Matt Taibbi, a prominent figure in the “Twitter Files” investigation, expresses disappointment in Elon Musk’s commitment to free speech, citing ongoing issues on the platform now known as X.
By yourNEWS Media Staff
Matt Taibbi, a journalist who gained attention through his work on the “Twitter Files” alongside Elon Musk, has recently voiced his dissatisfaction with Musk’s handling of free speech issues on the platform now rebranded as X. Despite Musk’s self-proclaimed stance as a “free speech absolutist,” Taibbi shared his disillusionment, particularly highlighting continued practices of shadowbans, unexplained account suspensions, and inconsistent rule enforcement under Musk’s ownership.
Since @elonmusk published parts of these conversations, I might as well include others. I was under a “blanket search ban” at one point and a lot of my 1.9 million followers still don’t see my content. https://t.co/vFRtJFierF pic.twitter.com/k29MFxLUTC
— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) February 15, 2024
During an interview on NewsNation’s “Cuomo,” Taibbi discussed the matter, stating, “I do believe that Elon proved to be very disappointing on the free speech issue. All of us who worked on the Twitter Files felt the same way. We went in feeling tremendously optimistic that he actually meant a lot of the things that he said about being in favor of all legal speech and being a free speech absolutist and all these other things.”
Taibbi further revealed the extent of the issue, mentioning how thousands of Substack writers, including himself, have been disenfranchised under Musk’s policies. He pointed out a lack of concern from the press regarding this matter. Taibbi’s criticism comes in light of his own experiences with Musk, sharing an instance where Musk expressed discontent with Taibbi’s continued writing on Substack, a competing platform.
In a series of text messages made public by Taibbi, Musk reacted negatively to inquiries about potential shadowbanning, attributing it to a lockdown following an alleged data theft by Substack. Musk stated, “Going forward, tweets with Substack will not appear in For You unless it is paid advertising, just like FB/Insta/etc. They will appear in ‘Following.'” The conversation took a personal turn when Musk concluded, “You are dead to me,” and urged Taibbi to leave X for Substack exclusively.
These revelations have sparked discussions around Musk’s commitment to free speech principles and his management of X, raising questions about the balance between platform policies and the free exchange of ideas.