Los Angeles:
Twitter users wasted no time on Friday testing the limits of free speech on the platform under new owner Elon Musk, with posts questioning transgender identity and masking.
Hours after Musk took full ownership of the platform, conservative voices celebrated what they believed to be their newly reclaimed right to free speech.
Podcaster Buck Sexton (@BuckSexton) jumped right in, tweeting: “BTW turns out men *CANT* get pregnant, bring it, libs.”
BTW it turns out that men *SIDE* get pregnant
Bring it, libs
— Buck Sexton (@BuckSexton) October 28, 2022
The tweet sparked both support and ridicule, with those who apparently agreed reacting with tweets like “Truth” and “This is going to be a great day.”
Others chose to mock the well-known attempt to “own” liberal opponents.
“Apparently you can’t have sex,” tweeted @sawthrewit.
The masks that were widely used during the Covid-19 pandemic, which were divisive in the United States despite scientists recommending their use, were also a hot topic.
“Now that we can tell the truth here after Elon Musk has officially taken over, I’m just going to come out and say it: masks don’t work,” tweeted @ianmSC.
Now that we can tell the truth here after Elon Musk officially took over, I’m just going to come out and say it:
Masks don’t work
— Ian Miller (@ianmSC) October 28, 2022
Almost like it was 2020 again, the tweet sparked a number of supportive comments and videos of steaming breath escaping from the side of masks.
It also provoked the expected answers from the other side of the debate.
“So if you’re having surgery, would you be okay with the medical staff not wearing masks? I mean, since they don’t work, right?’ tweeted @marynol51.
So if you have to have surgery, would you be okay with the medical staff not wearing masks? I mean, because they don’t work, right? ️
— Mary MacLean (@marynol51) October 28, 2022
The world’s richest man, a self-proclaimed “freedom of speech absolutist,” completed his don’t-want-to-want Twitter takeover late Thursday.
The mercurial Tesla chief tweeted, “Let the good times come,” his latest lighthearted gesture signaling that his tumultuous $44 billion bid to keep Twitter private has finally been made.
Musk has vowed to roll back content moderation, which conservatives say is unfairly targeting their views.
But opponents warn that without standards, the world’s ‘digital city square’ risks becoming a mass of misinformation, with potentially dangerous consequences for democracy and public health.
In true Twitter fashion, Friday’s conservative effort to test boundaries yielded some ironic efforts.
“Since this platform is allowing free speech again, I just want to say that cool ranch Doritos are better than nacho cheese,” tweeted @KFILE.
Since this platform is allowing free speech again, I just want to say that cool ranch Doritos are better than nacho cheese.
— andrew kaczynski (@KFILE) October 28, 2022
While @Alyssafarah tried to put the cat among the pigeons with an old saw that always turns out to be a fire hazard: “The Rolling Stones > the Beatles”
The Rolling Stones > the Beatles https://t.co/Z1dPmzTysX
— Alyssa Farah Griffin (@Alyssafarah) October 28, 2022
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by DailyExpertNews staff and has been published from a syndicated feed.)
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