Self proclaimed defender of free speech Elon Musk has raised eyebrows by effectively telling JK Rowling to stop speaking out about women’s rights and gender on social media

Elon Musk has risked a confrontation with JK Rowling by criticising the content of her social media posts.

The 52-year-old South African billionaire is well known for sharing controversial opinions – and for buying the company Twitter in 2022 and rebranding the microblogging site as ‘X’.

Musk has long argued he snapped up Twitter – for a reported $44 billion (£35 billion) – in order to protect freedom of speech and has subsequently been criticised for allowing wild opinions and dangerous narratives to run wild on the social media platform.

Meanwhile, Rowling has drawn criticism in recent years for challenging opinions and laws linked to the transgender community – including from the stars of the Harry Potter franchise. Daniel Radcliffe, who played the boy wizard in the hit movies, recently reiterated his support of the LGBTQ+ community and addressed Rowling’s recents regarding him and his co-star Emma Watson.

Rowling – who achieved international acclaim with her Harry Potter book series which made her a billionaire herself – has drawn scorn from many for seemingly failing to consider how her outlook and actions is impacting the transgender community. Fans of the star will note she regularly comments on the topics of women’s rights and trans issues – and now Musk has argued the star should find something new to discuss.

On Saturday, Musk hit out at a post on X that Rowling had shared a month prior where she reiterated her belief that a “woman is a human being who belongs to the sex class that produces large gametes”. Musk wrote in response: “While I heartily agree with your points regarding sex/gender, may I suggest also posting interesting and positive content on other matters?”

Musk’s words may leave the author even more aggrieved, however, as she has long campaigned against men ordering women around. While the writer has been accused of being ‘transphobic’, Rowling has long asserted that she is purely speaking out to protect women – and has taken aim at men who try to silence her through intimidation and violent threats.

In a post last year, the star defended herself for standing up from women – writing: “Men defining what a woman is, what women should and shouldn’t fear, what women should and shouldn’t say, what rights women should be fine with giving up and, of course, what constitutes ‘real’ misogyny: get a bloody mirror. That’s real misogyny, looking right back at you.” Following Musk’s outburst against the celebrated author, some X users took to their own accounts to express their disbelief over his choice of words. One critic wrote: “elon musk telling jk rowling to shut up is not what i expected to see.”

Rowling seemingly responded to Musk’s request on Sunday, sharing a link to a interview she recently gave and telling her followers: “Hahaha, just realised that I missed being advised to share more positive content yesterday… sharing this about my writing life, which happens to have been published today in The Sunday Times, should in no way be interpreted as me doing as I’m told [wink emoji].”