The Definition of Irony: Suing to Thwart Free Speech in the Name of Free Speech
Wednesday’s Words, because words matter
When Elon Musk bought Twitter, he claimed to protect and restore free speech. (Snort). Except his definition of free speech left something to be desired. He conflated the grand idea of not suppressing contrary beliefs with an anarchical view of anything goes. That idea finds no support in our First Amendment rights against government intrusion into our speech. And even those rights have limits.
What Musk really intended to protect was a freedom from the consequences of exercising that speech. He ignored the difference between the private market where people consent to certain terms of service on a platform which decry hate speech and speech intended to incite harm, and the preclusion of government’s prior restraints against speech it may not like.
Funny how Musk, once installed at Twitter’s helm, redefined free speech: anything goes except criticism of him or his renamed “X.” He derided wokeness and cancel culture (using the twisted meanings of words with specific understandings in AAVE that he ignored). And he attacked, blocked, or sued anyone who dared criticize him.
Among his first actions to “protect” free speech … the reinstatement of those voices he claimed suppressed, accounts that espoused hate from racism to misogyny to antisemitism. He heard the call of the haters and invited them back to the platform to freely share their hateful ideas, some of which encourage physical harm towards others.
Musk missed the most important point about speech – it isn’t free from consequence. Users may decide that a platform that welcomes hate is not where they want to spend their energy or their money. And when people rebelled, and nonprofits reported on the atmosphere of the Musk-owned X, users and advertised voted with their wallets … they left. Isn’t that the essence of a free market and capitalism? The choice where to spend dollars and resources when other options exist.
But that reality hit Musk hard. And he sued. Not just anybody; he sued organizations like Center for Countering Digital Hate for publishing reports outing the truth about X – that contrary to Musk’s deception hate speech on X had not decreased. He cried foul that others used their free speech to challenge him. He claimed he lost tens of millions of dollars because of that speech.
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to The Cowgirl, The Shark, and Stilettos to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.