Elon Musk Accuses Justin Trudeau Of "Crushing Free Speech"
“Shameful”, SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk on Monday accused the Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his government for crushing free speech in the country.
“Trudeau is trying to crush free speech in Canada. Shameful”, wrote Mr Musk on X (formerly Twitter). The reaction came in the wake of a new Canada government order that makes compulsory for online streaming services to formally register with the government for “regulatory controls”.
The X Corp founder was responding to a post by the American author and journalist Glenn Greenwald. “The Canadian government, armed with one of the world”s most repressive online censorship schemes, announces that all “online streaming services that offer podcasts” must formally register with the government to permit regulatory controls”, said Mr Greenwald on Sunday.
Responding to Mr Greenwald, Elon Musk stated that, “Trudeau is trying to crush free speech in Canada. Shameful”.
Trudeau is trying to crush free speech in Canada. Shameful. https://t.co/oHFFvyBGxu
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 1, 2023
It is not the first time the Canadian government under Justin Trudeau is getting accused for denying free speech. He invoked “emergency powers – for the first time in the country”s history in February 2022- to arm his government with more power to respond to the trucker protests, who were opposing the vaccine mandates at that time”, reported NDTV.
It was recently the Canada PM fuelled a bureaucratic tension between the country and India over the murder of Sikh separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar. Justin Trudeau while addressing the parliament alleged that the murder is an extraterritorial assassination operated by the Indian government. He also initiated an investigation on the matter with the help of Canadian Intelligence agencies. India has earlier dismissed the allegations as “absurd” and “motivated”.
The row got more worsened as both of the country expelled its senior diplomats. India also suspended visa services in Canada citing ‘operational reasons’, and issued an advisory for its citizens and those who are travelling to Canada to exercise “utmost caution in view of growing anti-India activities and politically-condoned hate crimes and criminal violence” in the country.
The National Investigative Agency (NIA) issued three separate requests demanding information from the public to identify ten wanted Khalistani extremists accused in San Francisco Indian Consulate attack case.
Indian Foreign minister S Jaishankar also expressed that India is willing to look into the matter if Canada provides specific or relevant information and evidences to substantiate their allegation. “I have said that if somebody gives us specific or relevant information, we’re prepared to look at it”, the minister said. It is “not the Indian government’s policy” to engage in such activities, he added.
