Elon Musk is in a free-speech fight over his decision recently to demonetize the content of some far-right MAGA critics who disagreed with his immigration views on his social media platform X.
What is most remarkable about the argument is that both sides fail to acknowledge the simple truth of how speech, free or otherwise, works on social media. It’s worth taking a moment to clarify what free speech means in the context of those platforms.
The most fundamental fact about speech on social media is that it takes two to tango: the user and the platform. You, the user, produce the content — commonly described in the industry as UGC, for user-generated content. The platform takes that content and, using its algorithm, sends it out to other users, your audience.
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