Thursday, August 18, 2022

Elon Musk Writes A Column For China's Online Censor Agency Mag

From Sky News, August 15: 

Elon Musk writes column for Chinese Communist Party online censor agency's magazine

The billionaire has described free speech as "the bedrock of a functioning democracy". The Chinese agency he wrote for is responsible for censoring online content.

Elon Musk, who has described himself as a "free speech absolutist", has written a magazine column for China's online censors.

In the column, Musk celebrates his own businesses - in particular SpaceX, Tesla and Neuralink - while setting what he says is "a better future for humanity".

It does not mention his conflict with Twitter, which is suing him after he backed out of a $44bn deal to buy the platform.

Musk initially said he wanted to buy Twitter because of how much he valued free speech - something which runs counter to the work of the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC), the country's online regulator.

The billionaire claimed he was invited by the magazine to contribute his "thoughts on the vision of technology and humanity", which included founding a self-sustaining city on Mars.

"Any area that contributes to a sustainable future is worthy of our investment," he wrote.

"Whether it's Tesla, Neuralink, or SpaceX, these companies were all founded with the ultimate goal of enhancing the future of human life and creating as much practical value for the world as possible....

....MUCH MORE

That must be the world's most boring magazine.  

I was hoping it was called "Platitudes" but it's China Cyberspace.

Here's China Media Project with the news of the CAC's rebrand of the magazine. 

And here is a dual-language translation of the column.