Elon Musk Retorts Sharply To Twitter Censorship Accusations: 'You're Such A Numbskull'

Elon Musk became embroiled in a contentious dispute over Twitter's censorship practices, firing back at a critic with a scathing retort. 

What Happened: Musk, who has often positioned himself as a vocal advocate for free speech, responded with incensed fury when confronted with allegations of yielding to censorship demands made by authoritarian governments. 

See Also: Twitter’s New CEO Brushes Aside Elon Musk’s Disdain For Hashtags: ‘#Wearesoback’

During the weekend, Bloomberg columnist Matthew Yglesias took to Twitter and shared a report stating that since Musk took over Twitter in October last year for $44 billion, the microblogging site has approved 83% more censorship requests from governments such as Turkey and India.

Yglesias tweeted the report with the caption, “I’m a free speech absolutist,” in a dig at Musk.

In response, Musk vehemently struck back at Yglesias, calling him a “numbskull.” 

The tech billionaire challenged him to identify a single instance where they had the choice to exercise a genuine choice. 

Yglesias defended his position, emphasizing that Musk had acquired Twitter with a professed commitment to free speech principles, but ultimately had the right to run the business as he saw fit. 

According to the report in question, Twitter received 971 government requests, fully complying with 808 of them and partially complying with 154. This represents a notable increase compared to the previous year, when the microblogging site agreed to 50% of such requests. 

Why It’s Important: Musk’s Twitter is currently facing allegations of aiding Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in suppressing criticism by blocking multiple accounts in the lead-up to Turkey’s fiercely contested general election. 

Twitter’s global government affairs acknowledged that they had taken action to restrict access to certain content in response to legal processes without specifying which tweets would be affected. 

In response to the severe backlash, Musk stated that Twitter is more vocal in supporting free speech compared to any other internet company, even surpassing “Wokipedia.” 

Earlier this year, Twitter complied with the Indian government’s emergency powers and banned content related to a BBC documentary, which featured a previously unpublished report from the U.K. Foreign Office, holding Prime Minister Narendra Modi responsible for fostering an atmosphere of impunity contributing to communal violence in Gujarat state.

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