In less than a year before Twitter, Elon Muskwho was always in favor of freedom of expression, now seems to have changed his mind.
Bowing to pressure from authoritarian governments like Turkey and India, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX approved 83% more censorship requests on their platforms.
This change is worrying for those fighting for freedom of expression and people’s right to freedom of expression.
When a Bloomberg columnist tweeted about the situation, Musk reacted angrily, calling the columnist “deaf.”
It is important to remember that Twitter is based on the principles of free speech and should not be used as a tool to censor content under government pressure.
Elon Musk gained admiration for saying he would not give in to censorship pressure
In March of last year, Elon Musk made it clear on his social media that Starlink would not give in to government pressure to block Russian news sources.
The billionaire’s staunch defense of free speech won admirers and even those who accused him of retaliating against critics and former employees.
Some even claim he bans Twitter users for “hateful behavior.” In the face of these allegations, both Musk and Twitter representatives now prefer to remain silent.
freedom of expression at risk
Freedom of expression is a fundamental and essential right in any democracy.
However, authoritarian governments often try to restrict this right in the name of national security or image protection.
Recently, Twitter released a report showing that there has been a significant increase in requests from governments to remove content or user information from the platform.
According to some analysts, requests like these, which are becoming more common, pose a real threat to the freedom of expression of social network users, especially those living in countries ruled by tyrants or dictators.