馬斯克的證詞揭露了謹慎的聲明和缺乏研究

在一次證詞中，伊隆·馬斯克面臨著有關他參與放大針對本·布羅迪的虛假陰謀論的質疑。儘管對令人不寒而慄的言論自由表示擔憂，但馬斯克承認對這起訴訟的了解有限，並且沒有進行任何研究來證實布羅迪涉嫌參與新納粹鬥毆事件。馬斯克還證實，他使用 Twitter 上的 Burner 帳戶來扮演他年幼的兒子。這份證詞強調了馬斯克在平台上缺乏克制，以及他承認自己在網路互動中「自傷」。

Elon Musk was deposed last month over his role in allegedly promoting a false conspiracy theory that a 22-year-old Jewish man participated in a neo-Nazi brawl.

馬斯克 (Elon Musk) 作了兩個小時的證詞，回答有關他在放大一項虛假陰謀中所扮演角色的問題，該陰謀指控一名 22 歲的猶太男子捲入新納粹鬥毆事件。對馬斯克來說，事情並不順利。圖：劉嘉楠/赫芬頓郵報；上個月，伊隆馬斯克因涉嫌宣揚虛假陰謀論而被解職，該陰謀論稱一名 22 歲的猶太男子參與了新納粹鬥毆事件。

Musk tried to keep the deposition from going public, and perhaps for good reason: It did not go well for him.

馬斯克試圖阻止證詞公開，也許有充分的理由：這對他來說並不順利。

“There’s some risk that what I say is incorrect, but one has to balance that against having a chilling effect on free speech in general, which would undermine the entire foundation of our democracy,” Musk, the owner of X (formerly Twitter), said during the deposition.

X（前身為Twitter）的所有者馬斯克表示：「我所說的內容可能存在不正確的風險，但人們必須在這一點與對言論自由產生的寒蟬效應之間進行權衡，因為這會破壞我們民主的整個基礎。」在作證時說。

The lawsuit against the billionaire, filed in October, alleges that Musk used his colossal social media platform to amplify a false far-right conspiracy theory linking 22-year-old Ben Brody to a brawl in Oregon between the neo-Nazi group Rose City Nationalists and the Proud Boys, a neo-fascist fight club. The brawl occurred during Oregon City’s first Pride Night Fest, when both groups came to disrupt the event and spew anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric.

針對這位億萬富翁的訴訟於10 月提起，指控馬斯克利用其龐大的社交媒體平台放大虛假的極右翼陰謀論，該陰謀論將22 歲的本·布羅迪(Ben Brody) 與新納粹組織玫瑰城民族主義者(Rose City Nationalists) 在俄勒岡州發生的鬥毆事件聯繫起來。還有新法西斯搏擊俱樂部「驕傲男孩」。這場鬥毆發生在俄勒岡市首屆驕傲之夜期間，當時兩個團體都前來擾亂活動並發表反 LGBTQ+ 言論。

Brody wasn’t even in the same state when the June 24 brawl occurred. But his world was turned upside down when far-right X accounts, magnified by Musk, falsely identified him as a member of Rose City Nationalists (and an undercover federal agent) and posted his personal information online.

6 月 24 日鬥毆事件發生時，布羅迪的狀態甚至不同。但當馬斯克放大的極右翼 X 帳戶錯誤地認定他是玫瑰城民族主義者（以及臥底聯邦特工）的成員並在網上發布他的個人信息時，他的世界發生了翻天覆地的變化。

Musk amplified the conspiracy theory repeatedly to his more than 180 million followers, suggesting Brody was a fresh-faced federal agent pretending to be a neo-Nazi in a “false flag situation,” a phrase used to suggest a harmful event was deliberately set up to misrepresent a group or person.

馬斯克向他超過1.8 億的粉絲反覆放大了這一陰謀論，暗示布羅迪是一名新面孔的聯邦特工，在「假旗情況」中假裝是新納粹分子，這個短語用來表明故意安排了有害事件歪曲某個團體或個人。

“Looks like one is a college student (who wants to join the govt) and another is maybe an Antifa member, but nonetheless a probable false flag situation,” Musk posted to X after Brody had been falsely identified as a Rose City Nationalists member. The post remains on X.

在布羅迪被錯誤地識別為玫瑰城民族主義者成員後，馬斯克在X 上發文說：「看起來一個是大學生（想加入政府），另一個可能是Antifa 成員，但仍然可能是假旗情況。”該帖子仍保留在 X 上。

Brody said he and his family were forced to flee their home amid the fallout from Musk’s posts. He’s seeking more than $1 million in damages. The next court hearing is scheduled for April 22.

