon Musk goes low against Zuckerberg as Twitter-Threads spat intensifies" by Martin Pengelly, Guardian, 2023 July 10
302. ↑ "Twitter Beats Out Threads for Coveted Taliban Leader Endorsement" by Nikki McCann Ramirez, Rolling Stone, 2023 July 10
303. ↑ Elon Musk's X fails to block California's content moderation law. Reuters, 28 December 2023.
304. ↑ Musk’s X sues liberal advocacy group Media Matters over its report on ads next to hate groups’ posts Associated Press, 21 November 2023.
305. ↑ "New data exposes Elon Musk’s free speech charade" by Zeeshan Aleem, 2023 April 28
306. ↑ Brandom, Russell (27 April 2023). "Twitter is complying with more government demands under Elon Musk". Rest of World.
307. ↑ Hamilton, Katherine (27 April 2023). "Twitter Has Complied With Almost Every Government Request For Censorship Since Musk Took Over, Report Finds". Forbes.
308. ↑ "Elon Musk Caves to Pressure from India to Remove BBC Doc Critical of Modi" by Murtaza Hussain and Ryan Grim, Intercept, 2023 January 24
309. ↑ "Turkey Election: Elon Musk Accused of Censoring Erdogan Critics on Twitter" by Fatma Khaled, Newsweek, 2023 May 13
310. ↑ "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
311. ↑ "Turkey’s Ban on Wikipedia Is Unconstitutional, Court Says" by Mihir Zaveri, New York Times, 2019 December 26
312. ↑ "Twitter held in contempt, fined $350K over Trump data delay" by Ashley Belanger, Ars Technica, 2023 August 9
313. ↑ "How Jack Smith Structured the Trump Election Indictment to Reduce Risks" by Charlie Savage, New York Times, 2023 August 4
314. ↑ ""Special treatment": Judge suggests Musk trying to "cozy up" to Trump by trying to tip him off" by Gabriella Ferrigine, Salon, 2023 August 16
315. ↑ "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
316. ↑ "Before Brazil and Elon Musk: X’s history of run-ins with left and right" by Dwayne Oxford, Al-Jazeera, 2024 September 10
317. ↑ "Elon Musk is absolutely not a ‘free speech absolutist’" by Gaby Del Valle, The Verge, 2024 September 4
318. ↑ 318.0 318.1 318.2 "Twitter under fire for reinstating account that posted child sex abuse" by Joseph Menn and Drew harwell, Washington Post, 2023 July 28
319. ↑ On Freedom by Timothy Snyder (2024) Crown. ISBN 9780593728727.
320. ↑ 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.
321. ↑ JetSpy
322. ↑ 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.
323. ↑ 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.
324. ↑ 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.
325. ↑ 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).
326. ↑ 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).
327. ↑ Australian who sexually abused children in the Philippines given 129-year jail term by Kathleen Magramo (1:36 AM EST, November 10, 2022) CNN.
328. ↑ 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.
329. ↑ "Cross-Platform Dynamics of Self-Generated CSAM" by David Thiel, Renée DiResta and Alex Stamos, Stanford Internet Observatory, 2023 June 7
330. ↑ 330.0 330.1 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.
331. ↑ 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.
332. ↑ 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.
333. ↑ 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.
334. ↑ Amid probe into Musk, Brazil's top court says 'every company is subject to the constitution' (April 8, 20241:08 PM PDT) Reuters.
335. ↑ 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.
336. ↑ Wilkins, Brett (September 26, 2024). "X Suspends Journalist Ken Klippenstein Over Publication of JD Vance Dossier". Common Dreams. `{{cite web}}`: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: `|publisher=` (help)
337. ↑ Elon Musk: Enquête sur un nouveau maître du monde by Darryl Cunningham (2024) Delcourt. ISBN 2413086129.
338. ↑ Elon Musk’s Supreme Court Endgame in Defamation Lawsuit by Rebecca Buckwalter-Poza (March 25, 202410:00 AM) Slate.
