Twitter CEO Elon Musk is responding to criticism over allegations the platform has been complying with an increasing number of censorship demands. Musk, who recently arrived in Beijing to strengthen business ties with China, claimed that Twitter has no “actual choice” when it comes to government compliance.
Bloomberg columnist Matthew Yglesias shared a report on Twitter’s censorship, seemingly mocking Musk’s past comments.
The tweet prompted a response from Musk.
“Please point out where we had an actual choice, and we’ll reverse it,” Musk tweeted.
For context, in some countries Twitter could risk substantial fines and other penalties — including, potentially, bans of the platform — for not complying with local laws, reported CNN.
Musk has previously said the company would comply with laws governing social media companies around the world.
However, some users argue that Musk, with his vision of a free speech platform, does have the choice to refuse compliance and face the consequences. When this was pointed out by Yglesias, Musk responded “Insufferable numbskull.”
Meanwhile, there is mounting international pressure for more censorship on Twitter.
France’s Digital Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said that the U.S. company would be banned from the EU if it refused to follow the incoming European Digital Services Act, which goes into effect throughout the EU at the end of August, reported Politico.
These comments come only days after Twitter withdrew from the EU’s voluntary disinformation code of practice.
The code spells out obligations for large digital platforms on tracking political advertising, clamping down on disinformation, and encouraging wider access and participation to outsiders.
“Disinformation is one of the gravest threats weighing on our democracies,” Barrot said. “Twitter, if it repeatedly doesn’t follow our rules, will be banned from the EU,” the French minister added.
While Twitter has not directly addressed how it will respond to the matter, Musk has suggested that Twitter’s current censorship practices are a lesser evil.
One user defended Musk by stating that it is “up to the people to elect a government that upholds their natural rights and respects the power of the people.” She added Twitter “does not have the power to do this.”
Musk responded tweeting “Exactly.”
In last recent removal request report before Musk’s takeover, Twitter said it received more than 47,000 removal requests between July and December 2021, and complied with 51% of them. Recent reports indicate Twitter under Musk has approved 83% of censorship requests, including those filed by authoritarian governments.
