Elon Musk can't take you to Substack, much less to the moon
Elon Musk's free speech statement was a lie. He's now banned Substack. That's why there is a mass exodus from Twitter.
Last year when Elon Musk was in the middle of trying to buy Twitter, he said in a statement: "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.”
He lied. Almost everyone knew this, but fingers remained crossed.
Not only is Twitter not a safe place for “free speech” (unless it’s Musk’s free speech), he has now taken aim at Substack. As of April 6th, Twitter prevented Substack writers from sharing tweets containing links to their newsletters.
The next day, on April 7th, Twitter began to block Substack newsletters from circulating on the platform.
Many accounts who follow the work of authors (like myself and others) who attempted to click to one of our articles on Substack received a warning message.
The New York Times wrote about Musk’s fight with Substack here.
I will remind you that my main Twitter account mysteriously disappeared one Saturday in November after Musk acquired the site. In an attempt to continue to share my work with my followers, I began tweeting from my old business twitter account. My follower count prior to being suspended (without any warning) was approximately 35k. I’d also blocked tens of thousands of people; and others followed me without actually clicking on the ‘Follow’ button. My follower count on my current account is approximately 8% of my normal numbers.
Personally, I’ve been really happy at Substack and not so happy on Twitter. Therefore, my decision is to stop devoting my time and effort to Twitter—where the person who reaps the rewards is Elon Musk—and to use that energy here on Substack.
Many of my posts will be free where we can have a dialogue—a real one—that isn’t censored.
Hey, I always see a silver lining in unexpected curveballs. Life’s crazy. We’ll adjust. Meanwhile, thanks for being such an amazing group of people. -Kirby
I look forward to practicing free speech here on the Kirby Sommers Substack where the top writers are found.
lonE skuM.