Free Speech, Defamation and Insurance

Elon Musk, considered by some to be a free speech absolutist, just bought Twitter for $44 billion dollars. Already, Musk has posted critical comments about an employee that encouraged others to pile on with their own criticisms. The comments included calling for the termination of the employee, use of racist language and other damaging statements. Employees have expressed concerns about Twitter’s continued ability to moderate hate speech and disinformation.

Almost as soon as social media was invented there were concerns about people making defamatory or libelous statements about others, about those defamed individuals suing the poster, and whether or not there was any coverage. Further, Twitter and other social media sites have struggled with how to combat hate speech, extremism, harassment and misinformation. And despite accusations that Twitter censors speech, the company denies any such culpability.