Anand Mahindra on Elon Musk buying Twitter: 'Freedom of Speech is cherished'
Anand Mahindra made the remark after he posted a poll on Twitter asking his followers if they support Elon Musk's stand on free speech on the micro-blogging site.
April 27, 2022 / 08:54 PM IST
Anand Mahindra asked his Twitter followers whether or not they supported lesser regulation of opinions and speech on Twitter, as promised by Elon Musk.
Industrialist Anand Mahindra on Wednesday said that free speech is being cherished and that Twitter “can permit a greater degree of participation and expression”. This comes a day after world's richest man Elon Musk bought the micro-blogging site for $44 billion.
The Mahindra Group Chairperson added that a platform like Twitter can present hate-mongers “into public view” and will allow law enforcement agencies to act against them.
His comments also came after a poll Mahindra conducted on Twitter asking his followers if they support Elon Musk's stand on free speech on the micro-blogging site. An overwhelming 80.7 per cent had voted in support of the tech billionaire.
Anand Mahindra also wrote, “Clearly freedom of speech is cherished. I, too, agree Twitter can permit a greater degree of participation and expression. Because censorship doesn’t suppress the hate-mongers and a platform like this can flush them out into public view allowing law enforcers to act against them.”
He added, “However, society urgently needs more agencies and platforms that are dedicated exclusively to calling out fake news, fake posts and displaying fact-based information on a real time basis.”
Meanwhile, Harsh Goenka, Chairman of the RPG Group put matters into perspective in only one tweet.
— Harsh Goenka (@hvgoenka) April 27, 2022
Musk successfully bought Twitter, 11 days after making an offer for it. On April 14, Elon Musk offered to buy Twitter for $54.20 a share in cash. Musk has described himself as a “free-speech absolutist” but is also known for blocking or disparaging other Twitter users who question or disagree with him.
