Musk's 'Free Speech Absolutism' For Twitter Is Greek To U.S., EU

With Elon Musk set to buy Twitter for $44 billion, commentators are scrambling to understand what the “free speech absolutism” espoused by the world’s richest person will mean for the platform.

Photo Insert: In fact, despite officials’ threats, Musk will be able to emasculate Twitter's content restrictions in the name of free speech if that is what he wishes to do.

But the principle could also create headaches for Musk himself, Zach Meyers wrote for Project Syndicate.

With the European Union and the United Kingdom about to enact laws aimed at making social media safer and more accountable, Musk has seemingly chosen a bad time to roll back content moderation on Twitter.

In fact, despite officials’ threats, Musk will be able to emasculate the platform’s content restrictions in the name of free speech if that is what he wishes to do. But he may reconsider once he realizes that this freedom will soon mean greater accountability.

Today, Twitter prohibits a wide range of legal but objectionable content, including posts expressing the hope that someone comes to harm, or which contain “excessively” violent images, and content that “disrupts people’s experience.”

And, of course, Twitter has banned controversial high-profile users like former US President Donald Trump. Musk wants to change this, with Twitter banning only illegal content.

UK and EU policymakers will not admit it openly, but their online safety laws will leave Musk free to reverse Twitter’s user bans and loosen its content rules so that they ban only illegal content.

When the legislation was being drafted, some lawmakers pushed hard to regulate platforms’ handling of so-called “lawful but awful” material. But, in the face of heavy resistance from civil society, they generally acknowledged that censoring legal content was a bridge too far.

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