Photo Illustration by Kelly Caminero / The Daily Beast / Getty
When Elon Musk was taking over Twitter, he styled himself a free-speech warrior. He repeatedly promised that all speech protected by the First Amendment would be allowed on the platform.
This was met with sheer delight from many conservatives, libertarians, and others on the right. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), for example, heralded Musk’s Twitter takeover as “one of the most significant developments for free speech in modern times.” Right-wing media stars like Ben Shapiro similarly celebrated the takeover.
I myself was optimistic, although more cautiously so. Yet since actually assuming control of Twitter, Musk’s taken a decidedly different approach to what true free speech advocates hoped.