Tech billionaire and owner of the social network X, Elon Musk, has stripped the accounts of «verification badges» and monetization from several right-wing politicians and activists from the camp of newly elected US President Donald Trump for criticizing his position on foreign workers.
Tech billionaire and owner of the social network X, Elon Musk, has stripped the accounts of «verification badges» and monetization from several right-wing politicians and activists from the camp of newly elected US President Donald Trump for criticizing his position on foreign workers.
According to CNN, the scandal between some right-wing opinion leaders is far from abating.
«Some prominent online figures are now accusing Elon Musk of using his social media platform X to retaliate against those who disagree with his support for the H-1B visa program,» the publication writes.
Recall that the H-1B is a visa in the United States that allows employers in the United States to hire foreign workers in specialized occupations.
Musk, in turn, has clashed with many of Trump’s media supporters among top bloggers over H-1B visas.
«While Trump has targeted visas, Musk, CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, has defended the program and argued that tech companies need foreign workers to compete,» the publication explains.
«If you want your team to win a championship, you need to attract the best talent, wherever they are,» Musk wrote on X, noting in another post that «attracting the ~0.1% of the best engineering talent through legal immigration» is «critical for America to continue winning.»
However, other Trump supporters, such as far-right activist Laura Loomer, conservative pundit Ann Coulter, and former Congressman Matt Gaetz, criticized Musk and his co-chairman of the Department of Government Efficiency, Vivek Ramaswamy, for their stance on H-1B visas.
Far-right provocateur Laura Loomer claimed that Musk removed her verified status on X and blocked her from collecting paid subscribers because of her opposition to the H-1B program. She wrote in this regard that Musk «is a free speech fraud.»
Loomer currently has 1.4 million followers on X. It’s unclear how much money she made from paid subscriptions on the platform. Before she lost her verified badge, Musk wrote that «Loomer is looking for attention.»
In turn, another right-wing activist, Preston Parra, told CNN that approximately 53 accounts associated with his organization had lost their verified statuses on the social network X, including Laura Loomer.
