A few weeks after triggering a storm by relaying conspiratorial and anti-Semitic remarks about X, American billionaire Elon Musk went to Auschwitz on Monday January 22. Mr. Musk laid a wreath and participated in a memorial service during a private tour of the former Nazi extermination camp alongside the president of the European Jewish Association (EJA), Rabbi Menachem Margolin.
“It was incredibly moving, deeply sad and tragic that human beings could do this to other human beings… It touches your heart even more when you see it in person.”the billionaire said at a conference organized by the EJA in the neighboring city of Krakow, in southern Poland.
Mr. Musk admitted to having been ” naive “ regarding the extent of anti-Semitism, arguing that because most of his friends are Jewish, he has had little contact with this phenomenon in his life. “I am Jewish by association, I aspire to be Jewish”, he said during a conversation with conservative columnist for “The Daily Wire” podcast, Ben Shapiro. Elon Musk defended the X platform as a place of free speech, saying that: “The goal of »
Not an “apology tour”
In November, the White House accused Mr. Musk of making a “abject promotion of anti-Semitic and racist hatred” when he qualified on of“exact truth” a publication claiming that Jewish people encouraged “hatred against white people”. Mr. Musk’s statement had pushed many large advertisers to withdraw from the platform due to hateful tendencies, particularly anti-Semitic ones.
The billionaire then apologized for what he described as “the worst and stupidest post I have ever made”. He said his remark had been misinterpreted and he sought to clarify it in subsequent messages.
After the controversy, the SpaceX founder visited Israel, while stating that the trip was planned earlier and was not a “apology tour”. Israeli President Isaac Herzog then informed him that he had “a huge role to play” in the fight against anti-Semitism.
The owner of Tesla and SpaceX is accused of allowing hate speech to proliferate on X, since he bought this platform for $44 billion in October 2022. “The external audits we have carried out show that there is less anti-Semitism on X than on all other social networks”said Mr. Musk during a round table.
Complaint against the Anti-Defamation League
During a live discussion broadcast on X in September, EJA President Rabbi Menachem Margolin invited Mr. Musk to visit the Auschwitz site. Mr. Musk had agreed that this could be ” useful “ as’“example for others”. During the discussion, Mr. Musk explained that he aspired to be Jewish and said he had attended a Hebrew preschool. “It is absurd to be accused of something when all the evidence points in the other direction and my life story is in fact prosemite”he added at the time.
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Mr. Musk threatened to file a complaint against the Anti-Defamation League, an association fighting anti-Semitism which denounces a notable increase in disinformation and homophobic and racist insults on X, since the rules moderation changed there with the arrival of Mr. Musk. And X is suing Media Matters, accusing the nonprofit of driving away advertisers by claiming the platform is saturated with anti-Semitic content.