New Monday, new Elon Musk controversy. The tycoon of South African origin published this weekend a series of tweets in which he proposes the creation of a new social network that competes with giants such as Facebook, Twitter or Instagram. A social network in which, according to him, freedom of expression really exists.
“Given that Twitter serves as the de facto public forum and failing to adhere to free speech principles fundamentally undermines democracy, what should be done?” the tycoon tweeted. “Is a new platform necessary?” he continued in a second tweet.
In response to a person, Elon Musk went even further assuring that he is considering the creation of a new social network in which freedom of expression is respected.
If this speech critical of freedom of expression sounds familiar to you, it is because Donald Trump, the controversial former president of the United States, has also made criticism of this type. And, like Elon Musk, he created an alternative social network, called Truth –”truth” in English– that promises not to censor any user.
Elon Musk has been questioning freedom of expression on Twitter
Why is Elon Musk suddenly questioning freedom of expression on Twitter and planning to create a new social network? In the days before these tweets, the CEO of Tesla, did a poll asking his followers if they believed that Twitter respected the freedom of e xpression. A poll in which he openly won the “No”, with 70% of the votes.
Jack Dorsey, co-founder and, until a few months ago, CEO of Twitter, responded to Elon Musk arguing that Twitter's recommendation algorithms should be open source and selectable by users. A kind of App Store of algorithms for social platforms. This is an idea that the manager had expressed publicly in the past.
This, for a change, is not the only controversy in which Elon Musk has been involved in recent weeks. In the list we find the commotion that arose when it was revealed that he had, through surrogacy, a second daughter with the singer Grimes.
In parallel, he challenged Vladimir Putin, the current president of Russia, to a fight in which the freedom of Ukraine would be at stake. And, as if this were not enough, Grimes also made some controversial statements about the tycoon, assuring that he sometimes lives below the poverty line.
