NAACP President Derrick Johnson invited Twitter's new owner Elon Musk to put his tweets where his money is and join him in a conversation on the social media platform.
"@ElonMusk, if you believe in free speech on your platform, let’s talk openly on Twitter Spaces. People have a few questions and a few recommendations," Johnson tweeted on Tuesday.
Johnson appeared to be reacting to Musk's tweet shortly before reading: "The extreme antibody reaction from those who fear free speech says it all."
"Let’s have a conversation about our democracy, @elonmusk," Johnson said in a follow-up tweet.
After the deal was announced on Monday that Musk would be buying Twitter for $44 billion, Johnson issued a statement urging Musk not to allow former President Donald Trump back onto the platform.
"Mr. Musk: Free speech is wonderful, hate speech is unacceptable. Disinformation, misinformation and hate speech have NO PLACE on Twitter," Johnson said in the statement. "Do not allow 45 to return to the platform. Do not allow Twitter to become a petri dish for hate speech, or falsehoods that subvert our democracy.
"Protecting our democracy is of utmost importance, especially as the midterm elections approach. Mr. Musk: Lives are at risk, and so is American democracy."
Trump was permanently banned from Twitter for two tweets he sent in the days after the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol riot, which Twitter said could be interpreted as a call to more violence. Soon after, Facebook and multiple other platforms banned him as well.
But Trump said Monday he has no plans to return to Twitter even if Musk reverses the ban, insisting he will stick with his own Truth Social platform set to go fully operational soon, according to CEO Devin Nunes.
Musk calls himself a "free speech absolutist," leading many to fear he will allow "hate speech" and won't impose any restrictions on the platform.
But Musk followed up on his "free speech" tweet on Monday by tweeting:
"By 'free speech', I simply mean that which matches the law. I am against censorship that goes far beyond the law. If people want less free speech, they will ask government to pass laws to that effect. Therefore, going beyond the law is contrary to the will of the people."
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