Elon Musk, you've done it again. Recently, the tech mogul fired off a tweet wondering, essentially, why there had been no attempts to kill either President Biden or Vice President Harris. Sure enough, Musk scrubbed the post from his profile and claimed it was all in good humor, but the incident says volumes about responsibility with immense wealth and influence in our digital era.
Let's get it very clear: jokes about political violence are never OK, let alone from a man of Musk's influence.
With over 100 million followers on X, aka Twitter, the man speaks with a powerful megaphone. The billionaire might not like this one bit, but he has become a political influencer de facto, and those "jokes" of his have real consequences in the world.
All this fits into an alarming pattern we have seen from Musk in the past few years: the more money, the more power, the more reckless he has been with what he says publicly. From libelous accusations of pedophilia against a cave rescuer to market-moving tweets about Tesla's stock, Musk has shown a concerning disregard for the impact his words may cause.
Such is his most recent outrage, that it surpasses the bounds of recklessness. Musk flirted with stochastic terrorism, the public demonization of a person or group that provokes random actors to commit violent acts against the target, by questioning why there have not been assassination attempts on the current administration.
The fact that Musk quickly deleted the tweet and then claimed it was a joke does not exonerate him. In today's polarized political climate, even a "joke" from a figure as influential as Musk can be taken as a cue to violent action among the fringes. We have seen far too many times how online rhetoric translates into brutal violence in the real world.
What's more, Musk's actions afterward belied the notion that it was all a joke. That he weighed in on a similar post making light of assassination attempts against other presidents shows he still hasn't let go of a terribly treacherous subject.
The worst of this whole story is that it's a sideshow that distracts from actual problems in this country.
Rather than use his platform to talk about climate change, income inequality, or new technologies, Musk seems content playing the role of an internet troll. It is a tragic waste of his influence and resources.
This also speaks to the larger double standard associated with the ultra-wealthy. An average citizen making similar comments about political leaders would likely find a visit from the Secret Service. Musk, who is cushioned by his billions, an army of lawyers, and both a lack of will to charge him with a crime and inability to reach a conviction, faces little more than temporary backlash.
In response, the White House has been firm but measured to say that violence can never be encouraged or joked about. How sad is it that all that is required to remind a billionaire CEO of a technology company about basic civic responsibility?
This is the wake-up call Musk and the rest of the industry needs.
Great power to instantaneously reach millions carries great responsibility. It's time for social media to begin taking seriously just how it can prevent dangerous rhetoric, without killing free speech.
As for Musk himself, he should be taking an exceptionally hard look in the mirror. One can argue that he's done much good for electric vehicles and space exploration, however, his behavior on social media certainly works to eclipse that. If he wishes to harken to the role of a force for good in this world, he must grow up and start to live like the great visionary leader that he claims he is.
Let that be a lesson to the rest of us: billionaires, no matter how much they seem to come across like our buddies online, are not, in fact, our friends. Musk's tweet is a jarring reminder of how unlimited wealth and power can have a dangerous disconnection from reality and consequences.