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Elon Musk and free speech: Track record not encouraging

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Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla Inc attends the World Artificial Intelligence Conference in Shanghai (China) August 29, 2019.

Aly Song | Reuters

TeslaElon Musk, SpaceX CEO, is world’s wealthiest person on paperIs. buying TwitterHe has used this social media platform for many years to help promote his interests, and build his public image.

Musk said Monday that free speech was the foundation of any functioning democracy. He also stated in a statement, “Free speech is essential for a functional democracy,” when the deal was made.

Musk has described himself for years as an advocate of free speech and the First Amendment. He defended himself in a lawsuit against defamation for calling a critic a “pedo boy” (Musk won(), to claim that the SEC violated his rights in a settlementAfter he was charged by the agency with securities fraud in 2018, they reached an agreement that was revised.

However, The Atlantic, BloombergAs others have noted, Musk’s advocacy for free speech seems to be limited to his speech and that of his supporters and promoters. TechDirt arguesMusk is not able to grasp the importance of free speech, and content moderation.

Speech of workers

Musk has little tolerance for employees who are free to express their opinions.

When Tesla laid off workers, he asked them to sign separation agreements, which included a strong clause against disassembly and no expiration date. This kind of agreement is common within the industry. However, Musk isn’t a free speech absolutist.

CNBC received a copy of one agreement by Tesla that was shared by an ex-employee who had been laid off in 2018. The agreement did not contain any signatures.

You agree to not disparage Tesla or its products or any of the Company’s directors, officers, employees, shareholders, agents, affiliates, and subsidiaries in any way that could be detrimental to their business or business reputation.

Tesla also required that employees laid off must keep information about their separation agreements secret from anyone other than their lawyer or accountant, and not other workers.

The agreement stated that the provisions of this Agreement would be kept in strict confidence and not published or divulged in any way. You agree, in particular and without limitation to not disclose this Agreement’s terms to any employee, contractor, or past company worker.

Tesla requires all employees to sign an arbitration agreement when they start work. To be able to freely speak in court where they will become public records, Tesla requires workers to sign an arbitration agreement.

Tesla workers claim that Musk has made it easier for them to be racist and sexist under his leadership. Many employees have also claimed that they were retaliated against for speaking up about issues.

This is why these claims have come under fire recently. newly revealed probeby the EEOC and a suit by the California civil rights agencyHowever, the company’s track record is long.

Karl Hansen (an ex-security employee at Tesla) was fired in August 2018. filed a complaintWith the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, he claimed he was incorrectly fired from his position as investigator at Sparks, Nevada’s company’s battery facility. This after he raised alarm regarding the thefts of hundreds of millions dollars of raw materials. He claimed that Tesla concealed the theft from his shareholders even though the money was substantial to Tesla at the time.

In November 2020, former Tesla employee Stephen HenkesHe claimed that he was terminated from his position at Tesla in August 2020 after raising safety concerns and then filing formal complaints to government offices. The complaint was made about the failure of Tesla to communicate with its customers regarding the unacceptable fire risk in their solar panels. Henkes are being considered by the CPSC as well as SEC. complaints as evidence.

No cost for press

Musk is known for his desire to control the opinions of bloggers, analysts, journalists and others about his business, products and him.

The Tesla CEO was known for his sexism and he cut off an analyst at an earnings call in 2018. “Excuse me, next, next. Boring, bonehead questions are not cool,” the CEO said after a question about his company’s capital requirements. After just posting its biggest quarterly loss, the automaker was in deep trouble. Musk apologized later and sometimes skips Tesla earnings calls.

Musk and Tesla asked journalists to sign NDAs for their stories or send drafts to Tesla to receive approvals before publication.

He brazenly asked his followers to change his Wikipedia bio. “Just viewed my wiki for the 1st-time in years. It’s insane!” Musk tweeted. Musk tweeted: “Btw. Can someone please remove ‘investor. He said that he does virtually no investing. He was followed by a large number of people who edited the page to remove any mentions of his investments.

Musk is even a bit furious with Tesla fans who write negative reviews.

At his direction, Tesla stopped inviting some Electrek staff to company events after the site — which has evolved into more of an electric vehicle blog in recent years — published a story with this headline, Tesla is charging owners $1,500 for hardware they already paid for. Musk found the story true, though it was embarrassing because it addressed his company’s failure to provide autonomous vehicle tech for long-waiting customers.

Speeches of customers

Musk and Tesla tried, not always successfully, to silence customers. Tesla for instance used to make customers sign confidentiality clauses in order to get their vehicle repaired.

Tesla asked its customers in 2021 to refrain from posting critical information on social media concerning FSD Beta. It is an experimental driver aid software package Tesla owners can test with their Teslas, unpaid.

Tesla asked drivers to sign an agreement earlier in the year to allow FSD Beta access. They were instructed to keep their experiences with the program private and to not share any information, including screenshots, blog posts or social media postings.

According to CNBC, Tesla listed Facebook, Instagram and Reddit as places where users should not disclose information about FSD Beta use. CNBC obtained a copy the complete agreement.

Musk eventually lifted Tesla’s terms of access to FSD Beta because nobody had been following them anyway. The federal vehicle safety agency, NHTSA, investigated the matter.

In a letter sent to Tesla, NHSA stated that “Given NHTSA relies upon consumer reports as an important source for information in evaluating safety defects,” and that any agreement that could prevent or discourage participants in early access beta program safety concerns from NHTSA’s evaluation is unacceptable.” October 2021.

Tesla also sued China customers for safety complaints about their vehicles. a social media influencer there for defamation. Xiaogang Xuezhang posted a video showing issues with Tesla’s automated emergency braking system and other automakers.

Redaction

Tesla attorneys and Musk lawyers have filed confidential requests for treatment in order to file legal and business filings in America.

Tesla tried to conceal from the public, among other things: federal regulators requested vehicle safety data from Tesla as part of routine investigation, and Tesla’s business information used to file tax subsidies with the California Alternative Energy and Advanced Transportation Financing Authority.

Musk’s lawyers have attempted to conceal transcripts and video of testimony of employees and executives in lawsuits before the Delaware Chancery Court and other courts.

I am free to speak my mind

Musk is a free-speech advocate for both his own company and those of his associates.

Musk recently stated that SpaceX’s satellite internet service Starlink will keep Russian news sources online despite calls from unnamed governments to do so during Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.

Starlink (not Ukraine) has told some countries to ban Russian news sources. Musk stated that we will not do this unless forced to,” “Sorry, to be an absolute proponent of freedom speech.”

Musk, on the labor front is fighting an administrative judge ruling that said he had to remove a tweetBecause it is against workers’ rights, he removed the tweet from his account. In 2018, the tweet stated: “Nothing stops Tesla team from voting union. If they desired, could vote tmrw. But why pay union dues & give up stock options for nothing?”

Musk, at Tesla, has ignored the obligation to have a securities lawyer pre-approve tweets before they are posted, in spite of the agreement with the SEC. He was charged with civil securities fraud.

In a 2018 interview, Musk stated to Lesley Stahl that his tweets were not monitored. However, he was required by a court to approve some of the tweets by Tesla securities compliance specialists if it contained material likely to affect Tesla’s stock prices. He stated, “Hello First Amendment.” Free speech is essential

Musk’s absolute freedom of speech is only a dream if he really believes it.

Musk has the ability to control Twitter and keep his company, investments, and his personal brand visible on it.

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