April 5, 2022

Like President Trump , Musk is a billionaire who’s enjoyed using Twitter as a platform for his opinions. That’s why it was stunning when , a week ago , Musk made it clear that he believes that Twitter , as the modern town square , rather than shutting down free speech , must be a free speech platform … Or be overtaken by competing technology :

Elon Musk

@elonmusk

Given that Twitter serves as the de facto public town square , failing to adhere to free speech principles fundamentally undermines democracy. What should be done ?

To show that the question in the poll should be taken seriously , Musk added , “ The consequences of this poll will be important. Please vote carefully.”

As for that embedded poll, Musk got 2,035,924 votes (as of last count) with 70.4% voting that, “no,” Twitter does not rigorously adhere to the principle that “free speech is essential to a functioning democracy.”

Elon Musk

@elonmusk

· Mar 25

Free speech is essential to a functioning democracy. Do you believe Twitter rigorously adheres to this principle ?

As for that embedded poll , Musk got 2,035,924 votes ( as of last count ) with 70.4% voting that , “ no ,” Twitter does not rigorously adhere to the principle that “ free speech is essential to a functioning democracy ”…

Just a few days later after that important ( albeit non-scientific poll ) , Musk purchased 9.2% of Twitter’s publicly available shares. While that’s a far cry from a majority of shares , it’s still left Musk as Twitter’s biggest stakeholder , a very powerful position. That’s why Musk’s latest ( April 4 ) tweet hints that he has the power to bring about change , even if it’s only an edit button for tweets …

I’m startin’ to like Elon ! …