International-News

Elon Musk wants to shut down the free voices of RFE and VOA: another masterpiece of ‘economics’

In another tirade on X, Elon Musk proposes the closure of Radio Free Europe and Voice of America, accusing them of wasting public money. But apparently, eliminating free information seems to be his new business

Elon Musk, the man who turned Twitter into organised chaos, has decided to launch himself into a new battle: eliminating Radio Free Europe (RFE) and Voice of America (VOA). Reason? According to him, these public broadcasters are financial ‘burdens’, burning billions of American taxpayers’ dollars, while spreading “the words of crazy left-wing extremists”. And yet, behind his provocation lies a very clear vision of how information should work in the world he is trying to shape: one in which, if they don’t like something, they eliminate it, without too many scruples.

The two broadcasters, supported by the US government, have always had the task of providing impartial and independent news, especially in countries where press freedom is restricted. In practice, they have been a vital resource for millions of people living in countries with authoritarian regimes. But for Musk, it seems that this no longer makes sense. His solution is to ‘shut down’ these media, as if it were a simple and painless answer to a complex problem: if something costs too much, just get it out of the way.

Yet Musk has a vision of ‘freedom’ that makes one think. For him, Europe is now ‘free’, but at what price? If cutting funding to those who bring quality information is the answer to his economic concerns, it seems that we are moving further and further away from true freedom of expression. The problem is not public spending, but the idea that information should not be free to express itself without fear of being censored or reduced to a slogan.

Musk’s move might seem like that of a visionary who wants to ‘save money’ for the common good, but in reality it is just yet another step towards a monopoly of communication, where freedom of thought is just an empty word. With yet another masterpiece of ‘economics’ that he proposes, Musk shows that he does not understand that the true wealth of a society lies in the plurality of voices, not in their suppression. Closing down independent voices is not innovation, it is censorship disguised as economy.

THE LATEST NEWS