Elon Musk, a billionaire with many roles, made racist comments along with other conservative figures. They accused Haitian migrants of being “cannibals” and said they shouldn’t be allowed to come to the US.
After a week of political unrest in Haiti, things escalated. Prime Minister Ariel Henry said he would step down if other Caribbean countries formed a temporary government for Haiti. Haitians were upset by this and protested in large numbers, burning tires in the streets.
Meanwhile, Musk went on his social media platform X and shared unverified and exaggerated claims about cannibalism related to the conflict, according to NBC. For instance, today, he tweeted a link to a video supposedly showing evidence of cannibalism in Haiti following the report.
The video was quickly removed by X, as reported by Axios, because it broke the platform’s rules.
In essence, even Musk’s own social media company isn’t backing his increasingly racist anti-immigration comments.
Since Musk took control of the company formerly known as Twitter, there’s been an increase in hate speech on the platform. The billionaire has also shared misinformation, including fake COVID-19 data and false details about the Israel-Gaza conflict.
Musk has also said many racist things on his platform. In January, he said that Black students at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) have lower IQs and shouldn’t become pilots. Civil rights groups were horrified by these claims.
Recently, Musk targeted the people of Haiti, spreading false ideas.
This weekend, Musk tweeted “cannibal gangs…” in response to a video by right-wing commentator Matt Walsh about trouble in Haiti.
“Human society is weak,” he commented in response to a now-deleted video that claimed to show a “cannibal gang eating body parts.”
This week, Musk sided with right-wing commentator Ian Miles Cheong, who said on X earlier this week that there were “cannibal gangs in Haiti who abduct and eat people.”
“If checking immigrants for possible homicidal behaviors and cannibalism makes me ‘right wing,’ then I’ll accept that label!” an angry Musk replied to another post where Cheong complained about the NBC report. “Not doing so would put innocent Americans in mortal danger,” he added, without offering any proof for his wild claims.
According to NBC, experts believe the posts were likely spread by gang propaganda to create fear. While there may be isolated cases of gang leaders committing such gruesome acts, making broad claims is not only misleading — the State Department stated it had no credible reports of cannibalism — but also plays into racist stereotypes that go back to colonial times.
Moreover, there’s a question of decency here. Haiti is facing a crisis, and instead of considering how his adopted country could help, Musk is focusing on extreme examples of social problems he finds online.
Yale University professor Marlene Daut told NBC, “It’s disturbing that Elon Musk would repeat these absurd claims, which have a long history.”
In essence, this shows Musk’s alignment with extreme right-wing circles, using his large following and social media presence to spread conspiracy theories and racist misinformation.
“A whole population is being blamed for the actions of a few gang members,” said a Washington-based lawyer and moderator of the r/Haiti subreddit, speaking to NBC. “It’s racist and dehumanizing.”
