Rep. Adam Schiff (D–Calif.) yesterday said he is "demanding action" in response to an "unacceptable" rise in bigoted slurs on Twitter since Elon Musk took over the platform in late October. Musk responded by taking issue with the evidence that Schiff cited, saying "hate speech impressions are actually down by 1/3 for Twitter now vs prior to acquisition." What he should have said is that government officials in a free society have no business demanding the suppression of speech they do not like.
"We are deeply concerned about the recent rise in hate speech on Twitter," Schiff and Rep. Mark Takano (D–Calif.) write in a letter to Musk. "Analysis by independent researchers indicates Twitter has become an increasingly toxic place for our constituents, and we are reaching out to you to understand the actions Twitter is taking to combat this increase in harmful content."
