- cross-posted to:
- technology@beehaw.org
- cross-posted to:
- technology@beehaw.org
cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/19117230
As X’s owner and most followed user, Elon Musk has increasingly used the social media platform as a microphone to amplify his political views and, lately, those of right-wing figures he’s aligned with. There are few modern parallels to his antics, but then again there are few modern parallels to Elon Musk himself.
Musk often ruminates on the future of civilization. For one, he appears fixated on a coming “ population collapse,” threatening to wipe out humanity.
Yeah, because demographic decline is totally a threat to a planet of eight thousand million apes. Sure thing.
Musk has framed threats to free speech as yet another existential crisis looming over the world. And he is going to try his best to save it.
Except that he doesn’t really give a flying fuck about freedom of speech. Censorship is fine in his book as long as it is not targeted towards his own agenda. Enberg got it right.
Musk, meanwhile, is veering from cool nerd territory into what Kara Swisher, the elder stateswoman of tech journalism, recently called “the Howard Hughes portion” of an inevitable decline.
“Is veering”? Nah. He’s already out of that territory for years.
Could this all be part of a broader plan? After all, despite publicly criticizing Musk’s antics, those on the left continue to use his platform.
Hanlon’s Razor + network effect explain it.