Elon Musk reveals names of US government employees

US federal employees are facing a lot of hostility due to some of Elon Musk's X posts. There were even death threats.

After Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy suggested massive cuts to public services, many government workers realized their jobs were at risk. But now there's another fear. Fear of possible hostility and violence from Musk’s followers.

Last week, in a series of announcements, Elon Musk published two X-Posts revealing the names and titles of people holding four relatively unknown climate-related government positions.

The posts have been viewed millions of times. Those affected subsequently received a flood of negative press. At least one of them deleted their social media accounts.

Although information about the individuals is available through public online databases, they are unknown government employees whose positions have no direct contact with the public.

Elon Musk's goals

Several federal employees commented on the situation to CNN. They worry that their lives will now change dramatically. They also received physical threats because Musk's people targeted them personally.

Everett Kelley, president of the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), gave a reason for the hostility: “The purpose of this tactic is to spread terror and fear among federal employees. They should be afraid to speak out again.” Opinions.”

Musk has taken a similar approach in the past. He targets those he believes have made mistakes or are holding him back. One former federal employee recounted her experience with Musk: “It was his way of intimidating people into either resigning or sending a signal to all the other agencies: 'You're next.'” Musk told her The reason for the dissatisfaction was her criticism of Tesla.

Musk's post

One of Musk's retweets stated: “I don't think U.S. taxpayers should have to pay for the US International Development Finance Corporation to hire 'Director of Climate Diversity (she/her).'” The text included a partial screenshot of an employee and his location . He commented: “So many fake jobs.”

Screenshot of Musk's X profile, where Watson has made his real name unrecognizable.

The post has been viewed 33 million times and prompted a flood of negative comments and calls for layoffs. One comment said: “Self checkout is over.”

Another woman, senior adviser for environmental justice and climate change at the Department of Health and Human Services, was also targeted by Musk. The office was established in 2022 under the Biden administration.

Department of Energy climate representatives also attended. The department, which funds young energy technologies, donated $465 million to Tesla, helping the company become an industry leader.

A senior climate adviser at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development also fell victim to Musk's attacks. The original X post said the woman “should not have received $181,648 from U.S. taxpayers for serving as a 'climate consultant' for the department.” Musk commented: “But maybe your advice was great,” along with the two laughing emojis.

Screenshot of Musk's X profile, the real name has been obscured by Watson.

When asked by CNN, the AFGE union pointed out that Musk personally benefits from government projects as a federal contractor.

Danger to people

Musk has taken actions like this before, putting many people at risk.

When Missy Cummings was appointed senior adviser to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), she criticized Tesla's driver assistance programs and called for regulation of the systems. At the time, Musk attacked Cummings on Twitter, and many of his fans followed suit. Cummings even received death threats. She eventually had to move.

Missy Cummings already knows of federal employees who have resigned out of fear.

In a follow-up post, the anonymous account from which Musk retweeted the post wrote: “It should go without saying that you should not harass someone just because they hold a senior government position that probably shouldn't exist. But senior government officials are not ordinary employees. We The right to know who runs our government and what they do.”

(Keke)

Swisscom has taken another important step in its artificial intelligence offensive. The so-called “SuperPOD” is now running in our own data centers and has its first practical applications.

Six months after the official announcement, the time has come: Swisscom has put the first Nvidia supercomputer for artificial intelligence applications into operation in Switzerland.