Commentary
In recent days, two iconic American public figures, Elon Musk and Barack Obama—each in his own trademark fashion—struck a chord with wildly different audiences in the debate over freedom of speech and expression in this country.
On April 25, Elon Musk reached an agreement with Twitter’s board of directors to acquire and take the company private. He has pledged to pivot the platform toward respect for free speech principles, so that Twitter is “maximally trusted and broadly inclusive.”
Less noticed, a few days earlier, on April 21, former community organizer-turned-president Barack Obama addressed an audience at Stanford University. In a slick presentation, he challenged the relevance—the very worth—of “free speech” by most people. Obama said that what drives typical dissension from liberal orthodoxy is hatred and bigotry, conspiracy theory, state-sponsored disinformation (Russia!), and corporate propaganda. “Regulation has to be part of the answer to combating online disinformation.” The subtext? If control of Twitter slips from progressive hands, then the government should censor information, opinions, and participation there.
…