Tesla CEO and X owner Elon Musk speaks next to Republican presidential nominee and former U.S. president Donald Trump during a campaign rally, at the site of the July assassination attempt against Trump, in Butler, Pennsylvania, U.S., October 5, 2024. | REUTERS/Brian Snyder/File Photo
Palma 10/01/2025 09:43
Does anyone remember the famous Hugh Grant speech to the U.S. President in Love Actually? “A friend who bullies us is no longer a friend. And since bullies only respond to strength, from now onward I will be prepared to be much stronger. And the President should be prepared for that.”
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Morgan WilliamsSpeak for yourself. Cut out the “we” bit.
tranq tranquerHmm... Musk and Trump's crusade for "free speech" is to ensure "free speech" for speech that they approve of. It's no secret that the "speech" coming from that cabal has been historically filled with disinformation, innuendo, and baseless conspiracy theories. The pushback against it has been significant, but not sufficient to prevent a rise to power facilitating extortionate influence to cause capitulation from other major media platforms such as Meta, previously not particularly favourable to disinformation. Now they will be free to endlessly post disinformation and bullshit conspiracy theories with fake evidence. They (and the Russians) for years have had teams of apparatchiks already doing this. And by leaving "fact checking" entirely at the discretion of the "general public", now they'll have carte blanche to quell anything they find objectionable by using their network of apparatchiks to create "public" discord for any dissent and send it to the dust bin. Next it will be CNN, WaPo, NYT, MSNBC, or any media outlet that expresses any dissent... I'll wager there will be lawsuit after lawsuit against them based on fabricated evidence, and/or Musk buys them out, and judges will rule in the cabal's favor, if for no other reason, fear of retaliation. It's Putinism 101. Welcome to the new reality of "freedom of speech".
Last time I looked Musk has not said anything untrue about the UK . True he is anti Starmer but then so is the majority of the UK population . And when you are the world's richest man ( or close), own one of the largest social media platforms on the planet, own a large car producing company, and own the most advanced space rocket company on the planet I guess this does give you just a teeny weeny edge on the average person when it comes to speaking out. Its for individuals to judge whether he is correct but woe betide anyone trying to stifle free speech.
Despite Britain's desire to "stand alone", it appears as if it won't have to. Generally speaking, Europeans are with you on this one. I think you can expect a lot of support from your neighbours. But beware, the power is in favour of the populist rulers in the United Snakes, and they're determined to take whatever they want to enrich themselves at everyone else's expense. It's not going to be pretty or easy, and may not end up as we'd like. Just prepare for the worst and be pleasantly surprised if we manage to fend them off.