It’s no surprise to see Elon Musk supporting Donald Trump, the two seem to inhabit parallel universes mostly of their own making. However the world’s richest man and the (narrow) favourite to be the next US president impact many things, even though (some think) they’re completely mad.
X owner Musk (above), shortly after pronouncing that the UK was on the brink of civil war, is now suing the Global Alliance for Responsible Media, a body attempting to help advertisers stay away from harmful social media content, for allegedly violating US anti-trust laws. GARM’s members include P&G and Unilever. Members also include social media giants Meta Platforms (Facebook), Alphabet (Google and YouTube) and TikTok – which some might see as a bit rich.
The lawsuit claims the industry group coordinated a boycott of X over brand safety standards. Musk claims he allows such leeway to support free speech. X CEO Linda Yaccarino says: “To put it simply, people are hurt when the marketplace of ideas is undermined and some viewpoints are not funded over others as part of an illegal boycott. This behavior is a stain on a great industry and cannot be allowed to continue.” By which she presumably means social media.
Others might see social media itself as a stain, notorious for its half-hearted efforts to moderate offensive content, in reality a probably impossible task. It’s become the wild north, south, east and west and there seems to be precious little anyone can do about it, including the owners. Where do you get millions of qualified moderators from, assuming you can afford them?
As to Musk’s case we’ll have to see. It’s been filed in Texas (Tesla HQ) and the legal authorities there might well detect a plot. Musk is helping to bankroll Trump’s campaign and already enjoys strong Republican support.
Even so it’s pretty strange it’s strange to see a media owner suing advertisers for not advertising. Everyone could have a go.
Update
And it looks they are. The UK’s right wing GB News says it’s monitoring Musk’s fortunes, as is a site called Rumble. Perhaps we should join in?
