Why Storm Clouds Are Gathering For Elon Musk
Twitter owner Elon Musk said he resolved his issues with Apple after a series of Tweets accusing the company of being against free speech.
Musk said that he had spoken with Apple CEO Tim Cook, who showed him around the company’s headquarters. During their “good conversation,” Cook clarified to Musk that Apple would not be removing Twitter from its App Store. This laid to rest at least one of the many claims Musk made about Apple in a series of Tweets.
Musk accuses Apple
Earlier this week, it came to Musk’s attention that Apple had apparently phased out its advertising on Twitter. Several companies had already pulled their advertising off the platform, over concerns about the new owner’s concept of free speech. This prompted Musk to question whether Apple “hate[s] free speech in America?” Commentators were quick to point out that the choice of advertising platform is an expression of free speech.
This seemed to evoke theories of censorship in Musk’s mind, asking who else Apple had censored. He then took a poll of whether Apple should publicly disclose censorship actions it had taken that affected its customers.
Musk continued by claiming that Apple had “threatened to withhold Twitter from its App Store, but won’t tell us why.” Following this, Musk pointed out that Apple collects a “secret 30% tax” on sales of apps sold through the store.
While Musk’s fear of censorship from Apple seemed rather unsubstantiated, Twitter faced a potentially legitimate threat from the European Union. The European Commission, the EU’s executive body, said it would potentially fine or even ban Twitter due to content concerns.
The proliferation of hate speech and disinformation on Twitter under Musk’s new free speech regime threatened to put it at odds with the Union’s Digital Services Act (DSA). However, Thierry Breton, the EU’s commissioner for the internal market, said he had spoken with Musk, who “committed to comply.”
Elon’s intentions
Ever since Musk first announced his intention to purchase Twitter earlier this year, many have speculated about why he has. Musk has been actively using Twitter for many years, and has frequently cited strengthening freedom of speech behind purchasing it. However, this goal seems somewhat misaligned with the motivation behind his other enterprises, SpaceX and Tesla.
Musk has previously said that his overall goal is the long-term survival and propagation of the human race. Considering the threats of climate change and overpopulation, he has sought to improve markets in sustainable energy and interplanetary travel.
Through Tesla, he has created a viable market for purely electric consumer vehicles and improved large battery capacities. Meanwhile, SpaceX has managed to develop and manufacture rockets that are reusable, making space travel a much more economic endeavor.
“I really want to make sure that there is a good future for humanity and that we’re on a path to understanding the nature of the universe, the meaning of life, why we are here, how did we get here,” he said. Considering these lofty ambitions, why has he been wasting his time engaging in conspiracy theories on social media?
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