Tech entrepreneur Elon Musk, owner of the social media giant X, said Monday that media attempts to “cancel” him are driven by fear of competition in the news industry.
Musk appeared with Daily Wire Editor Emeritus Ben Shapiro at the European Jewish Association (EJA) conference in Krakow, Poland. Musk and Shapiro covered topics including anti-Semitism, free speech, and the social media age during a roughly hour-long discussion.
As the conversation hit on social media, Shapiro questioned Musk on what is behind numerous hit pieces that have targeted Musk in recent months, especially after his purchase of the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.
“The reality is that X is competition for the legacy media. X is where people go to get the most current news and learn about the world. So, the legacy media are our direct competitors, so they’re really going to find every angle to try to cancel X,” Musk responded.
Musk then suggested that X is soaking up market share from the traditional media and outcompeting older print and cable outlets for users’ attention.
“If you want to know why things are happening, look at the incentives, you know? Legacy media has had a tough time with respect to usage,” Musk said.
“The numbers I saw was that the sort of traditional print-cable television viewership went down something like 20-30% last year. On the other hand, X went up roughly the same, roughly 20-30%,” he continued. “It’s a direct competition for people’s attention. So, if there’s some attack they can levy against me, they will.”
.@elonmusk and @benshapiro discuss why the legacy media is threatened by @X: pic.twitter.com/oite5HCzJy
— Daily Wire (@realDailyWire) January 22, 2024
The focus of the EJA conference is the rise of anti-Semitism across Europe since the terror group Hamas invaded Israel on October 7, resulting in the murders of roughly 1,200 people and the capture of hundreds more. Shapiro and Musk noted that the Palestinian terror group and its backers in Gaza appear to have gained support in the West in the months since the attack.
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Shapiro praised Musk for his content moderation decisions regarding X. Under Musk’s guidance, the platform allowed Shapiro and others to post graphic footage from October 7 to allow others to see video and photos of Hamas’ brutality, Shapiro said. The decision has led to a better accounting of the attack and Israel’s war on Hamas in the public square.