- Elon Musk’s X flagged an NPR article on Donald Trump’s Arlington video as ‘unsafe or spammy.’
- The article detailed how Trump’s marketing campaign video violated federal legislation at Arlington National Cemetery.
Since buying Twitter in 2022 and rebranding it X, Elon Musk has usual himself a free speech absolutist.
He has decreased moderation on the platform, calling it a type of censorship. He has additionally lately come to the protection of Telegram CEO, Pavel Durov, who additionally eschews moderation and who French police arrested final week in connection to prison exercise on the messaging app.
There seem, nonetheless, to be some exceptions to Musk’s dedication to the First Amendment.
After NPR revealed a narrative this week detailing how former President Donald Trump’s marketing campaign might have violated federal legislation by filming at Arlington National Cemetery, X flagged the article, warning it could be “unsafe or spammy.”
The story additionally reported {that a} cemetery staffer tried to cease the filming however was pushed away by members of the Trump marketing campaign. An Army spokesperson confirmed the incident in a press release to Business Insider.
Hmmm, so Twitter is now marking the hyperlink to this NPR story about Trump doubtlessly violating federal legislation along with his Arlington National Cemetery video as “unsafe” pic.twitter.com/E8qwx2yYiM
— Justin Baragona (@justinbaragona) August 29, 2024
X’s warning label on the NPR story is the most recent installment in an ongoing tiff between Musk and the information group. In April 2023, the outlet introduced that it could cease posting on its X accounts as a result of the corporate had labeled it “state-affiliated media.” A number of days later, Musk referred to as NPR a “laborious left propaganda machine.”
“We should not placing our journalism on platforms which have demonstrated an curiosity in undermining our credibility and the general public’s understanding of our editorial independence,” NPR instructed The Hill on the time. Musk later reconsidered whether or not the designation was applicable.
X’s choice to flag the NPR article additionally comes after Musk publicly endorsed the previous president. Musk has hosted Trump for dwell discussions on X, giving the candidate the chance to talk at size to thousands and thousands of X customers.
He additionally reinstated Trump’s account after shopping for the platform, saying on the time, “The folks have spoken. Trump will probably be reinstated. Vox Populi, Vox Dei,” which is Latin for “the voice of the folks is the voice of God.”
