How Free is Freedom of Expression

On April 25, when Twitter announced Elon Musk’s purchase of the platform, it stated that Musk did this in order to promote free speech. “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 Mr. Musk, according to the statement.

The European Union, however, was not convinced. The next day, Euronews reported that the European Commission warned Musk that “Twitter will have to ‘adapt completely to European rules’ whatever Elon Musk’s intentions regarding freedom of speech.”

Today, Musk announced his consent. As posted on AP News, “EU Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton told The Associated Press … that he outlined to Musk how the bloc’s online regulations aim to uphold free speech while also making sure whatever is illegal ‘will be forbidden in the digital space,’ which Musk ‘fully agreed with.’”

I agree with the stipulations posed by the EU. After all, it is the obligation of the EU to protect itself from “freedom of expression” that seeks to manipulate people and has ulterior motives.

However pure one’s intentions may be at first, in the long run, there cannot be real freedom of expression. Freedom of expression has no place in our world. As long as people see the world only through their own perspective, through their self-interest, there cannot be freedom. Even if Musk wants to protect the truth, in the end, he is only protecting his own truth. This is how every human being operates.

Even if everyone is allowed to express their opinion freely, you will end up having a platform where everyone yells their “truth,” and no one hears them. In other words, Twitter will become a platform for screaming, but nothing more. It will be a conversation of deaf people.

I think that if we really want to help humanity, we should go the opposite way: silence all the “social media.” We should all grow silent and start listening.

If we are quiet for some time, we will begin to feel ourselves: who we are, what we are, why we are here, and what we want to achieve in life. If we do this, we will discover that the only words worth saying are words that help others.

Stating your own opinion, your own truth, your own perspective, is meaningless if it does not stem from a desire to help and do good to others. When you let that desire guide you, you will have earned your right to speak, because then your speech will be contributory to others, and people will have a reason, and a desire to listen to you.