布羅迪表示，由於馬斯克貼文的影響，他和家人被迫逃離家園。他正在尋求超過 100 萬美元的賠償。下一次法庭聽證會定於 4 月 22 日舉行。

On March 27, Musk sat for a two-hour deposition with attorneys from both parties over Zoom. Following the testimony, Musk’s lawyer, Alex Spiro, filed multiple emergency motions in an attempt to keep the deposition sealed.

3 月 27 日，馬斯克就 Zoom 與雙方律師進行了兩個小時的證詞。作證後，馬斯克的律師亞歷克斯·斯皮羅（Alex Spiro）提出了多項緊急動議，試圖將證詞保密。

“I’m asking that this transcript be marked as confidential,” Spiro said at the end of Musk’s deposition, according to the transcript. “That’s what I’m asking for, OK?”

根據文字記錄，斯皮羅在馬斯克的證詞最後說道：“我要求將這份文字記錄標記為機密。” “這就是我的要求，好嗎？”

Spiro’s efforts failed after a judge struck down his motions. Though video of the deposition has not been made public, HuffPost obtained a copy of the full transcript, which was made public Monday.

在法官駁回斯皮羅的動議後，他的努力失敗了。儘管證詞影片尚未公開，但《赫芬頓郵報》獲得了周一公開的完整文字記錄副本。

You can read Musk’s full testimony here.

您可以在這裡閱讀馬斯克的完整證詞。

During his deposition, Musk admitted he has a “limited understanding” of the lawsuit against him, said he thought Brody’s attorney was the one suing him, and revealed he did no research in determining whether Brody was involved in the brawl after seeing the accusations on X. 

在證詞中，馬斯克承認，他對針對他的訴訟“了解有限”，並表示他認為布羅迪的律師是起訴他的人，並透露，在看到關於布羅迪的指控後，他沒有進行研究來確定布羅迪是否參與了這場鬥毆。X。

Musk also made broader admissions about his failures with X — which has plummeted in value since his takeover in 2022 — saying he “may have done more to financially impair” the social media site than help it. Musk also confirmed that he once used a burner account on X seemingly to role-play as his toddler son.

馬斯克也更廣泛地承認了他在X 方面的失敗——自他2022 年接管以來，X 的價值已經暴跌——他表示，他「可能在經濟上損害了」這家社交媒體網站，而不是幫助它。馬斯克還證實，他曾經在 X 上使用過一次性帳戶，似乎是為了扮演他蹣跚學步的兒子。

“I’m guilty of many self-inflicted wounds,” Musk testified.

「我對自己造成的許多傷害感到內疚，」馬斯克作證說。

‘Actually, Mr. Musk, I’m An Attorney. Did You Know That?’

From the outset of the deposition, Spiro traded barbs with Brody’s attorney, Mark Bankston, as Musk attempted to answer basic questions about the case.

「事實上，馬斯克先生，我是一名律師。你知道嗎？」從證詞一開始，當馬斯克試圖回答有關此案的基本問題時，斯皮羅就與布羅迪的律師馬克·班克斯頓(Mark Ba​​nkston)針鋒相對。

“Do you think you did anything wrong to Ben Brody?” asked Bankston, who’s based in Houston.

“你認為你對本·布羅迪做了什麼錯事嗎？”居住在休士頓的班克斯頓問道。

Spiro interjected, saying this “isn’t a question you’re allowed to ask by the court.”

斯皮羅插嘴說，這「不是法庭允許你問的問題」。

It was the start of what would be a contentious back-and-forth between two high-profile attorneys. Spiro, who has represented celebrities such as Jay-Z and Megan Thee Stallion, previously won a defamation case for Musk after the billionaire called a man who helped rescue children trapped in a cave in Thailand a “pedo guy” in 2018.

這是兩位知名律師之間爭議性爭執的開始。斯皮羅曾代表Jay-Z 和Megan Thee Stallion 等名人，此前他曾為馬斯克贏得了一場誹謗訴訟，此前這位億萬富翁在2018 年稱一名幫助營救被困泰國山洞兒童的男子為「戀童癖者」。

“You keep filing these silly, frivolous shake-down cases, I’ll keep trying to think of Texas lawyers to bring to your depositions,” Spiro told Bankston. 

斯皮羅告訴班克斯頓：“你不斷地提交這些愚蠢、無聊的勒索案件，我會一直想辦法讓德克薩斯州的律師為你提供證詞。”

Bankston, of the Texas law firm Farrar & Ball, previously represented two Sandy Hook parents who won $45 million in damages against conspiracy theorist Alex Jones after Jones spent years falsely claiming the 2012 school shooting never happened.

