Elon Musk talks a lot about free speech. But account suspensions on X have skyrocketed.
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- Elon Musk purchased Twitter with a pledge to make it a bastion for free speech.
- Musk quickly reinstated some previously suspended accounts, like for Alex Jones and Donald Trump.
- But a new report from X shows it has suspended — on average — more accounts than Twitter ever did.
A new "transparency report" from X might surprise anyone who has heard its owner, Elon Musk, talk about the importance of free speech.
Before Musk bought Twitter in 2022, the social media site would release a report twice a year detailing statistics on data requests, copyright notices, user reports of violations, and suspensions. The "transparency reports" were typically 50 pages long or more.
Three years after Musk took control of the company and rebranded it X, it has finally released a new transparency report. And the results are surprising.
Under Musk's leadership, X has suspended over four times as many accounts in the first half of 2024 — 5.3 million — as Twitter ever did during similar periods. According to its transparency reports at the time, Twitter suspended almost 873,000 accounts in the last half of 2019. That number grew to about 1.3 million account suspensions in the latter half of 2021.
The recent suspensions were related to child safety, abuse or harassment, and misleading identities, according to X.
A spokesperson for X did not immediately respond to questions regarding the surge in suspended accounts.
While he has reinstated some prominent accounts previously suspended by Twitter, like former President Donald Trump's and Infowars' Alex Jones, Musk has newly suspended others, like the account of a student who tracked his private jet flights.
On Thursday, X also suspended journalist Ken Klippenstein's account after he published a 271-page dossier on JD Vance, Trump's running mate in the 2024 election. An X spokesperson told CNN that Klippenstein's suspension was triggered because it included the candidate's home address and part of his Social Security number.
Musk endorsed Trump and has been rumored to be in the running for a cabinet position should Trump ultimately win.
Though he has branded himself a free-speech absolutist, Musk has repeatedly capitulated to government demands to moderate the platform more heavily. After months of refusing to comply with a Supreme Court order in Brazil to remove accounts it deemed dangerous to its democracy, for instance, X finally acquiesced last week after hefty fines and a nationwide ban. Musk has also agreed to government requests for account takedowns in Turkey and India.
Musk axed much of Twitter's staff after his purchase, including the trust and safety employees who dealt with misinformation and other content moderation issues on the platform. A recent survey found X to be the least trustworthy tech company.