5 ms·

Elon Musk deletes post spreading fake news about UK 'detainment camps'

33 points by hn1986 2y ago

snowpid 2y ago
Musk regularly interacts with far - right extremists across Europe. While he can speak English, it is not a surprise to interact with British ones. What is more surprising he also interacts with German ones (while not able to speak the language, yet to understand German culture or society). It is very ironic that far right extremists organise themself globally (or earlier on European level like identarian movement https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Identitarian_movement https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Identitarian_movement )
- alephnerd 2y ago
  I always wondered how much of his worldview is influenced by his childhood in South Africa and the diaspora. Him and David Sacks are both products of the the 1980s, when plenty of wealthy and educated White South Africans began leaving due to the Sanctions regime, but continued to hold onto regressive views about race, especially exacerbated by the instability of the 1990s.
- trallnag 2y ago
  Why is it ironic? Racism and right wing extremism comes in many shapes and colors. Some want to make Poland Germany again, others what to keep non-Europeans out of Europe with all means necessary
  - acdha 2y ago
    I agree. Ironic isn’t the right term because while these groups are often tied to different national identities, they often share white nationalism, conservative Christianity, etc. and have been able to agree on a common set of enemies. This would fall apart quickly if they had to govern together but it’s fairly effective until they run out of enemies.
  - snowpid 2y ago
    " Some want to make Poland Germany again, " This is a very fringe view in German politics, almost non existing. " what to keep non-Europeans out of Europe with all means necessary " I guess thats far more popular.
    - AnonymousPlanet 2y ago
      If the sentiment that regions beyond the Oder-Neiße are part of Germany is fringe, why label Sachsen, Thüringen and Sachsen-Anhalt as Mitteldeutschland? Why is there a Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk (MDR) but not an Ostdeutscher Rundfunk, as an analog to NDR, WDR, SDR? It's territory can hardly be seen as the middle of Germany. If you hold the belief that Schlesien is a part of Germany, however, that label suddenly makes sense.
      - snowpid 2y ago
        Yes ans that is the greatest reminiscence and given you couldn't name any politician I guess everybody sees how fringe it is. Most Germans aren't aware of the German speaking minority in Silisea.
      - ttepasse 2y ago
        The term Mitteldeutschland has a far longer history going back to the 19th century - to define a different collection of region between the big Northern Germany (then prussian dominated) and Southern Germany (then Bavarian and partially Austrian dominated). I'm not sure if it was wise to keep using it because of misunderstandings like yours, but there seem to a form of mitteldeutscher identity. And what is called Ostdeutschland ist not just MDR but also RBB and NDR. Take a look at the map: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datei:ARD_Karte.svg https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datei:ARD_Karte.svg
- rsynnott 2y ago
  > It is very ironic that far right extremists organise themself globally The one that’s baffling to me is the Irish far-right movement, which is essentially a satellite movement of the British one (to the point where one of their propaganda rags, “The Irish Light” is literally a localised version of a British one called “The Light”). Given the history between the UK and Ireland, and the general attitude of the British far-right to Ireland, this is all just bizarre. While there are a couple of Ireland-and-Northern-Ireland political parties, the far right is the only truly integrated political movement between Ireland and the UK as a whole. The whole thing is very odd. It’s er, not where you’d normally expect internationalism.
Daunk 2y ago
Not trying to be rude, just curious—why are people so obsessed with Elon Musk, whether positively or negatively? I don't see this kind of attention given to figures like Jeff Bezos, Tim Cook, or Warren Buffett.
- naich 2y ago
  They don't continuously prove that they are huge gaping arseholes with the intellect of a mollusc like he does.
  - sunaookami 2y ago
    So just like Hacker News users? ;)
- Zigurd 2y ago
  Bezos is very far from sainthood, but he is also not nearly as interesting. I make tiktoks about project management and management in general. Elon's loud management-by-exhortation style is a vivid lesson in how not to do it. There is a fascinating contrast between his successes, like Model 3, and subsequent failures in which he stopped listening and, apparently, started telling people around him to just make it work, as in Cybertruck. I've also covered how the 787 project and the Boeing CEOs of that time are the origin of a lot of Boeing's trouble today, and how Jack Welch was an epic bullshitter, but Elon puts them in the shade for the number of fascinating examples. What's interesting about Tim Cook is how he can make large bets, lose some of them, like the Apple Car, and not create drama, but it's not as interesting as dead chimps and useless holes.
- HellDunkel 2y ago
  I guess its bc he is so two-faced many see his actions almost as an act of betrayal.
- rsynnott 2y ago
  I mean, Bezos, Cook and Buffett rarely uncritically spread far-right propaganda, so there’s that. Like “why don’t people give attention to these people for doing a thing they don’t do” is a weird take.
kjkdh 2y ago
"The fake piece, purportedly written by a senior news reporter for the Telegraph and mocked up in the newspaper’s style, said camps in the Falklands “would be used to detain prisoners from the ongoing riots as the British prison system is already at capacity”." So, where is this fake article in the style of the Telegraph? Was it clearly satire? Or did it look authentic? The most important piece is missing. Poor journalism.
- gipp 2y ago
  Seems obvious they wouldn't want to provide further visibility to it. In the interest of journalism.
- jncfhnb 2y ago
  It was obviously not satire
- ZeroGravitas 2y ago
  There's two screenshots of it embedded in tweets in the article.
- rsynnott 2y ago
  Look, I realise it is tradition, on this here website, not to actually read the article, but in this case you, er, apparently read a bit of it but ignored the screenshot of the offending tweet, complete with fake news piece? Like, come on. EDIT: Though, actually, the thing you quote doesn’t appear in the article at all. Are you commenting on the wrong article or something?

