{"id":1478480,"date":"2022-05-17T15:59:48","date_gmt":"2022-05-17T19:59:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1478480"},"modified":"2022-05-17T16:47:05","modified_gmt":"2022-05-17T20:47:05","slug":"make-twitter-show-their-work-how-elon-musk-can-ensure-twitter-protects-free-speech","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/make-twitter-show-their-work-how-elon-musk-can-ensure-twitter-protects-free-speech\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Make Twitter Show Their Work\u2019: How Elon Musk Can Ensure Twitter Protects Free Speech"},"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\">28<\/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%2Fmake-twitter-show-their-work-how-elon-musk-can-ensure-twitter-protects-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=1478480&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--><div><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\" src=\"https:\/\/dw-wp-production.imgix.net\/2022\/05\/Elon-scaled.jpg?w=1200&#038;h=800&#038;ixlib=react-9.3.0\" alt=\"image\" \/><\/div>\n<p>Last month, Elon Musk shocked the world by suddenly becoming Twitter\u2019s largest shareholder \u2014 then announcing that he had reached a $44 billion deal to purchase the social media platform in its entirety.<\/p>\n<p>Musk \u2014 who also serves as CEO of Tesla and SpaceX \u2014 has <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/breaking-elon-musk-becomes-twitters-largest-shareholder-after-shakeup-tease\">promised<\/a> to \u201cmake significant improvements to Twitter\u201d and has polled his followers on whether Twitter \u201crigorously adheres\u201d to the principles of free speech.<\/p>\n<p>In interviews with The Daily Wire, several free speech experts and leaders of free speech advocacy groups suggested how Musk can maximize the new Twitter\u2019s ability to protect users\u2019 First Amendment rights.<\/p>\n<p><b>\u2018A Major Shift\u2019<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Experts agreed that Musk\u2019s purchase of Twitter changes the dynamic around government and corporate censorship of free speech.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.heritage.org\/staff\/kara-frederick\">Kara Frederick<\/a> \u2014 the director of the Tech Policy Center at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.heritage.org\/\">the Heritage Foundation <\/a>\u2014 told The Daily Wire that she is \u201chopeful\u201d Musk\u2019s public pronouncements in favor of free expression bode well for Twitter\u2019s future.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt shows he at least understands the fundamentals of the problem,\u201d she noted. \u201cThe fact that the Twitter board had to be dragged kicking and screaming to this conclusion says all you need to know about the state of free speech on digital platforms.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Frederick, who formerly led Facebook\u2019s Global Security Counterterrorism Analysis Program and spent six years as a counterterrorism analyst at the Department of Defense, pointed out that governments are by no means the only actors able to encroach upon Americans\u2019 liberties.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPrivate, monopolistic corporations should be held accountable if they violate these liberties to the degree that Big Tech has violated them just during the past year,\u201d she argued. \u201cRecommended remedies should acknowledge this truth and reflect the imperative to protect Americans\u2019 natural rights against abuses flowing from the consolidation of power\u2014whether by the government, private corporations, or a combination of the two.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFundamental to this imperative is an understanding that our rights are God-given, enshrined in our founding documents such as the Bill of Rights\u2026 and that our government exists to preserve them for its citizens, too,\u201d Frederick added. \u201cSecond, when private companies actively work with the government to censor the speech of American citizens, they become quasi-state actors and should be treated as such.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thefire.org\/resources\/fire-staff-speakers\/greg-lukianoff\/\">Greg Lukianoff<\/a> \u2014 the president and CEO of the <a href=\"http:\/\/thefire.org\/\">Foundation for Individual Rights in Education<\/a> \u2014 called Musk\u2019s takeover \u201ca major shift.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt marks the first time the public really got to see how successful the multi-decade-long campaign to taint the term \u2018free speech\u2019 has been,\u201d he explained. \u201cFor most of my life freedom to express your opinion was considered an unalloyed good, particularly on the Left. But free speech has been framed by many as \u2018problematic\u2019 on campus for 40 years now.