339. ↑ "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
340. ↑ "Elon Musk quietly deletes meme featuring prominent white nationalist Capitol rioter" by Mikael Thalen, Daily Dot, 2022 November 28
341. ↑ "Image of CNN report about Elon Musk came from parody site" by Sophia Tulp, AP, 2022 April 8
342. ↑ "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
343. ↑ "Elon Musk blasts San Francisco’s ‘far left’ views on Twitter as advertisers flee" by Joshua Bote, SFGate, 2022 November 23
344. ↑ "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
345. ↑ "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
346. ↑ "Twitter grapples with Chinese spam obscuring news of protests" by Joseph Menn, Washington Post, 2022 November 27
347. ↑ "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
348. ↑ "Twitter insiders: We can't protect users from trolling under Musk" by Marianna Spring, BBC, 2023 March 6
349. ↑ "How Elon Musk's tweets unleashed a wave of hate" by Marianna Spring, BBC, 2023 March 21
350. ↑ "Why Did Elon Musk Change the Twitter Logo to the Dogecoin Cryptocurrency Meme?" by Todd Spangler, Variety, 2023 April 3
351. ↑ Keith Johnson v. Elon Musk, United States District Court Southern District of New York, Case No 1:22-cv-5037
352. ↑ "Got a question for Twitter's press team? The answer will be a poop emoji" by Rachel Tresiman, NPR, 2023 March 20
353. ↑ "Elon Musk, Climate Hero?" by Dana Goodyear, New Yorker, 2015 May 7
354. ↑ "Elon Musk: The Architect of Tomorrow" by Neil Strauss, Rolling Stone, 2017 November 15
355. ↑ "John Oliver Taunts Coal Baron Enraged by Giant Talking Squirrel With Giant Singing Squirrels" by Marissa Matrinelli, Slate, 2019 November 11
356. ↑ "Elon Musk Says Denial of Climate Change is 'Fraud'" by Jess Vilvestre, Futurism, 2016 October 13
357. ↑ "Elon Musk steps down from Trump advisory councils over Paris climate decision" by Sean O'Kane, The Verge, 2017 June 1
358. ↑ 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.
359. ↑ "Climate scientists flee Twitter as hostility surges", Al Jazeera, 2023 May 24
360. ↑ Climate misinformation ‘rocket boosters’ on Musk’s Twitter by David Klepper (January 19, 2023) AP.
361. ↑ 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).
362. ↑ 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.
363. ↑ 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.
364. ↑ 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.
365. ↑ 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.
366. ↑ Reviews and syntheses: Soil N2O 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.
367. ↑ 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.
368. ↑ 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.
369. ↑ 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.
370. ↑ 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.
371. ↑ UNFCCC - Introduction to Land Use
372. ↑ European Environment Agency - Greenhouse gas emissions from land use, land use change and forestry in Europe
373. ↑ IPCC AR6 Synthesis Report
374. ↑ "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
375. ↑ "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
376. ↑ "Elon Musk slams Biden’s Build Back Better bill and its electric car incentives" by Oliver Milman, Guardian, 2021 December 8
377. ↑ "Elon Musk Is the Newest Acolyte of the Right’s Critical Energy Theory Nonsense" by Kate Aronoff, New Republic, 2022 May 23
378. ↑ "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
379. ↑ "How Elon Musk’s Twitter Takeover Is Ruining His Own Myth — And Tesla’s Stock" by Alan Ohnsman, Forbes, 2022 November 23
380. ↑ "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
381. ↑ "After Twitter users voted to oust Elon Musk as CEO, he wants to change how polls work" by Clare Duffy, CNN, 2022 December 20
382. ↑ "Is This the End of Elon Musk’s Twitter Odyssey?" by Kyle Chayka, New Yorker, 2022 December 21
383. ↑ "Does Elon Musk's resignation from Twitter mean he'll give up control? Experts weigh in" by Max Zahn, ABC News, 2022 December 22
384. ↑ "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
385. ↑ "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
386. ↑ "Who is Linda Yaccarino, Elon Musk’s pick for new Twitter CEO?" by Shirin Ghaffary, Vox, 2023 May 12
387. ↑ "Elon Musk names Linda Yaccarino new Twitter CEO", BBC News, 2023 May 12
388. ↑ "Elon Musk Is the Only One Happy About New Twitter CEO Linda Yaccarino" by Prem Thakker, New Republic, 2023 May 12
389. ↑ World Economic Forum, People, Linda Yaccarino
390. ↑ "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
391. ↑ "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
392. ↑ "Twitter Conspiracy Bozos Are Freaking Out Over Elon's WEF-Friendly CEO Pick" by Thomas Germain, Gizmodo, 2023 May 13
393. ↑ "#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
394. ↑ [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
395. ↑ "European Union investigating Musk’s X over possible breaches of social media law" by Kelvin Chan, Associated Press, 2023 December 18
396. ↑ "Bigots use AI to make Nazi memes on 4chan. Verified users post them on X." by Will Oremus, Washington Post, 2023 December 14
397. ↑ "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
398. ↑ "Elon Musk’s X ad revenue reportedly fell $1.5B this year amid boycotts" by Ashley Belanger, Ars Technica, 2023 December 13
399. ↑ "Twitter Users Report an Increase in Crypto Scam Ads" by Emily Price, PCMag, 2024 January 6
400. ↑ "Twitter’s Scammy Advertisers Are Getting Wrecked by Community Notes" by Miles Klee, Rolling Stone, 2024 January 12
401. ↑ Clare Duffy (March 18, 2024). "Elon Musk details his prescription ketamine use, says investors should want him to 'keep taking it'". CNN.
