Will the Elon Musk Acquisition of Twitter Bring Positive 2A Change?

Much of the 2A-loving, gun-owning firearms community is snickering today. And why not. Elon Musk finally took command of Twitter. And heads already began to roll. For many, those same heads led the all-out assault on all things free speech, including restrictions on firearms content. For many of us, we’ve been restricted on social media, posts removed or all-out banned. So yeah, we’re laughing at Twitter today.

Elon Musk Takes Twitter

But we’re also actually hopeful as well. The new Elon Musk-led regime promises more freedom and fairness. Everyone should be on board with that. That optimism stems from comments made by Musk himself. During his much-publicized on-again, off-again pursuit of Twitter, he professed desire to take a more moderate hand.

“If in doubt, let the speech exist,” Musk said in one on-stage interview in April, reported cnn.com. “If it’s a gray area, I would say, let the tweet exist. But obviously in the case where there’s perhaps a lot of controversy, you would not necessarily want to promote that tweet.”

What We Know So Far

• Musk assumed the roll of CEO of Twitter
• Former senior management dismissed, including Parag Agrawal
• Also dismissed: Vijaya Gadde (former head of legal), Ned Segal (CFO), Sean Edgett (general counsel)
• Allegedly plans to take Twitter private

Musk allegedly plans to remove permanent bans on users. Bloomberg reported today that Musk doesn’t believe in life-long prohibitions, leading the overturning of previous bans. That, of course, brings the biggest of elephants potentially back into the room–former President Donald J. Trump.

But Musk arguably tempered any unbridled optimism yesterday in an open letter posted to Twitter, addressed to advertisers. “In addition to adhering to the laws of the land, our platform must be warm and welcoming to all, where you can choose your desired experience according to your preferences.”

So will Musk’s acquisition of Twitter lead to less restrictions on gun content? The real answer–who knows. In this PC world of pandering to advertisers and loud, angry voices alike, it’s truly hard to guess which way Musk might pivot. He certainly seemingly walks to the beat of his own drum. But money talks too. In any event, we’ll be watching.

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Musk Content Update

On Oct. 28, Musk tweeted some additional info that caught our eye. He said the company will form some type of content moderation council. Promised to include diverse viewpoints, we assume the council will play a role in shaping how Twitter looks at content, and potentially restricts it, going forward. Of course, firearms content likely will live in the margin of this presumed debate. So we’ll be following this council’s formation and future announcements.