Free Speech Gets X-ed Out

UPDATE 12/11/2023 @GrrrGraphics  and @RealAlexJones accounts have been restored on X–Read the post at ALEX IS BACK!

Cartoon published  08/25/2023

Elon Musk bought Twitter (now “X”) and promised free speech would soon be allowed back on the platform. We held out hope he would deliver. Our hopes were dashed. 

Elon ‘talked the talk’ and claimed he was a ‘free speech absolutist, but we quickly realized he all talk. He did not ‘walk the walk’ and kowtowed to his advertisers and governments around the world.

Appointed X CEO by Musk, Linda Yaccarino now manages the day-to-day operations of X. She recently shed some light on the shadow banning operation at Twitter…er, X.

“If you’re going to post something that is lawful but it’s awful, you get labeled,” Yaccarino said. “You get de-amplified, which means it cannot be shared, and it is certainly demonetized.”

So much for freedom of speech on X.

Basically, you can tweet whatever you may like, but only you will see it. If it cannot be shared, what’s the point of tweeting? On X, you are allowed to freely express your opinion, yet you are shadow banned and without reach to your followers. Such banning unfairly targets conservatives and Trump supporters. Our thoughts concerning the 2020 and 2024 elections, vaccines, and big government, get stifled.

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Despite the name change and a new CEO, X is still controlling, throttling, and blocking free speech. The new boss is the same as the old boss. Even though Musk claims that he is for free speech he remains in favor of limited reach and controlled speech because he doesn’t want to upset his advertisers. Otherwise he would not have appointed Yaccarino.

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Elon showed his true colors when influencers on X disagreed with his idea of removing the ‘block’ feature. Musk went on a blocking spree and blocked big name influencers such as @RealJamesWoods and @Catturd2. Both accumulated millions of followers. Blocking is a necessary tool to prevent trolls and junk mail spam, but apparently Musk wanted everyone to be subjected to his ads. Musk got huffy and blocked prominent conservatives from his messages as he smugly tweeted, “Pretty fun blocking people who complain that blocking is going away. How does the medicine taste?”

The response you get from X if you’re a liberal and want to keep the block feature … vs … the response you get from X if you’re a conservative and say the exact same thing. pic.twitter.com/wE2jShkJal

— Catturd ™ (@catturd2) August 21, 2023

X looks like it is going toward the “pay to play” method where your opinions will only reach your followers if you opt into paying Musk $8 bucks a month for twitter blue. Even then your tweets can be de-amplified, which means little to no reach. Nice gig you got going there, Elon.

We’re concerned that such censorship will worsen as the 2024 election approaches. Will they ban memes next? Musk refused to reinstate our original @grrrgraphics account (it had a large audience). Will they soon ban our new X account, @grrrgraphics2?

Stay tooned. 

—The GrrrTeam 

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