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Lukianoff \u2014 who authored New York Times bestseller \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Coddling-American-Mind-Intentions-Generation\/dp\/0735224897\/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&#038;qid=1522089709&#038;sr=8-1&#038;keywords=coddling+of+the+american+mind&#038;dpID=41jvv-dr21L&#038;preST=_SY291_BO1,204,203,200_QL40_&#038;dpSrc=srch&#038;linkCode=ll1&#038;tag=thefireguides-20&#038;linkId=cde66e36be7e4a35786ad034775d771d\">The Coddling of the American Mind: How Good Intentions and Bad Ideas Are Setting Up a Generation for Failure<\/a>\u201d \u2014 added that some progressive academics began opposing First Amendment rights in the decades after the modern free speech movement launched at Berkeley in 1964.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNominally it was in the name of going after hateful, racist, or sexist speech, but it proved to be an excuse to justify the new speech codes that, despite constantly being defeated in court, restrict the free exchange of ideas on campus,\u201d he said. \u201cNow, true believers of \u2018enlightened censorship\u2019 have moved on to positions of influence in the culture, and they believe that freedom of speech is part of the problem, not a necessary component for progress.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Lukianoff observed that many opponents of Musk\u2019s takeover are mimicking the tactics of campus leftists by expressing \u201cunattributed concerns about how this will allow \u2018hate speech\u2019 on Twitter.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, <a href=\"https:\/\/dc.hillsdale.edu\/Profiles\/Cherise-Trump\/\">Cherise Trump<\/a> \u2014 the executive director of <a href=\"https:\/\/speechfirst.org\/\">Speech First<\/a>, which works to protect students\u2019 First Amendment rights on college campuses \u2014 noted that \u201cfree speech is once again at the forefront of political debate.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy concern is that the actual concept of free speech is now being characterized as undesirable,\u201d she said. \u201cElon Musk\u2019s acquisition of Twitter is a threat to the increasingly dogmatic view that \u2018free speech\u2019 is bad. The severely negative response in some corners to Musk\u2019s aspirations for open discourse evidences that one of the most fundamental and basic concepts we built this country on is now a political football.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s no secret at this point that Twitter\u2019s algorithms targeted certain ideas and commentary and placed limitations on the exposure they got. This type of censorship leads down a dark path.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><b>\u2018The Left\u2019s Meltdown\u2019<\/b><\/p>\n<p>In explaining leftists\u2019 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/former-clinton-official-elon-musks-vision-for-the-internet-is-dangerous-nonsense\">negative reaction<\/a> to Musk\u2019s takeover, Frederick noted that the outrage has revealed \u201cexactly what they think about free speech.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMusk\u2019s fight to take down Twitter\u2019s censorship regime has exposed the platform\u2019s leaders as anti-free speech ideologues more interested in silencing opponents and preserving their power than free expression or fiduciary responsibility,\u201d she explained. \u201cThe Left\u2019s meltdown has made clear that this fight is about free speech and whether a select few control the flow of information for millions.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Lukianoff characterized the Left\u2019s opposition to free speech as a \u201cslow motion train wreck\u201d that began on college campuses decades ago.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFreedom of speech was the friend of activists in the \u201860s and was triumphant in the \u201870s. However, as the activists went from protesters to those in positions of power, they began to see freedom of speech as a burden and a nuisance, and as the older free speech stalwarts on the Left retired or were replaced, the newer generation of free speech skeptics took control,\u201d he said. \u201cThe professoriate leans heavily to the Left \u2014 administrators even more so \u2014 but with often less appreciation for freedom of speech and academic freedom.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>These officials have accordingly \u201ctaught younger people that free speech is the argument of the bully, bigot, and robber baron,\u201d Lukianoff added.<\/p>\n<p><b>\u2018Make Twitter Show Their Work\u2019<\/b><\/p>\n<p>How can Musk improve Twitter? According to Frederick and Lukianoff, Musk and other company leaders ought to be transparent and even-handed in their approach to the platform\u2019s rules.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMusk should commit Twitter to radical transparency. His announcement he will let President Trump back on Twitter is a signal that times are changing at the company,\u201d Frederick said. \u201cMake Twitter show their work when it comes to content moderation \u2014 past, present, and future. We can\u2019t count on billionaires as free speech white knights in other cases, so platforms need both technical solutions and policy options.