Elon Musk: A modern-day Caesar, backed by legions of free speech warriors

Whom the Gods want to destroy, they first make mad – Greek proverb. 

 

And so it is, perhaps, with Elon Musk, whose so-called, self-appointed ‘biographer’ suggested on January 7 that the tech genius might finally have crossed the line into whatever lies on the other side of genius. 

 

Just to clarify, said biographer Seth Abramson, who has about 836,000 followers on X (formerly called Twitter) has never actually written a book on Musk – he just chronicles his life, on and off X – and could well classify as a digital stalker. Nonetheless, the claims he makes are startling and certainly worth a read. 

 

 

For starters, he wrote “I legitimately believe Elon Musk may be going mad. I'm a Musk biographer who has been tracking his online behavior for the last two years—and given that he's admitted to all of mental illness, heavy drug use, and crippling stress, it is now reasonable to fear he is   unwell.” 

 

His private struggles would not be of general concern except they have dramatic public consequences. His holdings across many civilization-essential industries and the fact that he's the incoming POTUS mean that his madness and increasing incitement of violence endanger us all.” 

 

Much has been said about Musk being a tech czar and his massive influence over what people think and say on X, the social media platform he bought for $44 billion two years ago. Since then, he has fired most of its executives, content ‘moderators’, and engineering team, and made it a platform for (mostly) free speech, and managed to keep it going and growing. According to Statista, global users on X have gone from 397 mn in 2022 to 429 mn in 2024. And for good measure, he also reinstated a number of users, among them Donald J. Trump, who had earlier had their accounts withheld for sundry reasons. 

 

But more than just a tech czar, one could argue that Musk is more of a empire-builder – Tesla, SpaceX, Grok, and X bear witness – a seeker of new worlds to conquer. If one were to look for a historical parallel, he is closest to being a modern-day Caesar. 

 

Musk crossed the Rubicon of liberal opinion when he made a public offer to buy Twitter and then made good on his word. And promptly went on to eliminate from the company those he thought were an impediment in his pursuit of truly absolutist free speech. You could call him the high priest of free speech, but he is much more than that. He dictates – as dictators are wont to – the conversation, not just on his own platform but, by impact, also in mainstream media. It is hard not to notice when Musk and his followers raise and amplify an issue, almost sweeping all opposing views away in their inexorable march, much like the Roman army.  

 

What Rome was to Caesar, America is to Musk. Like Caesar, he has spent much of his younger life outside of the US, yet it is the shining hill to which he is drawn, believing in its exceptionalism. And, indeed, Rome was exceptional in its time, as is America. And like Caesar’s enemies, Musk’s, too, have fallen in line. Behold the likes of Mark Zuckerberg and Jeff Bezos trying to buy their way into Trump’s good books, the former going as far as to dismantle all fact-checking partnerships at Meta and adopt a Musk-style community notes model instead. 

 

And in a move that seems to be straight out of Caesar’s playbook, Musk has now, if media reports are to be believed, sidelined Vivek Ramaswamy, who was supposed to co-head the department of government efficiency (DOGE) with him. A wounded Ramaswamy will likely be banished to the hinterlands of Ohio where, rumour has it, he may make a run for either senator or governor.  

 

And like Caesar, Musk has also set his sights upon both Germany and the UK. Remember, the Roman empire once stretched across Europe to the British Isles. 

 

Unlike the Roman dictator, though, Musk’s excursion into Germany’s geopolitics is non-military, which brings us to our next point: the militarisation, even weaponisation, of free speech. 

 

People who have changed the course of history have usually done so using one good idea. For Caesar, it was military strategy. For Mahatma Gandhi, it was non-violence. For Musk, it may well be free speech – unfettered and unfiltered, let loose upon the ‘establishment’. 

 

This, then, is Musk’s forward column, his Legio X Equestris, Caesar’s favourite legion. Who can face the charge of absolutist, no-holds-barred, free speech, backed by an army of keyboard warriors with little fear of censure. Free speech is perhaps also America’s only holy cow – more than even guns, one could argue – and also the one thing that most governments around the world seek to control. 

 

In the United Kingdom, as in India, posting anything on social media that authorities deem offensive on social media could land you in jail. In France, a cartoon could get you shot. In the Netherlands, your throat slit for a short film. But in the hands of a billionaire who is not beholden to anyone and promises a platform where you can speak your mind without fear or favour, free speech can be a formidable weapon, a wave-upon-wave of opinion and outrage that can unsettle, even unseat, elected governments.  

 

 Germany is finding out the hard way that it can no longer rest on its peacenik laurels. Its post-World War II avatar made it an offence to support Nazism and the country sought to reconcile itself with the horror of its genocide of Jews. But its liberal approach also allowed millions of immigrants – many of whom harbour a deep-rooted hatred of Jews – to make it home, to the point where German Jews needed protection after Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack on Israel.  

 

Now, with Musk’s endorsement of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, even moderate politicians are worrying about his influence on elections. In short, Musk could upend Germany not with military might, but simply by speaking his mind. Because in today’s world, any attempt to throttle X – or Musk, by extension – would be seen as an assault on the voice of the people. Governments and ideologies that have tried it are now history. Vox Populi, Vox Dei, as it were.  

 

Chancellor Olaf Scholz's government had to issue a response, saying that "The normal people, the sensible people, the decent people are far in the majority in this country. We act as if Musk's statements...could influence a country of 84 million people with untruths or half-truths or expressions of opinion. This is simply not the case." 

 

Or maybe Musk can. Just ask Kamala Harris. Or Justin Trudeau. A REALLY big megaphone is all it takes. 

 

The United Kingdom is not far behind. Prime Minister Keir Starmer now has a target painted firmly on his back by Musk over the more-than-a-decade-old grooming gangs scandal. As is becoming clearer, it was often political correctness, the fear of being labelled ‘racist’ that allegedly prevented action being taken against the (mostly Pakistani-origin) perpetrators of what is becoming the UK’s worst national scandal. However, the British government has voted against a national inquiry into it, further painting itself into a corner, much like some British warlords when faced with Caesar’s legions. And Musk’s digital legions are now finding their voice on the issue, with their sights set firmly on 10, Downing St.  

 

Other European leaders are taking note. Macron indirectly accused Musk of election interference in Germany, perhaps fearing for himself. France has called on the European Commission to protect its member states against election interference by Musk. 

 

Where all this will lead is anyone’s guess. But it is worth remembering that Caesar eventually went on to become the first self-declared dictator of Rome (not its first emperor - that would be his successor Augustus. His military campaigns are the stuff of both history and legend. Will Musk go down in history, too, as the man who single-handedly dismantled the empire of the woke? 

 

More importantly, where will he stop? Caesar was limited by resources and geography. That does not seem to be a problem for Musk, given his wealth, digital reach, and overarching ambition. Will he also turn into a dictator for life like Caesar, except that he can, with his virtually unlimited power to reach people, decide for the world how to think, what to say, and ultimately, how to vote? Or worse, to silence their voice, if he so desires. Vox populi be damned. Somewhere, a pig named Napoleon is squealing in delight at the prospect, and all elected governments everywhere need to take heed.