Tesla CEO Elon Musk Facing Defamation Trial for ‘Pedo Guy’ Tweet

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Tesla (TSLA.O) boss Elon Musk is set to
go on trial on Tuesday after he described a British cave explorer
who helped rescue a group of boys from a cave complex in Thailand
as a pedophile on Twitter.

Vernon Unsworth, who played a leading role in the recovery of
the 12 boys and their soccer coach from Tham Luang Nang Non cave in
July 2018, has said Musk falsely labeled him a “pedo guy” on
Twitter.

He says Musk, whose Twitter habits have long been under a
microscope, should pay punitive and other damages for harming his
reputation.

The trial before U.S. District Judge Stephen Wilson in Los
Angeles is scheduled to last about five days. Musk is expected to
testify in his own defense. He has apologized for the remark.

While the case does not involve Tesla, investors and regulators
have expressed concerns about the accuracy of his tweets.

With 29.8 million followers, Musk’s Twitter account is a major
source of publicity for his Palo Alto, California-based electric
car company, which does not advertise.

The Unsworth case is among the last issues hanging over Musk
from a turbulent 2018 and early 2019, when he regularly clashed
with Wall Street and short sellers as Tesla struggled with
production problems.

The episode began after Musk offered a mini-submarine from his
SpaceX rocket company to help with the cave rescue.

Unsworth told CNN on July 13, 2018, three days after the rescue
was completed, that the offer was a “PR stunt” and that Musk could
“stick his submarine where it hurts.”

Two days later, Musk lashed out at Unsworth in a series of
tweets, including one which called him a “pedo guy.” Musk later
apologized for that comment.

Unsworth has denied Musk’s accusations.

To win the defamation case, Unsworth needs to show that Musk was
negligent, which does not require an intent to defame.

He must prove the tweets were false, that Musk did not use
reasonable care to determine if they were true, and that people
reasonably understood them to mean he was a pedophile.

The case against Musk got a boost when Wilson last month said
Unsworth’s sudden fame from the rescue did not make him a “public
figure,” meaning he did not need to show that Musk acted with
“actual malice” when posting his tweets.

Lawyers for Musk have said the tweets were opinion, not
statements of fact, and that Unsworth knew of no one who thought he
was a pedophile based on them.

They have also said Unsworth sought to profit from his role in
the rescue and provoked Musk’s response by suggesting on CNN that
Musk did not care about the lives of the trapped boys.

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Atiku Slams N2.5bn Suit on Buhari’s Aide, Onochie over Hate
Speech
The forrmer Vice President of Nigeria, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar
yesterday made true his threat to institute a N2.5B libel against a
Presidential aide, Mrs Lauretta Onochie over an alleged libelous
publication.

He was on Tuesday at the Registry of the Federal Capital
Territory Judiciary (FCT) where he formally deposed to his own
witness statement on Oath before the Commissioner for Oaths to
kick-start the libel suit against Onochie, an aide of President
Muhammadu Buhari.

Atiku, who was candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP)
in the February 23, 2019 presidential election, had in May this
year threatened legal action against Onochie, who is the Special
Assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari on Social Media,

The legal action was in connection to a publication wherein,
Onochie in her tweeter handled alleged that Atiku is on the
watchlist of security operatives in the United Arab Emirates (UAE)
for alleged criminal matters.

Onochie in the said publication of May 7, 2019, which was also
published by many newspapers and online media platforms, also
accused Atiku of shopping for terrorists in the Middle East.

Atiku had while challenging the victory of President Buhari in
the February 23 presidential poll at the Presidential Election
Petition Tribunal and the Supreme, remained in the Unitef Arab
Emirate UEA until last week when he returned to the country.

In a letter dated May 14, 2019 and written on his behalf by his
lawyer, Chief Mike Ozekhome SAN, the former Vice President
described Onochie’s statement as not only vile and denigrating but
a calculated attempt to disparage his person in the eyes of right
thinking members of the public.

Onochie had on May 7, 2019 in her tweeter handled alleged that,
“Atiku on UAE watchlist – security sources. Security operatives in
the United Arab Emirates are keeping a close tab on a former
Nigerian Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, who has been in Middle
East nation for several weeks now. What is he doing there? Me:
shopping for terrorists?

But in his reaction, the PDP presidential candidate insisted
that there is no iota of truth in the said publication which is
beginning to affect public perception of his person, adding that,
the publication since it was made has caused him national and
international backlash and embarrassment as well as incalculable
damages.

“To say that our client is shopping for terrorists is not only
dishonest and reckless but is calculated and politically designed
to instigate security agents against him not only in the UAE but
across the world”, Ozekhome said.

He subsequently demanded Buhari’s Special Assistant to publish
and tender a written retraction of the said statement and apologize
over the said libelous publication in six national newspapers, one
international newspaper and all social media platforms wherein the
said publication was made.

In addition, Ozekhome on behalf of Atiku had demanded that
Onochie pay Atiku the sum of N500m as minimal damages to assuage
Atiku’s already battered image wholly caused by her said defamatory
publication.

The senior lawyer stated that failure to do so within 48 hours
of receipt of Atiku’s letter would compel them to “activate the
full weight of the legal machinery against the Special Assistant to
Buhari, where the sum of N2 billion would be demanded as
compensation for examplery, aggravated and punitive damages”.

Atiku’s presence in court Tuesday to sign his witness statement
is an indication that he is set to commence legal action against
the Presidential aide.

By PRNigeria^[1]