Recently, the director of a nonprofit that focuses on eliminating waste in government bureaucracies testified before Congress. Dylan Hedtler-Gaudette criticized how Elon Musk and the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, DOGE, were going about shrinking the federal government.
Hedtler-Gaudette happens to be blind. Within hours, Musk retweeted a post criticizing his testimony and mocking his disability. The Washington Post reports it got 21 million views, and sparked dozens of hateful messages to Hedtler-Gaudette's account.
Ryan Calo is a University of Washington law professor and a co-founder of UW’s Tech Policy Lab. He told a Post reporter that Musk's attacks now carry a new power to chill speech. KUOW’s Kim Malcolm talked to Calo about that.
This interview has been edited for clarity.
Kim Malcolm: Online attacks by Musk and others have been a thing for quite some time now. Can you connect the dots for us? What is it that you're seeing now that's new?
Ryan Calo: Well, there have been trolls on the internet since its inception. I think what we're seeing today that's new is that some of the most influential voices who are bullying other Americans also have the reins of power, whether that be because they own a platform like Facebook or X, or because they're public officials like the president and Elon Musk.
- Date Published:2.27.2025
- Original Publication: KUOW