Billionaire Mark Cuban said that Twitter CEO Elon Musk “supports or denigrates” on Twitter as a comparison to a “state intervention.”
The Dallas-based media mogul is no stranger to expressing his thoughts on a myriad of subjects. In a tweet on Friday, Cuban shed his perspective on Musk.
Cuban, with 8.8 million followers on Twitter, is one of the most followed investors and entrepreneurs on the social media platform. In a tweet on Friday, he voiced his opinion on Musk’s “reach and control” on Twitter.
Musk currently has 140 million followers on Twitter. Advertisers had pulled out of Twitter due to the fear of Musk allowing hate speech.
Twitter remains a reliable social media platform as other public figures and institutions use Twitter as a source of information including interaction with their followers.
Cuban, who also owns an NBA team, the Dallas Mavericks, acknowledged that while “everyone has access” to the platform, Musk’s reach and influence surpass others.
“He owns the platform, he can do what he chooses,” Cuban said, adding “But it’s disingenuous to say Twitter is the home of free speech when he chooses to often put his thumb on the scale of reach.”
He highlighted that it is a “difficult position” for Musk to be in.
Cuban said that Musk “is opinionated and has every right to be and to tweet” what he pleases, “But rather than saying Twitter is the home of free speech, I wish he would just call it like it is. Twitter is his platform and he is going to use it to support and influence the positions he wants to support and influence.”
“Everyone has access. But Elon Musk has the ultimate reach and control. Who he supports or denigrates is the Twitter equivalent of State intervention. He owns the platform, he can do what he chooses. But it’s disingenuous to say Twitter is the home of free speech when he chooses to often put his thumb on the scale of reach,” Cuban said about Musk controlling Twitter.
Cuban made his comments while responding to a user who expressed “respect” for the “Shark Tank” star but questioned the “notion that free speech doesn’t refer to allowing/respecting all viewpoints, but rather ‘promoting’ them.”
This user was replying to a previous tweet by Cuban, where he referenced Musk and stated, “He isn’t pushing free speech,” and added that he would consider Musk a proponent of free speech when he “goes out of his way to engage with and promote the accounts and tweets of people who disagree with him.”
“Until then, this is just an adventure for him.”
Musk’s end game when he bought Twitter was to create a larger information ecosystem. That included bringing back controversial figures that were banned from the platform including former President Donald Trump and former kickboxer Andrew Tate.
“I have immense respect for Mark Cuban but am baffled by the notion that free speech doesn’t refer to allowing/respecting all viewpoints, but rather ‘promoting’ them,” said Chris A. Mitchell, a Twitter user who replied to Cuban’s comment.
Produced in association with Benzinga
