Of course, Twitter is not bound by the First Amendment, but it could voluntarily adopt First Amendment standards, declaring that if the government would be legally unable to censor a given tweet, then Twitter will treat that tweet as safe from its corporate censors as a matter of policy. Therefore, going beyond the law is contrary to the will of the people.” If people want less free speech, they will ask government to pass laws to that effect. I am against censorship that goes far beyond the law. Musk called free speech “the bedrock of a functioning democracy” and signaled his intention to make Twitter a platform that constrains it less often than it does now, later clarifying that “by ‘free speech,’ I simply mean that which matches the law.
Anticipating that the deal will go through, many are advising him on how to improve the platform, with a focus on the tension between free speech and content moderation. Sign up for the newsletter here.Įlon Musk bought Twitter. Every Friday, he publishes some thoughtful replies. On Wednesdays, he rounds up timely conversations and solicits reader responses to one thought-provoking question. This is an edition of Up for Debate, a newsletter by Conor Friedersdorf.
