Comment on X.com blocks access to Ekrem Imamoglu, leader of Turkish opposition
Ulrich@feddit.org 22 hours agoThe context is in the article in the OP. It doesn’t really matter. Elon is notoriously apathetic about the law. He could choose not to comply as he does so very often and realistically face very little in the way of repercussions. But that’s how little he actually cares about free speech.
FreedomAdvocate@lemmy.net.au 15 hours ago
The context is extremely important in this one. It changes the sentiment from “Musk is censoring the political opposition because he supports the government” to “Musk complied with the legal demands so as to not have to remove X from the entire country of Turkey, and is fighting the demands in court as he says they are censorship”.
X is now notoriously law abiding, but also notorious for fighting against government ordered censorship in court. They comply with legal orders so as to not face legal trouble, and then file legal challenges - even going so far as to pay for and help with legal challenges for individuals who the government are censoring.
Ulrich@feddit.org 15 hours ago
It’s not important. Elon did not say “I’m a free speech absolutist within the confines of the law”. Free speech absolutism does not make exceptions for law.
Further, those legal demands were made by a foreign country with no authority over him or his company. Here’s some helpful context: Elon doesn’t even recognize the local authority but suddenly he bends knee to authority demanded from the other side of the planet? Nah.
FreedomAdvocate@lemmy.net.au 15 hours ago
It absolutely does when you’re running a business.
Companies operating in a country need to follow that countries laws, or they can’t operate in that country. Fact.
Why do you think the GDPR laws were such a big deal worldwide?
Ulrich@feddit.org 14 hours ago
It absolutely does not. If you’re running a business you simply don’t refer to yourself as a “free speech absolutist” because it’s fucking stupid.
Then a “free speech absolutist” would stop operating in that country. Fact.