(DCWatchdog.com) – In a candid conversation with podcast host Joe Rogan, tech entrepreneur Elon Musk revealed that Twitter exhibited a significant bias against Republicans, disproportionately suppressing their content compared to Democrats. This statement came after Musk acquired Twitter, later rebranded as X, for $44 billion in October 2022, with a mission to restore free speech on the platform.
Musk openly criticized the platform’s previous actions, particularly the suppression of the New York Post’s reporting on Hunter Biden’s laptop.
Musk’s takeover received widespread acclaim from conservative circles, especially in light of previous suspensions and bans targeting right-leaning individuals.
Musk elucidated, “The degree to which Twitter was simply an arm of the government was not well understood by the public,” and added, “And it was whatever, everything was like Pravda basically, a state publication, is the way to think of old Twitter. A state publication.”
He further explained, “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.”
Following his acquisition, Musk reinstated several suspended accounts belonging to notable conservative figures.
The most prominent of these was the account of President Donald Trump, who had been banned from the platform in January 2021 on grounds of inciting or justifying violence at the U.S. Capitol.
Liberal commentators expressed concern over Musk’s takeover due to his proposed leniency towards users’ rhetoric. MSNBC host Joy Reid accused Musk, originally from South Africa, of intending to resurrect apartheid-era policies by permitting allegedly racist speech.
In December 2022, Musk initiated “The Twitter Files,” a project where journalists delved into the alleged direct involvement of government agencies with former Twitter executives. Independent journalist Matt Taibbi reported that, preceding the 2020 presidential election, the FBI supposedly warned Twitter about a potential “hack-and-leak” operation by “state actors” aimed at election interference.
Twitter had previously suspended the New York Post’s account for its coverage of Hunter Biden’s laptop, citing a violation of the “hacked materials” policy.
Vijaya Gadde, former head of legal, policy, and trust, was reported to have played a “key role” in the decision to suppress the story, which was made independently of then-CEO Jack Dorsey and without government involvement. Taibbi also claimed that FBI personnel were tasked with identifying “violations” of Twitter policy.