402. ↑ Julaine Allan (March 20, 2024). "Elon Musk says ketamine can get you out of a 'negative frame of mind'. What does the research say?". The Conversation.
403. ↑ Elon Musk Twitter (archived from November 16, 2021).
404. ↑ Tesla Inc. v. Martin Tripp Case No. 3:18-CV-00296-LRH-CBC (2/21/2020) United States District Court, District of Nevada.
405. ↑ 405.0 405.1 Sociopathic Tendencies Got Musked.
406. ↑ Is Elon Musk a psychopath? by Common Sense Skeptic (Apr 6, 2021) YouTube.
407. ↑ Elon Musk And Friends Are Spending Millions To Break Out Of The Matrix by Janet Burns (Oct 13, 2016,02:00pm EDT) Forbes.
408. ↑ 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.
409. ↑ 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.
410. ↑ 410.0 410.1 Person of the Year: Elon Musk by Molly Ball et al. (Dec. 13, 2021) Time.
411. ↑ "Elon Musk wants to save Western civilization from empathy" by Zachary B. Wolf, CNN, 2025 March 5
412. ↑ #2281 Joe Rogan Experience #2281 - Elon Musk, YouTube, 1:16:00-1:18:35
413. ↑ "I Was a Starter Wife": Inside America's Messiest Divorce by Justine Musk (September 10, 2010) Marie Claire.
414. ↑ Take the red pill 🌹 by Elon Musk (17 May 2020) Twitter (archived from May 17, 2020).
415. ↑ Lilly Wachowski Acknowledges Re-Examination of The Matrix With Lens Focused on Transness by Jessica Lachenal (Apr 5th, 2016, 5:04 pm) The Mary Sue.
416. ↑ The coronavirus panic is dumb by Elon Musk (12:42 - 6. March 2020) Twitter (archived from March 23, 2020).
417. ↑ 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).
418. ↑ COVID Data Tracker Centers for Disease Control.
419. ↑ FREE AMERICA NOW by Elon Musk (23:14 - 28. Apr. 2020) Twitter (archived from April 30, 2020).
420. ↑ 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.
421. ↑ "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
422. ↑ 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.
423. ↑ ‘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.
424. ↑ 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.
425. ↑ 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.
426. ↑ Johnny Wood, How Billionaire Elon Musk's Fortune Could End World Hunger. weforum.org, 19 November 2021.
427. ↑ 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).
428. ↑ Is Elon Musk on Board With ‘Effective Altruism? by Nicholas G. Evans (April 21, 2023) The Chronicle of Philanthropy.
429. ↑ "Elon Musk Shares Grimes’ New Song That Has a 'Roko's Basilisk' A.I. Message." by Mike Brown (29 November 2018) Inverse.
430. ↑ 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.
431. ↑ 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.
432. ↑ Who Needs Empathy? Why Some White Nationalists Condemn Western Civilization by Curtis Dozier (April 25, 2025) Pharos.
433. ↑ "Memo to work martyrs: Long hours make you less productive" by Bob Sullivan, CNBC, 2015 January 26
434. ↑ "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
435. ↑ "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
436. ↑ "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
437. ↑ "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
438. ↑ 438.0 438.1 "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
439. ↑ "Tesla Board Members Asked Elon Musk To Go To Rehab: Report" by Bradley Brownell, Jalopnik, 2024 February 5
440. ↑ 440.0 440.1 "On the Campaign Trail, Elon Musk Juggled Drugs and Family Drama" by Kirsten Grind and Megan Twohey, New York Times, 2025 May 30
441. ↑ 441.0 441.1 Tesla Deaths (2021).
442. ↑ 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.
443. ↑ 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.
444. ↑ 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.
445. ↑ 445.0 445.1 Six Tesla workers file additional lawsuits alleging sexual harassment by Faiz Siddiqui (December 14, 2021 at 3:07 p.m. EST) The Washington Post.
