In recent weeks we have seen Elon Musk getting more and more involved in British and European politics and it’s not been pretty. What will his numerous tweets suggesting both the UK and Europe are heading for civil war do for sales?
Elon Musk has a problem
After sending the tweets collated above, and as the thugs, arsonists and looters were rounded up by police – including those that had spread the information about the Southport stabbings on social media – Musk again took to X to call the police Woke Stasi. He took direct aim at the UK’s prime minister Keir Starmer asking “Is this Britain or the Soviet Union?” in another tweet, which is perhaps ironic, given that much of the fake information that led to the riots has reportedly come from Russia.
I think the majority of the UK is firmly behind getting those who, for example, tried to set a hotel on fire with people inside, firmly behind bars. This is not the Woke Stasi, this is what being a decent human being is about.
Starmer responded, taking aim at Musk and others: “Let me also say to large social media companies and those who run them: Violent disorder, clearly whipped up online, that is also a crime. It’s happening on your premises, and the law must be upheld everywhere.” Not backing down, Musk then posted on X “Support freedom of speech in the UK!”
It took the Larry the Cat account on X to point out that we literally have freedom of speech written into the 1998 Human Rights Act.
Then Dave Lawrence pointed out that all the recent additions to the Online Offences Act were made under the previous Conservative government. These are not Starmer’s laws, but wow, he is using the full force of the law to put the far-right rioters behind bars with more than 1,000 people having been arrested in the wake of the disorder, and that total is only set to rise further.
Fake news
It’s of serious concern to all of us how fake news spread through social media channels such as X and Facebook about the perpetrator of the Southport stabbing being a Muslim, but many have reported on that, so I won’t dwell on it. But what is deeply concerning is that the actual owner of one of the most popular platforms (although now 12th in the rankings according to Statista) can then start spreading fake news headlines posted by the co-leader of the British far-right political party, Britain First, reporting that Starmer will deport rioters to “Detainment Camps” on the Falkland Islands.
So, will Musk attack his own bottom line?
It’s too early to say whether Musk’s recent tweets suggesting that Europe and the UK are heading for civil war are affecting either Tesla or X sales, but what we do know is that since Musk took over at Twitter (subsequently renamed X) ad revenue looks like it will be half in 2024 of what it was in 2022. Is this drop to do directly with Musk’s increasingly vocal far-right-wing views and support of Trump? Why would any company wish to alienate potentially half of their customer base by advertising on X?
And what about Tesla sales? In July, Tesla posted its quarterly sales figures which showed an astonishing 45% drop in sales year-on-year, representing Tesla’s second consecutive quarterly decline. And this is against a background of Tesla slashing prices earlier this year and interest rates coming down. With Musk coming out in support of Trump, has he now alienated many of his core market? And that fall was apparently just for his support of Trump. Where will sales end up after his endless messaging about civil war in the UK and Europe? Is this the type of guy you want to buy a car from?
On that note, on Tuesday 6 August, Rossmann, which is one of Europe’s largest drugstore chains, said it would suspend its purchases of Tesla vehicles “with immediate effect”.
I suspect that many CEOs across Europe are also considering similar policies. I mean, how can company boards and shareholders support having staff driving around in cars supplied by a man who repeatedly says that civil war will break out, delivered by his platform. A platform on which he has reinstated the likes of Stephen Yaxley-Lennon (otherwise known as Tommy Robinson – one of the UK’s most influential and prominent far-right/anti-Islam activists and a convicted criminal); a platform which was reportedly behind much of the recent rioting that shook the UK. Let’s not even begin to ask about whether we should investigate whether the far-right disorder had links to Russia, we can leave that to ex-MI6 spy Christopher Steele.
Rather, let’s leave this with Musk having invited Trump back onto X after he was banned for inciting the riot on Capitol Hill after losing the last US election. Let’s remember what Musk thought in 2022 of Trump running.
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