Elon Musk fails to get nod for EU human rights award

Tech billionaire Elon Musk on Thursday failed to make the shortlist for a prestigious European human rights award, despite a far-right campaign praising his hard line on free speech.
Musk was nominated by two far-right groups in the European Parliament for the 2024 Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought, an annual prize previously awarded to Nelson Mandela and Malala Yousafzai.
Far-right lawmakers had picked the owner of X as a “symbol” in the fight for freedom of expression and for his efforts to combat “radical Islamism and wokism,” French EU lawmaker Thierry Mariani, a key backer of Musk’s nomination, previously said.
The nomination surprised Musk’s critics in Europe. The tech mogul who leads X, Tesla and SpaceX has been in fights with officials and regulators worldwide over his management of X. In past months he clashed with United Kingdom’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer over X’s role in the race riots and the Brazilian Supreme Court over the platform’s failure to remove disinformation.
Members of the European Parliament’s foreign affairs committee in a secret ballot selected Azerbaijani anti-corruption activist Gubad Ibadoghlu; Venezuela’s opposition leader María Corina Machado and exiled presidential candidate Edmundo González; and Israeli and Palestinian peace organizations Women Wage Peace and Women of the Sun.
The Parliament’s top decision-making body, the Conference of Presidents, will choose the 2024 laureate among these names on Oct.24, ahead of the award ceremony in the plenary session in Strasbourg in December.
The award goes to individuals or organizations that have significantly contributed to the protection of freedom of expression, democracy or the rights of minorities, and includes a €50,000 prize. Shortlisted candidates traditionally get an invitation to attend the award ceremony at the European Parliament.