E-Paper
Is Elon Musk using ‘cannibal’ claims to smear Haitian migrants? X owner says ‘I would gladly…’
Elon Musk and conservative influencers have been accused of using unverified reports of cannibalism to achieve a political agenda on immigration.
As Haiti is in the grip of an acute political and societal crisis, X owner Elon Musk and conservative influencers have been accused of using unverified reports of cannibalism to achieve a political agenda on immigration.
In its latest report, NBC News said that Haitian migrants are being portrayed as cannibals since they face tremendous uncertainties about their country's future.
The report states that the cannibal claims made by the premium X subscribers are garnering millions of views, helping them to generate revenue through advertising sales. It also alleges that X has become a platform of "false and misleading" information since Musk acquired its ownership and reduced content management.
Responding to the NBC report, Matt Walsh, a far-right pundit, wrote on X: “NBC publishes an article accusing me, Elon, and other “conservative influencers” of spreading “unverified claims” of Haitian cannibalism.”
Musk promptly reacted to the tweet, saying: "I just saw a video of someone in Haiti chewing the (uncooked fwiw) 🍆 off a dead guy."
Also Read: Elon Musk slams Biden's immigration policy as mother recalls family's 12-yr US citizenship struggle
Musk did not stop there as he went on to lambast NBC News for accusing him of right-wing politics.
“If wanting to screen immigrants for potential homicidal tendencies and cannibalism makes me “right wing”, then I would gladly accept such a label!” Musk wrote.
“Failure to do so would put innocent Americans at mortal risk. Shame on NBC. Shame, shame, shame,” he added.
When one X user Sahley St. Clair asked Musk to "pay for a one way ticket to Haiti for the “journalist” who wrote the article if they think there’s no problem."
Musk replied, "100 percent" with a laughing emoji.
Truth behind Haitian cannibalism and Musk's stance
Musk has tweeted multiple times about purported Haitian cannibalism after the country plunged into a state of emergency.
Several videos that were posted on social media display a "cannibal" gang member eating body parts from a burning corpse.
"We have seen images of gang leaders eating people they have killed. We have seen images of people being tortured when they are kidnapped," an anonymous journalist, reporting from Haiti, told The Daily Express.
In response to an X user who was talking about gang cannibalism on the social media platform, Musk said: "Civilization is fragile."
Also Read: US military airlifts embassy personnel after Haiti descends into chaos
The X CEO also reposted a video from Matt Walsh about "cannibal hordes" of Haitians potentially flocking to the United States, which has received over 10 million views.
The experts believe that these videos are most likely part of propaganda campaigns intended to intimidate rivals and terrorise local Haitians.
According to Times Now, social media agencies have confirmed that the video of cannibal gang eating body parts is two years old and it has no connection to the present upheaval. Meanwhile, one X user said in a tweet that the video is from the battle between the Gran Grif and Ti Mepri gangs in the Artibonite Valley.
