In today's #vatniksoup, I'll introduce a South African-American(!) businessman and social media figure, Elon Musk (@elonmusk). He's best-known for being the wealthiest man in the world, running Tesla Inc., SpaceX & Twitter, and for parroting Kremlin's propaganda narratives.
1/24
Let's start with the obvious: Elon's tweets have enormous effect on Twitter & his tweets have a big audience. Every tweet he likes or comments gets a huge boost in the algorithm & is then shown to tens of millions of people.Some have called his replies a "stamp of approval".
2/24
He's promised to make Twitter the "most accurate source of information about the world," but strangely he's flirted with various conspiracy theories throughout the years. Among other things, he's denied the white supremacist background of a mass shooter, spread COVID-19...
3/24
...misinformation and parroted George Soros related conspiracy theories. A lot of Elon's views on various topics may actually come from other people. His ex-wife, @TalulahRiley called for unbanning of @TheBabylonBee, his friend @joerogan had previously called for a social...
4/24
..media platform that works like a "marketplace of ideas" - a philosophy where the "best" ideas from the likes of alleged human trafficker/rapist @cobratate & QAnon-affiliated @RepMTG rise to the top - & said that Musk should "liberate Twitter from the censorship happy mob".
5/24
When it comes to war,he seems to mostly listen to @davidsacks, among a few other disinformation peddlers. In Oct 2022, Musk tweeted about "Ukraine-Russia Peace", calling for UN-supervised elections in the annexed areas. He also stated that Crimea would remain part of Russia.
6/24
He then warned about escalation and the threat of nuclear war. A very similar peace plan was suggested by his "war room" buddy @davidsacks just week before Musk's tweet. He later backtracked, polling whether the people in Donbas & Crimea should "decide whether they want...
7/24
...to be part of Russia or Ukraine" - which they did already in 1991 as you can see from this Independence Referendum voting map.
In Jun 2023, @davidsacks blessed us with another long tweet, condemning the Ukrainian counteroffensive as a failure, while at the same time...
8/24
...praising Mearsheimer's realpolitik garbage. Musk commended his old friend's post, stating that it was "Well said."
Elon has also discredited @bellingcat, one of the biggest investigative groups fighting Russian disinformation, calling them a "psyop".
9/24
Bellingcat has exposed loads of Russian atrocities, including the down shooting of MH17, the identity of Russia's drone operators, and the Skripal poisonings.
For this, it has become number one target of defamation by the pro-Kremlin propagandists like @aaronjmate.
10/24
After Twitter introduced subscription service, one of Elon's first subscriptions on Twitter was @KanekoaTheGreat, a QAnon-affiliated conspiracy theorist known for pushing Kremlin narratives about Ukraine, especially about the country's ethnic "division".
11/24
He's also attended civil discussions on Twitter Spaces with pro-Kremlin propagandists like @KimDotcom and @stillgray. Incidentally, these Spaces rarely offer any real discussion, but are rather back-patting exercises of people who mostly agree with each other.
12/24
Musk has strongly promoted one of the biggest liars and Putin cheerleaders in the US media, Tucker Carlson. In the first episode of his new "show" on Twitter, Carlson implied that the Kakhovka Dam was destroyed by the Ukrainians without offering any solid proof.
13/24
These narratives are heavily promoted by Musk and his Twitter platform, promoting Russia's biggest adversaries as "psyops" and Ukraine as a corrupt nation ruled by far-right militias. As you know by now, they come directly from the Kremlin propaganda playbook.
14/24
Of course all this has been used for propaganda purposes by Russia, and these days Elon appears often on RT's headlines allegedly agreeing that the Ukrainian counterattack is failing and the 2014 Revolution of Dignity was a coup.
15/24
Elon has called himself a "politically moderate",but in 2022 clearly chose a side,saying that he could "no longer support" the Democrats due to their politics & encouraged people to vote Republicans in the midterms.DeSantis announced his run for presidency on Twitter Spaces.16/24
For some, Twitter has become more "free speech". But for others, not so much: On 13 Jun 2023, Musk-led Twitter suspended the Twitter account of Aaron Greenspan, a critic of both Tesla and Musk. His project, PlainSite, that shares court filings for free was also suspended.
17/24
Musk has removed plenty of barriers to slow down the spread of disinformation,including EU's voluntary Code of Practice against disinformation. At the same time, he's complied to censorship requests from Indian and Turkish ruling parties by removing and restricting content.
18/24
To conclude: Why is Musk pushing, among other things, the peace plan where Ukraine would lose a lot? My theory is that the war is bad for business. His businesses require a lot of raw materials, and both Russia & China are in the top 3 of the biggest raw material producers.
