Elon Musk is urging users to “yell” at him if they feel freedom of speech isn’t upheld on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, which he owns. This unusual appeal reaffirms Musk’s commitment to supporting all viewpoints within the laws of various countries, even those he personally disagrees with or dislikes. On Tuesday, Musk posted on X, saying, “Just want to reiterate that this platform really is meant to support all viewpoints within the bounds of the laws of countries… If that doesn’t seem to be happening, please yell at me (ideally on ?).”
Musk’s plea comes amid a tense climate of censorship debates among tech giants. Recently, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg claimed that the current U.S. administration, led by President Joe Biden, had pressured his company to censor posts, even those related to COVID-19 satire. Musk responded to Zuckerberg’s remarks by suggesting that such actions could violate the First Amendment. When asked if Zuckerberg’s newfound resistance to censorship was inspired by him, Musk cryptically replied, “Whatever the reason, it’s a step in the right direction.”
This exchange occurs against the backdrop of an ongoing rivalry between Musk and Zuckerberg, particularly since Meta launched Threads, a direct competitor to X. Musk previously threatened to sue Meta, accusing them of unlawfully misappropriating Twitter’s trade secrets through former employees.
Zuckerberg, however, positioned Threads as a potential global platform for public conversation, aiming to engage over 1 billion users—a goal he believes Twitter failed to achieve. The rivalry even led to talks of a physical cage match between the two billionaires, but Zuckerberg recently abandoned the idea, suggesting Musk’s intentions weren’t genuine and it was best to leave the challenge behind.
