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And it revealed, beyond touching on the X<\/a> owner\u2019s use of drugs such as ketamine, the billionaire\u2019s contradictory, confusing definitions of \u201cnews,\u201d and even a comparison of the platform\u2019s users to the video games he\u2019s so famously fond of.<\/p>\n Musk started the interview by calling the platform \u201cthe number one source of news in the world \u2026 there\u2019s nothing even close for real-time news,\u201d before seeming to correct himself and saying that X dominates as a platform for \u201cinformation.\u201d <\/p>\n Roughly 30 minutes later, Musk was singing a different tune. \u201cI think the media is not truthful,\u201d he told Lemon, adding that he does not believe most readers should listen to what the media says.\u00a0 (The media prides itself on citing primary sources and using experts, reporters and editors to contextualize what is and is not known.) Even later, he offered a different definition of the type of content on X, likening the user interactions on the platform to the \u201chardcore, player versus player\u201d style of video games.<\/p>\n Lemon repeatedly grilled Musk on his stance as a self-proclaimed free speech absolutist\u2013on the other hand, he\u2019s been censoring accounts of journalists<\/a> who\u2019ve reported on him for years, drew an ambiguous line<\/a> in the sand between free speech and hate speech, and has allowed<\/a> misinformation<\/a> to gain traction on the platform\u2014something Musk and Lemon also clashed on in the interview.\u00a0<\/p>\n When confronted by Lemon on his record on content moderation, Musk responded that \u201cmoderation is a propaganda word for censorship.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n During the interview, he discussed his belief that people should be allowed to say anything that the law allows them to say on his platform. Lemon pointed out that hate speech, which is generally protected by the law<\/a>, goes against X\u2019s community guidelines<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIf something is illegal, obviously we will remove it,\u201d Musk said, before sidestepping the issue again: \u201cLaws are put in place by the people, and we adhere to those laws. If you go beyond the law, you\u2019re actually going beyond the will of the people.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Musk confronted Lemon at times, too, accusing him of being pro-censorship in the context of removing hate speech that may not be technically illegal. Yet Musk has a long record of censoring the accounts of journalists, which the European Commission has deemed to be a violation<\/a> of the EU\u2019s Digital Services Act. The law just went into effect<\/a> in February, providing guidelines for content moderation and carrying a fine<\/a> for companies up to 6% of global revenue. In a tweet<\/a>, the commission\u2019s president stated that in censoring the journalists, Musk had crossed \u201cred lines\u201d and warned of sanctions soon.<\/p>\n Her warning came a day after X suspended over two dozen accounts, including one that belongs to Jack Sweeney,<\/a> the college student behind @elonjet, an account that tracks Musk\u2019s private jet.\u00a0The journalists who were barred, including CNN\u2019s Donie O\u2019Sullivan<\/a>; The New York Times\u2019 Ryan Mac;<\/a> and The Washington Post\u2019s Drew Harwell<\/a>, had all reported on Musk\u2019s decision to suspend Sweeney.\u00a0<\/p>\n In response, Musk claimed that accounts involved with tracking his private jets amounted to \u201cdoxxing,\u201d or sharing personal information to embolden harassers<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n In January, Musk had suspended a wave of high-profile journalists including the Texas Observer\u2019s<\/em> Steven Monacelli and The Intercept<\/em>\u2019s Ken Klippenstein.<\/p>\n Monacelli had recently<\/a> wrote<\/a> several critical reports on Musk and X; and Klippenstein had reported<\/a> on Musk\u2019s AI discussions<\/a> with the Israeli military on its campaign in Gaza. The journalists received no explanation for their removal, and many of the accounts were reinstated that afternoon.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\nMusk on censorship, content moderation and only taking down illegal content<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Debating what constitutes censorsh<\/strong>ip<\/h2>\n
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