德州Farrar & Ball 律師事務所的班克斯頓此前曾代表桑迪胡克的兩名家長，在瓊斯多年來謊稱2012 年校園槍擊事件從未發生過之後，他們從陰謀論者亞歷克斯瓊斯手中贏得了4500 萬美元的賠償。

Spiro did not respond to a request for comment on this story. Bankston declined to comment.

斯皮羅沒有回應對此報道發表評論的請求。班克斯頓拒絕發表評論。

Throughout his testimony, Musk showed little understanding about the lawsuit he was testifying for, and even said he believed it was Bankston — not Brody — who was suing him.

在整個證詞中，馬斯克對他所代表的訴訟幾乎沒有表現出任何理解，甚至表示他相信起訴他的是班克斯頓，而不是布羅迪。

“I think you’re the one suing,” Musk told Bankston, according to the transcript.

根據文字記錄，馬斯克告訴班克斯頓：“我認為你是起訴的人。”

“Actually, Mr. Musk, I’m an attorney,” Bankston explained. “Did you know that? I’m an attorney representing Mr. Brody.”

「實際上，馬斯克先生，我是一名律師，」班克斯頓解釋道。 「你知道嗎？我是布羅迪先生的代表律師。”

Asked if Musk understood what the lawsuit was about, Musk admitted he had “a limited understanding of that — of what the lawsuit is about” but suggested again that this was simply a money grab by Brody’s attorney.

當被問及馬斯克是否了解這起訴訟的內容時，馬斯克承認他“對此案的了解有限”，但再次暗示這只是布羅迪律師的圈錢行為。

“My — what I want to think it’s really about is about you getting a lot of money,” said Musk, who paid $44 billion for Twitter in 2022.

「天哪，我認為這真正的目的是讓你賺到很多錢，」2022 年斥資 440 億美元收購 Twitter 的馬斯克說道。

From An Anti-Semitic Account To Elon Musk

Musk learned of the conspiracy theory about Brody from what the lawsuit describes as a fringe X account with more than 30,000 followers that “features extreme rightwing memes, neo-Nazi apologia/nostalgia, juvenile and cringe-worthy attempts at bigoted humor, low effort bait tweets, delusional panics over lazy hoaxes, and a cavalcade of absurdly false information.”

從反猶太帳戶到伊隆馬斯克馬斯克從訴訟中描述的一個擁有超過30,000 名粉絲的邊緣X 帳戶中了解了有關布羅迪的陰謀論，該帳戶「以極右翼模因、新納粹道歉/懷舊、青少年和令人畏縮的方式為特色」。嘗試偏執的幽默、不費力的誘餌推文、對懶惰惡作劇的妄想恐慌，以及一系列荒謬的虛假信息。”

“The account is the social media equivalent of gutter sludge,” the lawsuit says.

訴訟稱，「這個帳戶相當於社群媒體上的污水」。

The anonymous account, named Dr Frensor, posted a photo of Brody with his personal information found on his college fraternity’s social media page. The caption on the photo of Brody read, “After graduation he plans to work for the government,” which Dr Frensor used to suggest Brody was at the brawl and a federal plant.

這個名為 Dr Frensor 的匿名帳戶發布了一張布羅迪的照片，以及在他大學兄弟會的社交媒體頁面上找到的個人資訊。布羅迪照片上的說明文字是：“畢業後，他計劃為政府工作”，弗倫索博士用這句話暗示布羅迪當時正在打架和聯邦工廠。

“Very odd,” Musk responded. As it goes whenever Musk interacts with a post on X, this one quickly went viral.

「很奇怪，」馬斯克回答。每當馬斯克在 X 上與貼文互動時，這篇貼文就會迅速走紅。

In his deposition, Musk was asked whether he’d seen other posts from the Dr Frensor account.

在證詞中，馬斯克被問到是否看過弗倫索博士帳號上的其他貼文。

“I wasn’t trying to assess their credibility,” Musk responded. 

「我並不是想評估他們的可信度，」馬斯克回答。

Bankston showed Musk a meme Dr Frensor had posted the same day the account posted about Brody. More from the transcript:

班克斯頓向馬斯克展示了弗倫索博士在該帳戶發布有關布羅迪的同一天發布的表情包。更多內容來自文字記錄：

Still, Musk defended his response to the anti-Semitic account.

