TED chief Chris Anderson on Tuesday penned an open letter addressing Tesla CEO Elon Musk criticising his recent posts on the social media platform X, stating that “he misses the old Elon.”
Anderson expressed concern that Musk, as the owner of X, is overlooking the “core tenets of journalism” and labeled the approach as “playground bullying” rather than citizen journalism,
“I miss the old Elon. You can be funny, interesting, insightful and inspiring.”
“Today I am worried — quite deeply worried, actually — that in your triumphant seizing of the global conversation, some of the core tenets of journalism are being forgotten. Without them, I think your efforts to make X the respected home of citizen journalism will fail,” he said in a post on X.
Whilst acknowledging various journalistic standards, Anderson highlighted the fairness doctrine as particularly significant and further continued that, “There are numerous journalistic principles that matter — Grok can summarize them quite nicely. But there’s one in particular that’s been troubling me. It’s the fairness doctrine. The one that says that before you publish savagely critical claims about an individual, or an institution, you reach out to them for their side of the story.”
Anderson warned of the potential risks posed by Musk’s posts, highlighting that some of his communications could put lives in danger. He also pointed out the contradiction between Musk’s calls for positivity on X and his own controversial content, suggesting that more thoughtful self-editing could improve the user experience.
“So, for example, when you tell hundreds of millions of people that someone should be hanged or jailed for outrageous crimes against humanity, just possibly you should first sound out what those who know those people really well would say about them. Some of your recent posts could literally get someone killed. Do you really want to risk that?” Anderson continued.
Musk, using X, posted numerous critiques and accusations targeting political leaders, particularly in the UK, Germany, and Canada.
He asserted that, “How is it possible that you can do this at the very same time that you’re calling on people to make X more positive, more beautiful? You say you want to maximize un-regretted user-seconds on X. By far the simplest way you could do this, Elon, is simply to thoughtfully edit what you yourself post.”
Anderson further highlighted that Musk was failing to adhere to the “fairness doctrine,” which requires reaching out to individuals or institutions for their side of the story before publishing critical claims.
While Anderson acknowledges that Musk is addressing significant and worthwhile issues, he criticized the approach as “playground bullying” rather than citizen journalism. “The way you are presenting them is not citizen journalism—it’s playground bullying.”
“It’s crass and it’s cruel, and it’s therefore not nearly as effective as it could be. You’re hearing the cheers of your most loyal followers, but missing the fact you’re making yourself a laughing stock among many who you really want on your side. Long-term that’s going to damage X, your other businesses, and indeed your long-term dreams for humanity. No one wants to follow a playground bully to Mars,” Anderson remarked.
“You’ve fought incredibly hard for what you’ve built. And you may feel you’re entitled to do whatever the hell you want with it. I also know that you understand the danger of holding too tightly to the ring of power, how it can distort someone’s judgement and turn them ugly,” he added.
