Mark Cuban says he's still going to use X even if Elon Musk calls him a racist
- Mark Cuban says what Elon Musk does on X won't stop him from using the platform.
- "I don't want to be where everyone agrees with me," Cuban wrote in an X post on Monday.
- The disagreements, Cuban added, are "what makes this platform fun."
Mark Cuban says what Elon Musk chooses to do with X won't stop him from using the platform.
"Actually this is exactly why I spend more time here. I have no problem when people fuck with me on here. Even when Elon Musk calls me a racist or whatever he wants to say about me. Don't care," Cuban wrote in an X post on Monday.
"That's what makes this platform fun. I don't want to be where everyone agrees with me. I don't learn shit that way," he added.
The "Shark Tank" star has clashed with Musk on multiple topics in the past year, from corporate diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives to the US presidential election.
"99 pct, of the posts on here are useless or hateful or both. But every now and then there is the possibility to have a real discussion and learn something valuable," Cuban wrote on Monday.
The sparring, Cuban said, is part of the reason why he prefers X to Meta's competing platform, Threads.
"The signal to noise is far better on Threads. But the breadth of content is far better here. So here I am," Cuban said in his post.
Cuban declined comment when approached by Business Insider. Representatives for Musk at X didn't immediately respond to a request for comment from BI sent outside regular business hours.
Actually this is exactly why I spend more time here. I have no problem when people fuck with me on here.
— Mark Cuban (@mcuban) September 2, 2024
Even when @elonmusk calls me a racist or whatever he wants to say about me. Don’t care.
That’s what makes this platform fun. I don’t want to be where everyone agrees… https://t.co/AlD77jx7M0
To be sure, Cuban hasn't hidden his disdain for how Musk runs X. Musk acquired Twitter in October 2022 before renaming it to X in July 2023.
On Sunday, Cuban said in an X post that he didn't think X is the "bastion of free speech" that Musk claims it is.
"It's only as free as Elon wants it to be. He can intimidate. He can alter the algorithm. He can suspend anyone he wants at any time," Cuban wrote.
"He is the ultimate arbiter of everything on here. And the biggest power play is him making everyone think their speech is free speech Until he decides it isn't, and there is nothing any of us can do about it."
Last month, Cuban accused Musk of adjusting X's algorithm to suit his own preferences during an interview on "The Daily Show."
"When you write an algorithm — I haven't written a lot, it's been a while — but when you write one, you get to set the parameters of what you want to see happen," Cuban told the show's host Jon Stewart.
"And he certainly has done that to the things he likes," Cuban said of Musk, though he didn't provide evidence of Musk's manipulating the algorithm.
Entrepreneur @mcuban and @jonstewart discuss X's global influence and the power it has given Elon Musk pic.twitter.com/o33mMxNsPo
— The Daily Show (@TheDailyShow) August 13, 2024
Cuban's accusations quickly elicited Musk's ire, who said in an X post just days later that X's algorithm was working exactly how it was supposed to.
"Unlike the other platforms, our algorithm is open source! And if you interact and argue with "right wing" accounts, which Cuban does a lot, the algorithm will assume that's what you want to do and give you more of it lmao.," Musk wrote, before penning another post calling Cuban a giant turd in human form.
Cuban, who has been known to respond to a wide variety of accounts on X, only responded briefly to Musk's jibe: a series of heart-hand emojis.