Too much free speech on X – Major Swedish newspaper DN leaves platform

Under Elon Musk’s ownership, censorship on X (formerly Twitter) has been greatly reduced and the entrepreneur himself states that freedom of expression is very important to him.

Not everyone is happy about this development, however, and Peter Wolodarski, editor-in-chief of the Bonnier-owned newspaper DN (Dagens Nyheter), has announced that DN is boycotting the platform.

– Since Elon Musk took over, the platform has increasingly merged with his own and Donald Trump’s political ambitions, while the climate on X has become more harsh and extreme. Therefore, for the time being, we will not publish anything there from our official accounts, he told his own magazine.

While arbitrary censorship for political reasons used to be commonplace on Twitter, users are now relatively free to write what they really think about the often biased reporting of DN and other establishment media without much risk of banning or suspension – and this is not at all popular with media executives.

– I think X is a lost platform, says Aftonbladet’s editorial director Karin Schmidt, explaining that they left X already in 2023.

– Unlike X, I think it is so important that we are on Tiktok, where we can be a counterflow to fake news, she continues.

“Musk – a free speech fundamentalist”

The editor-in-chief of Swedish online magazine Kvartal, Jörgen Huitfeldt, agrees that there is sometimes a “rude and unpleasant” climate of conversation on X, but he has no plans to leave the platform.

– After all, many people are there, not least those who share journalistic content. It’s a way for us to reach out really, it’s that simple.

– Musk is a free speech fundamentalist, and I find it hard to believe that he will start censoring people in the same way he did under the Jack Dorsey regime, he continues.