As an industry giant and the world’s richest man, Elon Musk has influence on the global economy. Now he is leveraging this success to extend his influence in the democratic process in Canada and elsewhere.
In the past week alone, Musk has dipped into Canadian politics on his social platform several times; approve the conservative leader Pierre Poilievre, showering him with praise, repost his tweets and applauding his speeches and media interaction.
At the same time, he mocked Prime Minister Justin Trudeau about his resignationborrowing the language of President-elect Donald Trump to refer to him as “governor.” It is also called Trudeau an “insufferable workshop”.
The adventure of influence started in 2022 when he bought Twitter, changing the name X and announcing the rules that regulate content moderation and disinformation. Describing the move as a defense of free speech, Musk quickly rehabilitated Canadian influencer Jordan Peterson and President-elect Donald Trump’s accounts.
He later spent more than $200 million to support Trump’s successful campaign to regain the US presidency.
His reward? A role that runs Trump’s proposed Department of Government Efficiency, and, perhaps more importantly, the ear of the president-elect.
Despite having more than 210 million followers on his own platform, and Trump’s friendship, Musk seems to want more ears than Trump’s, and he’s running. political debates in the world.
“It’s about positioning yourself on the world stage as a thought leader, quote, who can rise above politics, but also align with it when it suits him,” said Andrew Chadwick, Professor of Political Communication at Loughborough University in the UK. .
“I think Musk (his advocacy is) has become aligned with what he sees as political movements around the world that share his anti-state, anti-regulation, anti-legacy libertarian ideology,” Chadwick told CBC News .
Chadwick says Poilievre’s commitment to repeal The Liberal government’s online legislation, which conservatives say is too broad and risks infringing on free speech, appeals to Musk, who he describes as an “ideological platform mogul.”
Christopher Cochrane, a political science professor at the University of Toronto, believes it could just be “vanity” persuading Musk to enter political debates at home and abroad.
“It’s kind of remarkable that he was in a position to buy an entire social network, almost a sort of alternate universe, and turn it into his own playground and a place to amplify his political views,” he said.
“Just like he was able to figure out electric cars and build a successful rocket company … now he’s just figured out another domain that other people aren’t smart enough or brave enough or bold enough or whatever it is to be resolved,” Cochrane said. . “There’s a kind of hubris element to it.”
To be fair to Musk, Cochrane says “it would be hard not to be overconfident when you’ve had the success that he’s had with PayPal and Tesla and SpaceX and all the other things.”
Cochrane explained that Musk has been so successful in being heard, not only because he is rich, but because people may think that his success naturally translates into other areas.
“There are obviously people who have a very, very high level of political sophistication who don’t know anything about rockets and electric cars, and certainly there are a lot of people who know a lot about rockets and electric cars who don’t have a particularly political sophistication. high”. said Cochrane. “That’s what’s going on here.”
Chadwick has watched Musk closely in recent months as the X owner began to enter British politics, initially supporting Nigel Farage’s UK Reform party, and then in recent days. turning against him when Farage refused to support it far-right activist Tommy Robinson.
He says that when it comes to Musk’s interest in Canada, his posts on X are very closely aligned with Trump’s comments and the attacks the president-elect has directed toward his northern neighbor.
“It’s important to see this as part of an alignment between Musk’s interests as a media owner, a platform owner and the Trump administration,” he said.
Chadwick says the irony of Musk’s editorial positions is that when social media platforms emerged, their founders went to great lengths to argue that they should not be held to the same standards as media organizations.
“Yet, here we have the owner of a platform with 210 million followers who is now quite willing to use that platform to expand his personal political views,” he said.
In Germany, Musk endorsed the leader of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), Alice Weidel, who is a fierce critic of multiculturalism. Some prominent members of the AfD have been ostracized for his failure to condemn the war crimes of the Nazis.
Last year, a German court said the AfD was officially suspected of extremism, allowing German security services to continue monitoring its activities and communications.
Musk has been accused in Germany of interfering in that country’s upcoming elections on February 23 for his endorsement of the AfD and the promise to host a live interview on X with Weidel on January 9.
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Cochrane says that in comparison, Musk’s interest in Canada has been much more benign.
“He controls a terribly large platform and has a fairly massive audience. And for Canada things are not going well, because if he is focused here on the promotion of Pierre Poilievre that is absolutely not the worst thing he could do”, said Cochrane.
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2025-01-09 18:58:00
