Since the launch of social media platforms, especially over the past few years, the debate on handling free speech online has been very prevalent. Twitter originally began as a completely open platform without any forms of censorship. This changed in October of 2012 with their first act of censorship. Over the following decade, Twitter has censored estimated millions of pieces of content on its platform.
Elon Musk Purchasing Twitter
Elon purchased Twitter for roughly $44 billion on April 25th, 2022, with a few key goals in mind:
To reopen Twitter to free speech.
Make Twitter's algorithm open to the public.
Allow everyone on the platform, no bans.
Reduce anonymity by linking accounts to real people.
Free Speech
The complaints came to a head when former President Trump was banned from Twitter while still in office. This was the icing on the cake of corporate political bias on their platform. Elon Musk, a self-identified free speech absolutist, wants to open up free speech to mirror laws in the country it is being operated.
In the United States, all content that falls under the protection of the First Amendment will be allowed up the platform. The policies in the United States will not be universal for the platform. Countries like Australia, countries within the United Kingdom, and China will all be regulated differently if they choose to allow it.
Algorithm Transparency
One of the biggest complaints Twitter had was the lack of transparency to their users. The general public has been kept in the dark on algorithmic banning, suspension, and fact-checking tags. Unsure how many occurrences of bans, suspensions, fact checks, shadow bans, or removal of posts. The fact that we don't know is an issue and reduces trust. Musk wants to instill trust back into Twitter.
Getting Rid of Bans
No permanent bans (permabans) will be occurring, only suspensions and removal of illegal tweets. "I think permabans just fundamentally undermine trust in Twitter as a town square where everyone can voice their opinion." Musk stated everyone, including the former President, would be allowed on the platform.
The Beauty of Anonymity
The best argument I have personally heard for restricting unfettered free speech on social media platforms is that anyone can say anything online without consequences. Musk's plan to verify accounts on the platform is the best first step in helping that problem. Allowing for free speech while also holding people accountable for illegal speech. Having your name and face attached to what you say stops many people from saying cruel things. it is so easy right now to make a fake account and trash talk online. In my opinion, this is a step in the right direction.
My Thoughts
Many say unfettered free speech opens up to the spread of misinformation and takes away Twitter's efforts to clean up its platform from hateful content. While this is true, I find unfettered free speech to be more sacred than allowing people to feel a false sense of security through their screens. Important issues must be challenged, and we will never be able to do that without fear of offense.
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