Elon Musk talk a big game about exemption of formula . The billionaire refers to himself as a “ free talking to absolutist , ” and spent the last year wee bluff promises about undo Twitter’sperceived chronicle of suppressing distasteful theme . But the older saying go , you should judge a man by his activity , not his quarrel . By that metric unit , it seems Muskloves censoring , and the list of evidence just keep getting recollective .
One shining example is Musk ’s willingness to shut up the opponents of foreign governments . political science often inquire societal media company to take down posts or account they do n’t like . Before Musk took over , Twitter complied with about half of these requests . The act shot up under his leaders ; these days , Elon ’s Twitter cooperates with government security review requests 80 % of the time . All this from a gentleman’s gentleman who foamed at the mouth over the self - important “ Twitter Files , ” intragroup company e-mail that Elon said would unveil Twitter ’s earlier collaborationism with the US Government . ( The Twitter Filesdid not reveal that . )
Musk is n’t just censoring on behalf of government potent human race , though . The tweeter - in - chief seems more than happy to resolve what kind of speech is and is n’t allowed on Twitter based on his own personal public opinion , and has a history of changing Twitter ’s policies to silence people and ideas he does n’t like .
Photo: ASSOCIATED PRESS (AP)
Take Musk ’s spring up obsession with the transgender community of interests , for instance . He declared thatthe language “ curie ” and “ cisgender ” are now considered slurs on Twitter . These words are not slurs . “ Cisgender ” is a neutral , clinical full term that means the inverse of transgender . There is no other well - known Good Book for people who are not transgendered .
That ’s peculiar behavior that seems to violate free actor’s line champion ElonMusk ’s own personal definition of gratis speech . In an interview last year , Musk said :
A expert sign as to whether there is free speech is , is someone you do n’t like reserve to say something you do n’t like ? If that is the case , we have free speech . It ’s damn vexing when someone you do n’t care say something you do n’t care . That is the signaling of a healthy , functioning free talking to place .
The problem is serious enough to pull in attending from congress . On Thursday , Congressman Adam Schiff read this clause into the Union record at a House Judiciary Committee hearing with FTC chair Lina Khan .
There are far more than ten examples of Musk censoring Twitter users because they say and do thing he does n’t care . Look through this list and decide for yourself whether Elon Musk has established a “ sizable , functioning free manner of speaking situation , ” as he promise .
Update 2025-05-09 , 3:50 p.m. ET : This story has been update with details about Rep. Adam Schiff reading this article into the federal record .
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