EV giant Tesla has reactivated its presence on Meta Platforms Inc.'s Facebook after a six-year absence.
What Happened: On March 21, the Facebook page named Tesla North America was created, marking Tesla's return to the social media platform six years after CEO Elon Musk removed his companies from it.
The newly created page, featuring a picture of the Cybertruck as its cover photo and the Tesla logo as its profile picture, is currently running two ads promoting the company's Model Y SUV, with links to Model Y inventory. However, as of the time of publishing this report, the page has only amassed 365 followers.
In March 2018, Musk announced on Twitter, then known as X, that he was not aware of any Facebook pages for either Tesla or SpaceX and subsequently deleted them. Musk stated that he personally never used Facebook and that neither of his companies advertised or paid for endorsements on the platform.
Instagram's probably ok imo, so long as it stays fairly independent. I don't use FB & never have, so don't think I'm some kind of martyr or my companies are taking a huge blow. Also, we don't advertise or pay for endorsements, so ... don't care.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 23, 2018
"Looks lame anyway," Musk tweeted at the time.
Definitely. Looks lame anyway.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 23, 2018
Musk later clarified that his decision was not a political statement but rather because he disliked Facebook. "Just don't like Facebook. Gives me the willies. Sorry," he wrote.
It's not a political statement and I didn't do this because someone dared me to do it. Just don't like Facebook. Gives me the willies. Sorry.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 24, 2018
Why It Matters: Musk's criticism of Facebook predates his acquisition of Twitter in 2022. He has previously expressed disdain for Facebook and encouraged people to delete it. Earlier this month, Musk alleged that Facebook, along with Google, exhibits strong political bias.
While it is unclear whether this bias significantly influenced any elections, Musk asserted that they "certainly put their thumb on the scale," as he wrote in a post on X.
A verbal spat between Musk and Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg almost escalated into a physical confrontation in 2023. The two billionaires jokingly proposed a cage match after Musk accused Zuckerberg and Meta Platforms of copying X products.
Although the cage match never materialized, the rivalry between the two continues.
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