Musk declared he would work in Donald Trump’s administration and supported him for president.
Elon Musk was “out of control,” according to former Labor Secretary Robert Reich, who worked under President Bill Clinton. In a commentary that was published on Friday, Reich claimed Musk needed to be restrained.
He could be the world’s richest guy. He may be the owner of one of the most important social media networks in the world. However, that doesn’t mean we can’t stop him,” Reich said, offering a list of six actions individuals may take to restrain Musk.
Reich called Musk’s 2022 acquisition of Twitter—now known as X—”dangerous nonsense.” It was “just about power,” he said, not free expression, that motivated Musk’s acquisition.
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“Regulators around the world should threaten Musk with arrest if he doesn’t stop disseminating lies and hate on X,” Reich continued, urging people to boycott Tesla and X.
Reich used the arrest of Telegram CEO Pavel Durov in France as evidence that international regulators may already be contemplating threatening to arrest Musk.
As a result of a comprehensive investigation launched earlier this year, Durov was taken into custody at Le Bourget airport south of Paris last week. Prosecutors in France said he permitted illicit activities on the chat service, and courts imposed a 5 million euro bail on him. Durov is accused of allowing drug trafficking and child sex abuse materials to be distributed on his network, and Telegram has been accused of withholding information and documentation from authorities when required by law.
“In the United States, the Federal Trade Commission should demand that Musk take down lies that are likely to endanger individuals – and if he does not, sue him under Section Five of the FTC Act,” Reich said. “Musk’s free-speech rights under the first amendment don’t take precedence over the public interest.”
Additionally, the former labor secretary recommended that the US government end its agreements with Musk’s Space X.
“Considering that Musk has demonstrated complete contempt for the public interest, why is the US government allowing his satellites and rocket launchers to become essential to the country’s security?” He added, “Why give Musk more economic power when he consistently misuses it and shows disdain for the common good?”
Reich concluded by advising Americans to “ensure Musk’s preferred candidate for president is not elected.”
