Elon Musk admitted that he has hurt the results of his social media platform X with his unhinged posts, but still defended his tweets when he labeled a student a “neo-Nazi.”
Jewish student Ben Brody, 22, sued the Tesla founder on October 2, 2023 in Travis County, Texas, after he told his millions of followers that the Californian student was part of an extremist group that was causing trouble at an LGBTQ event in Oregon.
On March 27, Musk sat down for a videotaped deposition alongside attorneys for both sides.
X owner Musk was asked about the post he made about Brody and said he had a “limited understanding” of the lawsuit and thought it was Brody’s attorney suing him, not the student.
Regarding his platform, Musk said: “There is some risk that what I say is wrong, but that has to be balanced against the chilling effect on free speech in general, which would undermine the entire foundation of our democracy.”
He added that he “may have done more to financially harm” the social media platform and that he is “guilty of many self-inflicted wounds.”
Elon Musk admitted that he caused harm to X during a deposition for a lawsuit filed against him in October 2023 by Ben Brody. Musk defended the tweet he made about him in July 2023
Jewish student Ben Brody, 22, sued the Tesla founder after he told his millions of followers that the Californian student was part of an extremist group causing trouble at an LGBTQ event in Oregon.
Musk tweeted: “It appears one is a college student (who wants to join the government) and another may be a member of Antifa, but nonetheless this is likely a false flag situation.”
Throughout the deposition, Alex Spiro, Musk’s attorney, and Brody’s attorney, Mark Bankston, repeatedly spoke to each other.
When asked if Musk knew anything about Brody, Spiro interjected and said that wasn’t “a question he’s allowed to ask in court.”
Brody, who is Jewish, is seeking more than $1 million in damages against Musk and is a former Bankston attorney who also successfully represented the families of Sandy Hook victims when they sued conspiracy theorist Alex Jones.
The fight, between the Proud Boys and the neo-Nazi group Rose City Nationalists, was posted on social media and led many to think Brody was one of the members involved because he looked like one of the men in the clip.
Both groups of extremists were involved in the skirmish in Oregon. Pride event in July and in full fight, One of the members was physically unmasked and, in a panic, quickly covered his face. In an attempt to identify the member, the accounts falsely said it was Brody.
At the time, Musk tweeted: “It appears one is a college student (who wants to join the government) and another may be a member of Antifa, but nonetheless, this is likely a false flag situation.”
According to the lawsuit, Musk discovered that Brody was allegedly one of the people involved in the fight through another account on X called Dr. Fresnor.
The lawsuit said the account, which has amassed more than 300,000 followers, “features far-right memes, neo-Nazi apologetics/nostalgia, juvenile and embarrassing attempts at bigoted humor, low-effort bait-and-switch tweets, delusional panics over lazy hoaxes, and a cavalcade of absurdly false information.
During the deposition, Musk was asked about the post he made about Brody and said he had a “limited understanding” of the lawsuit and thought it was Brody’s attorney suing him, not the student.
Brody provided CCTV evidence to prove that he was actually in a store in California when the fight broke out in Oregon.
At the time, the account posted Brody’s personal information online and captioned a photo of him: “After graduation he plans to work for the government,” suggesting he was present at the fight.
Musk then reposted that tweet and captioned his post: “Very strange.”
When Bankston asked if Musk thought he had failed Brody, he said he doesn’t “believe his post significantly harmed him.”
“People are attacked all the time in the media, online media and social media, but it’s rare that it actually has a significant negative impact on their lives,” the CEO added.
Following accusations that Brody was involved in the fight, he told CNN: “I started getting these text messages from my friends. ‘They’re accusing you of being a neo-Nazi, look at everything that’s being said about you.’ And I said : “It’s okay, this is just a joke.”
He attempted to clear his name twice, going on Instagram and making a video explaining that he was miles away in California when the conflict in Oregon occurred.
Even when he provided CCTV footage of him in a restaurant at the exact moment the fight occurred to prove his alibi, he was still branded a neo-Nazi.
Things got even worse when Musk jumped on the bandwagon.
Brody recalled, “I knew this was a snowball, but once Elon Musk commented, I thought, boom, that’s the final nail in the coffin.”
‘It intensifies it enormously. This guy texted me on Instagram and was like, “Now even Elon Musk thinks you’re a fed,” and what was also really scary is that these people were threatening to tell my school, and I was scared not to. be able to do it. “I’m not graduating.”
Things got even worse when Elon Musk jumped on the bandwagon. The student and his mother even had to leave their home after his address was leaked on the Internet.
Brody’s attorney, Mark Bankston, who also successfully represented Sandy Hook family victims who sued conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, said: “This case, at its core, is about Elon Musk being reckless in doing an accusation against this young man.”
‘I was terrified.’
When CNN asked Brody if he felt like his “life was ruined,” he responded, “Yes, completely.”
“If you put my name in the search bar, you know, ‘neo-Nazi fed Ben Brody.'”
Brody was studying political science at the University of California, Riverside, and had stated on the university fraternity’s website that he wanted to work for the government, which caused even more uproar among online trolls.
He added: ‘I said I wanted to work for the government. And that’s only because I didn’t know specifically which part of the government I wanted to work for. You know, I thought I could be a lawyer.
The student and his mother even had to leave their home after their address was leaked on the Internet.
His lawyer Bankston said: “This case, at its core, is about Elon Musk being reckless in making an allegation about this young man.”
‘Ben posted a video online to try to clear his name. It didn’t work. So there’s this incredible feeling of helplessness, that there are millions out there, millions, who think that Ben was involved in neo-Nazi activities.’
‘How did we get to a place where someone so powerful can make that kind of accusation based on something so flimsy, from anonymous people on the Internet?’
According to the lawsuit, Musk is “perhaps the most influential of all influencers, and his support of the accusation against Ben prompted other influencers and social media users to continue their attacks and harassment, as well as to post accusations against Ben that will remain online forever.” .’
“Musk has personally been using the platform to consistently spread false statements while propping up and amplifying the most reprehensible elements of conspiracy-ridden Twitter.”
DailyMail.com has contacted Musk and Brody’s lawyer for comment.