Elon Musk’s X (formerly Twitter) is reportedly looking to hire another employee to deal with “election disinformation.” Apparently Musk isn’t X-cessively concerned about living up to his supposed free speech ideals.
“X, Elon Musk’s social media platform, is actively seeking to hire a so-called disinformation specialist, releasing a call for applications in an effort to censor certain users ahead of the 2024 election,” The National Pulse reported on August 19. “The move has sparked concern, especially in relation to similar actions taken during the 2020 election and the acquisition of Twitter by Elon Musk, who pledged to uphold the values of free speech.”
It would be disappointing, but not exactly shocking. Musk has been caught failing in his own free speech ideals again and again, including through hiring Linda Yaccarino to be CEO of X. Yaccarino is a former NBCUniversal executive and World Economic Forum (WEF) stooge who helped write a report praising Communist China and government funding of media. WEF is explicitly anti-free speech, and Yaccarino seems to be associated with WEF. Musk himself regularly panders to and praises the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), which runs a highly dictatorial censorship regime.
The National Pulse continued, “Critics, including Mike Benz from the Foundation For Freedom Online, have raised the issue of possible covert censorship channels and an increased threat to online freedom if these positions are filled.” Yaccarino recently boasted of how X is working to censor content in order to appease advertisers, as PJ Media’s Ben Bartee reported. Censorship is, sadly, alive and well on X/Twitter.
The National Pulse:
The job postings have been promoted through DisinfoDocket.com, a site affiliated with “anti-disinformation” groups with ties to federal cybersecurity agencies. These developments raise questions about the true intentions behind the creation of these positions and how they align with the concept of free speech.
The preference for candidates proficient in European languages suggests that the impact will extend beyond localized concerns.
Musk recently came under fire for caving to censorship pressure from the government of Turkish dictator Erdogan just before the Turkish elections. Musk defended the decision as supposedly necessary to allow Twitter to continue operating in Turkey, but it does set a concerning precedent. In light of the U.S. federal government’s previous pressure to censor before the 2020 and 2022 elections, will Musk’s X censor 2024 election content at the Biden administration’s behest?
Related: Free Speech Win: Biden Administration Bid to Overturn Censorship Injunction Fails
A Media Research Center poll found that censorship of the Hunter Biden scandals helped steal the 2020 election for Joe Biden. Election censorship has consequences—and X should have no part in it.
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