Twitter can just ensure as much freedom of speech on its platform as the local laws in any country permit, the owner of the social media platform Elon Musk said after a meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New York on Wednesday.
Musk did not dismiss Twitter co-founder and former CEO Jack Dorsey’s recent allegation that the company had been asked during the 2020-2021 farmers agitation to take down from the micro-blogging platform content criticising the Government of India and had even been threatened with raids and shutdowns in case of non-compliance.
“One cannot just apply America to the earth,” Musk, who last year claimed to be “a free speech absolutist”, told journalists after his meeting with Modi. He was replying to a question on Dorsey’s allegations. Musk's comments can be inferred as meaning that the extent of freedom of speech enjoyed by one in the United States simply cannot be ensured in other countries around the world.
Dorsey recently alleged in an interview with “Breaking Points” that the Modi Government in New Delhi had requested Twitter for the removal of several tweets and accounts linked to the 2020-2021 protests by the farmers against the three new agricultural laws. The government also wanted Twitter to censor journalists critical of the government led by the Bharatiya Janata Party, Dorsey claimed. He also alleged that the government had threatened to conduct raids on Twitter employees in India or even to shut down the social media platform if it did not comply.
“Twitter doesn't have a choice but to obey local governments. If we don't obey local government laws then we will get shut down. The best we can do is to follow the laws in any given country,” Musk said, adding that it was impossible for Twitter to do more than that.
The BJP-led government in New Delhi dismissed the claims made by Dorsey. Minister of State for Information Technology claimed that when Dorsey was the CEO, the social media platform had a problem accepting Indian laws.
“There are different rules and regulations for different forms of governments,” said Musk, adding: “We will do our best to provide the freest speech that is possible under the law".
Dorsey resigned as the Twitter CEO on November 29, 2021, and was succeeded by Parag Agarwal. Musk completed the acquisition of Twitter in October 2022.