446. ↑ At SpaceX, we're told we can change the world. I couldn't, however, stop getting sexually harassed. by Ashley Kosak (2021) Lioness.
447. ↑ 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.
448. ↑ Tesla Whistleblower Meissner Associates.
449. ↑ 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).
450. ↑ 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.
451. ↑ Layoffs could weaken Twitter in its biggest global growth markets by Diksha Madhok (7:58 AM EST, Wed November 9, 2022) CNN.
452. ↑ 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.
453. ↑ 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).
454. ↑ 454.0 454.1 The “Charity” of Elon Musk by Alan Cantor (March 2024) Alan Cantor Consulting.
455. ↑ 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.
456. ↑ 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).
457. ↑ Elon Musk becomes Twitter’s largest shareholder, NY Times, April 2022
458. ↑ 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.
459. ↑ "Elon Musk All but Endorses the Great Replacement Conspiracy Theory" by Miles Klee, Rolling Stone, 2024 January 5
460. ↑ "Elon Musk is going down a conspiratorial rabbit hole and taking X with him" by Oliver Darcy, CNN, 2023 December 2023
461. ↑ [1]
462. ↑ "Elon Musk provides yet another platform for far-right attacks" by Philip Bump, Washington Post, 2023 November 21
463. ↑ "Judge dismisses ‘vapid’ Elon Musk lawsuit against group that cataloged racist content on X" by Nick Robins-Early, Guardian, 2024 March 5
464. ↑ "Would-be Tesla buyers snub company as Musk's reputation dips" by Hyunjoo Jin and Nick Carey, Reuters, 2024 April 1
465. ↑ 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).
466. ↑ 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.
467. ↑ 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).
468. ↑ 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.
469. ↑ Tesla's clash with Swedish workers risks spilling over into a regional fight by Anna Cooban (December 5, 2023) CNN Business.
470. ↑ UAW launches bid to organize Tesla and 'entire non-union auto sector' in US by David Shepardson (November 29, 2023) Reuters.
471. ↑ "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.
472. ↑ Elon Musk: No 'bonehead' analyst questions please BBC News 3 May 2018
473. ↑ Elon Musk Rejects ‘Boring, Bonehead Questions,’ and Tesla’s Stock Slides The New York Times 3 May 2018
474. ↑ Am considering taking Tesla private at $420. Funding secured. by Elon Musk (9:48 AM - 7 Aug 2018) Twitter (archived from August 8, 2018).
475. ↑ 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
476. ↑ Tesla Shares Tumble As Musk Says Stock Is Overvalued Barron's 1 May 2020
477. ↑ Tesla stock price is too high imo by Elon Musk (8:11 AM - 1 May 2020) Twitter (archived from May 1, 2020).
478. ↑ Tesla Modern Slavery Transparency Statement Tesla.
479. ↑ 479.0 479.1 479.2 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.
480. ↑ Eamon Barrett, Elon Musk flaunts Tesla's perfect score on LGBTQ equality index, saying his company respects 'personal choices'. (Jun 2, 2022). Fortune.
481. ↑ Elon Musk's transphobia on Twitter is not a joke. Observer. 28 July 2020.
482. ↑ 482.0 482.1 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.
483. ↑ when you put he/him in ur bio by Elon Musk (10:11 PM - 13 Dec 2020) Twitter (archived from December 14, 2020).
484. ↑ The Eternal Anglo - I LOVE TO OPPRESS.jpg Know Your Meme.
485. ↑ Eternal Anglo (February 16, 2017) Urban Dictionary.
486. ↑ Daniel Arkin and Diana Dasrath, Elon Musk's daughter granted name and gender change (June 23, 2022) NBC News
487. ↑ Roula Khalaf, Elon Musk: "Aren't you entertained?". (October 7, 2022). The Financial Times. (Archived on November 20, 2022)
488. ↑ Andrea Blanco, Elon Musk discusses estranged relationship with daughter: "Can't win them all". (October 11, 2022). The Independent.
489. ↑ Daysia Tolentino and David Ingram (June 2, 2023). "Musk’s response to an anti-trans video sparks 24 hours of chaos at Twitter". NBC News.
490. ↑ Robert Carnevale (June 2, 2023). "Elon Musk Promoted the Matt Walsh Transgenderism Doc 'What Is a Woman' After Twitter Originally Restricted It". The Wrap.
491. ↑ Prem Thakker (June 2, 2023). "Elon Musk Personally Elevates Transphobic Video Originally Flagged as Hate Speech". The New Republic.
492. ↑ Prem Thakker (June 2, 2023). "Elon Musk Calls to Imprison Therapists Helping Trans Kids". The New Republic.
