Elon Musk vows to pay for X users to sue their boss if they are ‘unfairly treated’ by their employer for posting or liking something on the social media site
- Musk continues his efforts to make X (formerly Twitter) a place for free speech
- READ MORE: Why is Twitter ‘X’ now? Fans fume after Elon Musk rolls out rebrand
Elon Musk has promised to foot the bill for anyone who has been ‘unfairly treated’ by their employer for liking posts on X (formerly known as Twitter).
The billionaire said there will be ‘no limit’ to how much monetary legal aid his firm will provide, even though the platform is said to be still struggling financially.
It’s unclear how affected people can appeal for assistance or claim their money, although some have stated their interest by replying to Musk’s post.
Musk took over Twitter in October and has just changed its name to X as part of plans to turn it into what he’s described as an ‘everything’ app.
A shiny ‘X’ logo was installed at the platform’s headquarters in San Francisco before being removed due to complaints from local residents.
It’s not clear how users who are embroiled in legal action with former employer can claim their money
Elon Musk (pictured) took over Twitter in October and has just changed the social network’s name to X
READ MORE: Why is Twitter ‘X’ now? Fans fume after Elon Musk rolls out rebrand
The Twitter app is official X as of this weekend – and millions of users are fuming over the change
Musk made the statement in a post – formerly known as a tweet – on Sunday that got more than 100 million views.
‘If you were unfairly treated by your employer due to posting or liking something on this platform, we will fund your legal bill,’ Musk said.
‘No limit. Please let us know.’
Many times people have been fired for liking or otherwise appearing to endorse a tweet by liking or retweeting it, or an account just by following it.
One example is US video game employee Kara Lynne, who was fired by Limited Run Games for ‘following transphobic accounts’ and ‘voicing excitement over Harry Potter game’.
Lynne – whose termination was triggered by a complaint from trans activist Jessica Blank – was tagged in Musk’s post and before he replied by asking her for more details.
Another example is Sasha White, a literary assistant agent from New York, who said she’d been fired by The Tobias Literary Agency after retweeting a comment about trans women.
Musk has a habit of making outlandish promises that don’t come to fruition, so it’s worth taking this one with a grain of salt.
As the owner of Tesla, he’s garnered a reputation for optimistic release schedules that come and go without any sign of the product, including the Cybertruck.
But the notion of giving financial aid to people who have been affected in similar fashion will be applauded by many who argue in favour of free speech.
A shiny ‘X’ logo was installed at the platform’s headquarters in San Francisco before being removed due to complaints from local residents
Elon Musk’s broken promises
2013: As Tesla owner, Musk said ‘supercharging is and always will be’ – but went back on this a few years later
2017: Musk said full self-driving Tesla cars will be ready in six months – but ‘full self-driving’ software upgrades came four years later
2019: Tesla unveils Cybertruck which is said to be released in 2021 – but the first one for customers wasn’t even manufactured until July 2023
2021: As SpaceX CEO, Musk predicted his Starship would go into orbit in January 2022 – but the first (failed) orbital launch didn’t happen until April 2023
Musk has repeatedly cited a desire for free speech on the social media platform and has reinstated the accounts of figures who were banned under the old ownership.
In December, Musk reinstated former US president Donald Trump’s Twitter account, although Trump has yet to use the platform again.
The ex-president was banned from Twitter in early 2021 for his role in the January 6 attack on the US Capitol by a group of his supporters seeking to overturn the results of the 2020 election.
X recently reinstated rapper and designer Kanye West around eight months after his account was suspended, according to media reports.
Last year, West, who now goes professionally by Ye, posted an image that appeared to show a swastika interlaced with a Star of David, and Musk suspended the artist from the platform.
Musk has granted a reprieve to banned accounts as he envisions X.com as ‘a trusted digital town square’ where a wide range of views are ‘tolerated provided people don’t break the law or spam’.
Despite this, Musk does threaten legal action against owners of accounts that have tweeted things that he doesn’t agree with.
Musk is currently suing British nonprofit organisation the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH), which has alleged hate speech has flourished at the platform since he took over.
In December, Musk reinstated former US president Donald Trump’s Twitter account, although Trump has yet to use the platform again and prefers Truth Social, a platform the ex-president founded. Truth Social (pictured) looks rather a lot like X (formerly Twitter)
The entrepreneur has accused the CCDH of generating ‘flawed’ studies that have cost the tycoon’s tech firm tens of millions of dollars, a copy of the lawsuit showed.
Also this weekend, Musk said his alleged cage fight with Meta boss Mark Zuckerberg will be streamed on X with ‘all proceeds going to charity’.
Talks of a fight between the two have escalated in the last few months since Zuckerberg released Threads, a rival social network that looks a lot like X.
Talks of ‘cage fight’ escalate between Mark Zuckerberg and rival Elon Musk
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Twitter owner Elon Musk may be about to engage in a ‘cage fight’ to settle the long-running feud that has mostly played out online.
It all started near the end of June when Musk was commenting about Meta’s plans to release Threads, a rival social media app.
Musk said of Threads: ‘I’m sure Earth can’t wait to be exclusively under Zuck’s thumb with no other options.’
Musk was then told that the Meta CEO practices jiu jitsu, to which he replied: ‘I’m up for a cage match if he is lol.’
The Twitter boss later tweeted: ‘If this is for real, I will do it.’
Zuckerberg replied by posting a screenshot of Musk’s tweet to his Instagram story with the caption: ‘Send me location.’
Mark Zuckerberg seemed to agree to the cage fight, simply posting the words ‘send me location’ on his Instagram story
The Colosseum in Rome has been offered as a potential venue for the fight by the Italian Minister of Culture, according to reports.
Zuckerberg’s company seemed to take a dig at Twitter by saying Threads will be ‘sanely-run’.
Musk has urged Twitter users to delete their Facebook accounts, calling the social network ‘lame’ in the past.
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