Elon Musk just took to X to announce that X, formerly known as Twitter, will be suing far-left financier and NGO-funder George Soros over lies it has spread about so-called “hate speech” on social media, misinformation obviously meant to further attacks on free speech.
That announcement began with a tweet from Twitter files journalist Michael Shellenberger, who tweeted, “Politicians & George Soros-funded NGOs say “hate incidents” are rising, but they’re not. The data show the opposite: higher-than-ever and rising levels of tolerance of minorities. The reason they’re spreading hate misinformation is to justify a draconian crackdown on free speech.”
Elon, replying to Shellenberger’s tweet, announced that X would be taking legal action against George Soros’ NGOs to protect free speech. H said, “Exactly. X will be filing legal action to stop this. Can’t wait for discovery to start!”
Exactly.
X will be filing legal action to stop this. Can’t wait for discovery to start! https://t.co/ROxXEuO8it
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 23, 2023
The journalist behind the piece that Schellenberger was tweeting about, Ben Scallan, said, “Journalist behind the article here – thanks for the share Elon. I’m currently working on a piece about the links between government censorship and Big Tech in Ireland, and it’d be great to discuss with you ahead of the Irish government’s hate speech bill being passed.” Elon, responding, said, “Ok.”
Ok
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 24, 2023
Soros often is held up by the far-right, using antisemitic tropes, as the source of the world’s problems. To see @ElonMusk, regardless of his intent, feed this segment — comparing him to a Jewish supervillain, claiming Soros “hates humanity" — is not just distressing, it's… pic.twitter.com/ECAuYahSga
— Jonathan Greenblatt (@JGreenblattADL) May 16, 2023
Elon later refused to his comments when in an interview with CNBC, saying, “I’ll say what I want to say, and if the consequences of that is losing money, I’ll say it.” The CNBC host pressed him about the comment and its financial consequences, asking, “Why share it when people who buy Teslas may not agree with you? Advertisers on Twitter may not agree with you?” Musk said, in response, “This is freedom of speech, and I am allowed to say what I want.” Musk later said, “I’ll say what I want to say, and if the consequence of that is losing money, so be it.”
"*" indicates required fields