Senator Dick Durbin, D-Ill., took to Twitter Tuesday evening to complain about its new owner, billionaire Elon Musk, and ended up triggering an avalanche of backlash.
“In the days since Musk took Twitter private, the platform has seen an uptick in hate speech, and Musk himself used the platform and his influence to spread a baseless conspiracy theory about a violent attack on an elected official’s family member,” he whined. “Free speech does not include spreading misinformation to downplay political violence.”
No really, he actually said that. Look:
Free speech does not include spreading misinformation to downplay political violence.
— Senator Dick Durbin (@SenatorDurbin) November 1, 2022
Twitter users didn’t take long to correct Durbin’s take on free speech, which they say proves he doesn’t know the first thing about freedom:
I mean it very much does, in a constitutional sense.
— Chris Hayes (@chrislhayes) November 2, 2022
This is, in fact, misinformation.
— Anthony L. Fisher (@anthonyLfisher) November 2, 2022
So you don’t know what free speech means. Got it.
— Chris Manning (@Manning4USCong) November 2, 2022
It literally does.
See, the problem with your horrific and unconstitutional take is that whoever gets to decide what “misinformation” is, or gets to decide what is “downplaying” de facto gets to control Speech. This is antithetical to the entire concept. You should know this.— Jim Kruta jr (@idiott47) November 2, 2022
Actually it does. It’s deplorable but protected from government censorship by the First Amendment.
— Joel à Moore (@JoelofMoore) November 2, 2022
Thanks for clarifying that, Senator! How should CNN be punished for downplaying political violence? pic.twitter.com/8Im3qGVT43
— Christina Pushaw (@ChristinaPushaw) November 2, 2022
— Adam Monteblanco (@adammonte9000) November 2, 2022
You’re the Senator our Founders warned us about.
— Michael Mella (@pico87mn) November 2, 2022
Actually it does, Senator Sworn to Uphold the Constitution.
— Guy Faux (@Faux_Guy_) November 2, 2022
Funny that a man who compared US Soldiers to the Gestapo on the floor of the Senate has thoughts about “hate speech”
— kc2fargo (@kc2fargo) November 2, 2022
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Sierra Marlee is a millennial whose hunger for the truth in a world of fake news has led her to write. Marlee also contributes to BizPac Review.
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