Taliban leader terms Twitter ‘best platform’ for free speech

KABUL: Elon Musk, who bought Twitter after vowing to protect its free speech, has faced criticism for complying with content removal requests from governments. However, a Taliban leader has hailed Twitter as the ‘best platform for freedom of expression’.

Taliban leader Anas Haqqani said that Twitter has ‘two important advantages’ compared to other social media platforms, such as ‘Threads’. Haqqani said that the first benefit is freedom of expression and the second is the public nature and reputation of Twitter.

According to AFP, some users reacted to the statement of the Taliban leader on Twitter and said that the Taliban government did not give equal rights to the citizens.

Elon Musk, the founder of Tesla, who acquired Twitter for $44 billion in April 2022, said he wanted to preserve the freedom of expression on Twitter, but he soon made major changes to the moderation policy, firing top executives and abolishing the human rights team.

Twitter has responded to almost all content removal requests from governments under Musk’s ownership. The requests have increased from countries that try to silence critics, such as Turkey and India.