Billionaire Elon Musk was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. His candidacy was put forward by Marius Nielsen, a member of the Norwegian Parliament, a representative of the conservative “Progress Party”, reports the Daily Mail.
He said he nominated Musk because of his “unwavering support for dialogue, freedom of speech and ensuring the opportunity to express one's views” in an “increasingly polarized world.”
Nielsen also praised Musk for providing Starlink satellite Internet to Ukrainian soldiers after the Russian invasion began.
What is important to know?
The Nobel Prize accepts nominations from anyone who meets certain criteria, including working in academia or government, as well as past laureates. By March, a short list of nominees will be formed, which will be reviewed by the judges and the winner will be announced in October.
In 2020, another Norwegian parliamentarian from the “Progress Party” nominated Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize. This party is described as supporters of “conservative liberalism” and “right-wing populism”.
Although Elon Musk is known for his progressive ideas and innovations, his activities are accompanied by a number of controversial actions. He pays lip service to free speech, but his actions are aimed at silencing critics. He repeatedly tried to pressure those who investigated or criticized his business or actions.
X: In late 2022, Musk bought Twitter for $44 billion to ensure unfettered free speech and fired a large staff of content moderators. One of its first steps was to unblock the accounts of former US President Donald Trump, conspiracy theorist Alex Jones and the satirical news site Babylon Bee, which spread misinformation and hate speech. which social network X fails to moderate content for misinformation, anti-Semitism, Islamophobia and other manifestations of hate speech. X filed a lawsuit against CCDH, accusing the organization of “unlawful actions” during its investigation of the platform. Advertiser flight: Media Matters for America published an analysis that claimed that the X platform allowed ads to appear next to anti-Semitic and pro-Nazi posts that the social network did not block due to problems with moderation. After that, companies such as Apple, Disney, IBM and Comcast suspended advertising on the platform, and Musk's social network filed a “thermonuclear lawsuit” against the group. Anti-Semitism: Musk himself regularly posts controversial statements to his nearly 174 million followers. One of the loudest when he expressed support for an anti-Semitic post, which also caused advertisers to flee. Later, although Musk apologized, he also obscenely scolded advertisers who refuse to advertise on X. Pro-Russian narrative: Musk also promotes pro-Russian theses in his social networks. In 2022, he proposed his “peace plan”, which involved Ukraine's relinquishment of its territories that were occupied by Russia. drones and coordinate attacks. On the other hand, Ukrainian intelligence has released evidence that the Russian military is buying Starlink terminals through Arab countries to circumvent Western sanctions. However, Musk himself and SpaceX categorically denied any contact with the Russian government or military regarding Starlink.