Twitter CEO Elon Musk declared that cancel culture is over, just months after his takeover of the social media company following promises that he would protect free speech in America.
"RIP Cancel Culture, you won't be missed." Musk wrote on Tuesday afternoon.
His comment followed an exchange between Matt Taibbi and Joe Rogan on Joe Rogan’s podcast episode titled, "Matt Taibbi & Joe Rogan on Twitter 2.0 and the Fall of Cancel Culture."
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"Because now people aren't scared to speak their mind on Twitter, you're seeing so much pushback… Now, people aren't scared to go in after it." Rogan shared, discussing the changes on the social media platform following Musk's acquisition. "They're not worried about losing their account, which they were before."
"You are seeing a much more vigorous debate…" he added.
Taibbi, who helped publish some of Musk's Twitter files, replied, "I hope that’s one of the results [of Musk buying Twitter], the old Twitter was just a grindstone of official messaging."
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"I hope people are feeling encouraged to say more now." Taibbi added.
When the billionaire bought Twitter in October 2022 for a staggering $44 billion, he shared his vision for the social media platform.
"Free speech is the bedrock of a functioning democracy, and Twitter is the digital town square where matters vital to the future of humanity are debated," said Musk in a statement following the deal.
Since the beginning of Musk's ownership of Twitter, the self-proclaimed "free-speech absolutist" hoped to create a platform for free expression by "being cautious about" permanent bans.
In Nov. 2022, Musk definitively declared that, "cancel culture needs to be canceled!!" in response to a clip from CNBC's "Squawk Box."
The CNBC host Joe Kernen spoke to AEI president emeritus Arthur Brooks about criticism Musk faced since his acquisition of Twitter.
Kernen observed how the country is being torn into two, and the two sides are moving "further apart."
"We are so far apart on how we view the world, Arthur. Is this Twitter’s fault in the first place?" he asked.
Brooks responded that most Americans are not interested in the culture war and how it is a small percentage driving this friction.
"We don’t hate each other in this country-I’ve got the data Joe. Ninety-three percent of Americans say they hate how divided we’ve become as a country, those other 7% that doesn’t hate it, those are the activists saying if you buy a Tesla it means that somehow you believe in hate speech, it’s completely absurd, and it’s total bullying."
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In response to the exchange, Musk commented on Twitter that, "cancel culture needs to be canceled," prompting Twitter-users to rejoice over the billionaire stance on free speech in the midst of cancel culture.
