Elon Musk, the owner of X, should be arrested, according to former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich of the Clinton Administration, for refusing to remove politically unpalatable information from his platform.
“He may be the richest man in the world. He may own one of the world’s most influential social media platforms. But that doesn’t mean we’re powerless to stop him,” Reich wrote in a new column, followed by a list of six measures needed in order to “reign in” the tech CEO.
Musk called the acquisition of Twitter in 2022—which has since changed its name to X—“dangerous nonsense” that was intended to consolidate power rather than protect free speech.
this is the third time in two weeks the guardian has requested the arrest of elon musk for refusing to censor political speech pic.twitter.com/w6OlPedPdz
— Mike Solana (@micsolana) September 1, 2024
Reich urged customers to boycott X as well as Tesla due to Musk’s political stance. “Regulators around the world should threaten Musk with arrest if he doesn’t stop disseminating lies and hate on X,” he said.
Reich went on to say that, based on the recent arrest of Telegram creator Pavel Durov in France, international regulators are already preparing to take Musk into custody.
Because to what French officials saw to be inappropriate content moderation, Drove is being charged with multiple crimes. In a case that has alarmed civil liberties advocates worldwide, prosecutors have accused him of permitting illegal activities on the chat service.
Reich stated, “The Federal Trade Commission should sue Musk under Section Five of the FTC Act if he does not take down lies that are likely to endanger individuals in the United States.” “Musk’s free-speech rights under the first amendment don’t take precedence over the public interest.”
In addition, the former Clinton aide demanded that the US government end its agreements with Musk’s Space X.
“Why is the US government allowing Musk’s satellites and rocket launchers to become crucial to the nation’s security when he’s shown utter disregard for the public interest? Why give Musk more economic power when he repeatedly abuses it and demonstrates contempt for the public good?” he wrote.
