Elon Musk this week responded to allegations that he is suppressing free speech after removing several prominent users’ capacity to monetize their content on social media platform X.
Multiple prominent accounts in recent days have accused Musk of removing their verification on X amid a debate over H-1B visas and foreign workers in the United States.
Responding to a post on the platform about complaints that he was not living up to his promises of promoting free speech on X, Musk wrote on New Year’s Day, “The first amendment is protection for ‘free speech,’ not ‘paid speech.’”
In another comment, the multibillionaire Tesla owner responded to a claim made by commentator Nick Fuentes, who appeared to have lost his verification, that “Twitter censorship is back” and “free speech is dead.” Musk ridiculed the idea that Fuentes is “claiming censorship while simultaneously getting millions of views” on the platform….