33 points by hn1986 2y ago

Musk regularly interacts with far - right extremists across Europe. While he can speak English, it is not a surprise to interact with British ones. What is more surprising he also interacts with German ones (while not able to speak the language, yet to understand German culture or society). It is very ironic that far right extremists organise themself globally (or earlier on European level like identarian movement https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Identitarian_movement https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Identitarian_movement )

alephnerd 2y ago
I always wondered how much of his worldview is influenced by his childhood in South Africa and the diaspora. Him and David Sacks are both products of the the 1980s, when plenty of wealthy and educated White South Africans began leaving due to the Sanctions regime, but continued to hold onto regressive views about race, especially exacerbated by the instability of the 1990s.
trallnag 2y ago
Why is it ironic? Racism and right wing extremism comes in many shapes and colors. Some want to make Poland Germany again, others what to keep non-Europeans out of Europe with all means necessary
- acdha 2y ago
  I agree. Ironic isn’t the right term because while these groups are often tied to different national identities, they often share white nationalism, conservative Christianity, etc. and have been able to agree on a common set of enemies. This would fall apart quickly if they had to govern together but it’s fairly effective until they run out of enemies.
- snowpid 2y ago
  " Some want to make Poland Germany again, " This is a very fringe view in German politics, almost non existing. " what to keep non-Europeans out of Europe with all means necessary " I guess thats far more popular.
  - AnonymousPlanet 2y ago
    If the sentiment that regions beyond the Oder-Neiße are part of Germany is fringe, why label Sachsen, Thüringen and Sachsen-Anhalt as Mitteldeutschland? Why is there a Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk (MDR) but not an Ostdeutscher Rundfunk, as an analog to NDR, WDR, SDR? It's territory can hardly be seen as the middle of Germany. If you hold the belief that Schlesien is a part of Germany, however, that label suddenly makes sense.
    - snowpid 2y ago
      Yes ans that is the greatest reminiscence and given you couldn't name any politician I guess everybody sees how fringe it is. Most Germans aren't aware of the German speaking minority in Silisea.
    - ttepasse 2y ago
      The term Mitteldeutschland has a far longer history going back to the 19th century - to define a different collection of region between the big Northern Germany (then prussian dominated) and Southern Germany (then Bavarian and partially Austrian dominated). I'm not sure if it was wise to keep using it because of misunderstandings like yours, but there seem to a form of mitteldeutscher identity. And what is called Ostdeutschland ist not just MDR but also RBB and NDR. Take a look at the map: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datei:ARD_Karte.svg https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datei:ARD_Karte.svg
rsynnott 2y ago
> It is very ironic that far right extremists organise themself globally The one that’s baffling to me is the Irish far-right movement, which is essentially a satellite movement of the British one (to the point where one of their propaganda rags, “The Irish Light” is literally a localised version of a British one called “The Light”). Given the history between the UK and Ireland, and the general attitude of the British far-right to Ireland, this is all just bizarre. While there are a couple of Ireland-and-Northern-Ireland political parties, the far right is the only truly integrated political movement between Ireland and the UK as a whole. The whole thing is very odd. It’s er, not where you’d normally expect internationalism.

Daunk 2y ago

Not trying to be rude, just curious—why are people so obsessed with Elon Musk, whether positively or negatively? I don't see this kind of attention given to figures like Jeff Bezos, Tim Cook, or Warren Buffett.

naich 2y ago
They don't continuously prove that they are huge gaping arseholes with the intellect of a mollusc like he does.
- sunaookami 2y ago
  So just like Hacker News users? ;)
Zigurd 2y ago
Bezos is very far from sainthood, but he is also not nearly as interesting. I make tiktoks about project management and management in general. Elon's loud management-by-exhortation style is a vivid lesson in how not to do it. There is a fascinating contrast between his successes, like Model 3, and subsequent failures in which he stopped listening and, apparently, started telling people around him to just make it work, as in Cybertruck. I've also covered how the 787 project and the Boeing CEOs of that time are the origin of a lot of Boeing's trouble today, and how Jack Welch was an epic bullshitter, but Elon puts them in the shade for the number of fascinating examples. What's interesting about Tim Cook is how he can make large bets, lose some of them, like the Apple Car, and not create drama, but it's not as interesting as dead chimps and useless holes.
HellDunkel 2y ago
I guess its bc he is so two-faced many see his actions almost as an act of betrayal.
rsynnott 2y ago
I mean, Bezos, Cook and Buffett rarely uncritically spread far-right propaganda, so there’s that. Like “why don’t people give attention to these people for doing a thing they don’t do” is a weird take.

kjkdh 2y ago

"The fake piece, purportedly written by a senior news reporter for the Telegraph and mocked up in the newspaper’s style, said camps in the Falklands “would be used to detain prisoners from the ongoing riots as the British prison system is already at capacity”." So, where is this fake article in the style of the Telegraph? Was it clearly satire? Or did it look authentic? The most important piece is missing. Poor journalism.

gipp 2y ago
Seems obvious they wouldn't want to provide further visibility to it. In the interest of journalism.
jncfhnb 2y ago
It was obviously not satire
ZeroGravitas 2y ago
There's two screenshots of it embedded in tweets in the article.
rsynnott 2y ago
Look, I realise it is tradition, on this here website, not to actually read the article, but in this case you, er, apparently read a bit of it but ignored the screenshot of the offending tweet, complete with fake news piece? Like, come on. EDIT: Though, actually, the thing you quote doesn’t appear in the article at all. Are you commenting on the wrong article or something?