Musk Reinstating Free Speech on Twitter Is ‘Profoundly Transformational,’ Author Says

The Twitter logo and a photo of Elon Musk are displayed through a magnifier in this illustration taken on Oct. 27, 2022. Dado Ruvic/Reuters

In early August, Twitter banned author and podcaster James Lindsay, who is the personality behind the “OK Groomer” epithet and a self-described “professional troublemaker.”

On Nov. 21, Elon Musk lifted Lindsay’s ban.

In an interview that aired on NTD’s “Newsmakers” program on Nov. 23 about his reinstatement, Lindsay said that it’s “profoundly transformational” that Musk is allowing free speech back on the platform.

Before his Twitter ban, Lindsay, who was well-known for using the phrase “OK Groomer” on the platform, deleted all such references because “Twitter was taking that quite seriously.”

But that wasn’t enough to insulate him from a Twitter crackdown.

James Lindsay, founder of New Discourses. The Epoch Times

Instead, Lindsay says he was kicked off Twitter after he called a transgender Harvard professor a “child sexualization specialist,” even though, according to Lindsay, there wasn’t a rule against such a statement.

“A new rule was conjured from thin air, and I was removed from Twitter,” Lindsay stated.

His ban lasted approximately 105 days, until Musk took ownership of the platform.

Lindsay said that before Musk took over Twitter, the left had a near-monopoly on public discourse in America and used that to “manipulate language and censor people who are able to identify or cut through those manipulations of language.”

‘Unbalanced Power’ Is Gone

According to Lindsay, the left needs “complete narrative control” because their ideas fall apart once they face public scrutiny and debate.

“The opening up of speech on Twitter will be profoundly transformational” to the overall narrative surrounding transgenderism and child sexual exploitation, Lindsay said.

He added that the left had lost the ability to cheerfully lord their power over people with opposing views. As evidence, Lindsay said he made a “flippant remark” to a transgender activist on Twitter and, instead of being banned, was blocked by the account.

“Truths are being spoken that were not,” Lindsay noted of Twitter. He added that the left’s hold on “unbalanced power” is gone.

Lindsay stated that after the Nov. 19 LGBT shooting in Colorado Springs, NBC released a report claiming that right-wing influencers are “doubling down on inflammatory rhetoric, following the shooting in Colorado.”

However, Lindsay said that this is a prime example of people not falling for “the narrative control, and censorship, and manipulative framing” that’s worked in the past.

Specifically, the politically preferred narrative was that the shooter targeted an LGBT nightclub because right-wing personalities, such as Libs of TikTok and Fox News host Tucker Carlson, incited him to hate.

But once it was revealed that the shooter identified as nonbinary, Twitter users were able to push back against the false narrative and “speak truth to power,” Lindsay said.

The Power of Twitter

When asked how his Twitter ban affected his ability to reach an audience, Lindsay acknowledged that while he has a variety of other outlets, the ban had a negative impact.

“My ability to reach people was still strong, but I did lose quite a lot [of ability to reach people]. I had over 300,000 followers on Twitter.”

Still, Lindsay said he doesn’t think Twitter is an ideal space for broad public debate on critical issues.

He said that Twitter “is too reactive, it speaks too quickly, and too confidently about big issues.”

General view of the LGBT flag outside the RICS London Bookshop during UK Pride Month 2021 in London on June 1, 2021. Edward Smith/ Getty Images

But putting those failings aside, Lindsay concluded that Musk taking over Twitter allows for people like himself, who are fighting against “gender Marxism” or “Queer Marxism,” to see victory in the future.

“I’m quite encouraged,” Lindsay said.

“Creating neutral ground, or closer to neutral ground, with an open and free dialog space like Musk is attempting to do with Twitter ... is going to be pivotal in changing that because narrative control and censorship are absolutely crucial to [the Left’s] ability to control what’s happening.”

Musk and Twitter

The $44 billion acquisition of Twitter by Musk began on April 14 and concluded on Oct. 27.

Since his purchase, Musk has reinstated several Twitter accounts, including that of former President Donald Trump, who hasn’t resumed his Twitter activity.

Musk’s reinstatement of accounts that Twitter previously banned, as well as his public statements that Twitter needs to be more open and inclusive of opposing views, has drawn sharp criticism from the mainstream media, lawmakers, and even President Joe Biden.

This video grab taken from a video posted on the Twitter account of billionaire Tesla chief Elon Musk shows himself carrying a sink as he enters the Twitter headquarters in San Francisco on Oct. 26, 2022. Twitter account of Elon Musk/AFP via Getty Images

“Elon Musk goes out and buys an outfit that spews lies all across the world,” Biden stated at a Democratic fundraiser in Rosemont, Illinois, according to CNN.

“There’s no editors anymore in America.”

In response, Musk has gleefully hit back at critics and, in one instance, even told U.S. Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass) that his account resembled a parody account.