Musk now targets Indian-origin Twitter legal head Vijaya Gadde

New Delhi, April 27 (IANS) Even as tech billionaire Elon Musk took over Twitter, he slammed Indian-origin lawyer Vijaya Gadde over censoring exclusive stories related to US President Joe Biden's son Hunter's laptop in the wake of the Capitol Hill violence, early this year.

Gadde, who has been working with Twitter since 2011, has been a key executive charged with overseeing the microblogging platform's trust and safety, legal and public policy functions. She had also been involved in decisions to remove former US President Donald Trump and banning political advertising on the platform.

Musk on Twitter slammed the lawyer for suspending the account of the New York Post. During the run-up to the 2020 US presidential elections, the Post wrote an exclusive article about Hunter Biden's laptop. The article has since been verified by many outlets which had initially dismissed the report as misinformation.

"Suspending the Twitter account of a major news organisation for publishing a truthful story was obviously incredibly inappropriate," Musk said in a tweet.

Musk said this in reply to podcast host Saagar Enjeti who shared a Politico report, stating that Gadde reportedly had a tearful virtual meeting with her teams, expressing concerns over the future of the platform, after Musk took over Twitter in a $44 billion deal.

"Vijaya Gadde, the top censorship advocate at Twitter who famously gaslit the world on Joe Rogan's podcast and censored the Hunter Biden laptop story, is very upset about the Elon Musk takeover," Enjeti tweeted.

Musk had long been advocating free speech on the platform, creating apprehensions for many as they fear the site will be left without regulations.

"The extreme antibody reaction from those who fear free speech says it all," Musk wrote on Twitter.

"By 'free speech', I simply mean that which matches the law. I am against censorship that goes far beyond the law. If people want less free speech, they will ask government to pass laws to that effect. Therefore, going beyond the law is contrary to the will of the people," he explained.