Elon Musk last night put to bed fears that he would go beyond the law in allowing freedom of speech.
In a late-night tweet he clarified that: “By ‘free speech’, I simply mean that which matches the law.”
Musk's reaffirmation of prioritising free speech on Twitter when he bought it for $44 bilion (R690bn) this week gave rise to fears that the platform would descend into a hotbed of misinformation and harassment.
In reaction to the “Goodbye Twitter” hashtag, he said:
“The extreme antibody reaction from those who fear free speech says it all.”
He then went on within the tweet to clarify:
“I am against censorship that goes far beyond the law.
“If people want less free speech, they will ask government to pass laws to that effect.
“Therefore, going beyond the law is contrary to the will of the people.”
Musk’s #TwitterTakeover this week was met with mixed reactions on the platform with a growing number of tweeps threatening to leave Twitter and the . #GoodbyeTwitter was trending on the platform.
Tweeps have not been easy on the billionaire and richest man in the world and his buyout has not been without very vocal critics on the sites.
Some fear that it will mean the return of vocal anti-vaxxers and even former president Donald Trump (who has said he won’t be back as he is building his own social network site called Truth).
While others are cheering the return of those with opposing views to ensure the platform is not an echobox, furious debate is on as to what the platform would look like under the sole ownership of Musk.