Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) CEO Elon Musk took to Twitter this week to take a potshot at the microblogging social media platform. The CEO made his point through multiple tweets, which also included two polls seeking opinions from his followers.
What Happened: In response to Musk's poll on whether Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR) adheres to the principles of free speech, his legion of followers overwhelmingly responded with a negative answer.
Free speech, according to Musk, is essential to a functioning democracy. About 70% of the people find Twitter stifling free speech, which is something to be mulled over.
Musk added a word of caution in a follow-up tweet to the poll. "The consequences of this poll will be important. Please vote carefully," he had said.
Free speech is essential to a functioning democracy.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 25, 2022
Do you believe Twitter rigorously adheres to this principle?
Incidentally, Musk previously ran a poll to solicit views on whether the Twitter algorithm should be open source. More than three-fourths of the responders replied in the affirmative. Having an open source will provide people information on how Twitter decides on what to show in its feed.
Related Link: Mark Your Calendar For April 7: Elon Musk Shares Invite To Highly Anticipated Event
Implications Of Poll Results: Musk has in the past projected himself to be a "free speech advocate."
Earlier this month, he disclosed in a tweet that Starlink was approached to block news sources from Russia. While stating that he will not do so, the Tesla CEO said he is a "free speech absolutist."
Musk has also called out mainstream media companies many times in the past for presenting polarizing and biased information.
Musk's criticism about Twitter elicited a mixed response from users of the platform. One of them commented that Twitter is a private company and is therefore free to make its own rules.
Another user went onto to explain that Twitter isn't really anti-free speech, and the difficulty lies in differentiating between misinformation, free speech and hate speech. Twitter is left with no option but to censor a lot of posts, the user reasoned.
There were some interesting takes on Musk's tirades against Twitter. Some users saw Musk starting his own social media platform. The CEO of India-based smaller social media platform Koo, promoted as a Twitter rival, chimed in with his views. Aprameya Radhakrishnan invited Musk to join the platform by explaining at length its decentralized approach.
Tesla closed Friday's session at $1,010.64, down 0.32%.
Photo: Coutesy of Daniel Oberhaus on Flickr
