Elon Musk, self-proclaimed free speech advocate, 10 instances of censorship on Twitter users under his watch
In a series of events, Elon Musk's tenure as the CEO of Twitter has been marked by a string of controversial decisions, raising concerns about the platform's commitment to free speech.
The saga began with Twitter banning accounts organising the #BlockTheBlue campaign, accusing them of violating platform manipulation and spam rules. This was followed by the suspension of accounts of journalists who wrote about @ElonJet, citing a violation of the company's doxxing policy. Twitter also reportedly "shadowbanned" and then banned the account @ElonJet multiple times at Musk's direction.
Musk's actions on Twitter have not been limited to account suspensions. He created a poll on the platform to decide whether to reinstate suspended journalists, but later retracted it. Musk also took legal action against the college student who runs the @ElonJet account.
Twitter, under Musk's leadership, has also complied with requests from governments, including the Turkish government before a presidential election and the Indian government to block links to a BBC documentary critical of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The platform has also suppressed search results for the phrase "Block The Blue" and removed it from trending topics.
Musk's decisions have not been without controversy. He declared that the words "cis" and "cisgender" are now considered slurs on Twitter, despite them being neutral, clinical terms. This decision was later retracted after public backlash, with Musk stating that the ban was due to past doxxing by Washington Post columnist Taylor Lorenz, who's account was also banned without explanation.
Musk's actions on Twitter seem to violate his own definition of free speech. Twitter Blue, a paid service offered by Musk on Twitter, reportedly lowers the visibility of non-paying users in the algorithm. This raises questions about the platform's commitment to equal treatment for all users.
The extent of government requests to censor Twitter posts and accounts under Musk's leadership is not entirely clear. While several governments, including the U.S. government, have requested Musk to censor Twitter posts and accounts, there is no detailed public record of all specific governments or the frequency with which Twitter complied. Public controversies and pressures have occurred, but comprehensive data on government requests and Twitter's response rate under Musk is not explicitly available in the search results.
Musk's leadership at Twitter has been marked by a series of controversial decisions, leading to questions about the platform's commitment to free speech and equal treatment for all users. As these controversies continue to unfold, the future of Twitter under Musk's leadership remains uncertain.
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