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Elon Musk Finds ‘Free Speech’ to be More Than a Pastime

Clarence Page, Tribune Content Agency on

I hate to say “I told you so” unless, of course, I turn out to be right.

When Elon Musk called himself a “free speech absolutist” in announcing his intent to purchase Twitter, I wondered how long it would take for his absolutism to evolve into “absolutely not.”

Less than two months after his acquisition was completed for $44 billion in October, amid Musk’s bumpy ride as Twitter’s owner and CEO, he hasn’t softened his “free speech” rhetoric, although his restrictive actions sometimes have spoken louder than his words — or tweets.

For example, in recent weeks, the “Chief Twit,” as Musk calls himself, has allowed some banned users to return to the platform, including former President Donald Trump, who was barred from his account after the Jan. 6, 2021, riots on Capitol Hill. That’s his right as the Chief Twit to decide.

But Musk also has executed massive staff cuts and disbanded a trust and safety advisory group that had guided Twitter on thorny issues like harassment and child exploitation. Reducing such safeguards asks for trouble, not from the government but from unhappy users.

The fears of Musk’s critics were realized in an explosion of racist, sexist and other hate tweets. After the takeover, many advertisers reportedly fled or cut their spending on the platform. Yet Musk claims Twitter usage has since reached an all-time high “by real humans,” not malicious bots and other phony accounts. We’ll see. He also promised in October that he would form a new council to advise him before making changes to the company’s content moderation policies. The council has yet to materialize.

 

Instead, the past weekend brought a flurry of surprises befitting a man of Musk’s notoriously unpredictable actions, mood shifts and whims.

On Thursday, Twitter suspended the accounts of about a half-dozen prominent journalists without warning or explanation. Then, just as quickly, they were reinstated.

On Sunday, Twitter suddenly announced users would no longer be able to link to Facebook, Instagram, Mastodon or other platforms that the company called “prohibited.” That decree ignited a blowback of accusations that Musk was breaking his own promise to make no more major policy changes without an online survey of users.

Later that day, the Chief Twit softened his company’s position by tweeting, “Casually sharing occasional likes is fine.”

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