Elon Musk sure loves conspiracy theories. The owner of the largest social media platform has fallen time and again for nonsense. Indeed, soon after buying Twitter, he shared some bunk about the attack on Nancy Pelosi’s husband Paul. He’s even been sued for proliferating bull that has harmed people. Now it’s happening again.
As per The Daily Beast, Ben Brody, a recent college graduate, is suing Musk for defamation after Musk amplified a baseless conspiracy theory that he was one of the members of the extremist group Rose City Nationalists who was unmasked while protesting an Oregon City Pride event. Brody wasn’t anywhere near there. He even had receipts, showing that he was buying drinks in California at the time of the protest.
But even proof didn’t stop Musk — who had repeated a claim from a far right Twitter account that Brody was simply posing as a RCN member, that he might be antifa, and that the whole affair might have been a “false flag situation” — from continuing to post about the incident. At one point he replied to a tweet about it, writing, “always remove their masks.”
Now Musk is getting sued for defamation, again. In the lawsuit, Brody’s attorney’s write that this is “yet another example of Elon Musk’s serial pattern of slander.” It also argued that Musk “has been personally using the platform to spread false statements on a consistent basis while propping up and amplifying the most reprehensible elements of conspiracy-addled Twitter.”
The lawsuit also states that when Brody was hit with the erroneous accusations, he “felt like his life was over.” He also worries the stink of a false allegation will stick with him. “Ben worries that future employers may decide that it’s simply not worth it to hire an employee in a public-facing position who is connected to a bizarre controversy involving a neo-Nazi group.”
The previous time Musk was sued for defamation was in 2018, when Musk baselessly accused a diver who helped rescue 12 boys trapped in a Thai cave — an actual hero whose exploits were turned into a Ron Howard movie — a “pedo guy.” When called out on it, Musk wrote, “Bet ya a signed dollar it’s true.” The lawsuit, which found the defendant represented by, of all people, future 2020 election conspiracy theorist Lin Wood, ended with Musk triumphant. Perhaps this time will be different.
(Via The Daily Beast)