Dylan Hedtler-Gaudette is employed by the nonpartisan watchdog organization Project on Government Oversight, which aims to cut down on bureaucratic waste. In addition, he is blind. Therefore, Musk launched an internet assault that Hedtler-Gaudette called “surreal in its juvenile bigotry” when he denounced Elon Musk’s U.S. DOGE Service during his appearance on Capitol Hill last week.
First, Musk retweeted a post on X that had two laughing/crying emojis and stated that the blind director of a monitoring group that George Soros funds testifies that he does not see widespread evidence of government waste.
Hedtler-Gaudette’s account received dozens of abusive messages after the tweet, which received over 21 million views.
One poster commented, “He couldn’t see s— a perfect excuse for being unable to perform your job.” Fraud is invisible to the dei-blind man. Another person wrote, “You can’t make this garbage up.” Posters to expose Hedtler-Gaudette’s bank account were even demanded by one individual.
With a single post generating hundreds of vehement reactions from his followers, the episode demonstrates how Musk’s unmatched internet reach has given him a potent instrument to attack anybody who oppose DOGE.
He made unfounded allegations last week regarding the judge who reversed Trump’s federal grant funding freeze, naming his daughter, a government employee. Musk has urged for journalists who have reported about DOGE to be fired, claiming that their activities may be illegal. The billionaire has published the names and titles of specific government employees, suggesting they should be fired, as he looks for ways to cut the federal bureaucracy.
Experts in digital rights claim that the circumstances have led to an unparalleled power disparity. Musk has a unique power to intimidate those who disagree with him and stifle dissenting opinions because of his enormous online following, his ownership of a social media platform where he can set content moderation guidelines, and his role as head of a government agency with access to personal information.
According to Ryan Calo, a law professor at the University of Washington, people in this country do not feel comfortable criticizing the government. Because retaliation will be sparked by the government, which includes President Trump and Elon Musk.
According to Hedtler-Gaudette, Musk’s choice to make fun of a 38-year-old blind government waste specialist demonstrates something distinct:
In an interview with The Washington Post, Hedtler-Gaudette stated that he is a basically small guy.
A request for response from Musk was not answered.
Musk named and shamed people using his personal account even before he bought X. The billionaire joked that he has never insulted science when journalist Erin Biba claimed in 2018 that Musk has attacked reporters and scientists. However, I did criticize your deceptive journalism. Biba said that the one comment set off a chain reaction of emails, tweets, and Instagram postings from what she referred to as the MuskBros, many of which contained sexually offensive content.
Twitter changed after Musk bought it in 2022 and changed its name to X. The billionaire replaced expert fact-checking with crowdsourced Community Notes and trimmed the majority of X’s trust and safety staff. With 217 million followers, Musk has the loudest online voice in American politics, which is further enhanced by algorithms that are set up to show his information first in users’ feeds, according to Joan Donovan, an assistant professor of journalism at Boston University.
According to Donovan, Musk’s posts are merely a trigger mechanism for his followers, who are then frequently prompted to search through social media profiles, find out about a target’s family members, launch cyberattacks, file fictitious complaints with their employer, or bombard people with texts and phone calls all night long.
Musk made a bogus post shortly after assuming control of the website claiming that Yoel Roth, the site’s previous head of trust and safety, supported allowing kids to use adult Internet services. According to Roth’s congressional testimony, the remark was taken as a sign that he was a pedophile, which led to a barrage of homophobic and antisemitic abuse that finally caused him to leave his house.
Musk has frequently targeted individuals who fit storylines that appeal to Trump’s nationalist audience since his reelection.
Musk questioned whether taxpayers should pay Ashley Thomas’s salary in November after retweeting a post identifying her as the director of climate diversification at the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation. Musk replied in a tweet that had over 33 million views, “So many fake jobs.” His post sparked a flurry of criticism and demands for Thomas’ termination. One poster wrote, “Find her on day one.”
Musk posted the names and photos of minority and female firemen who he criticized for failing to put out the wildfires that engulfed Los Angeles in January.During the natural tragedy, Musk tweeted, “DEI means people DIE.”
Musk referred to Marko Elez, one of his DOGE employees, as a “disgusting and cruel person” and advised that she be fired right away after Wall Street Journal reporter Katherine Long exposed that Elez had made racist remarks online, which forced Elez to resign. In a response, Wall Street Journal spokesperson Ashok Sinha said, “We stand by our reporter and our fair and accurate reporting.”
Since Trump took office, Musk’s attacks have gained more clout, according to Calo. Musk’s DOGE team has access to private and sensitive information, making him a unique government employee. Since he owns X, he has the authority to decide what content is permitted.
Calo claimed that the combination provides him the special capacity to deter his targets from making social media posts. Calo contends that when government actors utilize their power to sway material on social media accounts, it’s known as jawboning.
Calo stated, “Now you have a real White House-appointed official who is bullying and threatening people on his own media platform.” I literally have no idea what that term might signify if it isn’t jawboning.
According to Gita Johar, a professor of consumer psychology at Columbia University’s business school, Musk’s online behavior may eventually lessen the criticism he receives going forward. According to Johar, people simply expect to be attacked and avoid taking on roles that could expose them to cyberbullying.
Hedtler-Gaudette stated that he worries about the future even if he has not yet been physically harmed by Musk’s remark.
“What happens on the internet has power,” he remarked. Even while I enjoy laughing at it and ignoring it occasionally, there are instances when it has actual repercussions.