493. ↑ 493.0 493.1 Rebecca Hernandez (June 3, 2023). "Elon Musk Announces Plans to Lobby Against Gender-Affirming Care". The Star Observer.
494. ↑ Paul Squire and Aaron McDade (June 2, 2023). "Elon Musk spent the last 24 hours spreading increasingly unhinged anti-trans content". Business Insider.
495. ↑ "Musk says estranged child's gender-affirming care sparked fight against 'woke mind virus'" by Anthony Robledo, USA Today, 2024 July 22
496. ↑ "Elon Musk says his transgender child was figuratively 'killed by the woke mind virus'" by William Gavin, QZ, 2024 July 23
497. ↑ "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
498. ↑ "Elon Musk's trans daughter, Vivian Wilson, slams his biography as 'genuinely defamatory" by Ryan Adamczeski, Advocate, 2024 August 12
499. ↑ 499.0 499.1 Soros reminds me of Magneto by Elon Musk (2:02 AM · May 16, 2023) Twitter (archived from May 16, 2023).
500. ↑ 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.
501. ↑ 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.
502. ↑ Musk's Twitter has dissolved its Trust and Safety Council (December 12, 20229:59 PM ET) Associated Press via NPR.
503. ↑ Israeli government blasts Musk attack on Soros for ‘reeking of antisemitism’ by Avi Selk (May 17, 2023) The Washington Post.
504. ↑ @breakingbaht Twitter (archived on 2023 April 30).
505. ↑ @breakingbaht Twitter (archived on 2023 May 5).
506. ↑ @breakingbaht Twitter (archived on 2023 May 22).
507. ↑ 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).
508. ↑ "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
509. ↑ "Elon Musk faces growing backlash over his endorsement of antisemitic X post" by Aimee Picchi, CBS News, 2023 November 17
510. ↑ "Antisemites are saying Elon Musk is on their side after his latest tweets about Jews" by David Ingram, NBC News, 2023 November 16
511. ↑ "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
512. ↑ 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.
513. ↑ Elon Musk raises the specter of ‘white genocide’ by Ishaan Tharoor (August 1, 2023 at 7:29 p.m. EDT) The Washington Post.
514. ↑ "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
515. ↑ "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
516. ↑ "Twitter CEO Says Platform Is Fighting Antisemitism a Day After Owner Elon Musk Endorsed It" by Miles Klee, Rolling Stone, 2023 November 16
517. ↑ Elon Musk on ‘Great Replacement Theory’ says THIS, not immigration to blame for Europe's ‘falling white population’ Mint
518. ↑ 518.0 518.1 "UK riots show how social media can fuel real-life harm. It’s only getting worse" by Brian Fung, CNN, 2024 August 9
519. ↑ "Tommy Robinson and Katie Hopkins reinstated on X as Elon Musk overturns Twitter bans" by Holly Evans, Independent, 2023 November 6
520. ↑ "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
521. ↑ "Elon Musk engages with Tommy Robinson as social media warned over misinformation" by Martyn Landi, Independent, 2024 August 2
522. ↑ "Elon Musk Won’t Quit Trying to Stoke Civil War in the U.K." by Paige Oamek, New Republic, 2024 August 9
523. ↑ "UK's worst riots in years were incited by online disinformation about asylum seekers", NPR Weekend Edition, Transcript, 2024 August 10
524. ↑ "Elon Musk says civil war is coming to the U.K. The British beg to differ." by Yuliya Talmazan, NBC News, 2024 August 8
525. ↑ "Trying to Capitalize on Anti-Migrant Riots Could Backfire on U.K.’s Far Right" by Amanda Taub, New York Times, 2024 August 8
526. ↑ "Almost half of Britons now believe right-wing extremists are a major threat following 2024 riots" by Matthew Smith, YouGov, 2024 August 7
527. ↑ "‘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
528. ↑ "Elon Musk launches Twitter tirade over far-right riots as minister brands billionaire ‘deeply irresponsible’" by Millie Cooke, Independent, 2024 August 6
529. ↑ "Musk shares faked far-right 'detainment camp' for rioters post", BBC, 2024 August 8
530. ↑ "Labour MPs begin quitting X over ‘hate and disinformation’" by Eleni Courea, Guardian, 2024 August 12
531. ↑ "Bluesky signups surge in UK amid Musk's feud with government over riots" by Deborah Mary Sophia, Reuters, 2024 August 13
532. ↑ "With Bluesky, the social media echo chamber is back in vogue" by Jemima Kelly, Financial Times, 2024 September 22, archived on 2024 September 24
533. ↑ 🤡🌎 by Elon Musk (8:13 PM · Jan 11, 2025) Twitter (archived from 13 Jan 2025 16:11:32 UTC).
