Free Speech Advocates Urge Elon Musk to Combat Government Censorship

One prominent commentator has suggested that governments may be ‘cracking down’ on free speech, as worries rise over the UK’s Online Safety Law.

X CEO Elon Musk leaves a U.S. Senate bipartisan Artificial Intelligence Insight Forum at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Sept. 13, 2023. Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images

Over 50 prominent free speech advocates, including several leading voices from the UK, have written to Elon Musk on his first anniversary as CEO of X, formerly known as Twitter, over freedom of speech concerns in the wake of the UK’s Online Safety Law.

In a public letter, now signed by nearly 3,000 people, advocates praised Mr. Musk’s commitment to free speech, acknowledging his previous offer to fund legal support for individuals facing discrimination owing to posts on X.