That's. So. Weird.

but i am rich and say one thing and do whatever i please

now its reporters. I think he has finally snapped.

Correct me if I'm wrong due to new info, but the suspension came after someone linked to that account stalked and climbed on the car in which his son was riding, correct?

Not sure I'm opposed to a little vigilante justice in that scenario.

If that happened (Musk referenced something like that, but I haven't seen reporting about it), it complicates the picture. I don't know where that falls, in free speech terms, since the location of a private citizen's plane is not confidential information.

But as Manhattan referenced above, Musk *then* banned people who reported on the account bans, and then handed out bans to others who reported on the bans that had been issued to those who reported on the bans.

There's simply no personal safety justification for banning real, professional reporters with bylines from places like the New York Times and Washington Post.

So much for "I hope my worst critics stay on Twitter, because that's what free speech means." (Musk, via Tweet, Apr. 2022).

I concur. I think he's in over his head and wants to just freeze everything for a while, get his wits about him, and then he'll bring people back. I'm giving him a year to see where he takes the company before I make a final judgement. But for now, yes, not looking so great for free speech.

Twitter really needs to come up with better tools than "permaban" or "nothing." They have their algorithms and such that can limit the reach of certain content ("shadowbanning"), but it doesn't seem like they have a "24h timer" or "48h timer" kind of option. That's mindboggling. Even Imgflip has that.

Musk may or may not intend to reverse these bans at some point, no one can know what's going on in his head.

But yes, as it currently stands: some professional Musk-critical journalists are banned from the platform, whereas Donald Trump (Jan. 6 ringleader, ongoing denier of elections, provoker of riots, thief of top-secret documents, active contender to lead the U.S. once again) has his Twitter account back.

Yeah man, I think you can have a platform that is absolutely pro-free speech and still allows for a lot of flexibility when it comes to making sure people aren't jarred by content they don't want to see...adding the ability to mute people is a fantastic way to spread digital vigilante justice.

Trump being back doesn't bother me, but the journalists being gone does. It'd be nice to see them back...preferably never would have seen them go.

Public safety is one of the very best justifications for clamping down on speech. It's the same reason you can't legally yell fire in a crowded theater, or plan a terrorist bombing in the open, or call for someone's assassination. Or, perhaps, for overturning an election and ending the Constitutional order as we know it.

Post-Jan. 6, there is no reason why any platform shouldn't be able to boot Trump if it wants to.

Musk has gotten a taste of what it means to be physically threatened by speech. He's just one step away from seeing where that logic might lead when applied to the defense of America as a whole.

He's so close!

Yessir, hence why I'm intrigued to see where things go!