A senior Ukrainian official asked on Saturday whether Twitter would be more or less free under new owner Elon Musk.
“Did the bird really get its freedom, or has it just been moved to a new cage?Assistant to the President of Ukraine, Mykhailo Podolyak posted on Twitter Saturday, noting Musk’s “unusual moderation” on the website.
Musk has vowed to protect free speech on the social media platform under his ownership, tweeting “the bird is free” on Thursday after his acquisition was completed.
Twitter’s new owner drew the ire of Kiev earlier this month after he posted on Twitter a poll that proposed a “Ukraine-Russia peace plan” which stipulated that Crimea be given to Russia with the region’s water supply secured and the creation of a UN-supervised referendum to determine control of the regions annexed by Russia. Fifty-nine percent of the more than 2.7 million respondents voted “no.”
Russia struck a more enthusiastic tone towards Musk’s new position as Twitter owner, with Dmitry Medvedev, deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council, tweets on Friday: “Good luck @elonmusk overcoming political bias and ideological dictatorship on Twitter. And leave that Starlink business in Ukraine.”
Starlink refers to the thousands of satellite-connected internet devices operated by Musk’s company SpaceX, which have been a vital communication link for the Ukrainian military.
By postal wire
