Kanye West Proves There Are Limits to Elon Musk’s Free Speech Pledge

It is 2025 and Kanye West has once more created headlines for the express rants that he posted on X, the social media platform previously referred to as Twitter.

Though he has since deleted his account of his personal accord, it has pressured many to query how a lot Elon Musk will intervene throughout future incidents, particularly when he has said prior to now that he’s a “free speech absolutist” who didn’t need to place any limits on what people may say on his platform.

After his $44 billion offer to buy Twitter, Musk tweeted, “Free speech is the bedrock of functionary democracy” and declared himself a “free speech absolutist.”

In a 2022 tweet, Musk defined that he purchased Twitter “as a result of it is very important the way forward for civilization to have a standard digital city sq., the place a variety of beliefs will be debated in a wholesome method, with out restoring to violence,” including, “There may be at present nice hazard that social media will splinter into far proper wing and much left-wing echo chambers that generate extra hate and divide in our society.”

Though he admitted that Twitter “can’t grow to be a free-for-all hellscape, the place something will be stated with no penalties,” Musk has come underneath fireplace for stress-free guidelines on hate speech and creating the “something goes” surroundings that he as soon as cautioned towards.

Over the previous few weeks, Ye has been ranting and raving on social media, protecting every little thing from Diddy’s arrest to his spouse, Bianca Censori, and their notorious Grammys stunt the place she shed her black coat on the purple carpet to disclose a sheer gown that left nothing to the creativeness.

“I’ve dominion over my spouse. This ain’t no woke as feminist sh-t,” he tweeted final week. “She’s with a billionaire. Why would she hearken to any of you dumb a– broke broke b-tches. Individuals say the purple carpet look was her resolution. Sure I don’t make her do nothing she doesn’t need to however she undoubtedly wouldn’t have been in a position to do it with out my approval you silly a– woke pawns.”

After a number of days of antisemitic, misogynistic, and racist rants, Elon Musk labeled Ye’s account “NSFW” after the Yeezy founder began repeatedly posting porn and spamming his followers with undesirable grownup content material.

“Given what he has posted, his account is now categorised as NSFW. You shouldn’t be seeing that anymore,” Musk tweeted in response to a involved consumer.

Nonetheless, many didn’t discover Ye’s pornography as alarming as his personal admission that he identifies as a Nazi.

Ye’s antisemitic tirade continued the Friday earlier than the Tremendous Bowl, when he tweeted, “Any Jewish person who does enterprise with me must know I don’t like or belief any Jewish particular person,” as per screenshots obtained by TMZ.

After clarifying that he was sober whereas he was tweeting, Ye insisted, “I can say Jew as a lot as I would like. I can say Hitler as a lot as I would like. Matter [of] reality, I do say it once I need.”

He additionally clearly said, “I’m a Nazi” in all capital letters at 3:21 AM on Friday, February 7, earlier than occurring to promote $20 shirts with a swastikas design on his Yeezy web site. He then determined to take away himself from X, however remains to be lively on Instagram.

Kanye West, who now identifies as Ye, is somebody who likes to toe the road and see how far he can go earlier than the purpose of no return. His Grammys stunt was simply testing the waters. Within the weeks that adopted, he adopted it up by posting grownup content material, figuring out as a Nazi, and even calling Diddy his “twin.” It is unclear what, if something, Ye may acquire from his controversial content material besides notoriety.

Elon Musk needs to maintain X as an area the place anybody can say something with out limits, however amid reviews that even he unfollowed Ye earlier than he eliminated his personal account, it’s clear that there’s some “speech” that even the Tesla CEO doesn’t need to be uncovered to, and, judging by lots of the feedback on-line, it’s not likely one thing anybody needed to see. Positive, there’s all the time the block button, however activists will argue that Ye ought to be prevented from saying it in any respect.

Speech is made to speak, usually with the purpose that one or each events can profit from the alternate. There may be nothing entertaining, informative, or academic in what Ye has been posting. It solely signifies a troubling cry for assist that he might sadly by no means obtain.

There’s an previous saying that goes: “The correct to swing your fist ends on the tip of an individual’s nostril.” At what level do phrases typed on a pc display equate to the hurt accomplished by bodily violence? I haven’t got a solution. I do not suppose any of us do. However I hope it is one which Elon Musk is no less than contemplating… if he isn’t too busy taking up the federal government, that’s.