MEAWW.COM / NEWS / CELEBRITY NEWS

Elon Musk says NO to allowing Alex Jones on Twitter, Internet says it's against his 'free speech stance'

Elon Musk reinstated Twitter accounts of Kathy Griffin, right-wing satirical site Babylon Bee and psychologist Jordan Peterson

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA: Twitter and Elon Musk have stayed in the news ever since the billionaire was given the keys and took control. From firing employees to charging money for the verification tick, Musk has brought about stiff changes. He once called himself a free-speech absolutist which is a claim that has not aged well. Now he has right away said now to reinstate the account of the conspiracy theorist Alex Jones who has been in and out of court for his remarks.

Alex Jones has been convicted of defamation recently which could be the reason why the 51-year-old tech mogul is not interested in bringing his account back. On Friday, November 18, he announced on Twitter that the accounts of comedian Kathy Griffin, right-wing satirical site the Babylon Bee, and psychologist Jordan Peterson were restored. However, he drew the line when it came to Jones. He is a right-wing conspiracy theorist and Sandy Hook school-shooting denier who was permanently banned from Twitter in 2018 for his behavior. Musk's original plan of running Twitter with freedom of speech at its epicenter fell apart.

READ MORE

Elon Musk asks Twitter engineers to report in-person amid mass resignations

'I am not super worried': Elon Musk mocks #RIPTwitter trend with grave meme as resignations pile up

On Friday, Musk tweeted that the social media platform will not support freedom of speech but not "freedom of reach." He wrote, "New Twitter policy is freedom of speech, but not freedom of reach. Negative/hate tweets will be max deboosted & demonetized, so no ads or other revenue to Twitter. You won’t find the tweet unless you specifically seek it out, which is no different from rest of Internet." Musk sparks a debate after a hard pass on bringing back Jones' account. 

Debate sparks after Elon Musk says 'No' to reviving Alex Jones' account

One user reminded Musk of his original stance and wrote, "This contradicts your free speech stance @elonmusk. I do not agree with Alex Jones, but he needs to be able to speak along with everyone else. You should try to justify your position here rather than just saying "no"." Another user slammed Musk, saying, "Why not? I thought you were for free speech, I guess that's a lie. Alex Jones is not a criminal, he hasn't broken the law. And you also said people shouldn't be banned for life, then you answer @thevivafrei with a Too Bad?." One more user wrote, "I knew Elon was full of shit.. He just wasted 44 billion just to keep the same talking points. Elon isn't for Free Speech. Pretty sad, I had high hopes for this but apparently, people fucking lie to get what they want. Yea, I hope twitter dies."

One user fully supported Musk and wrote, "Smart. I don't think you'd ever see the likes of GM advertising on the platform if Alex Jones came back. The harm he did to families in Sandy Hook should not be forgotten." One more said Jones would only end up getting banned if he comes back saying, "Alex Jones is just pure chaos. I like him but he's just bound to get banned again if he gets reinstated." Another user tweeted, "For everyone upset with the “no”. Free speech does not mean free from consequence. Alex Jones used his freedom of speech exactly the way he wanted and not being allowed on twitter is the consequence. Stop trying to complicate this."

This article contains remarks made on the Internet by individual people and organizations. MEAWW cannot confirm them independently and does not support claims or opinions being made online