Warning: Free Speech Is *Actually* Under Threat In The USA Now – CleanTechnica

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Incorrect logic and false narratives drive me nuts. Unfortunately, many Elon Musk fans succumbed to some extremely poor logic on free speech a couple of years ago. Now we’re getting to Part 3 of this story, and it shows what is a truly chilling attack on free speech. Where is the outrage from “free speech absolutists” now? Where is the outcry now that we have genuine attacks on free speech?

The issue that triggered Elon Musk to buy Twitter and go on a “free speech” crusade was that he was upset the moderation team at Twitter, a single company, did not permit bullying of transgender people. Musk claimed he wanted absolute free speech on the platform, and that after buying it, he would ensure that. As it turns out, you still don’t have absolute free speech on the platform, but that’s not the topic of the day. The important point is: Twitter was a publicly owned social media platform (and X is now a privately owned social media platform) and the company has always been free to moderate posts as it sees fit. That has nothing to do with guaranteed free speech in a democratic society. If the managers at X don’t want to allow some content, that’s up to them, and there are other networks and platforms where people can post that content. No one’s democratic right to free speech is assaulted by one platform/company having rules about what can be said there.

It’s something else when the government is squashing dissent, canceling the voices of critics, and truly infringing on freedom of speech. This week, popular late night talkshow host and comedian Jimmy Kimmel effectively got canceled by Donald Trump and his cronies in the US government. The purported reason is nonsensical, but the real reason is obviously that Kimmel is a top critic of Donald Trump, and a very effective one.

Note that Kimmel’s immediate response to Charlie Kirk’s murder was compassionate and nonpartisan. He encouraged everyone to care more about each other and to not resort to violence when they disagree. He called any support for the murder vile, called murdering someone monstrous, and offered words of support for Kirk’s family and friends. (If only Donald Trump, Elon Musk, and others had the sense to be so mature, rather than trying to stoke more violence and fighting.)

To be clear, what happened is the FCC Chairman threatened to go after ABC and Walt Disney Company if they didn’t take Jimmy Kimmel off the air. And what did they do? They submitted to the authoritarian demand and took the show off the air indefinitely. The demand was in response to the segment of this opening monologue that started at 2:02:

Seriously.

(Note that at the time of this monologue, not a lot was known about the shooter. However, he was raised Mormon, he was taken to practice shooting at gun ranges a lot as a kid, and it seemed like he may have been a MAGA supporter originally.)

Trump’s FCC apparently forced late night talkshow host Stephen Colbert off the air a couple of months before this, with CBS reportedly succumbing to similar FCC threats. After that happened, Trump actually made a statement along the lines of Jimmy Kimmel being next. Trump’s dictator-light cronies in the US government are now reportedly looking to force “The View” off the air.

In his last show on the air, Kimmel also highlighted Trump’s lawsuit against the New York Times, a lawsuit a judge just dismissed earlier today. The lawsuit is nonsense, but it is dangerous nonsense that is again attacking freedom of speech, from the highest position in US government, the White House.

It’s one thing for a company to have ethics and standards about what can be said on its property — whether virtual property or physical property. It’s something entirely different for the president of the United States to use various aggressive, authoritarian tools to crush critics and actually attack free speech.

Interestingly, for once, a couple of prominent Republicans are opposing Trump’s mafia-like attacks on free speech. Tucker Carlson and Ted Cruz have said this is not the way to go, and is mafia-like behavior going against the freedom of speech we have (or are supposed to have) in the USA.

It’s good to get a couple of logical responses from people who, for once, are choosing to side with democracy over fascist authoritarianism. Unfortunately, that’s not the norm this week.

Regarding the many hypocrisies on full display this week, though, here’s a series of tweets/posts from Elon Musk’s X showing just how absurdly illogical so many Americans are these days:

It’s always a double standard. Donald Trump’s administration is using authoritarian tactics to shut down freedom of speech, force utilities to keep dirty power plants open, cancel live contracts for big renewable energy projects, take over cities with the military, imprison and deport American citizens without due process, and much more. If a Democrat President was behaving in such a way to further his agenda or squash criticism, everyone on the right would be going nuts and calling for revolution.

Where do we go from here? That is the question….

Featured image: Mashup by Carolyn Fortuna/CleanTechnica from “Donald Trump Signs The Pledge” by Michael Vadon, licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0. + “Elon Musk” by Daniel Oberhaus (2018), licensed under CC BY 2.0.