534. ↑ 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.
535. ↑ Elon Musk Thinks a Mini-Submarine Could Help in Thai Cave Rescue The New York Times 7 July 2018
536. ↑ Elon Musk and the Thai cave rescue: a tale of good intentions and bad tweets Vox 18 July 2018
537. ↑ HERO'S LAWSUIT Who is Vernon Unsworth? Thailand cave diver dubbed ‘paedo guy’ by Elon Musk The Sun 7 December 2019
538. ↑ 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
539. ↑ Cave diver criticizes Musk’s kid-sub rescue plan. Musk suggests he’s a pedophile Los Angeles Times 15 July 2018
540. ↑ Elon Musk Has Finally Apologized to the Thai Cave Diver He Called a ‘Pedo’ Fortune 18 July 2018
541. ↑ Elon Musk calls British diver in Thai cave rescue 'pedo' in baseless attack The Guardian 16 July 2018
542. ↑ Elon Musk attacks British cave diver for a third time, calling him a ‘child rapist’ by Ryan Browne (5 September 2018) CNBC.
543. ↑ Elon Musk 'Set Out to Destroy Me,' Says Cave Diver After Losing 'Pedo Guy' Defamation Lawsuit Against Tesla Boss Newsweek 18 December 2019
544. ↑ Elon Musk claims his investigator tricked him about diver he called a 'pedo' The Guardian 9 October 2019
545. ↑ Elon Musk defends his right to be a Twitter troll at 'pedo guy' trial Billionaires gonna troll. by Rachel Kraus (December 4, 2019) Mashable.
546. ↑ 546.0 546.1 "Elon Musk publicized the names of government employees he wants to cut. It's terrifying federal workers". CNN. November 27, 2024.
547. ↑ Have Elon's Next Baby Eugen-X.
548. ↑ 548.0 548.1 548.2 548.3 Sarah Jones (July 7, 2022). "Is Elon Musk Trying to Populate Mars Himself?". Intelligencer (New York).
549. ↑ Kenzie Bryant (September 11, 2023). "All Is Well Again in House Elon Musk". Vanity Fair.
550. ↑ Elon Musk (September 18, 2023). "A major part of the fall of Rome was low birth rates". Twitter.
551. ↑ (December 16, 2023). "Elon Musk urges people in developed countries to have more children". Euronews (with Agence France-Presse).
552. ↑ 552.0 552.1 Abigail Adams (September 11, 2023). "Elon Musk 'Wants Smart People to Have Kids,' Executive He Welcomed Twins with Says in New Book". People.
553. ↑ Elon Musk (February 13, 2024). "Ehrlich was instrumental in causing a massive genocide of the next generation of humans". Twitter.
554. ↑ 554.0 554.1 Virginia Heffernan (October 26, 2022). The Real Reason Elon Musk Wants You to Have More Babies. WIRED.
555. ↑ Josh Marcus (July 4, 2023). "Elon Musk supports eliminating voting rights for people without children". The Independent.
556. ↑ Cheryl Teh (March 7, 2023). "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.
557. ↑ Pete Shanks (September 21, 2023). "Natalism and Hipster Eugenics". Center for Genetics and Society.
558. ↑ Steve Mollman (December 16, 2023). "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.
559. ↑ Thomas Germain (January 10, 2024). "Elon Musk Seems to Endorse Tweet Saying Students at Black Colleges Have Low IQs". Gizmodo.
560. ↑ Andréa Becker (October 16, 2023). "Elon Musk's Feud With Grimes Is a Warning". Slate.
561. ↑ Charisma Madarang (April 18, 2023). "Elon Musk and Tucker Carlson Discuss the Urge to Impregnate Women". Rolling Stone.
562. ↑ Samantha Riedel (April 14, 2023). "Elon Musk Suggests Doctors Who Treat Trans Youth Should 'Go to Prison for Life'". Them.
563. ↑ Noor Al-Sibai (March 18, 2023). "Oh, Great, Elon Musk Has Entered the Trans Kids 'Debate' Chat". Neoscope (Futurism.).
