Jaron Lanier, the eminent American computer scientist, composer and artist, is no stranger to skepticism around social media, but his current interpretations of its effects are becoming darker and his warnings more trenchant. Lanier, a dreadlocked free-thinker credited with coining the term “virtual reality”, has long sounded dire sirens about the dangers of a world over-reliant on the internet and at the increasing mercy of tech lords, their social media platforms and those who work for them. Nothing about the last few weeks – of chaos on Twitter and the…
Tag: Elon Musk
Taiwan politicians dismiss Elon Musk’s ‘ill-informed and belittling’ China comments
Taiwanese politicians have dismissed comments from Elon Musk, the world’s richest person, that allowing China to have some control over the island would resolve the cross-strait dispute, urging him to respect the wishes of Taiwan’s citizens. Musk’s suggestion to “figure out a special administrative zone for Taiwan that is reasonably palatable,” given in an interview with the Financial Times on Saturday, was welcomed by China’s ambassador to the US. The ambassador, Qin Gang, said “peaceful reunification and ‘one country two systems’ are our basic principles for resolving the Taiwan question…
Elon Musk suggests making Taiwan a ‘special administrative zone’ similar to Hong Kong
Elon Musk has suggested tensions between China and Taiwan could be resolved by handing over some control of Taiwan to Beijing. The billionaire’s remarks were published just days after he floated a possible deal to end the war between Russia and Ukraine which drew condemnation in Ukraine. The world’s richest person told the Financial Times in an interview published on Friday: “My recommendation … would be to figure out a special administrative zone for Taiwan that is reasonably palatable, probably won’t make everyone happy. And it’s possible, and I think…
Elon Musk praises Chinese workers for ‘burning the 3am oil’ – here’s what that really looks like
How do you become the richest man in the world? In Elon Musk’s case, part of it involves making workers in China put in hours that would be unacceptable according to labor norms elsewhere. On Tuesday, the Tesla boss praised Chinese factory workers for pulling extreme hours while taking a shot at American workers. “There is just a lot of super talented hardworking people in China who strongly believe in manufacturing,” the billionaire said. “They won’t just be burning the midnight oil, they will be burning the 3am oil, they…
Elon, Twitter is not the town square – it’s just a private shop. The square belongs to us all | John Naughton
On Friday 8 January 2021, Twitter kicked Donald Trump off its platform and an eerie calm enveloped parts of our global public sphere. Depriving him of his online megaphone was a compelling demonstration of how a tech platform had acquired an awesome power – the ability effectively to silence an elected president. But what kind of power is it really? Many years ago, in a landmark book, Power: A Radical View, the sociologist Steven Lukes wrote that power comes in three varieties: the ability to stop people doing what they…
China anger after space station forced to move to avoid Elon Musk Starlink satellites
Beijing has called on the UN to remind the US to abide by the treaty regulating outer space after space satellites launched by tech tycoon Elon Musk’s aerospace company SpaceX almost collided with its space station twice in the past year. China said its space station deployed prevention collision avoidance control measures in July and October to avoid colliding with Starlink satellites in a recent report submitted by Beijing to the UN’s Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space earlier this month. “China wishes to request the secretary general…