Skip to content
Search
Human content, AI powered search.

Latest Stories

What We're Watching

Elon Musk’s next target: Italy

Elon Musk’s next target: Italy
Billy Pickett
By Billy PickettNovember 14, 2024
Billy Pickett
Billy Pickett was a contributing writer to GZERO Daily, specializing in the intersection of international politics and pop culture. Billy is a former employee of Ian Bremmer's staff at Eurasia Group. Prior to that, he helped run various research programs and manage digital communications at the Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs. He holds international affairs degrees from Fordham University in New York and the University of Leicester in the United Kingdom, where his research explored how populist parties exploit identity politics to promote distrust in multilateral institutions.
See Full Bio
Make us preferred on Google

Elon Musk has been busy – speaking at Trump rallies, launching rockets into space, transforming Twitter/X into something unrecognizable, and being named to help lead a new government department under President-elect Donald Trump. Naturally, Musk is still finding time to fight with the Italian government.

On Wednesday, Musk took to X to criticize Italian judges for ruling (twice) against his pal, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. She hoped to send thousands of migrants for screening outside the EU in Albania to ease pressure on one of the busiest migration routes to Europe. The cases will now go to the EU Court of Justice in Luxembourg, with no timeline set for a decision.

“These judges need to go,” Musk wrote to his 200 million-plus followers (and everyone else on the platform who can’t escape him even with the block button). He asked, "Do the people of Italy live in a democracy or does an unelected autocracy make the decisions?”

Italian President Sergio Mattarella hit back at Musk’s foray into Italian politics, without mentioning him by name. Italy “knows how to take care of itself while respecting its Constitution,” said Mattarella, and others “must respect its sovereignty.”

Since Musk’s takeover of Twitter/X in late 2022, the site has become more popular with conservatives after removing bans on controversial far-right influencers and relaxing content moderation. Twitter’s new direction spooked advertisers and led news outlet NPR to cease posting altogether. Now, The Guardian is quitting the platform too. “X is a toxic media platform,” the UK-based outlet said, and “Elon Musk has been able to use its influence to shape political discourse.”

Disgruntled (often liberal) users are on the hunt for microblogging alternatives. While Threads has the advantage of integrating with fellow Meta apps, competitor BlueSky – which was launched by then-CEO of Twitter Jack Dorsey in 2019 – is making waves with its different user-created algorithmic feeds, reaching 15 million users for the first time this week.

Shameless plug: Don’t forget to GZERO on Twitter/X … Threads … and BlueSky.
italyelon muskeurope

Latest Videos

The collapse of the aid systemplay icon
Ian Explains

The collapse of the aid system

Aliens invade the Regime!
Puppet Regime

Aliens invade the Regime!

Is the US-China relationship reaching a breaking point?
Quick Take

Is the US-China relationship reaching a breaking point?

What happens when global power goes unchecked?
GZERO World Clips

What happens when global power goes unchecked?

Why Trump keeps backing down on Iran
Quick Take

Why Trump keeps backing down on Iran

Thousands of migrants cross into Spanish territory
GZERO Europe

Thousands of migrants cross into Spanish territory

More For You

Zambia awaits presidential results, US to let companies hack cybercriminals back, Chile transfers hundreds to high-security prison

A person casts a vote at a polling station during Zambia's general elections, including a presidential election, in Lusaka, Zambia.

A person casts a vote at a polling station during Zambia's general elections, including a presidential election, in Lusaka, Zambia, August 13, 2026.

REUTERS/Jean Mandela
Zambians want their slice of the copper piePolls closed in Zambia’s presidential election on Thursday as voters in one of Africa’s most stable democracies weighed whether the country’s economic turnaround has actually affected their wallets. President Hakainde Hichilema, who is seeking a second term, has overseen a successful debt restructuring, [...]

South Africa wants other African countries to write it a check, The Pentagon prepares to zap drones, Putin visits islands seized from Japan in WWII

Nearly 5,000 protesters took part in a march against illegal immigration in Pretoria.

June 30, 2026 , Pretoria, South Africa: Nearly 5,000 protesters took part in a march against illegal immigration in Pretoria. The demonstrations were reportedly organized by more than 20 anti-migrant organizations and civil society groups, including the March and March movement.

© Manash Das/ZUMA Press Wire
South Africa bills other nations for deportationsSouth Africa is asking other African countries to reimburse them for the costs of deporting their citizens, after spending nearly $18 million on a massive deportation campaign. In recent months, the government has deported or helped other nations repatriate more than 80,000 migrants as it responds [...]

States are remapping global shipping routes, Progressives get mixed results in US primaries, China and Indonesia’s military drills raise alarms

Oil tankers pass through the Strait of Hormuz, December 21, 2018.

Oil tankers pass through the Strait of Hormuz, December 21, 2018.

REUTERS/Hamad I Mohammed
The Strait escape Iran refused again on Tuesday to reopen the Strait of Hormuz unless the US meets its demands, flexing its leverage over the world’s most important artery for oil and gas shipping. But now, that leverage is prompting a rethink of global shipping routes. Saudi Arabia, one of the top oil producers in the world, plans to increase [...]

Colombia earthquake tests new president, Taiwan learns from Ukraine on the battlefield, India-Bangladesh rivalry spills into cricket

Residents dig through the debris of a collapsed building after an earthquake.

Residents dig through the debris of a collapsed building after an earthquake, in Cali, Colombia August 10, 2026.

REUTERS/Juan Pablo Arbelaez
Earthquake rocks Colombia days into new president’s termA 7.4 magnitude earthquake struck Colombia yesterday – at least 160 people have died, though officials expect the toll to rise as rescue efforts continue. The quake’s epicenter was in the Chocó region – one of Colombia’s poorest areas that has also been wracked with clashes in recent years [...]