‘He censors freedom of speech and gives governments backdoors’

“Zuck Bucks” wasn’t the only way Meta’s CEO allegedly helped the establishment, as Elon Musk made a damning accusation regarding free speech.

For the side of the political divide that likes to promote spectrums, issues over what they consider acceptable discourse have become increasingly black and white. When Telegram CEO Pavel Durov was arrested in France on charges of failing to curb criminal use of the messaging app, Musk recalled Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s platforms and outlined why the Facebook co-founder got a free pass.

“Because he has already succumbed to the pressure of censorship,” the billionaire entrepreneur wrote in response to the question, “WHY DON’T THEY ARREST MARK ZUCKERBERG FOR EMPOWERING CHILD PREACHERS?”

The post included a CBS report about a lawsuit filed against Meta, in which Musk shared his own links to support the claim: “Instagram has a huge child exploitation problem, but Zuck hasn’t been arrested yet because he censors free speech and gives governments backdoor access to user data.”

Because he had already succumbed to the pressure of censorship.

Instagram has a huge child exploitation problem, but Zuck hasn’t been arrested yet because he censors free speech and gives governments backdoor access to user data. https://t.co/RTTGIaD0gA https://t.co/iPb5NIxIJN

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 25, 2024

In 2023, when 33 state attorneys general filed a joint lawsuit against Meta alleging harmful effects on children across its platforms, New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez (D) filed his own lawsuit alleging that Meta “enabled adults to find, message, and entrap minors by soliciting them to sell photos or participate in pornographic videos.”

“Meta and its CEO tell the public that Meta’s social media platforms are safe and good for children,” the filing reads. “The reality is very different. Meta knowingly exposes children to the dual dangers of sexual exploitation and mental health harm. Meta’s conduct has victimized New Mexico children on its platforms. Meta’s motive for doing so is profit.”

Along with Torrez’s claim that platforms like Instagram had “become primary venues for predators to trade child pornography and solicit minors for sex,” Musk had linked to the House Energy & Commerce Committee sharing findings from a Wall Street Journal report that found “Instagram is connecting a vast pedophile network.”

Key findings from the report include allegations that Instagram’s algorithms actively promote illegal content, that the platform connects users to the child pornography market by allowing explicit hashtags, that it allows the use of search terms with potentially harmful and illegal content, and Meta’s admission that the company failed to combat inappropriate content and enforce its policies.

Meanwhile, Musk recalled X employees from Brazil rather than bow to government crackdowns on freedom of speech. Europe also faced a crackdown on Durov, who earlier this year alleged the FBI pressured him to provide backdoor access to user data.

“We were getting too much attention from the FBI, the intelligence agencies, everywhere we went in the US,” he explained to Tucker Carlson in an interview. “So to give you an example, the last time I was in the US, I brought an engineer who worked for Telegram, and there was an attempt to secretly hire my engineer behind my back by cyber security officers or agents.”

“They were curious to know what open-source libraries were integrated into the Telegram app, you know, on the client side,” Durov continued. “And they were trying to convince him to use certain open-source tools that he would then integrate into the Telegram code, which, to my knowledge, would serve as backdoors.”

Musk reinforced his claim that suppressing speech is a higher priority for governments than protecting children from predators and exploitation by responding “No” to a question about a competing platform. The question was: “Have the authorities done anything about Mastodon or not?”

The question was headlined: “Majority of content on Twitter competitor Mastodon is child pornography, report finds.”

No https://t.co/B9DMU16m4p

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 25, 2024

Staff Writer

Kevin Haggerty, born in Brooklyn, NY, is a graduate of Hunter College, where he studied cultural anthropology and geography. An avid reader and truth seeker, he currently lives in Texas with his wife and their dog. When he is not researching current events and their impact, he is spending time with friends and family or working on his next novel.

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