Elon Slams Twitter Over Free Speech, Considers Building His Own Social Media App

Elon Musk.

(Photo: AP)

Shortly after criticising Twitter for restricting free speech, Elon Musk on Saturday tweeted that he is giving "serious thought" to building a new social media platform.

"Given that Twitter serves as the de facto public town square, failing to adhere to free speech principles fundamentally undermines democracy. What should be done?" he had tweeted earlier.

Musk had also invited a poll on Twitter, asking users if they believe Twitter rigorously adheres to this principle that free speech is essential to a functioning democracy. 70 percent of respondents chose "No".

'Free Speech Absolutist'

Even though Musk has previously described himself as a "free speech absolutist", he and his company have attempted to limit free speech on various occasions.

Tesla, for example, recently fired a former Autopilot employee named John Bernal after he shared candid video reviews of the company’s Full Self Driving (FSD) Beta system on his YouTube channel.

Last year, US' National Labor Relations Board ruled that Tesla had illegally fired a worker involved in union organizing and that Musk had illegally threatened workers that they would lose stock options if they unionized.

He also allegedly barred journalist Stewart Alsop from buying a Tesla because of his criticism of the Tesla Model X launch event.

Due to increasing regulatory pressure, popular social media platforms have lately been pushed to better moderate their content to limit hate speech and misinformation. This has led to a flood of alternatives that often claim to champion free speech, like Gab, Rumble, Parler, Gettr and Donald Trump's Truth Social.

Musk is currently at loggerheads with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. He wants to back out of a 2018 deal with the SEC which required Musk to step down as Tesla Chairman and not tweet anything about Tesla without the approval of other company executives.