Leftists are decrying free speech as a threat to democracy after Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced Thursday he offered to buy Twitter.
The Washington Post opinion columnist Max Boot tweeted he is “frightened by the impact on society and politics if Elon Musk acquires Twitter.”
“He seems to believe that on social media anything goes. For democracy to survive, we need more content moderation, not less,” Boot added.
I am frightened by the impact on society and politics if Elon Musk acquires Twitter. He seems to believe that on social media anything goes. For democracy to survive, we need more content moderation, not less.
— Max Boot 🇺🇦🇺🇸 (@MaxBoot) April 14, 2022
MSNBC political analyst Anand Giridharadas compared Musk to an “invader” and criticized Musk’s promise to “unlock” Twitter’s potential.
https://twitter.com/AnandWrites/status/1514566790654824449?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1514566790654824449%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fdailycaller.com%2F2022%2F04%2F14%2Fliberals-decry-free-speech-elon-musk-offers-buy-twitter%2F
Salon writer Matthew Rozsa said while he cares about freedom, he also cares about “factual precision” and said that Musk’s “attempted takeover of Twitter is a threat to the free world.”
The USA Singers, who describe themselves as musicians who “stand with Democracy,” suggested Twitter should tell Musk to “go fuck himself, then delete his account.”
“That’s how you deal with an out of control narcissistic bully.”
Duty To Warn, a group that describes themselves as mental health professionals warning about so-called “TrumpISM,” said Musk would “delete democracy.”
Who cares if you threaten to delete Twitter if Elon Musk’s hostile takeover succeeds?
Musk will delete democracy.
If narcissistic right-wing billionaires control media, they control minds, elections and the world.— Duty To Warn 🔉 (@duty2warn) April 14, 2022
“If narcissistic right-wing billionaires control media, they control minds, elections and the world,” the group tweeted.
Democratic operative Jon Cooper urged Twitter users to “start a GoFundMe REAL fast to outbid Elon Musk.”
Whitney Dawn Carlson, who works in communications for the National WIC Association, tweeted a simple “fuck you @elonmusk.”
Axios, which styles itself as objective news, outright called Elon Musk a “supervillain” and a “goblin” for attempting to bring free speech to Twitter.
“The world’s richest man – someone who used to be compared to Marvel’s Iron Man – is increasingly behaving like a movie supervillain, commanding seemingly unlimited resources with which to finance his mischief-making.”
The world's richest man — someone who used to be compared to Marvel's Iron Man — is increasingly behaving like a movie supervillain, commanding seemingly unlimited resources with which to finance his mischief-making. https://t.co/V0hL78zHrq
— Axios (@axios) April 14, 2022
Meanwhile, Jeff Jarvis, a professor at CUNY’s Newmark Journalism School, said Twitter “feels like the last evening in a Berlin nightclub at the twilight of Weimar Germany.”
Musk offered to buy Twitter for $43.4 billion after rejecting a seat on the board.