19/24
Tesla Inc.'s conflict mineral report from 2022 reveals that Russia (as well as China) is a country of origin for their gold, tantalum, tin and tungsten. Tesla has also been buying aluminum from Rusal since 2020. Rusal was founded by Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska and it...
20/24
...accounts for almost 9% of the world's aluminum output. He was sanctioned by the Trump administration in Apr 2018 for alleged illegal wiretapping, extortion and racketeering, and he also allegedly ordered a murder of a businessman. The sanctions were later watered down...
21/24
...Trump and co. as they would "disrupt the aluminum markets" and Deripaska intended to invest 200 million USD in a Kentucky aluminum mill, but this plan eventually failed.
But business is business, even when it comes from a Russian oligarch, and I'm sure Elon knows this.
22/24
It would probably be impossible or extremely expensive to produce cars, rockets and other technology without the raw materials from Russia or China, and the US sanctions imposed on the former have probably already made it more difficult.
23/24
Maybe Elon just doesn't want to bite the hand that feeds his companies?I'm sure his lobbying power in the US will keep his businesses going even after his "anti-establishment" hot takes,but we will probably never see him criticizing the likes of Russia, CCP or Saudi Arabia.
24/24
In today’s Vatnik Soup REBREW, I’ll introduce a Russian ultra-nationalist propagandist and “philosopher”, Aleksandr Dugin. He’s best-known for his blueprint on Russia’s geopolitical strategy and for his genocidal rhetoric towards Ukrainians.
1/17
In my first Dugin Soup, I covered the man’s 1997 book Foundations of Geopolitics — a manual for dismantling the West, breaking up NATO, and building a Russian-led empire. In it, he makes eerie “predictions” that seem to be playing out today.
2/17
Dugin called for destabilizing the US by exacerbating internal divisions. Fast forward to today: culture wars, conspiracy theories, far-right lunatics, and social media algorithms doing half the work for him.
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll introduce Russian propagandist Sergei Tsaulin. He’s best-known for spreading pro-Kremlin narratives in Estonia, fleeing to Russia after breaking several laws in Estonia, and almost getting blown up by a bomb in St. Petersburg.
1/17
For years, Tsaulin was known for organizing marches and events glorifying the Soviet Union. Under the excuse of “remembering history,” these events were nothing more than Kremlin propaganda, wrapped in a red flag with a hammer and sickle.
2/17
One of his most infamous events was the “Immortal Regiment” march, held every 9th of May, where people carried portraits of Soviet soldiers. These marches are used by Russia to push the idea that the Baltics owe their existence to the Soviets.
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll introduce a podcaster and conspiracy theorist, Joe Rogan (@joerogan). He’s best-known for launching the biggest podcast in the world, promoting various conspiracy theories, his support for Donald Trump and his anti-Ukraine rhetoric.
1/22
Joe Rogan started as a stand-up comedian in the 1980s, found fame on NewsRadio, and became a household name with Fear Factor. But his biggest impact came in 2009 when he launched The Joe Rogan Experience (JRE), one of the first major podcasts.
2/22
JRE started as casual but deep conversations, often covering countercultural topics like psychedelics, MMA & hunting. Joe’s podcasting style is largely non-confrontational, often allowing his guests to share their views without significant pushback or critical questioning.
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll introduce KOOS party leader and Estonian crypto businessman Oleg Ivanov. He’s best known for running shady businesses, spreading Russian false narratives in Estonia, and participating in the pro-Kremlin political party KOOS.
1/18
As a talented youngster, Oleg learned Estonian almost flawlessly, was a promising karate athlete, and landed a job at a law firm at just 20. He caught the eye of Estonian fuel entrepreneur Endel Siff, who quickly took him under his wing.
2/18
Oleg’s father, Vladimir Ivanov, was a longtime politician from the Russian-funded United People’s Party of Estonia. His career at the town hall ended abruptly when he was caught drunk at work. After that, he went into business with his son, Oleg.
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll talk about the takeover of social media by illiberal, populist influencers. For the last ten years, social media has been dominated by these voices and it is one of the main reasons for the political rise of people like Trump and Orban.
1/25
“Illiberal populists” like Trump reject democratic norms while claiming to speak for “the people.” They centralize power, attack institutions, and push nationalism over rights. Elections exist, but checks & balances erode. This is democracy in name, autocracy in action.
2/25
The media landscape has changed drastically over the past two decades. The Internet and social media have changed how we interact online & how we consume media,but it has also become our main source of news. In many ways,social media companies have control over information.