Elon Musk: Genius or Joker?
I wrote in April 2022 that Elon Musk’s purchase of Twitter could cause trouble for him while the futures of his lucrative ventures like Tesla and SpaceX almost depend entirely on public policies. Slowly, my prediction is coming true. Today, we’ll discuss the recent tensions between Twitter and the Brazilian, Australian, and Indian governments over the past month.
As you know, the far-right Jair Bolsonaro, a close friend of Trump, lost the presidential race in 2022. Lula da Silva resumed the presidency in 2023. During his election campaign, Lula received indirect support from Brazilian judicial institutions representing the established order, as Bolsonaro needed more time to change the high court judges during his four-year term. Brazil’s electoral court and the Supreme Court decided to close more than 100
Twitter accounts belonging to right-wing writers, academics, and lawyers accused of disseminating misinformation in favor of Bolsonaro. Initially, Musk opposed the decision but eventually complied with the judiciary’s rulings. These accounts were blocked in Brazil, and content was prohibited from being shared in Brazil.
These days, both the pro-Trump faction in the U.S. Congress and Elon Musk are targeting Brazilian high court judges. Musk even called one of the Supreme Court judges a “dictator.” Bolsonaro continues to heap praise on Musk in his speeches. Meanwhile, Musk leaked correspondence between the Brazilian judiciary and Twitter’s previous team a few months ago under a news series called “The Twitter Files.” It remains to be seen where Musk’s battle with Brazilian domestic politics will lead.
The crisis in Australia began on April 15, when images of a psychopath and four members of a church community being stabbed were posted on Twitter. Australia’s Communications Authority imposed an access ban on the photos by court order, which Twitter complied with. However, the ban remained limited within Australian territory. Australia’s Communications Authority now insists, “The images can be accessed via VPN and must be removed worldwide!” Elon Musk retorted, “Your decree does not extend beyond Australia.” Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese described Musk as “arrogant,” and Musk, in return, criticised the eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant, describing her as “commissar”. We will see where these discussions lead.
In India, until Elon Musk took over, Twitter had appointed a local representative but was not very cooperative with the Indian administration regarding content removal. With Musk at the helm, Twitter began to comply more with requests to remove content in India. It not only removed content but also started blocking access to accounts. So much so that a documentary about Prime Minister Narendra Modi broadcast by the BBC is now blocked on Indian Twitter, this year, Elon Musk stated, “India should be a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council.” Subsequently, Modi reduced the customs duty on electric vehicles from 100% to 15%. However, Elon Musk canceled his visit to India in April and suddenly went to China, India’s perpetual rival. It appears that China will relax barriers to Tesla imports and distribution. Musk also postponed the promised Tesla factory in India for a while. We will see how this affects Modi’s approach to Twitter.
Elon Musk has a few aces up his sleeve against the governments he deals with. One is to build a Tesla factory in their country, which gets everyone excited. However, building a Tesla factory in every country is practically impossible. Another is to remove content from Twitter. This also has its limits; sometimes, Musk’s libertarian streak kicks in, and he becomes defiant. States, in turn, use their aces against Musk by imposing taxes on Tesla or squeezing Twitter through various mechanisms in their countries. But sometimes, closing Twitter due to customs duties and obligations in trade agreements can conflict with the wishes of the societies. Of course, the decision-making mechanisms of each state and the power and approach of different institutions addressing various issues vary. The fact that Twitter has not yet been shut down in Turkey, despite not complying with the law, while there are political statements that TikTok could be shut down, should also be considered in this context.
