Muted by Musk? High-Profile Users Say Criticism Comes at a Cost on X

Veuer

Anastasia Maria Loupis, known for far-right and antisemitic content, once had content reaching hundreds of thousands on X, but that changed after criticizing Elon Musk in December. Musk has often called himself a “free speech absolutist”, however he is now accused of suppressing critics. Veuer’s Tony Spitz has the details.

Transcript

00:00Anastasia Maria Lupus, known for far-right and anti-Semitic content, once reached hundreds

00:05of thousands of people on X, but that changed after criticizing Elon Musk in December.

00:10Musk has often called himself a free-speech absolutist, however he is now accused of suppressing

00:15critics.

00:16The New York Times has now identified three prominent far-right influencers, Lupus, Laura

00:21Loomer, and Owen Schroyer, who all lost visibility after feuding with Musk.

00:25Loomer's reach dropped after calling him exposed over visa policies, with her viewership

00:30only rebounding after Musk re-engaged with her posts.

00:33The billionaire has hinted that being muted or blocked by powerful accounts like his

00:36own can drastically reduce a user's reach, with Loomer saying she lost some $50,000 when

00:42she briefly lost X premium during the feud.

00:45Lupus, meanwhile, has started another account to circumvent her supposed free-speech suppression,

00:50saying she intends to sue Musk.

00:52Critics now argue that Musk is undermining his own stated ideals of free-speech and transparency,

00:57with Loomer saying about Musk's shadow turnaround on free-speech, quote,

01:01I think it's wrong to say it's a free-speech platform and then shut off people's ability

01:05to monetize.

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