December 4, 2022
The Armageddon of Free Speech
By S.R. Piccoli
Just a few days ago, as many will remember, Elon Musk trolled CNN by posting on Twitter a meme with a fake headline attributed to the the cable news network. The image included a screenshot of anchor Don Lemon next to a stock photo of Musk. The headline read, "CNN: Elon Musk could threaten free speech on Twitter by literally allowing people to speak freely." Needless to say, CNN's public relations department quickly posted a screenshot of Musk's tweet, which included a disclaimer saying that the tweet was in violation of Twitter's rules. In response, Musk brushed off CNN's response, tweeting: "Lmaoooo." Those are the initials for "laughing my a-- off."
In addition to being funny, the episode was also in some ways incredibly meaningful and emblematic. In other words, the "fake headline" was not so fake. On the contrary, it was a brutal and effective synthesis of the way liberals, leftists, and progressives approach the issue of freedom of speech. They put things less crudely; they are so often sophisticated intellectuals who speak elegantly and like to dance around things instead of getting straight to the point. But the final result is always the same. Their reproach for the supporters of freedom of speech — or what they call "free speech absolutists" — is that "free speech is not simply about saying whatever you want, unchecked, but about negotiating complicated compromises." According to the critics of Elon Musk, the "rhetoric of free speech absolutists" fails to understand that "for some speech to be free, other speech has to be limited."
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https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2022/12/the_armageddon_of_free_speech.html
