“Musk-ruled Twitter: users left to fight trolls and misinformation?”

Kyla Garrett Wagner, assistant professor of communications in the Newhouse School, was quoted in the Agence France-Presse story “Musk-ruled Twitter: users left to fight trolls and misinformation?” Wagner, who studies communications and the First Amendment, explained that she does not view Elon Musk’s purchase of Twitter as a victory for free speech rights. “What we have done is put even more power into fewer hands,” Wagner said. “If Elon Musk decides tomorrow that he wants to shut Twitter down for a week, he can do that.” This matters because the First Amendment only bars governments from restricting what citizens say, not private companies. Therefore, Musk holds the power in deciding what can and cannot be posted on the platform.