Elon Musk’s Twitter no Longer a Free Speech area?
Elon Musk Musk’s Twitter agrees to censor posts concerning a controversial BBC put up concerning Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Because the CEO of Twitter, Elon Musk got here underneath heavy scrutiny and was accused of being complicit with state censorship after he took the aspect of the Indian authorities within the matter of the BBC documentary towards PM Modi.
Vital Documentary
“India: The Modi Query,” a two-part BBC documentary, claims that it has investigated and researched sure features regarding the 2002 Gujarat riots. PM Modi was the top of state on the time of the riot.
The battle towards free speech and state censorship revolves across the identical important documentary from the BBC. This documentary by the BBC additionally delved into accusations that it was politicians who allowed religious-based violence towards Muslims.
The opponents of PM Modi have for years accused him of inaction within the face of violent Hindu nationalism, which included the bloodbath of greater than 1,000 Muslims within the yr 2002. The accusation, in response to PM Modi, is a smear and an try to discredit him.
Authorities of India’s Orders
The Indian authorities, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, ordered all social media platforms, together with Twitter, to censor any posts in regards to the documentary. The federal government calls the documentary “hostile propaganda” made with anti-India sentiments.
Twitter appears to have complied with the order by blocking sure tweets from being seen inside India. A tweet from Derek O’Brien on the BBC documentary was withheld, and a discover appeared over the place of the tweet.
Elon Musk: A Self-proclaimed Speech Absolutist
Elon Musk, CEO of House X and Tesla, is a tech billionaire who purchased Twitter final yr for an enormous sum of cash. As a self-proclaimed free speech absolutist, Musk has promised that his takeover of Twitter will mark the start of a brand new period wherein there shall be no censorship. When requested in regards to the resolution to bow to the Indian authorities’s censorship demand, Elon Musk acknowledged it with a brief tweet however made no guarantees about what he’ll do in regards to the scenario.
He acknowledged that he simply discovered in regards to the censorship and that it’s not attainable for him to repair each facet of Twitter in a single day whereas working each Tesla and House X. This reply was a deep distinction to the detailed, personalised responses he all the time offers to individuals who complain to him about Twitter.
Imminent Backlash
There was no official response from Twitter with regard to those allegations, however it’s seen {that a} backlash is constructing towards the corporate for its resolution to adjust to the Indian authorities’s order. Rasheed Ahmed, director of the Indian American Muslim Council, an advocacy organisation acknowledged {that a} self-proclaimed free speech absolutist character should all the time stroll the discuss. However by withholding the posts on the BBC documentary, Musk has proved that for him, revenue all the time comes earlier than something.
Actor John Cusack, a board member of the Freedom of the Press Basis, referred to as Elon Musk an actual profile in cowardice. He had co-written a ebook on authorities surveillance with Indian novelist Arundhati Roy in 2016.
Harsh Crackdown by the Authorities
The tough crackdown continued even in India. College students from universities like JNU and Jamia Milia had been detained as they tried to display screen the documentary “India: The Modi Query” on the school campus itself.
It isn’t unusual for tech corporations to dam content material regionally. In a report from earlier than Twitter was acquired by Musk, it exhibits that the corporate obtained 47,572 native calls for to take away content material through the second half of 2021. 97% of them had been from 5 international locations: Japan, Russia, South Korea, Turkey, and India.
Matthew Yglesias, a journalist well-liked contained in the Biden administration, feels that this units a harmful precedent as to what Musk may do for different hard-line figures equivalent to Chinese language chief Xi Jinping. As a result of China is essential to Musk’s Tesla enterprise, Xi’s affect outweighs PM Modi’s.
