Elon Musk has been trolled for a recent tweet mocking Twitter and other big companies for using rainbow logos during LGBTQI Pride Month.
Billionaire Elon Musk has been trolled over a new tweet mocking major companies for using rainbow logos to show their support during LGBTQI Pride Month.
Pride Month is celebrated every June in most Western countries, and it is common for companies to change their logos to the colors of the rainbow during this time to celebrate the celebration of the LGBTQI community.
Mr. Musk is clearly not a fan of this kind of demonstration by companies, as he made clear on his Twitter Wednesday.
The founder of Tesla and SpaceX posted a meme with a man shouting “That’s it!” when a tornado approaches.
Inside the tornado are the rainbow logos of a number of big companies, including Twitter, which it is buying for US$44 billion (AU$63.89 billion).
“June is almost here,” reads the caption to the picture.
The tweet was not well received by users, with many taking the post to mean that Musk did not support Pride Month.
@elonmusk is gearing up for pride month. How are the shareholders of @Tesla dealing with this. I’ve wanted a Tesla for a long time. yes it went. @LucidMotors will get my business. I can’t be the only one the owner turned down the brand for,” said Canadian musician Chad Richardson.
Prominent American lawyer Lisa Bloom also lashed out at Musk, calling him a “snowflake.”
“Poor billionaire Elon Musk is afraid of Pride Month. What a snowflake,” she wrote.
Other users were quick to point out that his own company, Tesla, is known for openly celebrating Pride Month.
“No corporate rainbow logo beats the Model 3 Pride rainbow parade,” one user said, sharing a photo of the company taking part in the 2018 parade.
“Damn, these CEOs got woken up,” another person said, sharing a photo from the same parade showing a Tesla rainbow car.
“Pick a side, bro,” added another.
However, others suggested that Mr. Musk’s post was not about mocking Pride Month, but about making fun of companies that change their logos without offering real help to the LGBTQI community.
A tweet from Musk back in 2018 gives a little more insight into what he may have been trying to achieve with the meme.
The billionaire talked about how Tesla scored 100/100 for LGBTQI equality four years in a row.
“Virtue Alarm is very annoying and there are a lot of scammers out there who are really big assholes but tack on every social cause. But I’m really proud of the fact that the number of changes that Tesla had to make to reach 100/100 (even before they knew about the LGBTQ index) was zero,” he said.
The trend for companies to introduce a rainbow logo during Pride Month has been around for a long time, but social media users have noticed inconsistencies in countries with multiple branches around the world.
Last year, Fortune Journal found that in countries that participated in the pride and where LGBTQI rights were celebrated, large companies decorated their social media pages with rainbows and hashtags in support of the pride.
Meanwhile, social media accounts of the same companies based in other countries such as the Middle East or Asia are pulling out of the celebration.
“The gap between the two approaches has not gone unnoticed. Some Twitter users were quick to label the company’s conflicting accounts as opportunistic and signs of a “corporate awakening”—or superficial efforts that should only be seen as socially progressive when it will strengthen the brand,” the report said.
However, there are still those who are not convinced that Musk is a true ally of the LGBTQI community.
Major LGBTQI advocacy group GLAAD has lashed out at the Tesla CEO after it was revealed he was in the process of buying Twitter.
“Musk has a track record of publishing content targeted at LGBTQ and other marginalized people,” the company said in a statement in April.
“Twitter has published the “Twitter Rules” to “ensure that all people can participate freely and safely in public conversations,” which includes rules against targeted harassment or harassment or incitement to such targeting based on protected characteristics, including sexual orientation and gender identity. ”
GLAAD President and CEO Sarah Keith Ellis said public figures should be held “responsible” for posting harmful opinions.
“Twitter must adhere to its policies and the industry standard of banning speech that endangers people, spreads misinformation, and incites harassment and abuse,” she said.
“LGBTQ people are at a disproportionate risk of online harassment and real-life violence. The cost of inciting hatred further undermines the foundations of safety and civility in society.
“Elon Musk and his investors must prioritize content moderation to create spaces where truth prevails over harmful and inaccurate opinions, and where public figures are held accountable.”