Elon Musk said he is guilty of many self-inflicted wounds while being questioned in a lawsuit accusing him of promoting a conspiracy theory falsely identifying a California man as a federal agent posing as a neo-Nazi street brawler.<\/p>\n
But the billionaire also said he didnt think he had meaningfully harmed the Jewish 22-year-old who sued him for defamation. <\/p>\n
Theres some risk that what I say is incorrect, but one has to balance that against having a chilling effect on free speech in general, which would undermine the entire foundation of our democracy, Musk said in a sworn deposition that was made public Monday despite his lawyers request that it remain confidential. <\/p>\n
Musk was sued in Texas state court in October by Ben Brody after endorsing a social media post that compared an Instagram profile of Brody to a photo of a White supremacist who violently clashed with the Proud Boys in Portland, Oregon, while both groups were protesting a Pride event in the city. <\/p>\n
Internet personalities cited the profile, which identified Brody as a University of California, Riverside, political science major who planned to work for the government, in claiming that the street brawl was engineered by the authorities to discredit right-wing groups. Similar false flag claims have been propagated about the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot as well as a number of mass shootings. <\/p>\n
Brody said in his suit that he and his family suffered a wave of harassment by belligerent strangers apparently motivated by Musks statements. He said he also feared long-term career consequences. <\/p>\n
While Musks commentary on social media haslanded him in courtbefore, its the first time hes been sued for defamation since buying Twitter in 2022 for $44 billion and rebranding it as X. <\/p>\n
Musk said in the March 27 deposition that he did not know Brody, nor did he have any ill will toward him. <\/p>\n
My goal is simply to have the X platform be the best source of truth on the internet, he told Brodys lawyer, Mark Bankston, according to a 115-page transcript. And when you try to figure out the truth of things, you theres a debate. That debate, you know, goes one way or the other, but it is a vigorous debate. <\/p>\n
At another point in the questioning, Musk let on that hes sometimes his own worst enemy. <\/p>\n
Bankston asked him about telling his biographer, Walter Isaacson, that Ive shot myself in the foot so often, I ought to buy some Kevlar boots. <\/p>\n
Would you say that as of last summer that you knew that you had had some difficulties restraining your impulses on Twitter? the lawyer asked. <\/p>\n
I would say that I you know, Im guilty of many self-inflicted wounds, Musk said. <\/p>\n
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Elon Musk says he is 'guilty of many self-inflicted wounds' in defamation lawsuit accusing him of falsely identifying man ... - Fortune<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Elon Musk said he is guilty of many self-inflicted wounds while being questioned in a lawsuit accusing him of promoting a conspiracy theory falsely identifying a California man as a federal agent posing as a neo-Nazi street brawler. But the billionaire also said he didnt think he had meaningfully harmed the Jewish 22-year-old who sued him for defamation. Theres some risk that what I say is incorrect, but one has to balance that against having a chilling effect on free speech in general, which would undermine the entire foundation of our democracy, Musk said in a sworn deposition that was made public Monday despite his lawyers request that it remain confidential Continue reading