In a recent dispute on Twitter, Elon Musk slammed Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) with an insult to his intelligence. Elon’s comment was in response to Schiff claiming that he was infringing on freedom of speech on Twitter.
Adam Schiff initially posted in his Tweet:
“Elon Musk calls himself a free speech absolutist, to justify turning a blind eye to hatred and bigotry on Twitter. But when journalists report unfavorable news, they are banned without warning. The devotion to free speech is apparently not that absolute. But the hypocrisy is.”
“Thankfully, you lose your chairmanship very soon,” Musk responded, referring to Schiff’s position heading the House Intelligence Committee. “Your brain is too small.” Musk’s hilarious slight toward Schiff was taken down later Sunday evening.
The banned journalists Adam Schiff is referring to are a handful of reporters from prominent news outlets who were temporarily suspended from Twitter for violating its policies against “doxxing”. This new policy enacted by Musk prevents Twitter users from publicly posting private, identifying information about individuals that could expose their location online.
Fox News reported on the banned journalists:
“Among those whose accounts were permanently suspended include CNN correspondent Donie O’Sullivan, New York Times technology reporter Ryan Mac, Washington Post reporter Drew Harwell, The Intercept journalist Micah Lee, VOA correspondent Steve Herman, Mashable writer Matt Binder, former MSNBC host Keith Olbermann and former Vox journalist Aaron Rupar.”
The decision to suspend these journalists for direct violations of Twitter’s policies would appear completely justifiable. However, it has caused uproar from the left as they have branded this event the “Thursday Night Massacre”.
The Wikipedia page for the “Thursday Night Massacre” reads:
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“On December 15, 2022, Twitter suspended the accounts of nine journalists in an event one security researcher labeled the “Thursday Night Massacre.” The journalists, who covered the social media company and its owner, Elon Musk, were all suspended without warning; Musk later said they had violated a policy on doxxing.”
There has been much backlash on the internet, mocking the extreme nature of the name, sounding as if it were an event from a war. The Wikipedia page now says, “This article is being considered for deletion in accordance with Wikipedia’s deletion policy,” presumably from the criticism it has received.
The leftists who claim that Elon Musk is the preeminent threat to free speech clearly did not read the bombshell “Twitter Files” which have been continuously released. These reports have exposed collusion between the Biden administration, the FBI, and former Twitter employees to censor specific content on the social media platform. Although, this has gotten almost no coverage from the mainstream media despite some comparing this level of corruption to the Watergate scandal.
The left has propagated years of “cancel culture”, directly subverted free speech on social media, censored anybody who challenged the COVID narrative, and much more. Now it appears they are returning to their roots from the Berkley free speech movement of the 1960s now that journalists aren’t allowed to dox anyone they disagree with on the internet.