{"id":1438065,"date":"2022-04-14T13:29:37","date_gmt":"2022-04-14T17:29:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1438065"},"modified":"2022-04-14T13:31:25","modified_gmt":"2022-04-14T17:31:25","slug":"elon-musks-twitter-bid-proves-the-private-business-can-do-what-it-wants-censorship-defense-was-always-garbage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/elon-musks-twitter-bid-proves-the-private-business-can-do-what-it-wants-censorship-defense-was-always-garbage\/","title":{"rendered":"Elon Musk\u2019s Twitter Bid Proves The \u2018Private Business Can Do What It Wants\u2019 Censorship Defense Was Always Garbage"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">36<\/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%2Felon-musks-twitter-bid-proves-the-private-business-can-do-what-it-wants-censorship-defense-was-always-garbage%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=1438065&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>The \u201cprivate business\u201d or \u201cbuild your own internet\u201d argument in defense of Big Tech censorship was always a garbage excuse to let Silicon Valley silence speech it disagrees with, and the meltdown about Elon Musk\u2019s offer to buy Twitter (making the platform a truly private company) makes it more obvious than ever.<\/p>\n<p>The Tesla and SpaceX CEO, who became Twitter\u2019s biggest <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2022\/04\/04\/investing\/elon-musk-twitter-shares-stake\/index.html\">shareholder<\/a> earlier this month after purchasing 9.2 percent of the company\u2019s stock, sent a letter to Twitter Wednesday night <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2022\/04\/14\/tech\/elon-musk-twitter-offer\/index.html\">offering<\/a> to buy the rest of Twitter\u2019s stock at $54.20 per share in cash.<\/p>\n<p>When Big Tech companies like Twitter have censored users or content that challenges their agendas in the past \u2014 see, the New York Post\u2019s Hunter Biden\u2019s laptop <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2022\/03\/17\/after-throttling-the-hunter-biden-laptop-story-with-hacked-and-russian-disinformation-lies-propaganda-press-quietly-admit-it-was-completely-legit\/\">bombshell<\/a>, the 45th <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2020\/11\/04\/twitter-censors-trump-not-biden-for-supposed-policy-violations-on-election-night\/\">president<\/a> of the United States, <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2021\/09\/28\/to-hide-bidens-border-crisis-twitter-censored-my-2017-video-journalism-on-horses\/\">reporting<\/a> on the crisis at the U.S. southern border, an <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2021\/10\/04\/twitter-censored-obituary-of-mother-whose-family-said-she-died-of-complications-from-covid-vaccine\/\">obituary<\/a> of a mother who reportedly died from Covid shot complications, members of <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2020\/10\/15\/twitter-blocks-link-to-house-republicans-press-release-on-hunter-biden-story\/\">Congress<\/a>, investigative <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2019\/06\/13\/twitter-now-banning-conservatives-investigative-journalism-big-techs-abortion-activism\/\">reporting<\/a> on abortion, <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2020\/11\/04\/twitter-is-censoring-sean-davis-for-quoting-pas-supreme-court-decision-allowing-post-election-ballots\/\">summaries<\/a> of court decisions about election law, a Federalist <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2022\/03\/28\/twitter-locks-out-federalist-editor-for-stating-truth-about-rachel-levine\/\">editor<\/a> who said boys and girls are different, The <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2022\/03\/22\/twitter-bans-babylon-bee-staff-charlie-kirk-for-saying-men-are-men-and-mocking-censorship\/\">Babylon Bee<\/a>, and the \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2022\/04\/14\/twitter-punishes-libs-of-tik-tok-for-daring-to-expose-radical-leftism\/\">Libs of Tik Tok<\/a>\u201d account, which exposes educators talking about their radical sex ideology, to name a few \u2014 a gaggle of censorship aficionados inevitably insist that \u201cbecause the First Amendment doesn\u2019t regulate private companies they can silence whoever the heck they want.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>As he typically does in such matters, Washington Post columnist Max Boot provides a textbook example. <\/p>\n<p>After the New York Post published bombshell reporting about a compromising laptop belonging to then-presidential candidate Joe Biden\u2019s son Hunter \u2014 a laptop which, more than a year later, The New York Times and Boot\u2019s own employer have <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2022\/03\/30\/washington-post-new-york-times-deserve-no-credit-for-grudgingly-admitting-what-we-all-knew-about-hunter-biden-in-2020\/\">admitted<\/a> is legit \u2014 Boot loudly defended Twitter\u2019s \u201cprivate-sector\u201d right to censor the story.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFacebook and Twitter are private-sector companies, and they have no obligation to pass along possible Russian disinformation. That\u2019s not \u2018censorship.\u2019 It\u2019s editorial judgment, and it\u2019s something we need more of online,\u201d Boot <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/opinions\/2020\/10\/16\/sorry-republicans-social-media-companies-arent-obligated-spread-your-lies\/\">insisted<\/a> in October 2020. \u201cI\u2019m all for free speech, but the First Amendment does not impose on companies a mandate to spread Russian \u2014 or Republican \u2014 disinformation.