Elon Musk Says He’s Committed to Free Speech Even at Risk of “Direct Personal Safety”

Elon Musk says that Twitter’s mission is to become the most accurate source of information about the world, while restating his commitment to free speech even if it comes at “personal safety risk” to himself.

Musk, a self-described free speech absolutist, took to Twitter on Nov. 6 to reiterate his pledge for open discourse on Twitter.

“My commitment to free speech extends even to not banning the account following my plane, even though that is a direct personal safety risk,” Musk wrote.

He was referring to the ElonJet account set up by college student Jack Sweeney, who has been tracking Musk’s flights using publicly available data since 2020.

Musk’s pledge to not shut down the jet-tracking account drew a sympathetic response.

“Thank you for backing your commitment to free speech. Overwhelmingly the followers of my account are supporters and admirers of your endeavors,” Sweeney wrote via the ElonJet account.

Sweeney earlier dismissed suggestions that Musk would axe the account after taking ownership of Twitter.

“I’m not worried now that Musk owns Twitter. If he banned ElonJet, the news would be all over it, so I don’t think he will do it,” Sweeney wrote in an op-ed in Newsweek.

Sweeney also wrote on his personal Twitter account that he’s against people using the jet account to track down Musk and look for him in person, saying that he’s open to discussing with Musk taking the account down.

Musk had reportedly requested that Sweeney take down the account over a security risk, telling the student in a message cited by the Protocol that he doesn’t “love the idea of being shot by a nutcase.”

Twitter’s New Mission?

Nearly two weeks after taking over Twitter and becoming its new CEO, Musk wrote in a Twitter post: “Twitter needs to become by far the most accurate source of information about the world. That’s our mission.”

Twitter didn’t immediately return a query from The Epoch Times about whether the company plans to incorporate Musk’s guidance into its official mission statement, which at the time of reporting remained unchanged.

Currently, Twitter, Inc. states that its mission “is to give everyone the power to create and share ideas and information instantly without barriers,” pledging to do so in ways “that improve—and do not detract from—a free and global conversation.”

Musk took ownership of Twitter on Oct. 27. In an open letter, he called the platform a “digital town square” where a broad range of ideas can be debated “in a healthy manner, without resorting to violence.”

In the face of concerns over whether his commitment to free speech would mean dismantling content guardrails at Twitter, Musk said he wouldn’t let the platform become a “free-for-all hellscape” where anything could be said “with no consequences.”

“To be crystal clear, Twitter’s strong commitment to content moderation remains absolutely unchanged,” he wrote in a recent post on Twitter, while the company’s head of safety and integrity, Yoel Roth, wrote in a recent Twitter post thread that the daily volume of content “moderation actions” that the company has taken has “stayed steady.”

One of the enforcement actions Twitter is taking concerns users who impersonate other users on the platform without clearly specifying it as a “parody” account; they could face permanent suspension without a warning.

“Previously, we issued a warning before suspension, but now that we are rolling out widespread verification, there will be no warning,” Musk said in a Nov. 6 Twitter post.

Musk said this “will be clearly identified as a condition for signing up to Twitter Blue,” noting that any name change at all will cause temporary loss of a verified checkmark.

Follow

Tom Ozimek has a broad background in journalism, deposit insurance, marketing and communications, and adult education. The best writing advice he’s ever heard is from Roy Peter Clark: ‘Hit your target’ and ‘leave the best for last.’

*As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases