Tech billionaire Elon Musk defended his move to demonetize his critics' content on his social platform X and maintained the decision did not violate free speech.
"The first amendment is protection for 'free speech', not 'paid speech' ffs," Musk wrote Wednesday on X.
Musk, the owner of X, was responding to a user who poked fun at those who accused Musk of violating free speech after some users' verification badges and monetization abilities were revoked.
The move came shortly after the conservative users spoke out against Musk's support for H-1B visas, a temporary, nonimmigrant work permit.
"People getting demonetized for their inexcusable behavior then complaining about free speech is hilarious to me," the user wrote. "You can say whatever you want. You just can’t get paid for it. Hope this helps."
Those who lost verification and monetization abilities included various hard-line immigration Republicans such as Laura Loomer, a staunch ally of President-elect Trump.
Far-right white supremacist Nick Fuentes was also among those to have lost verification, writing on X on Tuesday, "Twitter censorship is back. Free speech is dead."
The post received more than 2 million views as of Thursday, prompting Musk to write, "Claiming censorship while simultaneously getting millions of views is the clearest possible evidence that Fuentes has [poop emoji] for brains."
Musk, who purchased X, then known as Twitter, in 2021, has touted himself as a champion of free speech in recent years. He has pulled back a number of content moderation policies on X, defending the move as a protection of free speech.
Musk was at the center of a Trump World civil war last week after he and Trump ally Vivek Ramaswamy voiced support for bringing in high-skilled foreign workers.
Musk, a close ally of Trump, argued in an X post last week that Silicon Valley often turns to immigrants because there are too few U.S.-born engineers. The tech billionaire, who was born in South Africa, once held an H-1B visa himself.
The H-1B visa program is an employer-sponsored visa intended for high-skilled professionals that is used mostly for computer-related and tech jobs.
Congress capped the program at 65,000 per year plus an additional 20,000 for foreign professionals who graduate with a master’s degree or doctorate from a U.S. college or university.
Those of the far-right MAGA base contend the visa program is used to undercut American workers.
Trump eventually sided with Musk and backed the nonimmigrant visas.
“I’ve always liked the visas, I have always been in favor of the visas. That’s why we have them,” Trump said in a phone interview with the New York Post published last week.
“I have many H-1B visas on my properties. I’ve been a believer in H-1B. I have used it many times. It’s a great program,” he added, as reported by the Post.
