From Hearst to Murdoch, the power of “media moguls” has posed a challenge for governments since the birth of mass media. They have never confronted anyone quite like Elon Musk. The world’s richest man is both the owner of X and, with 194mn followers, the most-followed figure on the social media platform previously called Twitter, giving him a bully pulpit of extraordinary reach. Business interests spanning technology, manufacturing, space and defence make him a figure many politicians are reluctant to tangle with. Yet recent weeks have highlighted the pitfalls of such a concentration of influence in this “free speech absolutist”.
從赫斯特到默多克，自大眾傳媒誕生以來，“媒體大亨”的權力就對政府構成了挑戰。但他們此前從來沒有遇到過像埃隆?馬斯克這樣的人。這位全球首富既是社交平臺X的所有者，還擁有1.94億粉絲，是這個之前被稱為Twitter的社交媒體平臺上粉絲最多的人，這讓他擁有了一個影響力非凡的講壇。橫跨科技、制造業、太空和國防領域的商業利益使他成為許多政治人士不愿與之糾纏的人物。然而，最近幾周突顯出影響力集中在這位“言論自由絕對主義者”身上的隱患。