The takeover of Twitter by Elon Musk arouses passions. Strangely, the promise of an improvement for freedom of expression is denounced by many who flood us with their torrents of tears of blood.
How gone are the days when people cherished freedom of expression! Today, it is the control of speech, even uninhibited censorship, which is haloed. We want a space of freedom where dissent is prohibited. This would be, it is said, to avoid unacceptable remarks as well as information deemed to be erroneous.
Censure
These two arguments are hazy.
First, there are laws against hate speech, racism, defamation, etc. However, Musk does not have the power to abolish laws. He also stressed that his platform will respect all the legal contours in force. That should calm the worries! On the other hand, he will tackle censorship without legal basis and intends to open up space for debate.
Second, who should judge whether information is wrong? Certainly, verifying the accuracy of a date or place is easy. But what verifier of facts, however brilliant, is able to judge whether the conclusions of research carried out by a scientist infinitely more educated than him deserve to be published or not? And in the name of what compelling principle is the interpretation that a verifier makes of information superior to that of another individual?
Police
By buying Twitter, Musk stands against the arbiters of truth and do-gooders who claim a monopoly on wisdom. He denounces the control of information, which is a thought police.
He wants a platform inclusive of all opinions. A platform where the best response to a bad argument or an ideological stupidity is not censorship, but a better counter-argument.
Musk has the ambition to offer plural and free information. Let’s hope he succeeds. We will all win!
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