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"667\" height=\"352\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/image-5-1.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-270709\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/image-5-1.png 667w, https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/image-5-300x158.png 300w\" \/><\/figure>\n<p>Now that Musk has offered to buy Twitter and make it a really private company, Boot is singing a different tune. \u201cI am frightened by the impact on society and politics if Elon Musk acquires Twitter. He seems to believe that on social media anything goes,\u201d Boot <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/MaxBoot\/status\/1514570168730636290?s=20&#038;t=ReCJti71Y661PtG0dYZzbw\">cried<\/a> on Thursday morning. \u201cFor democracy to survive, we need more content moderation, not less.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"672\" height=\"260\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/image-4-1.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-270708\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/image-4-1.png 672w, https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/image-4-300x116.png 300w\" \/><\/figure>\n<p>What was that about the freedom of private sector companies to do what they want?<\/p>\n<p>CNN\u2019s Brian Stelter had a similarly disingenuous change of heart. In response to news that \u201cThe [Trump] White House is expected to up its pressure on Twitter in the coming days, and is considering sending a threatening letter for issuing fact checks on the president\u2019s tweets\u201d in May 2020, Stelter <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/brianstelter\/status\/1265695261478748162?s=20&#038;t=GtX8EHh6EGbvzZNjTmJalA\">mused<\/a>, \u201cA letter threatening\u2026 what? Twitter is a private company.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"682\" height=\"318\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/image-3.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-270707\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/image-3.png 682w, https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/image-3-300x140.png 300w\" \/><\/figure>\n<p>Fast-forward to Thursday morning, and Stelter was suddenly worried about Twitter\u2019s power, <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/fredwilson\/status\/1514564762142752768\">retweeting<\/a> the perspective that \u201cTwitter is too important to be owned and controlled by a single person. The opposite should be happening. Twitter should be decentralized as a protocol that powers an ecosystem of communication products and services.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"670\" height=\"316\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/image-2.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-270706\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/image-2.png 670w, https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/image-2-300x141.png 300w\" \/><\/figure>\n<p>Salon writer Matthew Rozsa <a href=\"https:\/\/www.salon.com\/2020\/05\/27\/donald-trump-just-issued-his-most-serious-threat-yet-to-free-speech\/\">argued<\/a> in 2020 that \u201cTwitter, a private platform, has the constitutional right to censor or moderate speech on its platform.\u201d It was actually Trump who threatened the First Amendment when Twitter censored and \u201cfact\u201d \u201cchecked\u201d him, Rozsa claimed, adding that \u201ceven if Twitter had been factually wrong\u201d it was fine because \u201cit is still a private company.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Thursday morning, Rozsa <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/MatthewRozsa\/status\/1514582899651194891?s=20&#038;t=lYmEao6PgOP6D7qAQlwEBA\">blared<\/a> that \u201cElon Musk\u2019s attempted takeover of Twitter is a threat to the free world.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"685\" height=\"356\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/image-6-1.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-270712\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/image-6-1.png 685w, https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/image-6-300x156.png 300w\" \/><\/figure>\n<p>Elsewhere, he <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/MatthewRozsa\/status\/1514615827311390736\">fretted<\/a> that if Musk were to gain ownership of Twitter and make the private-sector decision to reinstate former President Trump, \u201cit will be a death blow to the free world.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Last year, corporate news outlet Axios <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2021\/02\/09\/axios-calls-for-deprogramming-and-censoring-americas-republican-extremists\/\">cheered<\/a> that \u201cOnline platforms \u2026 must be unwavering in their commitment to root out conspiracy theories and lies that undermine faith in democracy, according to experts interviewed by Axios,\u201d in a not-at-all slanted <a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/newsletters\/axios-login-4ce5559b-b886-40c9-b4d9-e43ef3317c3b.html?chunk=0&#038;utm_term=twsocialshare#story0\">article<\/a> entitled \u201cHow to deprogram America\u2019s extremists.\u201d Axios has also peddled the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/trump-facebook-twitter-censorship-d04dcd2e-e4f8-4f0a-87fc-79c9b5845d29.html\">argument<\/a> that Twitter\u2019s lopsided censorship is simply \u201ca private company trying to enforce its rules.