Elon Musk has successfully created the façade of being a champion of free speech. Yet, while blue check who were previously permaband on Twitter under the old regime got to return, the Twitter plebs did not receive the same luxury. Seth Dillon, of the Babylon Bee has erroneously touted Elon Musk as being a champion for free speech, all while conservative ideas are still actively censored on the platform. Yet a group supported by Babylon Bee, the Media Research Center (MRC) just published a study showing a dramatic increase in censorship on Twitter.
Despite public statements in support of free speech, censorship on Twitter has surprisingly increased since billionaire Elon Musk purchased the platform according to data from MRC Free Speech America’s CensorTrack.org database. MRC Free Speech America found that Twitter censorship has been on the rise under Musk’s leadership in comparison to the old regime. Musk once tweeted that he saw Twitter as the “de facto town square” and wrote that “failing to adhere to free speech principles fundamentally undermines democracy.” It appears that a lot of work needs to be done to achieve Musk’s vision.
The study cites a series of censorship actions taken by Twitter, including Bryson Gray, who Evangelical Dark Web covered back in December. The study notes many censorship actions taken on behalf of the transgenderism issue.
The buck however doesn’t stop with Musk. MRC attempts to excuse Elon Musk for his involvement in the censorship.
The previous Twitter regime targeted the biggest, most politically sensitive user accounts. However, Musk’s moves that led to the firing and resignation of key leaders in the elitist team in charge of the effort to target high follower accounts has not resulted in a reduction of censorship practices by the remaining rank-and-file staff involved in content moderation. The implication? The remaining staff at Twitter are revolting against Musk’s efforts to foster a free speech environment on the platform. Some high-profile users censored under the old regime during the analyzed period included Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI), conservative radio host Dan Bongino, Just the News founder John Solomon, and the American Heart Association.
It’s worht noting that if people are being suspended for hate speech, then that’s because the Twitter ToS haven’t actually changed under Musk. Additionally, capricious suspensions were handed out earlier this year to many prominent YouTubers, not over the issue of transgenderism, but over Elon Musk’s affinity for clout chaser and fake sex trafficking victim, Eliza Bleu.
Lauren Chen documented how Eliza Bleu’s connections to Elon Musk enabled her to censor her critics on Twitter who posted a music video on YouTube she was voluntarily in. The MRC study completely neglects to mention these suspensions.
Censorship under Elon Musk is perhaps greater than before, in that it’s both extremely capricious and is done under the guise of free speech activism. The attempts by MRC and Babylon Bee to cover up the anti free speech policies of Elon Musk do a disservice to free speech advocacy and bear false witness.