SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk scorched Big Tech companies for being the collective “arbiter” of free speech in modern America.
Musk commented on a satirical article regarding the mass-censorship of President Donald Trump after the U.S. Capitol riot on Jan. 6 by tweeting: "A lot of people are going to be super unhappy with West Coast high tech as the de facto arbiter of free speech." A Tesla fan account replied to his statement: “West Coast high tech has to make the distinction between banning hate speech and banning speech it hates.” Musk appeared to agree: “This is an important distinction.”
“Musk also launched an on-brand criticism of political correctness when he tweeted, “Legalize comedy,” to which the official account for the “Free Speech Social Network” Gab replied: “Make Speech Free Again.”
Musk has blasted Big Tech censorship before. He responded to Amazon censorship by demanding the Big Tech’s monopoly be destroyed. “Musk tweeted it’s ‘time to break up Amazon’ after the tech giant temporarily blocked the publication of author Alex Berenson’s book ‘Unreported Truths about COVID-19 and Lockdowns: Part 1: Introduction and Death Counts and Estimates,” ReclaimTheNet reported in June.
Musk has also suggested that internet users embrace alternative platforms.
Musk also told his followers to use encrypted messaging app Signal in lieu of Facebook-owned WhatsApp, in response to WhatsApp’s recent policy update.
Twitter began a censorship apocalypse in recent days after it purged Trump. Multiple Big Tech platforms even cracked down on Trump’s call for peace amid the D.C. chaos, which saw rioters storm the U.S. Capitol building. Eliminating a sitting president’s online presence appears inconsistent from a site that has allowed foreign dictators and even pro-genocide propaganda.
Twitter made clear that no amount of radical censorship is off the table.
“After close review of recent Tweets from the @realDonaldTrump account and the context around them we have permanently suspended the account due to the risk of further incitement of violence,” Twitter announced on Jan. 8. Twitter Safety explained that “we made it clear on Wednesday that additional violations of the Twitter Rules would potentially result in this very course of action.”
“The suspension amounts to a ban: Trump can no longer access his account and his tweets and profile picture have been deleted. Trump had 88.7 million followers prior to his suspension,” CNBC reported.
Conservatives are under attack. Contact Twitter: (415) 222-9670 or mail to 1355 Market Street Suite 900 and demand that Big Tech be held to account to mirror the First Amendment while providing transparency, clarity on “hate speech” and equal footing for conservatives. If you have been censored, contact us at the Media Research Center contact form, and help us hold Big Tech accountable.
