{"id":1419124,"date":"2022-04-05T06:59:45","date_gmt":"2022-04-05T10:59:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1419124"},"modified":"2022-04-05T06:59:46","modified_gmt":"2022-04-05T10:59:46","slug":"will-elon-musk-save-free-speech","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/will-elon-musk-save-free-speech\/","title":{"rendered":"Will Elon Musk Save Free Speech?"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">12<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fwill-elon-musk-save-free-speech%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1419124&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Over the weekend, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey made comments that would seem to confirm some suspicions I\u2019ve had.<\/p>\n<p>For some time now, I\u2019ve wondered if Jack has been experiencing a quiet awakening. (Those tweets on bitcoin, inflation, and <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/fee.org\/articles\/what-jack-dorsey-should-realize-about-twitter-from-reading-rothbard\/\">Murray Rothbard<\/a> haven\u2019t gone unnoticed\u2014<a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/fee.org\/articles\/what-happened-in-1971-edward-snowden-and-jack-dorsey-want-to-know\/\">at least not by us<\/a>.) And comments Dorsey made Saturday indicate he, like Dr. Frankenstein, is beginning to see the monster he created.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cthe days of usenet, irc, the web&#8230;even email (w PGP)&#8230;were amazing. centralizing discovery and identity into corporations really damaged the internet,\u201d Dorsey <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/jack\/status\/1510314535671922689\">tweeted<\/a>. \u201cI realize I&#8217;m partially to blame, and regret it.\u201d<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\">the days of usenet, irc, the web&#8230;even email (w PGP)&#8230;were amazing. centralizing discovery and identity into corporations really damaged the internet.<\/p>\n<p>I realize I&#8217;m partially to blame, and regret it.<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 jack\u26a1\ufe0f (@jack) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/jack\/status\/1510314535671922689?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">April 2, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>This realization is important but also complex. <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/bariweiss.substack.com\/p\/how-big-tech-is-strangling-your-freedom?s=r\">Corporate censorship<\/a> has been a thorny issue for libertarians, who on one hand support free expression but on the other recognize the right of private companies such as Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube to remove content and users for whatever reasons they wish, even if it creates a culture that stifles inquiry, debate, and expression.<\/p>\n<p>Unfortunately, this is precisely the culture Big Tech has created\u2014in no small part because of corporate America\u2019s abandonment of <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/fee.org\/articles\/revisiting-the-legacy-of-the-friedman-doctrine-50-years-later\/\">the Friedman <\/a><a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/fee.org\/articles\/revisiting-the-legacy-of-the-friedman-doctrine-50-years-later\/\">Doctrine<\/a>, which argued social responsibility falls on the shoulders of company shareholders, not executives. Dorsey seems to have recognized this.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s no exaggeration to say I\u2019ve felt a sense of despair over <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=Jg1rsHk_J-E\">Big Tech\u2019s censorship<\/a>, especially during the pandemic. There\u2019s something dark and dystopian about a handful of corporations \u2014working <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/thehill.com\/opinion\/white-house\/563547-hypocritical-psaki-leads-chilling-effort-to-flag-misinformation\/\">directly<\/a> with the government, mind you\u2014censoring and banning people for sharing \u201cmisinformation\u201d (a term that increasingly appears to mean <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wiktionary.org\/wiki\/wrongthink\">Wrongthink<\/a>).<\/p>\n<p>Dorsey\u2019s reflection seemed a step in the right direction to a thorny issue\u2014admitting the problem is the first step in the road to recovery. Then something much bigger happened.<\/p>\n<p>On Monday, news broke that Tesla founder Elon Musk <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2022\/04\/04\/investing\/elon-musk-twitter-stares-stake\/index.html\">had purchased<\/a> a 9.2 percent stake in Twitter. News of the purchase sent <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/robinhood.com\/stocks\/TWTR\">Twitter\u2019s stock price<\/a> soaring in premarket trading. More importantly, the purchase makes Musk the largest shareholder in the company.<\/p>\n<p>This is a big deal because prior to the news of the purchase, there had been rumblings that Musk might be eyeing up Twitter to help correct the direction of free speech.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFree speech is essential to a functioning democracy,\u201d Musk <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/elonmusk\/status\/1507259709224632344\">tweeted<\/a> on March 25. \u201cDo you believe Twitter rigorously adheres to this principle?\u201d<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Free speech is essential to a functioning democracy.<\/p>\n<p>Do you believe Twitter rigorously adheres to this principle?<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Elon Musk (@elonmusk) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/elonmusk\/status\/1507259709224632344?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">March 25, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>The responses to Musk\u2019s poll were one-sided\u2014more than 70 percent of the 2 million voters responded \u201cno\u201d\u2014and analysts say Musk\u2019s purchase is evidence that he intends to take an active role in how Twitter is run.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think he intends to go active and force change at Twitter,\u201d Dan Ives, tech analyst at Wedbush Securities, told CNN. \u201cThis is a shot across the bow at Twitter\u2019s board and management team to start discussions.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>This is significant because, as Dorsey alluded to, the internet has been centralized under an umbrella of a handful of corporations, which makes it easy for the government to effectively <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/fee.org\/articles\/what-jack-dorsey-should-realize-about-twitter-from-reading-rothbard\/\">outsource censorship<\/a> of problematic speech, usually under the guise of protecting Americans from \u201cmisinformation\u201d or \u201chate speech.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Up to this point, Big Tech has mostly played along with Big Government. But Dorsey and Musk seem to recognize that something is rotten in Silicon Valley. And one of them, at least, appears to be taking steps to do something about it. This is vitally important, because free expression is integral to freedom and the human pursuit of truth.<\/p>\n<p>\u201c\u2026if we truly wish to understand why freedom is necessary in a civilized society,\u201d the great American reporter Walter Lippman <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/fee.org\/articles\/free-speech-is-about-the-search-for-truth-not-a-benevolence-to-others\/\">once observed<\/a>, \u201cwe must begin by realizing that, because freedom of discussion improves our own opinions, the liberties of other men are our own vital necessity.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>For years now, as Big Tech censorship grew more and more aggressive, champions of liberty have insisted that the market was the solution to the problem, not the government.<\/p>\n<p>Musk\u2019s large purchase of Twitter could be exactly what we\u2019ve been waiting for.<\/p>\n[embedded content]\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Over the weekend, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey made comments that would seem to confirm some suspicions I\u2019ve had. For some time now, I\u2019ve wondered if Jack has been experiencing a<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":498,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1419124","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1419124","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/498"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1419124"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1419124\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1419124"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1419124"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1419124"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}