(Photo by DOMINIC GWINN/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images)
Ongoing Tesla protests are expanding to target Starlink and other Elon Musk-backed enterprises.
Organizers of the "Tesla Takedown" movement told Business Insider that they have "already started laying the groundwork to expand Tesla Takedown efforts to target other Musk businesses including SpaceX, Starlink, X and xAI."
The movement appear to be emboldened after Musk’s electric car company suffered a 71% year-over-year profit drop in Q1 on declining demand for Tesla vehicles. In an email earlier this week, organizers said: “To date, it is estimated that nearly 2,000 Tesla Takedown protests have occurred since the protests began on February 4th.”
“Today’s earnings report sends a very clear message: the Tesla Takedown grassroots pressure is beginning to hit Tesla where it hurts —the company’s bottom line,” the email adds.
In a message to PCMag, a Tesla Takedown organizer says, "All of our efforts have been focused on impacting Tesla directly leading up to earnings this past Tuesday. We are now shifting gears to discuss these expanded efforts."
Targeting Starlink won’t be as easy since SpaceX’s satellite internet business doesn’t have a brick-and-mortar presence; Tesla has physical dealerships or charging stations. Nevertheless, Starlink has become more visible in recent years. Its dishes have popped up at third-party retailers, and T-Mobile is preparing to launch a cellular Starlink service with SpaceX in July.
In addition, calls to boycott Starlink have already emerged on social media, especially in Canada, where some residents are protesting US products over Trump's trade war. Some independent satellite dish installers have faced online harassment and even tense in-personal confrontations over Starlink.
Meanwhile, Musk’s xAI has been operating an expanding supercomputing site in Memphis, Tennessee, to help it compete with OpenAI. But the same facility has faced growing concerns about it polluting the air after the startup allegedly doubled the number of on-site gas turbines, according to local environmental groups.
Any efforts to protest Musk's businesses could face federal scrutiny. The Tesla Takedown movement describes itself as a nonviolent campaign. But on Thursday, a US Justice Department attorney claimed, "the so-called ‘Tesla Takedown’ is domestic terrorism" as incidents of vandalism against Tesla dealerships, cars, and charging stations have increased. Attorney General Pam Bondi has vowed to crack down on Tesla vandals.