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The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
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Siva Vaidhyanathan

Elon Musk doesn’t understand free speech – or Twitter – at all

‘US law, Musk might be frustrated to learn, not only allows but encourages digital platforms to moderate the content that flows across them.’
‘US law, Musk might be frustrated to learn, not only allows but encourages digital platforms to moderate the content that flows across them.’ Photograph: Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images

On Tuesday, as Elon Musk just started to learn how difficult his new part-time job as owner of Twitter would be, he thought to tweet out a policy pronouncement about his new toy.

“The extreme antibody reaction from those who fear free speech says it all,” Musk declared, either amused or annoyed by those of us who consider him dangerous or unworthy of running a major global communication platform that has been a tool for harassment, disinformation and conspiracy-theory promotion since its inception in 2006.

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