BENDING THE KNEE

Elon Musk Gets Roasted After Twitter Bends to Turkish Censorship Request

Turkish President Recep Erdoğan, who has been accused of authoritarian behavior, is facing a close re-election contest.

Elon Musk is facing heavy criticism for Twitter’s decision to censor tweets at the behest of the Turkish government right before the country’s presidential election. Prominent blogger Matthew Yglesias pointed out that Musk’s platform seemed to be bending the knee to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s government, even though the billionaire has claimed to be a devout proponent of free speech. Ever defensive, Musk replied, “Did your brain fall out of your head, Yglesias? The choice is have Twitter throttled in its entirety or limit access to some tweets. Which one do you want?” Tech journalist Kara Swisher piled on to Musk, writing, “Being a persistent quisling to authoritarian governments upon which your other businesses are dependent has a very Vichy France vibe.” Erdoğan, who has been president since 2014, faces a real chance of losing power.