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Now that Musk is offering to buy Twitter, Axios is calling it a \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/elon-musk-goes-into-full-goblin-mode-c53b4bd1-f772-49aa-9cb0-71d476207cef.html?utm_source=twitter&#038;utm_medium=social&#038;utm_campaign=editorial&#038;utm_content=economy-business-elonmusk\">supervillain<\/a>\u201d move.<\/p>\n<p>Just a week ago, MSNBC analyst Anand Giridharadas <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/AnandWrites\/status\/1512106900317425669\">argued<\/a>, \u201cPrivate companies choosing not to publish disinformation, hate speech, and abuse on their platforms isn\u2019t censorship. For the ten millionth time.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"670\" height=\"219\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/image-7-1.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-270714\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/image-7-1.png 670w, https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/image-7-300x98.png 300w\" \/><\/figure>\n<p>Thursday morning, he was <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/AnandWrites\/status\/1514566790654824449?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1514566790654824449%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&#038;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fdailycaller.com%2F2022%2F04%2F14%2Fliberals-decry-free-speech-elon-musk-offers-buy-twitter%2F\">suggesting<\/a> Elon Musk is an \u201cinvader.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"676\" height=\"690\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/image-8-1.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-270715\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/image-8-1.png 676w, https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/image-8-294x300-1.png 294w\" \/><\/figure>\n<p>City University of New York journalism professor Jeff Jarvis bemoaned Musk\u2019s offer to purchase Twitter with the dramatic <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/jeffjarvis\/status\/1514578609754812419?s=20&#038;t=8vC6KbI-tiY5_w4516p4ag\">remark<\/a> that \u201cToday on Twitter feels like the last evening in a Berlin nightclub at the twilight of Weimar Germany.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"670\" height=\"186\" src=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/image-9.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-270717\" srcset=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/image-9.png 670w, https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/image-9-300x83.png 300w\" \/><\/figure>\n<p>But less than a year ago, he emphatically <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/jeffjarvis\/status\/1432004663696560142\">endorsed<\/a> the idea that \u201ca private company hosting you can decide to flex its own ideas, and say \u2018we don\u2019t want to support that nonsense.\u2019 That\u2019s their expression.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"677\" height=\"351\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/image-10-1.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-270718\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/image-10-1.png 677w, https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/image-10-300x156.png 300w\" \/><\/figure>\n<p>Regardless of whether Musk\u2019s offer is accepted (or even whether it\u2019s made in good faith), it has further exposed the silliness of the \u201cbuild your own speech platform\u201d argument. These people never truly wanted freedom of expression. They were very happy to cheer censorship under the guise of \u201cprivate-sector freedom\u201d when it helped silence their opponents. <\/p>\n<p>But now that their grip over the channels of discourse is threatened, they\u2019ve revealed that their cries of \u201ccensorship is fine, because freedom\u201d were just a ruse to gain more power. Who knows if Musk will acquire Twitter or even if he genuinely wants to? Time will tell. What we know for now is that the \u201cprivate industry can do what it wants\u201d crowd is awfully worked up about the idea of a private business doing anything they disagree with.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"670\" height=\"299\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/image-11.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-270719\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/image-11.png 670w, https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/image-11-300x134.png 300w\" \/><\/figure>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\" \/>\n<p>\n  Elle Reynolds is an assistant editor at The Federalist, and received her B.A. in government from Patrick Henry College with a minor in journalism. You can follow her work on Twitter at @_etreynolds.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The \u201cprivate business\u201d or \u201cbuild your own internet\u201d argument in defense of Big Tech censorship was always a garbage excuse to let Silicon Valley silence speech it disagrees with, and<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":500,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1438065","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\/1438065","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\/500"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1438065"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1438065\/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=1438065"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1438065"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1438065"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}