564. ↑ Poretsky, Leonid; Hembree, Wylie C., eds. (2019). "Transgender Medicine". Contemporary Endocrinology: 83–84\. doi:10.1007/978-3-030-05683-4. ISSN 2523-3785.83-84&rft.date=2019&rft_id=info:doi/10.1007/978-3-030-05683-4&rft.issn=2523-3785&rft_id=https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-030-05683-4&rfr_id=info:sid/rationalwiki.org:Elon+Musk" class="Z3988">
565. ↑ Joey Nolfi (August 10, 2023). "Grimes had 'long conversation' with Elon Musk about trans issues: 'He's unhappy with woke people'". Entertainment Weekly.
566. ↑ Steven Levy (August 8, 2023). "Grimes on Living Forever, Dying on Mars, and Giving Elon Musk Ideas for His Best (Worst) Tweets". WIRED.
567. ↑ de Nie, Iris; van Mello, Norah M.; Vlahakis, Emanuel; Cooper, Charlie; Peri, Angus; den Heijer, Martin; Meißner, Andreas; Huirne, Judith; Pang, Ken C. (2023-01-17). "Successful restoration of spermatogenesis following gender-affirming hormone therapy in transgender women". Cell Reports Medicine. 4 (1): 100858. doi:10.1016/j.xcrm.2022.100858. ISSN 2666-3791. PMID 36652919.
568. ↑ Ghofranian, Atoosa; Estevez, Samantha L.; Gellman, Caroline; Gounko, Dmitry; Lee, Joseph A.; Thornton, Kimberly; Copperman, Alan B. (2023-12-01). "Fertility treatment outcomes in transgender men with a history of testosterone therapy". F&S Reports. 4 (4): 367–374\. doi:10.1016/j.xfre.2023.10.006. ISSN 2666-3341.367-374&rft.date=2023-12-01&rft_id=info:doi/10.1016/j.xfre.2023.10.006&rft.issn=2666-3341&rft.aulast=Ghofranian&rft.aufirst=Atoosa&rft.au=Estevez,+Samantha+L.&rft.au=Gellman,+Caroline&rft.au=Gounko,+Dmitry&rft.au=Lee,+Joseph+A.&rft.au=Thornton,+Kimberly&rft.au=Copperman,+Alan+B.&rft_id=https://www.fertstertreports.org/article/S2666-3341(23)00108-3/fulltext&rfr_id=info:sid/rationalwiki.org:Elon+Musk" class="Z3988">
569. ↑ Jacqueline Mroz (October 21, 2022). "A New Procedure Could Expand Reproductive Choices for Transgender Women". The New York Times.
570. ↑ "The World’s Population May Peak in Your Lifetime. What Happens Next?" by Dean Spears, New York Times, 2023 September 26
571. ↑ "You can’t even pay people to have more kids" by Anna North, Vox, 2023 November 27
572. ↑ Kim T. 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.
573. ↑ [Ahn J, Lee SH, Park MY, Oh SH, Lee W. 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.]
574. ↑ "A Japanese Company Bans Late-Night Work. A Baby Boom Soon Follows" by Kanoko Matsuyama, Bloomberg, 2023 July 12
575. ↑ "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
576. ↑ "Early Remote Work Impacts on Family Formation" by Lyman Stone and Adam Ozimek, Economic Innovation Group, 2023 March 7
577. ↑ "Elon Musk Says Remote Work Is 'Morally Wrong,' Calls It 'Messed Up'" by Madeline Garfinkle, Entrepreneur, 2023 May 17
578. ↑ "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.
579. ↑ Here's why Elon Musk is changing his tune on Trump Business Insider 29 January 2017
580. ↑ Elon Musk melts down, blames scumbag tesla critics for electing trump Vanity Fair 23 May 2018
581. ↑ Elon Musk's and Donald Trump's Twitter Tariff Tiff Wired 12 March 2018
582. ↑ Elon Musk leaving Trump advisory councils following Paris agreement withdrawal TechCrunch 1 June 2017
583. ↑ 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).
584. ↑ Outrage as Elon Musk claims ‘only AfD can save Germany’ by Kate Connolly (20 Dec 2024 13.08 EST) The Guardian.
585. ↑ Get Out: Quotes IMDb.
586. ↑ "How Elon Musk Chose Trump" by Theodore Schleifer and Ryan Mac, New York Times, 2024 July 18
587. ↑ Elon Musk’s Giant Leap NYTimes
588. ↑ Cite error: Invalid `<ref>` tag; no text was provided for refs named `proudian`
589. ↑ Elon Musk 'makes Nazi salute' two or three times during inauguration speech by Emily Hodgkin (Jan 20 2025) Irish Star.
590. ↑ 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.
591. ↑ 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.
