Twitter’s previous ownership and management had every right to run their business, make their rules and set their standards. Now, Musk has the same rights. This is not a freak-out moment for me at all. Sorry to disappoint you.
The Old Bosses were entitled to admit or reject anything or anybody on their platform they wanted to. That goes for New Boss Elon Musk as well. I’ve grown more than weary of this particular “faux free speech” flap. This has little to nothing to do with protected free speech. This is about property and ownership rights. Do you have a “right” to publish an unsolicited daily column in your local newspaper? No, it’s their newspaper. A 30-second nightly commentary on a tv station? No, it’s their tv station. Must I allow you to spray paint graffiti on my garage door in the name of free expression? That’s not going to go well for you. Do you have a “right” to publish or say anything you want to whenever you want to on this Radically Rational website? You are welcome to make the request, and I am always predisposed to accommodate you. But that decision is mine and BB’s. Why? Because we own the fucking company. It’s our chalkboard. This should not be hard to understand.
Social media outlets and platforms are not public utilities. Neither you, nor I, nor anyone else, has a “right” to access them.
Yes, you have a right to speak, in the sense that there can be no governmental “prior restraint” prohibiting you from speaking in the first place. You are not free of the consequences of your speech. You have no “right” to an audience. You have no automatic “right” to be heard. That must be earned. You have a right to your position. You don’t have a right to use somebody else’s newsprint, or microphone, or camera or cyberspace.
By the way, for all of you who are compelled to classify everything as either “liberal” or “conservative” (see “false dichotomy), please note and acknowledge that the above argument is a foundational, bedrock CONSERVATIVE position.
Wow, these text messages are really enlightening, doncha think? What’s the one thing that EVERYBODY agreed about on Jan. 6, 2021? The now defeated former president had the ability and obligation to stop that insurrection. And he did nothing. That right there is dereliction of duty and a violation of his oath of office. Checkmate.