Free speech has never included the right to tell lies, particularly lies that could lead to destructive behavior. For example, falsely claiming an election was stolen can lead to the same kind of behavior that would result from falsely yelling fire in a crowded theater: stampeding people committing acts of violence. Even Ayn Rand says that the government has to punish someone who says they are going to deliver goods in exchange for money, and then doesn’t. The goods that a newspaper delivers are true facts about the world. If a newspaper is full of lies, they can be sued, just as you can be sued or arrested for selling a bag of rocks and saying it is a bag of potatoes.

Social media platforms, however, have laws that protect them from such lawsuits, even though they are now the primary news source for most people. This immunity gives them a greater responsibility to do something about lies that show up on their platforms. It was a recognition of this principle that produced the social pressure that prompted Twitter to ban Trump. Now Musk buys Twitter so he can “restore free speech”. I’m willing to wait and see on this, but it looks to me like “free speech” in this context means restoring the right for people like Trump to broadcast their lies again. This time I’m in agreement with Tim. It looks like bad news to me.

if you want a free market solution on this, then restore the right to sue Twitter every time they publish a lie. No reason they should have immunity from this kind of reprisal if newspapers don’t.