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Lukianoff said that Twitter must refrain from engaging in viewpoint discrimination.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRules governing content should be clearly defined and consistently applied. And when it comes to restricting harassment or incitement, Twitter should make use of the actual definitions of these terms that exist in American case law,\u201d he offered. \u201cSomething Twitter should police <i>more <\/i>are true threats. People can grow skeptical about free speech promises when doxxing and threats of violence aren\u2019t punished.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut Twitter also needs to reframe the way people think about free speech,\u201d he continued. \u201cThere\u2019s an idea that the goal of free speech is to come to a platonic, objective understanding of truth, when, in reality, a huge advantage of free speech is simply knowing what people really think.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><b>\u2018It Is Orwellian\u2019<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Days after Musk announced his attempt to purchase Twitter, the Biden Administration\u2019s Department of Homeland Security unveiled its <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/trying-to-intentionally-tank-for-the-number-one-pick-in-the-draft-conservatives-rip-bidens-disinformation-governance-board\">Disinformation Governance Board<\/a>. Although the experts were hesitant to draw a direct line between the two events, they found the timing \u2014 and the administration\u2019s overall approach toward wielding governmental power \u2014 to be disturbing.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis follows a pattern of the Biden administration\u2019s willingness to turn the national security apparatus inward on dissenting Americans,\u201d Frederick said in reference to the Department of Justice\u2019s willingness to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/fbi-whistleblowers-accuse-bureau-of-probing-parents-as-terrorist-say-gop-lawmakers\">target parents of public school students<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/biden-doj-to-establish-specialized-domestic-terrorism-unit\">create a domestic terror unit focused on anti-government ideologies<\/a>. She also pointed toward a Department of Homeland Security bulletin calling the spreading of \u201cmis- dis- and mal-information\u201d on social media a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dhs.gov\/ntas\/advisory\/national-terrorism-advisory-system-bulletin-february-07-2022\">\u201cterrorist threat<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Lukianoff similarly remarked that the timing of the announcement was \u201cuncomfortable.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMark Zuckerberg made an announcement a couple of years back that Facebook should not be the \u2018arbiter of truth.\u2019 There were a lot of people who unjustifiably gave Facebook incredible flack for that,\u201d he commented. \u201cThe thing that stands in the way of perfectly policing disinformation is that none of us are omniscient \u2014 but an awful lot of us think we are. An open-ended mandate to police disinformation grants those in power an expansive ability to police speech and opinion. I will definitely be keeping a close eye on how that develops.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Trump commented that Biden\u2019s Disinformation Governance Board \u201cdepends on a disinterested public that wants to only hear ideas they agree with.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe administration is hoping the conservative invocations of Orwellian cliches fall on deaf ears,\u201d she said in reference to conservatives <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/desantis-vows-to-challenge-biden-administrations-ministry-of-truth\">branding the entity as the Ministry of Truth<\/a>, in reference to George Orwell\u2019s dystopian novel \u201c1984.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut it <i>is <\/i>Orwellian, and we must remember that George Orwell\u2019s stories were based on the world around him.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><i>The views expressed in this opinion piece are the author\u2019s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Last month, Elon Musk shocked the world by suddenly becoming Twitter\u2019s largest shareholder \u2014 then announcing that he had reached a $44 billion deal to purchase the social media platform<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":99,"featured_media":1483460,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1478480","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\/1478480","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\/99"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1478480"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1478480\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1483460"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1478480"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1478480"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1478480"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}