Elon Musk announced on Wednesday that his platform X, formerly known as Twitter, will be taking legal action against George Soros-fund...
Elon Musk announced on Wednesday that his platform X, formerly known as Twitter, will be taking legal action against George Soros-funded non-governmental organizations for allegedly pushing freedom of speech restrictions.
Journalist and bestselling author Michael Shellenberger shared an article on X by Ben Scallan titled "Soros-Funded NGOs Demand Crackdown on Free Speech As Politicians Spread Hate Misinformation."
Scallan's article explained that Soros' nonprofit organization, Open Society Foundations, allegedly funneled money to various NGOs to promote a "censorship agenda in Ireland and Scotland that includes police searches of homes, phones and computers."
Despite officials' claims, Scallan contended that Ireland is not experiencing more hate-based crimes.
"The increase in 'hate-based offenses' is clearly from an increase in reporting, not actual hate crimes or 'incidents,'" Scallan wrote. Instead, he argued, that the "hype about hate" is being used by politicians to justify passing "a strict new 'hate speech' law" in an "unprecedented assault" on citizens' freedom.
"In the words of government politicians themselves, the law is designed to 'restrict freedom' and to 'make it easier to secure prosecutions and convictions,'" Scallan continued. "What's more, the bill reverses the burden of proof under law — if accused of planning to distribute alleged 'hate' material, the onus is on the accused person to prove their own innocence."
In reaction to Scallan's article, Shellenberger wrote on X, "Politicians & George Soros-funded NGOs say 'hate incidents' are rising, but they're not. The data show the opposite: higher-than-ever and rising levels of tolerance of minorities. The reason they're spreading hate misinformation is to justify a draconian crackdown on free speech."
Musk replied to Shellenberger's post, declaring that his platform plans to take legal action to prevent censorship crackdowns and protect freedom of speech.
"Exactly," Musk stated. "X will be filing legal action to stop this. Can't wait for discovery to start!"
In 2016, the New York Times reported that Soros pledged $10 million to combat hate crimes.
He told Time that a spike in hate incidents against migrants and minorities was due to "dark forces that have been awakened" by the 2016 election.
"We must do something to push back against what's happening here," Soros said.
Soros planned to gift $5 million in grants to "community-based and civil-society organizations." Time reported that one of those groups, the Southern Poverty Law Center, was awarded funds to track hate crime incidents in the United States.
In March, the FBI reported a 12% increase in hate-related crimes in 2021 compared to the previous year. The agency claimed that data showed that nearly 65% of the 12,411 reported victims were targeted because of their race or ethnicity.