Elon Musk has called for the breakup of Amazon on Thursday, after the e-commerce giant blocked a new book by Alex Berenson, a former New York Times reporter who has been vocally skeptical of widespread lockdowns in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
“This is insane,” Musk tweeted, in response to Berenson saying Amazon Kindle had declined to sell his new book, “Unreported Truths about COVID-19 and Lockdowns.” Musk also tagged Amazon chief Jeff Bezos in his tweet. He then added: “Time to break up Amazon. Monopolies are wrong!”
Time to break up Amazon. Monopolies are wrong!
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 4, 2020
The Tesla and SpaceX head honcho has been one of the more prominent voices criticizing lockdown measures tied to COVID-19. Last month, Musk threatened to move Tesla out of California if the state did not allow the company’s manufacturing plant to reopen. Musk later opened the plant without getting sign-off from local authorities — then said the police could arrest him if they needed to. Tesla’s Fremont, California plant has remained open since then. Musk had previously called stay-at-home orders “fascist” during Tesla’s April earnings call.
Berenson, meanwhile, has shared views similar to Musk. He’s gained a healthy amount of attention and followers on Twitter in the last few months, mostly for his belief the pandemic’s threat has been overblown. He has claimed, for example, that “almost anybody under 30” is at “no serious risk” from the coronavirus.
For Musk, this isn’t the first time he’s ripped into another tech powerhouse. Last month, he tweeted “Facebook sucks” — reiterating a stance he’s taken in the past.