Uber-wealthy business magnate Elon Musk has said that he plans to make Twitter a place where people can participate in free speech, but Musk is warning that individuals on both sides of the political spectrum may be displeased with the direction the platform takes.
“Attacks are coming thick and fast, primarily from the left, which is no surprise, however I should be clear that the right will probably be a little unhappy too. My goal is to maximize area under the curve of total human happiness, which means the ~80% of people in the middle,” Musk wrote in response to a tweet from conservative commentator Ben Shapiro.
Shapiro had tweeted, “@elonmusk: Twitter should be politically neutral. WaPo and every Left-wing blue checkmark: REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE.” He continued, “You guys are giving away your game.”
Musk, who is buying the social media platform, has remarked that “For Twitter to deserve public trust, it must be politically neutral, which effectively means upsetting the far right and the far left equally.”
Musk’s plan to purchase Twitter has sparked significant backlash.
Shaun King claimed that Musk’s desire to buy Twitter is “about white power.”
Kathy Griffin called Musk a “white supremacist.”
Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, who Musk has previously referred to as “Senator Karen,” warned that the “deal is dangerous for our democracy.”
Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff of California has said that he is “concerned” that Musk’s “personal views will” halt the battle to combat “disinformation on social media.” Schiff tweeted that, “The problem on Twitter hasn’t been too much content moderation – it’s too much hate.”
Musk has said that he opposes censorship that extends significantly past the constraints present in the law.
“The extreme antibody reaction from those who fear free speech says it all,” Musk tweeted on Tuesday. “By ‘free speech’, I simply mean that which matches the law. I am against censorship that goes far beyond the law. If people want less free speech, they will ask government to pass laws to that effect. Therefore, going beyond the law is contrary to the will of the people.”
Source: TheBlaze
