So much for free speech absolutism. Like other narcissists who come into power, Elon Musk’s ideals met a brick wall when he was in the media’s headlights. Purporting to be enraged about journalists “doxxing” his son, he went on a rampage banning journalists from his platform, claiming they were violating terms of service he had only updated the previous day.
Musk, much like Donald Trump actually, wasn’t someone on my radar until suddenly he was, and omnipresent at that. Because more and more it appears that Musk purchased Twitter as a vanity project, not as an investment, otherwise why does he continue to make every move possible to blow it up?
Banning journalists who were covering completely legitimate stories about Musk and his business dealings; banning parody users poking fun at Musk; forbidding mention of competing platforms; posting incendiary tweets, including one implying that a former Twitter employee, who only a few months earlier he had praised, was possibly a pedophile.
Musk claims he is the “good guy” creating more freedom and liberty. What he’s mostly doing, however, is either banning detractors or taking extreme positions to create lots of traffic.
He is like a child with a long-coveted brand-new toy. Giddy with excitement, he’s more liable to break the thing than use it correctly.
Of course Twitter is no ordinary toy. His medium influences millions of people globally. And Musk seems giddy with the power — and impulsive. He’ll make quick-fire, broad, repressive decisions — like the aforementioned decision to ban links to competing platforms — then realize it’s madness and quickly backtrack. Same with the widespread banning of journalists who insulted him. Like that same child, Musk craves attention, but when the attention gets ugly, he hastily attempts to untangle himself.
Twitter certainly had issues under the old regime, some of which Musk has exposed in his commissioned “Twitter Files,” but it’s becoming such an unpleasant place. For it to survive, the best thing Musk can do is remove himself from day-to-day operations, which finally he seems to realize according to his latest (as of this writing) poll.
Musk believed he was the antidote to social media’s ills; ironically, he has heightened them, making clearer than ever how dangerous it is to have all-powerful and all-influential tech companies in the hands of a few individuals.
There is an actual antidote to this: repeal Section 230. If social media CEOs were held to the same standard as other publishers — facing liability under defamation and libel laws — they would surely be more careful both about their own words, and what their platforms are used for.
Shana Goldberg may be reached at [email protected]
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