Elon Musk doesn’t understand free speech -- or Twitter -- at all

Twitter is in no way a “town square”. Only town squares are town squares. They are public for a reason. And they are local. In America, they are supposed to be forums for open, unfettered expression. They have no rules of decorum. They have no interest in maintaining order to keep advertisers happy or their users comfortable. They are exceptional places. And they are non-commercial.

Twitter, like every Starbucks, McDonalds, shopping center, and radio station, has other obligations and interests. Those spaces must maintain order, decorum, cleanliness, and comfort to keep revenue flowing and customers or audiences happy. That’s why the US constitution protects us only from the censorious power of government, not the needs of private entities to restrict expression that might harm their core missions. US law, Musk might be frustrated to learn, not only allows but encourages digital platforms to moderate the content that flows across them…

Trolling is expression that crushes expression. It undermines the ability of groups of people to think collectively and productively about serious issues. Musk knows this. He’s the richest troll in the history of the world. And he’s frighteningly unserious.