According to recent reports, a Norwegian politician has nominated Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, for the Nobel Peace Prize. Marius Nielsen, a senator from Norway’s Progress Party, supported Musk’s nomination by pointing to his initiatives to support free speech and Starlink’s assistance to Ukraine in its conflict with Russia.
Nielsen emphasized Musk’s creation, ownership, or direction of a number of digital firms with the goals of advancing humankind, expanding our understanding of the planet and its inhabitants, and facilitating international connectivity and communication. He maintained that Musk’s support of free speech via X, the social media site that was once known as Twitter, has made it possible for people to converse, share ideas, and learn from one another anywhere in the globe, which has eventually contributed to wealth and peace on a global scale.
Speaking at the second business conference in Los Angeles, Neilson stressed that dialogues and critical thinking play a significant role in the advancement of humans. He argued that diversity of opinions and perspectives allows for the opening up of the best ideas, and mutual cooperation is based on this principle. Furthermore, he commended Musk’s Starlink, which has significantly helped Ukraine in battling with Russia by enhancing internet access through its satellite systems. This enables easier communication between Ukrainian forces even if Russia tries to block all means to the World Wide Web.
Despite the controversy surrounding Musk’s Nobel Peace Prize nomination, it is worth noting that this is not the first time a divisive figure has been put forward by a member of Norway’s Progress Party. In 2020, Christian Tybring-Gjedde, also from the Progress Party, nominated former US President Donald Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize, highlighting his involvement in the Abraham Accords. However, the 2020 Nobel Peace Prize went to the World Food Programme in the end.
The Norwegian Nobel Committee is anticipated to reveal its majority vote in October, after the announcement of the shortlist of candidates for the 2024 Nobel Peace Prize at the end of March. The end of the year is when the award ceremony is expected to happen.