Twitter CEO Elon Musk is facing a barrage of media criticism for acquiescing to demands from the Turkish government to censor content on the site. The acts of censorship took place last week, just days before the country's presidential election; unsurprisingly, the restricted accounts had expressed criticism of autocratic Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Given that Musk has promised to make Twitter a platform for free speech—indeed, his stated rationale for buying the site was to make it more protective of political expression—his kowtowing to Erdogan has struck many commentators as hypocritical. "Elon Musk Doesn't Care About Free Speech," declared The New Republic. NBA star Enes Kanter Freedom, a Turkish dissident who has frequently criticized the Erdogan regime, said "I don't want to hear about Elon Musk talking about free speech ever again."
