Elon Musk mentioned he’s “responsible of many self-inflicted wounds” whereas being questioned in a lawsuit accusing him of selling a conspiracy concept falsely figuring out a California man as a federal agent posing as a neo-Nazi road brawler.
However the billionaire additionally mentioned he didn’t suppose he had “meaningfully harmed” the Jewish 22-year-old who sued him for defamation.
“There’s some threat that what I say is wrong, however one has to stability that in opposition to having a chilling impact on free speech generally, which might undermine your entire basis of our democracy,” Musk mentioned in a sworn deposition that was made public Monday regardless of his lawyer’s request that it stay confidential.
Musk was sued in Texas state courtroom in October by Ben Brody after endorsing a social media put up that in contrast an Instagram profile of Brody to a photograph of a White supremacist who violently clashed with the Proud Boys in Portland, Oregon, whereas each teams had been protesting a Delight occasion within the metropolis.
Web personalities cited the profile, which recognized Brody as a College of California, Riverside, political science main who deliberate to work for the federal government, in claiming that the road brawl was engineered by the authorities to discredit right-wing teams. Related “false flag” claims have been propagated in regards to the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot in addition to plenty of mass shootings.
Brody mentioned in his swimsuit that he and his household suffered a wave of harassment by “belligerent strangers” apparently motivated by Musk’s statements. He mentioned he additionally feared long-term profession penalties.
Whereas Musk’s commentary on social media has landed him in courtroom earlier than, it’s the primary time he’s been sued for defamation since shopping for Twitter in 2022 for $44 billion and rebranding it as X.
Musk mentioned within the March 27 deposition that he didn’t know Brody, nor did he have any ailing will towards him.
“My objective is just to have the X platform be the perfect supply of reality on the web,” he advised Brody’s lawyer, Mark Bankston, in response to a 115-page transcript. “And whenever you strive to determine the reality of issues, you — there’s a debate. That debate, you understand, goes by hook or by crook, however it’s a vigorous debate.”
At one other level within the questioning, Musk let on that he’s typically his personal worst enemy.
Bankston requested him about telling his biographer, Walter Isaacson, that “I’ve shot myself within the foot so usually, I ought to purchase some Kevlar boots.”
“Would you say that as of final summer time that you simply knew that you simply had had some difficulties restraining your impulses on Twitter?” the lawyer requested.
“I might say that I — you understand, I’m responsible of many self-inflicted wounds,” Musk mentioned.
