'You Won't Be Missed' Says Elon Musk, Declaring Cancel Culture Dead Since His Twitter Takeover

Declaring that cancel culture is over, Twitter CEO Elon Musk, claimed just months after his takeover of the social media company, that he had kept promises, that he would protect free speech in America. In October of 2022, when Musk bought Twitter for a staggering $44 billion, he shared his vision for the social media platform. In a statement following the deal, Musk said-

"Free speech is the bedrock of a functioning democracy, and Twitter is the digital town square where matters vital to the future of humanity are debated,"

-Twitter CEO Elon Musk

Since the beginning of Musk's ownership of Twitter, the self-proclaimed "free-speech absolutist" hoped to create a platform for free expression by "being cautious about" permanent bans.

On Tuesday afternoon, Musk wrote

"RIP Cancel Culture, you won't be missed."

-Twitter CEO Elon Musk

Joe Rogan’s podcast episode entitled, "Matt Taibbi & Joe Rogan on Twitter 2.0 and the Fall of Cancel Culture"

prompted Musk’s’ comments. It was in response to an exchange between Matt Taibbi and Joe Rogan. In their discussion, Rogan shared regarding the changes, he sees on the social media platform following Musk's purchase of Twitter. Rogan purported -

"Because now people aren't scared to speak their mind on Twitter, you're seeing so much pushback… Now, people aren't scared to go in after it. "They're not worried about losing their account, which they were before." adding…"You are seeing a much more vigorous debate…"

-Joe Rogan, Host of Podcast “The Joe Rogan Experience”

Taibbi, the reporter responsible for the release of some of Musk's Twitter files, replied-

"I hope that’s one of the results [of Musk buying Twitter], the old Twitter was just a grindstone of official messaging." adding "I hope people are feeling encouraged to say more now."

- Matt Taibbi, American Author, Journalist, and Podcaster

Adding to the discussion was CNBC host Joe Kernen, on a segment of “squawk box”, who spoke to Arthur Brooks, AEI president emeritus about the criticism Musk has faced since his acquisition of Twitter. Kernen claimed that the country is being torn into two, and the two sides are moving-

 "further apart” adding "We are so far apart on how we view the world, Arthur. Is this Twitter’s fault in the first place?"

-CNBC Host Joe Kernen

In his response, Brooks clarified that most Americans are not interested in the culture war, adding that a small percentage are driving this friction. Brooks stated-

"We don’t hate each other in this country-I’ve got the data Joe. Ninety-three percent of Americans say they hate how divided we’ve become as a country, those other 7% that doesn’t hate it, those are the activists saying if you buy a Tesla it means that somehow you believe in hate speech, it’s completely absurd, and it’s total bullying."

-Arthur Brooks, AEI President Emeritus

Musk commented his response, to that discussion on Twitter writing, "cancel culture needs to be canceled," leading many Twitter-users to express their gratitude over Musk’s’ continued stand on free speech, despite the existence of those trying to hold on to cancel culture. 

“If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear.”

-George Orwell