Elon Musk’s X Fails to Deliver on Free Speech Promise

Elon Musk’s acquisition of Twitter, rebranded as X, was touted as a haven for free speech. However, the reality has proven to be somewhat different. While users may express their opinions freely, including using derogatory language, protesting government overreach is apparently not allowed. The recent arrest of Turkish President Tayyip Erdoğan’s primary political rival has sparked widespread protests, both on the streets and on social media. According to a report by Politico, several accounts that spoke out against the government have been suspended on X.

As reported by Politico, the suspended accounts primarily belong to university-associated activists who shared information about protests, including times and locations. These accounts, described as “grassroots activists,” typically have small followings, ranging from tens of thousands of users. Notably, some of these accounts have been suspended only in Turkey, where the information is most relevant, and remain accessible in other parts of the world.

In some cases, activists have created alternative accounts to circumvent local censorship. For instance, Ömer Faruk Aslan created a secondary account after his primary account was suspended, allegedly after one of his posts garnered over six million views on the platform, as claimed by Aslan.

The Turkish government, led by Erdoğan, has claimed that the suspended accounts are associated with “inciting hatred.” It is worth noting that the public demonstrations against Erdoğan’s government took place despite a multi-day ban on protests issued by the government. Turkey’s Interior Minister, Ali Yerlikaya, stated that authorities have identified 326 accounts for takedown, including 72 believed to be operated outside of Turkey, and that 54 “suspects” have been arrested for their social media activities.

While the crackdown on activists is primarily the responsibility of the Turkish government, X has played a role in the content crackdown. The company has been willing to comply with Erdoğan’s government requests, as evidenced by its actions in the past. In 2023, prior to the Turkish Presidential election, Erdoğan threatened to restrict X’s operations in the country if the company did not comply with government requests to remove certain posts and accounts. Musk and X acquiesced to these demands, with Musk justifying the decision by stating, “The choice is have Twitter throttled in its entirety or limit access to some tweets. Which one do you want?” Additionally, X has complied with 86% of Turkey’s government requests to remove content in the second half of 2024, as per the company’s transparency report.

The implications are clear: if Erdoğan asks, X is likely to deliver. The math is not complex, and the outcome is predictable.