Elon Musk has accused Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of suppressing free speech in the country, following the regulatory requirements imposed on online streaming services.
What Happened: Musk’s accusations stem from the Canadian government’s latest order mandating all online streaming services offering podcasts to formally register with the government, subjecting themselves to regulatory controls.
During the weekend, journalist and author Glenn Greenwald took to X, formerly Twitter, and drew attention to the situation, highlighting the Canadian government’s involvement in online censorship.
Musk then voiced his opinion, stating, “Trudeau is trying to crush free speech in Canada. Shameful.”
Notably, this is not the first time the Trudeau government has faced allegations of curbing free speech.
In February last year, Trudeau invoked emergency powers during the trucker protests against vaccine mandates.
This move empowered the country’s banks and the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Center of Canada to oversee financial transactions and take measures such as account freezes, aimed at disrupting the flow of financial support to the protest movement.
However, it was met with overwhelmingly negative responses from Canadians and sparked the threat of legal challenges by the Canadian Civil Liberties Association and the Canadian Constitution Foundation.
Why It’s Important: Musk’s commitment to free speech was also questioned earlier this year when Twitter, now rebranded as X, restricted access to certain content in Turkey due to legal demands.
Bloomberg columnist Matthew Yglesias added to the controversy by highlighting a reported increase in censorship requests approved by Twitter since Musk’s acquisition of the platform. The tech billionaire countered by challenging Yglesias to identify a single instance where they had a genuine choice.
Photo by NASA Kennedy
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