Three problems Elon Musk can’t ignore
By Jennifer Rubin
WAPO
Elon Musk is the source of endless fascination in a society that reveres wealth above all things. As former president Donald Trump becomes less powerful and his unhinged rants less interesting, it should surprise no one that the mainstream media are quickly becoming obsessed with yet another egomaniacal billionaire.
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But let’s not lose sight of three real headaches that Musk is facing. At the very least, they should blunt whatever perception remains of his singular genius.
1 Tesla is facing serious headwinds
Tesla’s stock recently has dropped so precipitously that Musk briefly lost the title of richest person on the planet. Kiplinger reports that the root of the problem is decreasing demand, including more competition from other electric vehicle manufacturers, a slowing global economy and, as one analyst puts it, “Tesla’s narrow (and expensive) product family, which is reaching saturation.”
It also probably doesn’t help that Tesla’s product is designed to appeal to rich progressive, climate-sensitive consumers — not exactly the type to enjoy Musk’s right-wing extremist and pro-Russia trolling.
Tesla’s shareholders understandably want him to pay less attention to Twitter and more to their failing investment. The Street reports: “The social network has captured the attention of their great champion since he launched a $44 billion acquisition offer for the platform on April 25. Not only did the billionaire have to sell Tesla shares and take margin loans to finance the transaction, but he completely focused on the social network, abandoning Tesla somewhat, during a challenging macroeconomic environment.”
Investors are lashing out at the Tesla board and criticizing Musk openly. Yahoo Finance reports:
“Tesla board is missing in action,” Leo KoGuan, one of Tesla’s largest individual shareholders, tweeted Wednesday as he suggested a stock buyback. He and another outspoken Tesla investor, Ross Gerber, are calling for the board to add a director who would represent retail shareholders.
Musk himself has said he has “too much work” on his plate, and is handling it by sometimes sleeping in the office. Whereas in the past he slumbered at Tesla facilities, lately he’s hibernated at Twitter’s San Francisco headquarters.
2 Resistance at Twitter is becoming difficult to manage
CNN reports: “A group of former Twitter employees who are suing the company spoke out Thursday, alleging that new owner Elon Musk’s mass layoffs at the company have triggered multiple labor rights violations.” This includes claims that “Twitter reneged on promises to allow remote work and consistent severance benefits after the Musk acquisition, as well as complaints related to alleged disability and gender-based discrimination, and another suit on behalf of Twitter contractors who were laid off.”
Ironically for the self-described free-speech purist, Musk is now threatening those who are criticizing him. He says he will sue them under the nondisclosure provisions they signed as employees.
And there is more: Critics are raising questions as to whether he has violated the consent decree that Twitter entered into with the Federal Trade Commission over the platform’s security practices. If he is found to have violated the decree’s strictures on data privacy, he could face mammoth fines.
And let’s not forget about regulators in Europe. Thierry Breton, the European Union’s commissioner for the internal market, reportedly threatened to ban Twitter in a recent call with Musk if the company doesn’t comply with a host of E.U. regulations. As Business Insider reports, this includes “doing away with an ‘arbitrary’ approach to reinstating banned accounts. ... Twitter must also agree to an 'extensive independent audit’ by 2023.”
3 Twitter is struggling to handle antisemitism
Experienced groups fighting antisemitism and hate speech, such as the Anti-Defamation League, have a definitive mantra: You cannot ignore antisemitism and hate speech or it will get worse.
Indeed, the United States is swimming in a tide of increased, blatant antisemitism and hate speech from the far right. As the ADL reported: “Antisemitic incidents targeting Jewish institutions jumped 61 percent from 2020 to 2021, according to ADL’s 2021 Audit of Antisemitic Incidents. Based on preliminary data, the 2022 numbers will tell a similar story.”
Musk actually met with members from the ADL last month, after which Musk seemed to commit to moderating hate speech on Twitter. Then, of course, he laid off half the company and reinstated the accounts of multiple antisemites and neo-Nazis.
On Dec. 2, the ADL reported: “In the past few weeks, the ADL noted both an increase in antisemitic content on the platform and a decrease in the moderation of antisemitic posts, a troubling situation that will likely get worse, given the reported cuts to Twitter’s content moderation staff.” It continued, “These changes are already affecting the proliferation of hate on Twitter, and the return of extremists of all kinds to the platform has the potential to supercharge the spread of extremist content and disinformation.”
Musk has quibbled with the methodology of that report, but he holds all the cards. If he wants to give critics the full picture, he should provide access to data and processes. In fact, California in September enacted a law that would, among other things, “require social media companies to publicly post their policies regarding hate speech, disinformation, harassment and extremism on their platforms, and report data on their enforcement of the policies.”
So long as Musk lacks a moderation system that consistently takes down virulent antisemitism and hate speech and continues to allow those who tweet such material on the platform, he’ll face the ire of the nation’s most respected and influential anti-hate groups. And if they consistently report on his site’s propagation of antisemitism and hate speech, how long will it be before celebrities with millions of followers and major advertisers permanently leave?