儘管如此，馬斯克還是為自己對反猶太主義言論的回應進行了辯護。

“But if you’re suggesting that in order to reply to anyone, you have to scroll through all their posts, that would make it impossible to use the system,” he said of his website.

「但是，如果你建議為了回覆任何人，你必須滾動瀏覽他們所有的帖子，這將導致無法使用該系統，」他在談到他的網站時說道。

A Billionaire’s Fact-Checking Process

Contrary to his earlier statements, Musk suggested later on in the deposition that he researches discourse before he joins it.

億萬富翁的事實查核過程與他先前的聲明相反，馬斯克後來在證詞中建議，他在加入討論之前會先對其進行研究。

“If you care about the truth, you have to go look about it,” Musk said. 

「如果你關心真相，你就必須去看看，」馬斯克說。

Musk’s own testimony reveals he did little to seek out the truth.

馬斯克自己的證詞表明，他幾乎沒有採取任何行動來尋找真相。

“Would it be fair for me to say that, other than the tweets that you interacted with, you did not secure other information about this unmasked brawler?” Bankston asked at one point.

“我可以公平地說，除了你互動的推文之外，你沒有獲得有關這個未蒙面鬥毆者的其他信息嗎？”班克斯頓一度問道。

“I don’t recall securing other information,” Musk responded.

「我不記得還獲取過其他信息，」馬斯克回答。

During his testimony, Musk criticized what he called the “traditional legacy news industry” while lauding X’s Community Notes, a website tool that allows users to add corrections or additional context to misleading or untrue posts.

在他的證詞中，馬斯克批評了他所謂的“傳統新聞行業”，同時讚揚了 X 的社區筆記，這是一個網站工具，允許用戶為誤導性或不真實的帖子添加更正或附加上下文。

Musk called Community Notes “the best system on the internet” for fact-checking, and said he tagged Community Notes in his post referencing Brody as a show of “good faith,” the transcript shows.

文字記錄顯示，馬斯克稱社區筆記是“互聯網上最好的事實核查系統”，並表示他在引用布羅迪的帖子中將社區筆記標記為“善意”的表現。

“And I think — I think I really did this in good faith, because I would not ask for a fact-check which is what I do by adding Community Notes,” Musk said, according to the transcript.

根據文字記錄，馬斯克表示：“我認為，我確實是出於善意這樣做的，因為我不會要求進行事實核查，而我只是通過添加社區註釋來進行事實核查。”

Musk did tag Community Notes in his post about Brody, but a note was never added to the false claim. The post remains on X today without a correction. 

馬斯克確實在有關布羅迪的帖子中標記了社區註釋，但從未在虛假聲明中添加註釋。該帖子今天仍然保留在 X 上，沒有更正。

Musk was also asked about his interactions with posts on X, which can make an otherwise invisible post go instantly viral. Bankston pointed out that his post on X referring to a “college student who wants to join the govt” was seen more than a million times, according to X’s metrics. 

馬斯克也被問到他與 X 上貼文的互動情況，這可能會讓原本看不見的貼文立即像病毒一樣傳播開來。班克斯頓指出，根據 X 的統計，他在 X 上提到「一名想要加入政府的大學生」的貼文被瀏覽了超過 100 萬次。

Musk downplayed the number and argued that his post was merely a reply to someone else, which attracted less viewership than his own post would.

馬斯克淡化了這個數字，並辯稱他的帖子只是對其他人的回复，其吸引的觀看人數比他自己的帖子要少。

From the transcript:

從文字記錄來看：

Musk’s ‘Self-Inflicted Wounds’

Over the course of his testimony, Musk acknowledged his lack of restraint in posting on X and the negative impact it’s had on his company. 

伊隆馬斯克因錯誤地指控一名應屆大學畢業生是新納粹分子（左圖）而被起訴誹謗，這一指控是在俄勒岡驕傲活動期間被揭穿的，該活動被驕傲男孩和新納粹分子擾亂。圖解：《赫芬頓郵報》；照片：X/Getty Images馬斯克的「自殘」 在作證過程中，馬斯克承認他在 X 上發布時缺乏克制，以及這對他的公司造成的負面影響。

He called them “self-inflicted wounds,” a reference to his own quote in Walter Isaacson’s 2023 biography about him, though he says he hasn’t read it.

他稱這些為“自傷”，指的是他在 2023 年沃爾特·艾薩克森 (Walter Isaacson) 的傳記中引用的一段話，儘管他說他沒有讀過。

“I certainly — I would say that I — you know, I’m guilty of many self-inflicted wounds,” Musk testified.

