Both Musk and his MAGA critics are wrong about free speech on microblog platform X
Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Elon Musk is in a free-speech fight over his decision to demonetize the content of some far-right ‘Make America Great Again’ (MAGA) critics who disagreed with his immigration views on his social media platform X. What is most remarkable about the argument is that both sides fail to acknowledge the simple truth of how speech, free or otherwise, works on social media.
It’s worth taking a moment to clarify what free speech means in the context of those platforms. The most fundamental fact about speech on social media is that it takes two to tango: the user and the platform. You, the user, produce content—commonly described in this industry as ‘UGC’ for user-generated content.
The platform takes that content and, using its algorithm, sends it out to other platform users, your audience. Both actors are essential and both are necessarily working in tandem. Nothing would be said on social media without the user to produce content.
No one would know what you said without the platform to publish the content. Hence, every act on a platform necessarily combines your speech with the platform’s choice of what to distribute. Compare this structure to legacy media, like the column you’re reading.
I wrote it and Bloomberg published it [first]. Both the company and I are speaking to you jointly right now. The difference between legacy media and social media is that Bloomberg hired me to write the column, whereas, on social media, you provide your content in exchange for the chance to have it distributed by the platform.
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