An investigative reporter who debunked a bizarre conspiracy theory about X owner Elon Musk has been banned from social media platforms, sparking an outcry over censorship by the self-proclaimed free speech absolutist.
Jacqueline Sweet, a contributor to the conservative magazine Spectator World, delves into a long-percolating rumor that Musk uses a burner account under the name Adrian Dittman to glorify himself.
To disprove this theory, Sweet discovered the true identity of Dittmann, a German entrepreneur living in the South Pacific nation of Fiji.
After Mr. Sweet's article criticizing Dittman was published on Saturday, Mr. Musk responded with his own cryptic post X hours later.
“I'm Adrian Dittman, and it's time for the world to know it,” Musk wrote.
But on Monday, Spectator World editor-in-chief Matt MacDonald announced that he had suspended Sweet's X account for 30 days and placed a warning label on links to her articles for “violent or misleading content.” , took another strange turn Monday.
She also shared a screenshot showing an unsafe content warning when users try to access her articles.
Musk and Mr. X did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Sweet's last post on X was at 1:37pm on Saturday, when she responded to a user about her article.
“People are trying to believe that Elon is Adrian's,” she wrote.
Musk's cryptic response came about 10 hours later.
Mr. Sweet's apparent ban sparked a firestorm in which critics of Mr. Musk and X accused the platforms of suppressing content to protect Mr. Musk's image.
“This is a direct attack on freedom of the press,” wrote one X user.
Some pointed to the irony of Musk criticizing the site formerly known as Twitter for covering up the Post's Hunter Biden laptop scandal during the 2020 election.
Musk's supporters welcomed Sweet's suspension, arguing that the reporter crossed an ethical line by publishing personal details about Dittman.
Sweet appears to have uncovered the real Dittman using a combination of social media analysis, AI comparisons, and government video footage.
The report said his business and personal history, including participation in the Musk Foundation's carbon removal competition, matched details provided by Dittman's account.
Mr. Dittman's X account has raised eyebrows since early 2023 for its excessive praise of Mr. Musk, and the Tesla CEO is not using this account to defend himself or promote his opinions. There were rumors that.
Critics noted stylistic similarities, with some going so far as to say that Musk used a voice modulator to impersonate Dittman in the X Spaces live chat room.
Mainstream media outlets such as Rolling Stone, Newsweek, and The Verge promoted conspiracy theories, with some claiming to have evidence directly linking Mr. Musk to Mr. Dittman.
YouTube / Fiji Government
In February 2023, Dittmann made headlines when Musk directly acknowledged the similarities. Their voices were reported by the Daily Mail after the former appeared on Alex Jones' controversial InfoWars podcast.
The billionaire technology entrepreneur commented, “At some point, there's going to be like 100 AI clones of me that sound exactly the same.”
I'll talk about X later. space Last February, the two spoke to each other, directly addressing the claims made by Musk impersonating Dittman.
Musk said, “Does Alex Jones think that's me?”
Dittman begins to explain the plot before being interrupted by the mask.
“There are 8 billion people on the planet,” Musk said with a laugh. “There's probably someone out there who sounds like me, and you're that person.”
“Honestly, I can't believe you're not me,” he joked.
“People think I'm your legitimate clone,” Dittman replied. “It's like your Neuralink experiment. Could you clarify that I'm not a participant in your Neuralink experiment? Or am I too and I just don't realize it?”
Musk retorted, “Well, the problem is, you're asking questions the way I'm asking questions!”
The joke points out that Dittmann uses the space “practically eight hours a day, three times a week” before talking about Musk's family and praising Musk's work on X. That's how it ended.
Musk bought Twitter for $44 billion in late 2022 and rebranded the site as X the following year.
