Elon's Election: A Tale of Two Tweets

Tue Sep 10 2024
Advertisement
In recent weeks, billionaire Elon Musk has been busy spreading misinformation and inflammatory rhetoric on his platform, Twitter. His latest targets? Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris and women in general. Let's break it down:First, Musk shared an AI-generated image depicting Harris as a communist dictator wearing a red uniform emblazoned with hammer and sickle symbols. He captioned the blatantly false image with the absurd claim that Harris vows to be a communist dictator on day one of her presidency (spoiler alert: she doesn't). This isn't just some harmless meme - it's dangerous disinformation that could sway undecided voters. Next, Musk posted another gem from 4chan, suggesting only 'high status males' should participate in government because women and men with low testosterone can't think critically. Yep, he really went there. The post has been viewed nearly 20 million times. Thanks for the views, Elon! So what's the deal? Is Musk just a misunderstood rebel fighting against the oppressive forces of truth and reason? Or is he a misogynistic grifter using his platform to spread propaganda in support of his favored political candidate, former President Donald Trump? The fact that these posts weren't even flagged by Twitter's 'community notes' feature speaks volumes. It seems Elon thinks the rules don't apply to him or his buddies on the far right. But here's a thought: maybe, just maybe, Musk should focus less on pushing baseless conspiracies and more on actually running his company responsibly. The stakes couldn't be higher as we head into another consequential election where disinformation could tip the scales. So what can we learn from all this? Perhaps that even the most powerful people in the world can be petty, partisan trolls when they want to be. And that's a lesson worth remembering come November. Oh, and maybe get Elon a subscription to Snopes while you're at it.