Fallout by Blood Du Cane Skipper

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January 29, 2025

Substack sucks

Substack Reads
The fight for free speech in 2025 and beyond
Principles have a price. Anyone can stand up for their values when it’s popular and easy, but principles are tested when standing up has a cost…
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16 hours ago · 272 likes · 41 comments · Chris Best

Read this excrement.

Elon Musk has been a vocal supporter of free speech. It’s no secret that we haven’t always seen eye to eye, but he deserves a lot of credit for advancing freedom of speech on X, before it was popular and in the face of fierce criticism and opposition. But Musk’s record is not perfect—he has been credibly accused of censoring his political opponents in addition to his commercial ones. Mark Zuckerberg recently announced favorable changes in policy for Meta that should result in freer expression on its platforms. His stated reasons were a change in public sentiment and a new administration, reflecting a real change in the culture. Those who welcome the press freedom changes at Meta owe a debt to those who took a principled stand when the wind was blowing the other way.

But just because the winds have changed does not mean we can now take freedom of the press for granted. In politics and business, it is easy to stand for free speech for your own side, but once given the power to censor, it is tempting to use it. President Trump campaigned on supporting free speech but has filed lawsuits against news outlets whose election coverage he didn’t like, raising questions about how consistent that support will be now that he’s in office.

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