Elon Musk began to clarify some of his views as regards the operations of Twitter, the social media platform he recently purchased for $44 billion, and expects to run as CEO for at least a few months once that takeover is complete.
In an exchange with Michael Cernovich, where Cernovich pointed out the behavior of leftist journalists who have no fear over spreading misinformation on the platform, or calling for violence, because they know they will not be banned, Musk said that "Twitter obvs as a strong left wing bias."
Twitter is an American company, presumably beholden to the laws of the United States, despite current CEO Parag Agrawal making claims that the platform does not have to uphold free speech rights.
For Musk, however, the laws of the land are essential to what Twitter guidelines should be.
"Like I said," Musk said, "my preference is to hew close to the laws of countries in which Twitter operates. If the citizens want something banned, then pass a law to do so, otherwise it should be allowed."
Like I said, my preference is to hew close to the laws of countries in which Twitter operates. If the citizens want something banned, then pass a law to do so, otherwise it should be allowed.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 9, 2022
Cernovich has pointed out that Rewire journalist Caroline Reilly had actually called for more violence in response to the draft Supreme Court decision penned by Justice Samuel Alito that was leaked last week, revealing that a majority of justices had voted to overturn both Roe v Wade and Planned Parenthood v Casey in a ruling in Dobbs v Jackson Women's Health.
In response to the torching of a pro-life group's headquarters in Madison, Wisc. over the weekend, Reilly said "more of this. may these people never know a moment of peach or safety until they rot in the ground." This seemingly goes against Twitter Safety's terms of service that prohibit calls for violence on the platform.
It doesn’t even occur to this journalist that she would be banned for directly inciting terrorism. 0 to fear as this view is more likely shared by a preponderance of Twitter’s employees.
— Cernovich (@Cernovich) May 9, 2022
But the Babylon Bee has to wonder if a joke will be what finally gets them banned. pic.twitter.com/s8syvVEqmt
Meanwhile, Cernovich pointed out, outlets like The Babylon Bee were banned for making jokes about biological men being males despite their long hair, fingernail polish, and chosen identifiers.
Musk bought the platform after The Babylon Bee was banned for that joke about Dr. Rachel Levine, the Biden administration's white, biological male diversity hire who is the nation's first biological male to publicly wear women's clothes and hold a federal office.
Many conservatives have high hopes for Musk's tenure as owner and CEO of Twitter, hoping that there is more viewpoint diversity allowed on the platform.
By “free speech”, I simply mean that which matches the law.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 26, 2022
I am against censorship that goes far beyond the law.
If people want less free speech, they will ask government to pass laws to that effect.
Therefore, going beyond the law is contrary to the will of the people.
Musk, a free speech absolutist, has been outspoken in his view that free speech is integral. His view, additionally, is that the laws of the people should rule the platform, and that the platform is beholden to those laws.
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