As concerns mount about eroding checks and balances in the U.S., Tesla’s record in China shows how Elon Musk has thrived in a system in which regulators, the media and the courts are by design intertwined.

CEO Elon Musk spent years referring to himself as a “free speech absolutist.” When he acquired Twitter (now X) in 2022, he framed the deal as necessary for preserving free speech in the United States and beyond.

But in China, Tesla has had a different approach to negative owner commentary by actually going after the people, and even the media that dared speak badly about its products. And most of the time, it has succeeded in its quests quite remarkably.

Tesla has embraced an aggressive legal strategy in China to stifle its critics — suing its own customers. Zhang Yazhou protested publicly that her Model 3's brakes had failed and caused an accident in 2021 that sent her parents to the hospital.

One customer who claimed faulty Tesla brakes caused a crash was forced to pay $23,000 and issue a public apology to the company.