Pretoria-born Elon Musk has been nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize over his bid to “protect freedom of speech.” However, the world’s richest man claims he is not interested in receiving any accolades.
Only four South Africans have previously won the award: Nelson Mandela, FW de Klerk, Desmond Tutu, and Alfred Luthuli.
ELON MUSK NOBEL PEACE PRIZE NOMINATION
Earlier this week, news broke that Elon Musk had received a nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize.
Branko Grims, a member of the European Parliament, nominated Elon for the prestigious award “for his consistent commitment to the fundamental human right to freedom of expression, and thus to peace.”
Grims added in an interview with Brussels Signal news outlet last year: “I propose that Elon Musk receives the Nobel Peace Prize for the next year because he did much more for the freedom of speech, which is a basic human right, much more than anybody else in the third millennium.”
But just as quickly as the nomination was made public, it was swiftly rejected.
Elon replied to the news via his X account: “I don’t want any prizes.”
The nomination was officially submitted last month after the US President elected Elon Musk to head up the newly established Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
The 2025 Nobel Peace Prize winners will be announced in October, and the official prizegiving will take place on 10 December.
‘PROTECTING FREEDOM OF SPEECH’
Speaking on the Joe Rogan podcast late last year, Elon Musk claimed he bought Twitter – which he renamed X – to “protect freedom of speech.”
During the podcast, Elon also claimed that he used the app to condemn mainstream media, which he claimed was a “mouthpiece for the Democratic Party.”
The Pretoria-born businessman acquired the social media platform in 2022. After taking over the app, Elon lifted a ban imposed on re-elected US President Donald Trump a year earlier over fears his tweets would incite violence.
He told Rogan: “I bought it because I’m pretty attuned. Since I was the most interacted with user on Twitter before the acquisition.
“So I was very attuned to know that if they change the system, I can tell immediately. And I’m like, ‘Something weird is going on here.’ I just got increasingly uneasy. And obviously, when they de-platformed a sitting president, that was, that was just insane.”
IS ELON MUSK DESERVING OF A NOBEL PEACE PRIZE?
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