「我當然——我會說我——你知道，我對自己造成的許多傷害感到內疚，」馬斯克作證說。

Last year, Motherboard and other internet sleuths traced a bizarre account on X to Musk himself. The account, @ermnmusk, appeared to be role-playing as Musk’s toddler son.

去年，Motherboard 和其他網路偵探在 X 上追蹤馬斯克本人的一個奇怪帳號。該帳戶@ermnmusk 似乎是在扮演馬斯克蹣跚學步的兒子。

“I will finally turn 3 on May 4th!” one post read. 

“5月4日我終於3歲了！”一篇文章讀到。

“I wish I was old enough to go to nightclubs. They sound so fun,” read another.

「我希望我已經足夠大了，可以去夜總會了。他們聽起來很有趣，」另一位寫道。

Though the account’s name is not mentioned in the transcript, Monday’s court filing contained an exhibit of the @ermnmusk account that was shown to Musk during his testimony. In the filing, Bankston alleges that Musk deleted the account in February on the same day of the court’s discovery order.

儘管文字記錄中沒有提及該帳戶的名稱，但周一的法庭文件包含了馬斯克在作證期間向馬斯克展示的 @ermnmusk 帳戶的證據。班克斯頓在文件中聲稱，馬斯克在二月法院下達證據開示令的同一天刪除了該帳戶。

Asked about the account by Bankston during the deposition, Musk confirmed it was his, but dismissed it as a “test account.”

在證詞中被問及班克斯頓的帳戶時，馬斯克確認這是他的帳戶，但否認它是一個「測試帳戶」。

“No, I would not use this account,” Musk testified. “It was just used for — for testing.”

「不，我不會使用這個帳戶，」馬斯克作證說。 “它只是用於——測試。”

Later in the deposition, Musk again reflected on those “self-inflicted wounds.”

在後來的證詞中，馬斯克再次反思了那些「自傷」。

“The — and going back to the sort of self-inflicted wounds, the Kevlar shoes, I think there’s — I’ve probably done — I may have done more to financially impair the company than to help it, but certainly I — I do not guide my posts by what is financially beneficial but what I believe is interesting or important or entertaining to the public,” he said. 

「回到那種自傷，凱夫拉鞋，我認為——我可能已經做了——我可能做了更多的事情，對公司造成了經​​濟上的損害，而不是幫助它，但當然，我——我確實這樣做了。」不是以經濟上有利的內容來指導我的帖子，而是以我認為對公眾來說有趣或重要或有趣的內容來指導我的帖子，」他說。

A day after Brody had been falsely linked to neo-Nazis, the recent college graduate uploaded a video to Instagram begging for the harassment to stop.

布羅迪被錯誤地與新納粹分子聯繫起來的第二天，這位剛畢業的大學畢業生在 Instagram 上上傳了一段視頻，請求停止騷擾。

“My family and I are just being harassed completely, and I would be more than happy to clear up any confusion if necessary,” Brody says in the video. “This is just so ridiculous and I just really can’t believe this is happening to me right now.”

布羅迪在影片中說：“我和我的家人完全受到騷擾，如果有必要，我非常樂意消除任何混亂。” “這太荒謬了，我真的不敢相信這種事現在發生在我身上。”

Near the end of the deposition, Bankston asked Musk if he believed he owed it to Brody to be accurate. Musk said: “I aspire to be accurate no matter who the person is.”

在證詞接近尾聲時，班克斯頓問馬斯克是否認為布羅迪的證詞是準確的。馬斯克表示：“無論對方是誰，我都希望做到準確。”

“Do you think you lived up to that duty to Ben Brody or do you think you failed him?” Bankston asked.

“你認為你履行了對本·布羅迪的責任，還是辜負了他？”班克斯頓問。

“I don’t think — I don’t think — I don’t think he has been meaningfully harmed by this,” Musk replied.

「我不認為——我不認為——我認為他沒有因此受到重大傷害，」馬斯克回答。

Bankston pushed Musk on the question, leading to another argument between the two lawyers. Finally, Musk answered, reiterating his belief that he didn’t harm Brody.

班克斯頓在這個問題上向馬斯克施壓，導致兩位律師之間再次發生爭執。最後，馬斯克做出了回應，重申他相信自己沒有傷害布羅迪。

“People are attacked all the time in the media, online media, social media, but it is rare that that actually has a meaningful negative impact on their life,” Musk testified.

「人們總是在媒體、網路媒體、社群媒體上受到攻擊，但這很少會對他們的生活產生有意義的負面影響，」馬斯克作證說。