592. ↑ CNN, Going for Their Next Defamation Lawsuit, Smear Elon Musk as a Nazi by Jorge Bonilla (January 20th, 2025 9:31 PM) Newsbusters. Note: inflammatory headline by wingnut website Newsbusters; Burnett made no such statement that the headline implied.
593. ↑ 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.
594. ↑ 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).
595. ↑ Elon is Hitler? Liberals regress to cancel culture to compensate for their loss. | Opinion
596. ↑ Musk’s straight-arm gesture embraced by right-wing extremists regardless of what he meant
597. ↑ Yes, Elon, it was a Nazi salute... and autism is no excuse
598. ↑ Some Are Excusing Elon Musk's Disturbing Salute As Autism — And Autistic People Have Thoughts
599. ↑ After Some People Claimed Elon Musk's Disturbing Salute Was Because Of Autism, Others With Autism Have Weighed In
600. ↑ [2]
601. ↑ Breaking Down the Top 10 Autism Stereotypes: Unveiling the Truth
602. ↑ CNN panelist dares Scott Jennings to perform Musk salute on live TV
603. ↑ "New Red Flag Alert for Genocide -- for the USA". Lemkin Institute. 2024-11-04. Retrieved 2025-01-23.
604. ↑ 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.
605. ↑ The Roman Salute: Cinema, History, Ideology by Martin M. Winkler (2021) Ohio State University Press. ISBN 9780814258309.
606. ↑ ADL, which had defended Musk, takes issue with his Nazi puns
607. ↑ Neo-Nazis Love the Nazi-Like Salutes Elon Musk Made at Trump’s Inauguration
608. ↑ Nur Ibrahim (January 28, 2025). "Former Friend of Elon Musk Says Billionaire 'Believes He Is Above Everyone Else'". Snopes.
609. ↑ 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).
610. ↑ 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.
611. ↑ Dorothy Thompson (August 1941). "Who Goes Nazi?". Harper's Magazine.
612. ↑ 612.0 612.1 612.2 Marni Rose McFall Activists Brand Tesla Vehicles with 'Swasticar' Stickers Newsweek 30 January 2025
613. ↑ Gabe Whisnant and Jesus Mesa Elon Musk Controversial Salute Image Beamed on Tesla Factory in Berlin Newsweek 22 January 2025
614. ↑ Dozen Teslas torched outside French dealership: authorities AFP 3 March 2025
615. ↑ 615.0 615.1 615.2 615.3 615.4 Josiah Mortimer Elon Musk is Accidentally Helping to Raise Thousands for Progressive Causes in the UK Byline Times 27 January 2025
616. ↑ 616.0 616.1 616.2 Emily Moss Charity campaign projects to raise £100,000 from Elon Musk’s social media posts Civil Society 10 March 2025
617. ↑ 617.0 617.1 Nicola Davis Elon Musk survives as fellow of Royal Society despite anger among scientists The Guardian 3 March 2025
618. ↑ 618.0 618.1 Esme Stallard and Victoria Gill Elon Musk sparks row at Royal Society but remains a member BBC News 4 March 2025
619. ↑ 619.0 619.1 619.2 Nicola Davis Royal Society facing calls to expel Elon Musk amid concerns about conduct The Guardian 23 August 2024
620. ↑ Mr Elon Musk FRS The Royal Society
621. ↑ 621.0 621.1 Frances Jones Royal Society fellow resigns over Elon Musk membership Research Professional News 25 November 2024
622. ↑ Governance The Royal Society
623. ↑ 623.0 623.1 623.2 Holly Else Royal Society will meet amid campaign to revoke Elon Musk’s fellowship Nature 13 February 2025
624. ↑ Dorothy Bishop Why I have resigned from the Royal Society BishopBlog 25 November 2024
625. ↑ Stephen Curry An open letter to the President of the Royal Society – time to stand up for your values Reciprocal Space 11 February 2025
626. ↑ 626.0 626.1 Frances Jones Royal Society fellow resigns over Elon Musk membership Research Professional News 12 February 2025
627. ↑ Andrew Millar ‘I do not want a fellowship that can include such actions’ Research Professional News 13 February 2025
628. ↑ UK's Royal Society to discuss fellows' behaviours amid Musk controversy Reuters 15 February 2025
629. ↑ Andrew Millar ‘I do not want a fellowship that can include such actions’ Research Professional News 13 February 2025
630. ↑ Royal Society statement The Royal Society
631. ↑ Elon Musk interview reveals whether he prefers Nikola Tesla to Thomas Edison Big Think 4 February 2019