Imagine a television series where in the near future a megalomaniac trillionaire took control over a major social network so he could influence consumer purchases, lifestyles, and elections; where his artificial intelligence initiative teaches people what to think; where his immense wealth finances syncopates for public office; where information from his satellite network foments wars and picks victors; where his private spacecraft fleet decrees what can be placed into planetary orbit; where his power stations only recharge electric vehicles produced by his company and block access to his competitors; where his cryptocurrency threatens to bankrupt any country that defies him; where underground roads built by his tunneling company determine who has access to cities; and where he ignores laws and blackmail governments and corporations, bending them to his will, and cementing his control over the Earth. We could call the television series: Musk.
The United States government and the American people must act before this science fiction dystopia because reality. If elected, Donald Trump plans to make Elon Musk, the owner of Tesla and SpaceX, the head of a “government efficiency commission” that would decide which government programs and corporate and environmental regulations would be eliminated.
As a sign of what could happen here, Musk is embattled with Brazilian courts that blocked X because it is being used to spread disinformation by rightwing supporters of former President Jair Bolsonaro. Musk is attempting an end-around court orders using his Starlink system to provide illegal access to X.
Musk’s control over Starlink, a wholly owned subsidy of his SpaceX corporation, may be his most important and potentially dangerous venture. Starlink consists of thousands of small satellites in low Earth orbit. They provide internet connectivity, cellular service, and can be used for global positioning. Starlink includes a military component, StarShield, that the United States military is heavily dependent upon for global communication and the guidance of drones and artillery. In the Russo-Ukrainian war it is used by Ukraine to counter Russian advances. Ukraine has also accused Russia of also using Starlink services to facilitate its operations that it obtains through an ally. Starlink has been used to coordinate opposition protests in Iran. Musk has not permitted its services to be used to repel Israeli attacks in Gaza.
Some attempts are being made to reign in social media. The European Union adopted stringent rules to protect user privacy, to stop tech media giants from imposing unfair conditions on businesses and consumers, to force companies to block hate speech and terrorist propaganda, and to end cyberbullying and online harassment. Regulations also prevent X (formerly Twitter), Facebook, and Instagram, from political interference by restricting or deleting independent media content. TikTok, Alphabet (Google), Apple (iPhone), and Meta (Facebook) are all under investigation. Google has already been found guilty of antitrust activities and has been fined almost $9 billion. Apple was fined $2 billion for interfering with rival music streaming services attempting using enlist iPhones users. Meta was fined $1.3 billion for the illegal transfer of private data. The European Union has formally charged Musk and X with violating its social media policies by facilitating the dissemination of deceptive information by “malicious actors.” EU authorities warned Musk that X faces fines that could equal up to 6% of its global annual revenue of $5 billion or about $30 million. That case has not yet been resolved.
New York State passed legislation that prohibits online sites from “collecting, using, sharing or selling personal data of anyone under the age of 18.” Congress is debating legislation that protects user privacy and requires social media platforms to verify the age of uses and prevent children from accessing inappropriate material. But to avoid effective regulation, social media czars are donating huge sums to both Presidential tickets and political parties.
During a post-World War 1 strike wave in 1919, American workers and labor unions demanded nationalization of the country’s natural resources and its transportation system, which at the time was primarily railroads. It is time to raise that demand again before it is too late. Tesla recharging stations and X must be intensively regulated as public utilities and Starlink guidance systems and spacecraft should be taken over by the federal government, with or without compensation, as part of national defense. None of these can be trusted in Elon Musk’s hands.
