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Elon Musk says he's ready to die or go to jail · Elon Musk Podcast

• 0:01
  Hey everybody, welcome back to the Elon Musk podcast.
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  This is a show where we discuss the critical Crossroads, the
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  Shape, SpaceX, Tesla X, The Boring Company, and Neuralink.
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  I'm your host, Will Walden. In a recent Spaces discussion
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  with Alex Jones, Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, made a
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  very striking declaration. He stated his willingness to go
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  to prison if necessary to resist any attempts by the US
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  government agencies like the FBI to censor content on the social
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  media platform that he leads now.
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  This bold assertion highlights Musk's commitment to free
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  speech, despite acknowledging his role as a law abiding
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  citizen heading corporations that comply with numerous
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  regulations. Now Musk's statement came during
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  conversation with controversial figure Alex Jones, a Sandy Hook
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  conspiracy theorist whose account Musk had recently
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  reinstated on the platform. The decision marked a reversal
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  from Musk's previous stance against Jones, largely due to
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  the latter's exploitation of children's deaths for
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  viewership. Now, Musk's change of heart was
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  influenced by a poll he conducted seeking public opinion
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  on the matter. Now Alex Jones, known for his
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  inflammatory conspiracy theories, was found guilty of
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  promoting the Sandy Hook shooting as a government staged
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  event aimed at gun control. He was ordered to pay $1.4
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  billion in damages and during their conversation Jones
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  admitted he now believes the shooting occurred, a significant
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  shift from his earlier stance. And Musk's decision to bring
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  Jones back has broader implications for the platform,
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  especially in the wake of major advertisers like Disney and
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  Walmart withdrawing their support.
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  These companies expressed concerns about their
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  advertisements appearing next to extremist content, including neo
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  Nazi posts. Now the withdrawal has led to
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  financial concerns for Musk, who fears potential bankruptcy for
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  the platform. Tristan Tate, brother of Andrew
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  Tate, charged with rape and human trafficking, expressed
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  overwhelming support for Jones's reinstatement.
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  He could bear the significance of this event to his own release
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  from prison, emphasizing Jones's role as a voice for truth and
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  reason, and also a symbol of resistance against cancellation.
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  Now, Jones, once back on the platform, quickly shared
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  theories about potential assassination plots against
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  former President Donald Trump and also Elon Musk.
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  He suggested that intelligence agencies might target them,
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  drawing parallels to the assassination of John F Kennedy
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  and warning Musk about potential poisoning attempts.
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  Musk, known for his adventurous and often unconventional
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  approaches, acknowledge the risks associated with his
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  actions. He expressed a lack of fear of
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  death, understanding the potential dangers he faces and
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  challenging established powers and norms.
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  Now the decision to reinstate Jones accounts on the platform,
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  followed by a live audio chat featuring Musk, Republican
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  presidential candidate Vivek Romaswami and controversial
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  figures like Andrew Tate, has stirred significant controversy.
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  This move is seen as part of Musk's strategy to amplify far
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  right voices and conspiracy theorists, leading to a
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  decreased in engagement from mainstream users and brands.
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  Now the situation follows Musk's support for an anti-Semitic
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  conspiracy theory shared on the platform, leading to a
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  significant advertiser pull out since November.
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  Musk's continued endorsement of such theories and his recent
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  actions have exacerbated the already tense situation on the
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  platform. The live space hosted by Mario
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  Novel, a prominent influencer on X, was attended by over 9
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  million people according to unverified metrics, and the
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  discussion largely focused on the legend Censorship of
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  conservative viewpoints on tech platforms, a topic that has
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  garnered Musk considerable support.
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  And amidst these controversies, though, alternative social media
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  platforms like Meta Threads and Blue Sky have seen increased
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  user activity. In contrast, Musk's platform,
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  despite having a significant user base, has experiencing a
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  decline of engagement from prominent users and brands, and
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  Musk's approach to content moderation has been
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  characterized as free speech absolutism.
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  This stance has led to the reinstatement of several high
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  profile accounts previously banned from spreading
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  misinformation and citing violence, including former
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  President Donald Trump, rapper Yee, formerly Kanye West, and
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  representative Marjorie Taylor Greene.
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  Musk's decision to re estate Jones marks a significant
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  departure from his earlier position just over a year ago.
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  Musk has expressed his refusal to allow Jones back on the
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  platform, sending the exploitation of children's
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  deaths for personal gain. And Jones permanent banned from
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  the platform in September of 2018 followed similar actions by
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  major platforms like YouTube and also Spotify.
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  And at that time, Twitter's then CEO Jack Dorsey had been
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  reluctant to ban Jones, suggesting it could fuel new
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  conspiracy theories. And the ban was attributed to
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  Jones abusive behavior, including harassing ACNN
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  journalist. And since his reinstatement,
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  Jones follower count on the platform has surged to 1.5
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  million, a significant increase from the number before his ban.
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  This growth reflects the controversial nature of his
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  content and the divided response from the platform's user base.
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  Thank you so much for tuning into the show today.
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  I really do appreciate your support.
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  button on whatever podcast platform that you're listening
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  on right now, I greatly appreciate it.
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  It helps out the show tremendously and you'll never
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  miss an episode. And each episode is about 10
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  minutes or less to get you caught up quickly.
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  And please, if you want to support the show even more, go
• 5:32
  to patreon.com/stagezero. Please take care of yourselves
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  and each other and I'll see you tomorrow.