An interview Elon Musk gave to a Chinese government-owned magazine divided the billionaire’s own fans. He accuses her: “he is a hypocrite”.
For a change, Elon Musk was once again the protagonist of a heated controversy. Fault of an interview: this time to trigger the hatred of his detractors (and not only) was not the tenor of his statements, but the type of newspaper to which it was released.
Elon Musk has agreed to be interviewed by China Cyberspace , a magazine founded and directed by the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) , that is the body of the People’s Republic of China that deals with regulating and (above all) censoring the web.
The interview is interesting in its own way: the billionaire spoke at length about sustainable energy, brain implants and space exploration. However, the hypocrisy did not go unnoticed: but how, Elon Musk is the champion of freedom of expression in America and then lends himself to bowing his head to the censors of an autocracy that systematically violates human rights? Well yes, considering that China has become one of Tesla’s most important markets and that the Shanghai Gigafactory recently assembled his one millionth car.
During the interview, Elon Musk reiterated that all his companies were founded with the aim of significantly improving people’s lives. An interview with Jing Xiandong, CEO of Ant Group, Alibaba’s digital payments platform, was also published in the same issue.
Although Musk did not indulge in comments or endorsements about China in the interview, the decision to collaborate with a government media – moreover the bulletin of one of the largest censors in the world – has divided the billionaire’s own fans, usually almost always. compact in defending every move of their favorite.