Elon Musk's straight-arm gesture at a Donald Trump inauguration event has triggered widespread debate and accusations of a Nazi salute. While Musk claims his gesture was unintentional, many interpret it as a fascist symbol, particularly given his platform's history of allowing extremist content.
During a speech on Donald Trump 's inauguration day, Elon Musk made a straight-arm gesture that has sparked debate and accusations of a Nazi salute. While Musk's intentions remain unclear, many social media users interpreted the gesture as a Nazi salute, particularly due to the lack of explicit denial from Musk in subsequent posts.
The gesture, made during a speech at Capitol One Arena in Washington on Monday, saw Musk slap his hand on his chest, extend his arm straight outward and upward with his palm facing downwards, and then turn around to repeat the gesture facing the other way. Musk's representative in Italy, Andrea Stroppa, initially published a photo of the gesture on X with the words: 'Roman Empire is back, starting with the Roman salute,' before deleting the post and claiming Musk was expressing emotions as an autistic individual.Musk's gesture has been widely condemned, with critics pointing to the historical association of the straight-arm salute with Nazi Germany and fascism. The Anti-Defamation League, a US antisemitism and human rights watchdog, called it an 'awkward gesture' and urged caution against jumping to conclusions. However, other extremism watchdogs and experts noted the gesture's potential to be interpreted as a Nazi salute, particularly considering Musk's history of allowing extremist and antisemitic comments to flourish on his social media platform, X. The controversy has spread beyond the US, with an Italian communist youth organisation hanging an effigy of Musk upside down in Milan's Piazzale Loreto, a site historically associated with the execution of Mussolini. The organisation condemned Musk's gesture as an imitation of fascist symbolism. In Italy, the Roman salute is officially banned, though rarely prosecuted. Musk's representatives have denied any intentional fascist connotations, but the incident has further fueled the debate about hate speech and the responsibility of tech platforms in moderating online content
ELON MUSK TRUMP NAZI SALUTE CONTROVERSY HATE SPEECH SOCIAL MEDIA FACT CHECKING FREE SPEECH
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