Elon Musk slams Twitter over Jordan Peterson 'deadnaming' suspension

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Elon Musk, Tesla CEO and billionaire who is poised to become Twitter’s sole owner, slammed the platform over its decision to suspend Dr. Jordan B. Peterson’s account over “deadnaming.” 

Last week, Twitter suspended the popular psychologist for “deadnaming” the transgender actress turned actor, Elliot Page. Days later, conservative commentator Dave Rubin was also suspended from Twitter for posting news of the ban, Rebel News reported. 

Twitter informed both Peterson and Rubin that they could get their accounts back if they chose to delete their remarks and acknowledge violating the platform’s rules against “hateful conduct.” 

Wow. @jordanbpeterson got a twitter strike. No more twitter until he deletes the tweet. Definitely not a free speech platform at the moment @elonmusk pic.twitter.com/YuBTwnjz5W

— Mikhaila Peterson (@MikhailaFuller) June 29, 2022

Word of the bans got around to Elon Musk, who was informed by numerous pundits and social media commentators of Twitter’s exercise of its policies, with many describing the decisions as unjust. 

On Tuesday, Musk returned from his Twitter hiatus following days of absence to remark on the bans. 

In a post celebrating the Fourth of July, Musk posted a fake screenshot of Paul Revere, one of the Founding Fathers of the United States, noting “The British are coming, the British are coming!” 

The screenshot contained a fake Twitter warning notice instructing readers to “Learn how British taxes are beneficial for society.” 

pic.twitter.com/sUrsfucQ2F

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 4, 2022

The tweet prompted someone else to point out how Peterson was recently banned from the platform, to which Musk replied, “Yeah, they’re going too far in squashing dissenting opinions.” 

Yeah, they’re going way too far in squashing dissenting opinions

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 5, 2022

In addition to slamming Twitter for Peterson's ban, Musk also replied to author Alex Berenson, who had his account reinstated by the platform. 

Can you say more about this: “… pressures that the government may have placed on Twitter …”

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 6, 2022

Heavy-handed censorship by Twitter will hopefully be a thing of the past once Musk’s acquisition of the platform is complete. It is unclear exactly when the takeover will go ahead, but what remains certain is that Musk intends to clean house and change the platform’s enforcement of its speech policies once he runs the joint.