Don’t underestimate Elon Musk

25 November 2022  

South African born world’s wealthiest man, Elon Musk, has become one of my most favorite business leaders in the world. His controversial acquisition of the American social media platform Twitter, and the decisions he has made since he became CEO of this company, have all increased my respect and admiration for him.

The whole process, from the acquisition to his on-going CEO decision-making which has included the restoration of Donald Trump’s Twitter account, has been testament to how brave Musk is. Brave in a time when the global mainstream media is against him.

Twitter had become the Left's tool to suppress conservatives. Elon Musk came through with the mission to reverse that, as it was damaging to American society and the world. The platform became the Left's political weapon against conservatives.

Every rational, unbiased person saw that there was a very serious bias problem at Twitter. Even left-leaning comedian Bill Maher saw that something was wrong at Twitter. “99% of Twitter employees voted Democratic. Even if you are a Democrat, you shouldn’t think that’s a good thing”, Maher said in an interview with Fareed Zakaria on CNN recently. 

What motivated Musk to acquire Twitter, is his strong belief in free speech, which he believed was under threat at Twitter. 

Musk is now in charge of Twitter at a critical time. We are in an era of widespread cancel culture across democracies. It is an era where people are offended by anything and everything. People’s livelihoods are destroyed by the intolerant social media mobs who cancel people for their opposing political and ideological views.

This cancel culture has become a cancer in democratic societies, meaning Musk has a huge responsibility on his shoulders.

Musk is different when you contrast him to other popular billionaires. You can judge by the sense of humor that springs out of his Twitter timeline daily.

He views his ownership of Twitter as one of the ways to transform humanity's history for the better. 

The restoration of Donald Trump’s Twitter account

Under Elon Musk’s leadership, Former United States President Donald Trump’s Twitter account has been reinstated. It’s not only Trump that has been reinstated; other famed personalities have been reinstated as well, including celebrity Canadian psychologist Jordan B. Peterson, and Andrew Tate. Reinstating Trump’s account was a very controversial decision that angered Trump’s critics.

Donald Trump’s account should have never been permanently banned in the first place. Banning permanently was a grave mistake. As Elon said, millions voted for Trump. To silence the leader of these millions of Americans was an injustice to America’s democracy. As British broadcaster Piers Morgan said, there are human rights abusers and despots around the world who had their Twitter accounts when Trump did not have one.

Trump continues to say that he will not return to Twitter. Don’t trust his words! I will be surprised if he does not return to Twitter before the US’s 2024 presidential election. He’s already announced that he’s running for the most powerful job in the world.

Social media companies must not be the arbiter of truth. The public should decide what is true or not true. This means that when you see a post online, do not take it on face value, verify it. This will save you from being a victim of disinformation. It is incitement of violence and hate speech that must never be tolerated

It is sad to see how polarized democracies have become around the world. It’s unclear when this polarization and intolerance to opposing ideological views began.

Musk’s goal is to reverse this intolerance and allow everybody to participate productively on Twitter.

His critics, including the global mainstream media, have been saying Twitter will crash and burn, under Musk. And the South African mainstream media joined the chorus as well because our media is also anti-Musk. Big mistake these critics make.

Musk must never be underestimated. The man is the most successful innovator in modern history. 

Phumlani M. Majozi is a senior fellow at African Liberty. His website is phumlanimajozi.com. Follow him on Twitter: @PhumlaniMMajozi.