Elon Musk’s X comments can be dangerous, life-threatening

Opinion editor’s note: Editorials represent the opinions of the Minnesota Star Tribune Editorial Board, which operates independently from the newsroom.

•••

There are idiots and then there is Elon Musk.

After a man was arrested Sunday in an alleged assassination attempt of former President Donald Trump at his Florida golf course, an X user tweeted, “Why they want to kill Donald Trump?” Musk had a ready response:

“And no one is even trying to assassinate Biden/Kamala.” He accentuated the incendiary post with a “person thinking” emoji.

According to news reports, within an hour, Musk’s tweet was viewed by at least 1.3 million users, garnering more than 3,000 reposts and at least 18,000 likes. He left the post up for nine hours before finally deleting it. When he was finished with his dangerous provocation, he tweeted to his 197.8 million followers that it was all a joke.

Musk claims he bought Twitter (now X) to promote free speech. His intentions may have been good. His actions aren’t. He has consistently demonstrated a healthy penchant for both cloaked — and uncloaked — hate speech.

David Schultz, a professor at Hamline and St. Thomas universities, told an editorial writer that Musk’s comments came close to no longer being protected speech when he used the powerful platform to advocate “imminent lawlessness.” The irresponsible comments did not come from Jane or John Doe, he said. Rather, they were spread by the owner of a medium with broad public influence and reach.

A Pew Research study of how Americans use the X platform showed that about a quarter of adults turn to it to be entertained, connect with others and to keep up with current events. About three-quarters of users (74%) see some political content on the platform, and a majority (59%) say keeping up with political issues is a reason they use it. Schultz added that laws created before social media are not yet equipped to handle what should happen when the platforms are used as means to incite violence or make veiled threats.

The assassination musings are in keeping with Musk’s X persona. He looks for incendiary posts and then amplifies them. At one point, in agreeing with a post that said Jews push hatred against white people, Musk tweeted that the Anti-Defamation League, an advocacy group that works to combat hate against Jewish people, “unjustly attacks the majority of the West, despite the majority of the West supporting the Jewish people and Israel. This is because they cannot, by their own tenets, criticize the minority groups who are their primary threat,” Musk tweeted.

In a response to Musk’s comment, ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt wrote on X, “At a time when antisemitism is exploding in America and surging around the world, it is indisputably dangerous to use one’s influence to validate and promote antisemitic theories.”

After purchasing the social media company in 2022, Musk fired its CEO and many employees, including those working on content moderation. That purge has led to a surge in hate speech on X, critics say.

Former Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., who was a prime-time speaker at last month’s Democratic National Convention, wrote in response to Musk’s assassination comments: “What is wrong with this guy?!?! Can anyone who loves him have an intervention? I’m serious this is off the rails.”

Kinzinger later continued, “A reminder that @elonmusk is a contractor for DOD and the US Govt and has said things that would have gotten anyone kicked out of the military. He needs to stop, or the govt needs to treat him equally to everyone else. Being rich doesn’t put you above the law.”

The hate speech he tolerates, fosters and creates is not a joke. It’s dangerous.