CNN takes Elon Musk's meme way too seriously, gets made fun of
On Monday, Musk posted a doctored image of CNN’s Don Lemon that carried a satirical chyron reading, 'Elon Musk could threaten free speech on Twitter by allowing people to speak freely.'
Elon Musk caused consternation and pain for CNN and its allies early Monday after he posted a meme making fun of the broadcaster’s supposed concerns about Twitter’s free speech policies.
On Monday, Musk posted a doctored image of CNN’s Don Lemon that carried a satirical chyron reading, “Elon Musk could threaten free speech on Twitter by allowing people to speak freely.”
The meme, which can be traced way back to April when Musk announced his plan to buy Twitter, has been subject to censorship on Meta-owned platforms Facebook and Instagram, causing users to be hit with fact-check notices and removals at the time.
Although few users were confused by the meme, which was clearly satirical, some users, like Ronald Brownstein, a senior editor at The Atlantic, claimed that Musk was repackaging hate speech for a moderate audience.
"Simple equation: Musk repackages hate speech racism anti-semitism homophobia and far-right intimidation as ‘free speech’ & any effort to hold him accountable for injecting it into US society as the ‘woke mob.’ On both ends, same goal: amplifying & empowering far-right extremists," he tweeted.
Others, like Morten Overbye, a former managing editor at CNN Norway, attacked Musk for the meme, claiming that he was violating his own rules on parody.
“Just 17 days ago, Musk made up a new rule saying accounts engaged in parody must include ‘parody’ in their name,” he said.
CNN issued a response hours after Musk posted it.
“This headline never appeared on CNN,” the network’s communications department wrote. “Be better.”
This headline never appeared on CNN. Be better. pic.twitter.com/n8xGp2Z6qm
— CNN Communications (@CNNPR) November 28, 2022
CNN’s response prompted Musk to further mock the company. “Lmaoooo,” he responded.
Musk’s mockery of CNN comes days after CNN’s Don Lemon attempted to fact-check Musk for tweeting a now-deleted tweet calling the “Hands up, don’t shoot” myth, which played a part in spurring the Ferguson riots in 2014, “made up.”
Lemon claimed that Musk needed to provide context to his tweet, which is pretty clearly in reference to the myth alone — and not the ensuing riots or the concerns that sparked it.
“The phrase originally stemmed from Michael Brown’s death in Ferguson, Missouri in 2014, when he was shot and killed by Officer Darren Wilson. Soon after, it became a rallying cry for racial justice protests, but the Obama administration’s Department of Justice concluded that Brown did not raise his arms to surrender before his death,” Fox News explained.
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