Fans celebrated Elon Musk's takeover of Twitter, but some are expressing disappointment that he hasn't upheld the free speech principles he previously touted.
Political commentator Brad Polumbo argues Twitter has become "worse" under Elon Musk in part because he hasn't stuck to the free speech principles he previously touted.caused intense consternation among the political class and the legacy media last year when he revealed his intention to buy Twitter.
Musk also attempted to show transparency by granting a select group of journalists access to what was dubbed the"Twitter Files," which were company archives that shed light on controversial decisions that were made behind the scenes like suspending Trump's account to suppressing the Hunter Biden laptop story during the 2020 election.
Polumbo was among many libertarian and conservative commentators who cheered on Musk's takeover of Twitter when he first revealed his ambition to control the company in April 2022 when he became its largest shareholder. "I thought the idea of him buying Twitter was really exciting," Polumbo said."Somebody would take over one of these platforms and actually allow free speech and show them how it's done.
"The fact that he would even do something like that- I mean, you're talking about a massive journalism platform, and you're blocking it from your free speech platform that is all over a business dispute you have with the company—you don't like a new product they're launching because you think it's a competitor that is totally anathema to the spirit of free speech," Polumbo said.
He also swiped the billionaire after Twitter complied with Indian government earlier this year to removed content from a BBC documentary critical of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, something Musk claimed was"not aware" of what had transpired.
"I never glorify violence. I don't incite violence. I reported an obvious fact that unfortunately, it was really, really inconvenient for the entire trans movement," Davis told Fox News Digital. Davis recalled a tweet from Musk in November when he announced Twitter's new policy was"freedom of speech, but not freedom of reach," telling users"negative/hate tweets will be max deboosted & demonetized" and that"You won't find the tweet unless you specifically seek it out."
"But even if that happens, as long as he is endorsing this 'speech, not reach' concept and Twitter has no value because if the company can just arbitrarily shut off people's reach and access whenever they have in someone's political sensibilities, that is not a platform that I think anyone on the right will have any interest in participating in," Davis added.
Fischer also took issue with Musk's Twitter polls which have left it up to users to decide whether certain accounts are allowed back like the one he conducted for Trump, telling Fox News Digital"The problem is the implication that censorship would be justified if most people favored it."Much like his conservative and libertarian fan base, Musk has an adversarial relationship with the legacy media.
In other words, the"free speech absolutist" turned on Taibbi and Weiss for advocating for free speech principles. Krakauer, author of the book"Uncovered: How the Media Got Cozy with Power, Abandoned Its Principles, and Lost the People," said he had"high hopes" for Musk's takeover of Twitter and that he's"still overall bullish" on Twitter's future with Musk at the helm despite some"clear speed bumps."
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Elon Musk makes big investment in generative-AI project at TwitterElon Musk is moving forward with a new generative AI project at Twitter after purchasing thousands of GPUs
Read more »
Elon Musk's Tweet Grabs XRP Community's Attention, Here's What He TweetedPseudonymous $XRP advocate MackAttackXRP responds to elonmusk's recent tweet, shilling XRP. $DOGE Dogecoin
Read more »
Elon Musk Publishes DMs From Taibbi in Substack-Twitter RowIt’s all gone wrong between Twitter CEO Elon Musk and reporter Matt Taibbi.
Read more »
Twitter Inc., is dead after being merged into Elon Musk's X CorpTwitter has been merged with X Corp and ceases to exist. But what will X Corp offer to customers, we do not know as of now.
Read more »
Twitter becomes X Corp as Elon Musk advances ‘everything app’ hopesIt’s unclear what the change means for Twitter, which has seen a sweeping overhaul since Musk bought the company for $44 billion last year.
Read more »
Ex-Twitter execs sue for $1M in unpaid legal fees in battle with Elon MuskParag Agrawal, Twitter’s ex-CEO, Vijaya Gadde, the former Chief Legal Officer, and Ned Segal, the former CFO of the tech giant, have sued in the Delaware Court of Chancery on Monday.
Read more »