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NYT: They Criticized Musk on X. Then Their Reach Collapsed [View all]
NYT - They Criticized Musk on X. Then Their Reach Collapsed. (Gift article)
By Stuart A. Thompson
April 22, 2025
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When Mr. Musk purchased X in 2022, he promised to create a free speech haven and named himself a “free speech absolutist.”
Critics still feared that Mr. Musk would use his control of the app to pick and choose his favorites, amplifying voices he admired while suppressing people or topics he loathed.
The New York Times found three users on X who feuded with Mr. Musk in December only to see their reach on the social platform practically vanish overnight. The accounts are the starkest signs yet that Mr. Musk or others at the company have the power to punish critics and that they may be willing to use it, startling free speech advocates who hoped that the billionaire would be their champion.
Concerns about Mr. Musk’s influence have grown alongside his political ambitions as one of President Trump’s closest allies. He has also set his sights on boosting far-right politics across the world.
“This is working against the type of environment that he claimed he wanted to build,” said Ari Cohn, the lead counsel for technology policy at the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, a free speech advocacy group. “Don’t sit here and cloak yourself in the First Amendment and free speech, and then do things like that.”
/snip
By Stuart A. Thompson
April 22, 2025
/snip/
When Mr. Musk purchased X in 2022, he promised to create a free speech haven and named himself a “free speech absolutist.”
Critics still feared that Mr. Musk would use his control of the app to pick and choose his favorites, amplifying voices he admired while suppressing people or topics he loathed.
The New York Times found three users on X who feuded with Mr. Musk in December only to see their reach on the social platform practically vanish overnight. The accounts are the starkest signs yet that Mr. Musk or others at the company have the power to punish critics and that they may be willing to use it, startling free speech advocates who hoped that the billionaire would be their champion.
Concerns about Mr. Musk’s influence have grown alongside his political ambitions as one of President Trump’s closest allies. He has also set his sights on boosting far-right politics across the world.
“This is working against the type of environment that he claimed he wanted to build,” said Ari Cohn, the lead counsel for technology policy at the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, a free speech advocacy group. “Don’t sit here and cloak yourself in the First Amendment and free speech, and then do things like that.”
/snip
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