TESLA’S ELON MUSK POSTPONES INDIA TRIP, SOURCES SAY

Sat 20 April 2024:

Tesla chief Elon Musk has postponed a planned trip to India where he was to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday and announce plans to enter the South Asian market, three people familiar with the matter said on Saturday.

Reuters could not immediately determine why Musk postponed the trip. Tesla and Modi’s office did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

After Reuters reported his India trip plans on April 10, the CEO posted on X, “Looking forward to meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in India!”.

Elon Musk’s engagement with free speech

Musk’s visit to India, coinciding with ongoing general elections, could be viewed in light of the X (formerly Twitter) founder’s compliance with government takedown orders, despite previously promising greater free speech and less political intervention. This, despite the fact that he styles himself as a free speech warrior.

For instance, as per The Guardian, “he [Musk] will defend someone’s right to use transphobic and ableist language online to the very end but God forbid anyone should exercise their freedom of speech to say anything bad about him! The thin-skinned billionaire has forced employees to sign restrictive non-disparagement agreements and Twitter has been accused of suspending the accounts of journalists who have covered the platform. There are also claims that the platform has censored Palestinian public figures and suspended accounts which have been critical of Israel’s war on Gaza.”

According to Rest of World, which accessed the company’s self-reported data, Twitter received 971 government and court requests from October 27, 2022 to April 27, 2023.

“Most alarmingly, Twitter’s self-reports do not show a single request in which the company refused to comply, as it had done several times before the Musk takeover,” Rest of World said.

India made 50 requests, according to Rest of World, which was the third-highest. Only Turkey (491) and Germany (255) made more requests.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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