Column: Elon Musk’s Twitter and the con of online media
After a short two-month hiatus, Elon Musk is back on Twitter. In the space of a few hours on March 23, the Tesla CEO posted three tweets, including the now-infamous “Tesla is a $75 billion car company” tweet. With the public outcry that followed the comments, Musk decided it would be best to retract some of that tweet. But the public outcry came fast and furious. Within hours, Twitter users had flooded social media with outraged comments and messages of support. Within four hours, Musk’s account was suspended. There had already been a Twitter boycott of his Twitter account by many in the community.
A week later, Musk announced the suspension was permanent, and he would instead be using a private account to continue Tweeting. The move came after he received a phone call from the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, said one of Musk’s associates. In the call, the U.S. Attorney’s office confirmed it was investigating the “Tesla tweet”, and stated that if it found something on Musk’s Twitter account, they would go after him. Following this, Musk announced via his personal Twitter account, “Due to the new U.S. government policy that will be announced shortly, I’ll be using a private account instead of my Twitter account. I appreciate your support, and will continue to follow the Tesla blog.”
If the U.S. Attorney’s office thinks they can use their powers as law enforcement to go after someone for a tweet, then what does that tell us about the current, still evolving, and still shaky relationship between governments and companies? Does it send a message to the private sector that they have no real power to get involved in other businesses, even if they were involved in an unlawful business transaction? Is this a sign that the government is about to take over many aspects of a business? Will we all have to adapt to this new paradigm where government has a much higher role?
What it comes down to is the fact that governments are not the only ones allowed to run monopolies or regulate industries. It was the people who purchased Musk’s services, not the government that made him wealthy. It may very well come
