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If Elon Musk's Twitter interferes with free speech in India: Shashi Tharoor's message
Who owns which social media company does not matter to India, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor who head the parliamentary committee on information technology said, after Elon Musk's statement on free speech.
Congress leader Shashi Tharoor who also heads the parliamentary committee on information technology on Wednesday issued a warning following Elon Musk's takeover of Twitter and said if Twitter is found either interfering with the free speech in India or the opposite by permitting hate speech and abuse, then the IT committee should take action. Tharoor said it does not matter who owns which social media company. What matters is what they do and how, the Congress leader said.
Shashi Tharoor's message comes after Elon Musk's tall claims on free speech as he said he hopes that his worst critics also remain on Twitter because "that's what free speech means".
"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. I also want to make Twitter better than ever by enhancing the product with new features, making the algorithms open source to increase trust, defeating the spam bots, and authenticating all humans. I also want to make Twitter better than ever by enhancing the product with new features, making the algorithms open source to increase trust, defeating the spam bots and authenticating all humans. Twitter has tremendous potential -- I look forward to working with the company and the community of users to unlock it," his statement read.
While social media users feared that Elon Musk's 'free speech' might become 'hate speech' given Musk's own track record, the European Union made it clear that Twitter under Elon Musk will have to abide by the EU's digital media rule, Musk on Wednesday clarified what he meant by free speech. "By 'free speech', I simply mean that which matches the law. I am against censorship that goes far beyond the law. If people want less free speech, they will ask government to pass laws to that effect. Therefore, going beyond the law is contrary to the will of the people," Musk tweeted implying that Twitter under him will not violate the law of the land.
