“Vox Populi, Vox Dei:” a double-edged sword
On October 27, after a series of bids, withdrawals, lawsuits, and even the involvement of the SEC, Musk bought Twitter for $44 billion. On the day of the purchase, Musk announced that his intentions for acquiring Twitter were not “to make more money,” but “to try to help humanity, whom [he] love[s].” Musk further added that “it is important to the future of civilization to have a common digital town square, where a wide range of healthy beliefs can be debated in a healthy manner, without resorting to violence.”
Since his acquisition of Twitter, much has changed for its users. For one, Musk unbanned several Twitter accounts that had been banned before Musk’s takeover of Twitter, including the accounts of ex-president Donald Trump (banned for inciting violence in the Capitol attack on January 6th), conservative satire site The Babylon Bee (banned for refusing to take down their “Man of the Year” post of transgender government official Rachel Levine), and Andrew Tate (banned for posting that rape victims “bear some responsibility” for their rape), offering them a “general amnesty.” Musk has also charged users $8 for Twitter Blue, a monthly subscription that gives users a blue checkmark next to their names along with the ability to edit tweets and upload higher-quality videos.
Inside the company, Musk fired three chief executives, laid off half its employees (possibly illegally), is overworking existing employees, and is now finding a replacement for Twitter CEO after the results of his informal Twitter poll decided his abdication in just 12 hours.
Elon Musk’s decisions as CEO sparked much controversy all over the internet. While supporters of Musk praised his unabiding commitment to “helping humanity” and upholding freedom of speech, critics of Musk pointed out his hypocrisies in abiding the very same freedom he claimed to support. But at the end of the day, 10 million Twitter accounts voted for Musk to step down–why? Didn’t Musk do everything Twitter users asked for?
Turns out, Musk had already made a choice. Amidst increasing pressure from Tesla investors, Twitter’s negative cash flow of $3 billion annually, sanctions from the EU, and more, Elon Musk decided to step down from CEO of Twitter. On November 17, Musk said in a Delaware court that he would “reduce [his] time at Twitter and find somebody else to run Twitter.” Then two days later, Musk opened his poll, and with utmost honor and probity, stepped down from the “foolish” position of Twitter CEO.
Is this “free speech,” or a mere illusion of it? Is “free speech” banning journalists for arbitrary reasons? Is “free speech” disallowing non-subscribers of the Blue Check from entering polls? Is “free speech” targeting and threatening ex-executive Yoel Ruth for his past tweets? Musk’s glittering generalities have no meaning and are full of inconsistencies.
As UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk put it in his open letter to Musk, “free speech is not a free pass.” Moderation of posts and accounts ensure misinformation and hatred to be contained. This does not mean that free speech cannot exist with moderation. In fact, moderation ensures that the free speech individuals cast into society are equally heard, regardless of sex, race, etc. On the flip side, too much moderation can also result in unheard voices. As all, a fine balance between freedom and moderation must be established, so that all users of Twitter feel safe and heard. Isn’t that free speech?
Here, it may be worthwhile briefly exploring the history of the phrase, Vox Populi, Vox Dei. This Latin saying, which means “The voice of the people [is] the voice of God,” first appeared in a letter from Alcuin to Charlemagne in 798, where Alcuin criticized the “riotousness of the crowd” as they were “always very close to madness.” He believed that “those people should not be listened to who keep saying the voice of the people is the voice of God.”
If Alcuin was alive today, it is not unlikely that he would say something similar. The world has already seen how riotous crowds can get in the January 6 United States Capitol attack, thanks to Donald Trump and his followers’ posts on Twitter–a myriad of misinformation, hate speech, inciting of violence, and more. The madness of that crowd online and inside the Capitol resulted in multiple deaths and countless more injuries, all of which could have been completely avoided. Consequently, Trump’s Twitter got temporarily banned for 12 hours, then got permanently banned despite his efforts to evade the ban.
Why did I mention this phrase? Well, on November 19, Elon Musk opened a Twitter poll in which 51.8% voted for the reinstatement of Donald Trump. What did Musk say right after the results of the poll? Yes, you guessed it–”Vox Populi, Vox Dei.”