Tech mogul Elon Musk said Twitter “suppressed” Republicans at a significantly higher rate than Democrats during an interview with podcast host Joe Rogan.
Musk purchased Twitter, which he later renamed X, for $44 billion in October 2022 with the intent of reinstating free speech on the platform and publicly criticized the suppression of the New York Post’s story on Hunter Biden’s laptop. Conservatives widely praised Musk’s takeover after a series of suspensions and bans of right-leaning figures.
“The degree to which Twitter was simply an arm of the government was not well understood by the public,” Musk said. “And it was whatever, everything was like Pravda basically, a state publication, is the way to think of old Twitter. A state publication.”
“There was basically oppression of any views that, even I would say, be considered middle-of-the-road. But certainly, anything on the right, and I’m not talking about far-right, I’m just talking mildly right. Republicans were suppressed at 10 times the rate of Democrats. That’s because old Twitter was fundamentally controlled by the far-left. It was, like, completely controlled by the far-left.”
The multi-billionaire reinstated several suspended accounts belong to prominent conservatives. The most notable reinstated account belongs to former President Donald Trump, who had been permanently suspended from the platform in January 2021 for allegedly inciting or justifying violence at the U.S. Capitol. (RELATED: ‘You Just Lied’: Elon Musk Presses BBC Journalist Who Said There’s A Rise In Hateful Content On Twitter)
Liberal lamented Musk’s takeover over his intention of being more lenient with users’ rhetoric. MSNBC host Joy Reid previously accused Musk, a South African native, of wanting to bring back apartheid by allowing alleged racist speech.
In December 2022, Musk launched “The Twitter Files,” a project in which journalists investigated government agencies’ direct involvement and communication with the previous Twitter executives. Independent journalist Matt Taibbi reported that shortly before the 2020 presidential election, the FBI allegedly warned Twitter of a possible “hack-and-leak” operation by “state actors” to interfere in the election.
Twitter suspended the New York Post’s account for breaking the story on Hunter Biden’s laptop, deeming it a violation of the “hacked materials” policy. Former head of legal, policy and trust Vijaya Gadde reportedly played a “key role” in the decision to suppress the story without the knowledge of then-CEO Jack Dorsey, but without any government involvement.
Taibbi further alleged that FBI personnel received assignments to “look” for “violations” of Twitter policy.