Elon Musk has raised eyebrows with a change to his deal with on X (previously Twitter), adopting the identify “Kekius Maximus.” Together with this identify change, Musk additionally up to date his profile picture to characteristic Pepe the Frog, a meme that has been related to varied far-right actions. The transfer has prompted discussions about Musk’s ties to digital currencies and the controversial symbolism tied to the meme.
The That means of ‘Kekius Maximus’
The identify “Kekius Maximus” seems to be a mixture of two cultural references. “Kek” began in World of Warcraft as a translation of “LOL” between sport factions and later grew to become an web meme tied to Pepe the Frog.
“Maximus” is a reference to the character Maximus Decimus Meridius from the film Gladiator. The identify can be linked to a cryptocurrency memecoin, KEKIUS, which noticed its worth improve by over 800% following Musk’s profile replace. Along with the identify change, Musk posted a picture of Pepe the Frog wearing Roman armor, holding a video game controller.
Controversy surrounding Pepe the Frog and ‘kek’
Whereas Pepe the Frog was initially created by artist Matt Furie as a benign character, it has been adopted by varied extremist factions, notably in the course of the 2016 U.S. presidential election. “Kek,” initially used as an web shorthand for “LOL,” has equally been appropriated by far-right communities, together with these related to the creation of a fictional nation referred to as “Kekistan.”
These symbols, as soon as seen as innocent web humor, have more and more been linked to on-line trolling, white nationalism, and conspiracy theories. The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) has highlighted the continued unfold of such symbols, noting their affiliation with far-right actions regardless of efforts to reclaim them.
Musk’s controversial associations
Musk’s use of those symbols prompts questions on his ties to far-right teams. The entrepreneur has beforehand been linked to politically contentious figures and causes, equivalent to his help for the far-right German political occasion Various for Germany (AfD) and his promotion of conspiracy theories just like the “great replacement” idea.