Elon Musk says US gov't censoring social media against free speech

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: News websites
17 Feb 2024 13:09
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Musk comments on a post by podcast host David Sacks, who said that “regime Democrats” are trying to downplay Americans’ free-speech rights and freedom from political persecution, agreeing with him and elaborating on his view.

Elon Musk addresses the European Jewish Association's conference, in Krakow, Poland, on January 22, 2024. (AP)

Tesla CEO and tech mogul Elon Musk claimed that his investment in turning social media into a free-speech platform has made him and all of his businesses a target for attacks by governments and censorship attempts.

On X, Musk stated, “The public still doesn’t understand even a tiny fraction of the power of the censorship-government-industrial complex,” adding, “As predicted, my companies and I came under relentless attack the moment the censorship of this platform was lifted. How far will they go to stop me?”

This post was in response to a post by podcast host David Sacks, who said that “regime Democrats” are trying to downplay Americans’ free-speech rights and freedom from political persecution, after which Musk also agreed that political enemies are “just getting started” following the Delaware court ruling late last month that voided his $56 billion compensation package at Tesla.

America’s richest man, with an estimated fortune by Forbes at more than $200 billion, vowed to end censorship by the government and be a voice for free speech after his Twitter takeover in 2022, after which US President Joe Biden suggested Musk should be investigated by the federal government.

Government censorship on Twitter

In April last year, Musk revealed that the US government can read private direct messages (DMs) between users, as per an explosive teaser clip shared by Tucker Carlson.

Last year, Musk released the "Twitter Files", which showed the US government's interference in censoring certain posts and users among other revelations.

Matt Taibbi, the US journalist who originally published the Twitter Files, described the coordination between Twitter and governmental agencies as going far beyond coordination with the FBI as per recent posts.

In a massive series of tweets, Taibbi argued that the FBI was but a "doorman to a vast program of social media surveillance and censorship, encompassing agencies across the federal government – from the State Department to the Pentagon to the CIA."