Dr. Jordan Peterson invited billionaire business magnate Elon Musk on Sunday to join his legal battle against the College of Psychologists of Ontario, which has threatened to remove Peterson’s clinical psychology license over his social media activity.
Peterson and the Canadian regulator have been facing off against each other since November after the government-backed college levied accusations that Peterson “may have lacked professionalism” in some of his social media posts, The Daily Wire previously reported. The regulator, which governs the psychology profession in the province, ordered Peterson to undergo “social media communications retraining,” which includes “coaching” for his commentary on X, formerly known as Twitter, or potentially have his license suspended.
But after X owner Musk said on Saturday night that his company would go to bat for people punished by their employers for content previously posted on the social media platform, Peterson joined a host of other users seeking legal representation.
“The Ontario College of Psychologists @CPOntario Are also still threatening my licence and reputation As a consequence of my tweets,” Peterson said in a post. “@elonmusk It would be good to have you on board.”
The Ontario College of Psychologists @CPOntario
Are also still threatening my licence and reputation
As a consequence of my tweets@elonmusk
It would be good to have you on board— Dr Jordan B Peterson (@jordanbpeterson) August 6, 2023
Musk has been advocating for freedom of speech on social media ever since he purchased the newly re-branded company for $44 billion last year, vowing to make significant changes to the platform after reports indicated U.S. officials coordinated with previous ownership to invoke censorship methods on accounts spreading so-called misinformation.
Musk previously said, “It is important to the future of civilization to have a common digital town square, where a wide range of beliefs can be debated in a healthy manner, without resorting to violence.”
“There is currently great danger that social media will splinter into far right wing and far left wing echo chambers that generate more hate and divide our society,” he added.
Last week, X Corp. filed a lawsuit against a non-profit organization and its backers for allegedly unlawfully accessing private data and choosing specific posts to show a rise in hate speech on the social media platform under Musk’s ownership.
Musk extended legal support to platform users whose employers “unfairly treated” them for posting content on X.
“If you were unfairly treated by your employer due to posting or liking something on this platform, we will fund your legal bill,” Musk said. “No limit. Please let us know.”
Musk later added that his company would also wage a public relations war against companies that punish their employees for what they do on X.
Musk posted, “And we won’t just sue, it will be extremely loud and we will go after the boards of directors of the companies too.”
The call for Musk to join Peterson’s legal issues comes after the best-selling author and Daily Wire+ host confronted the college in court in June over a demand that he undergo “remedial” social media training or face losing his psychologist license.
Peterson has accused the regulator of going after him repeatedly since 2017 when his public profile began to grow. His audience has grown to over 15 million followers across YouTube, Twitter, and Instagram.
“I was never investigated for anything for the 20 years I practiced prior to my emergence on the public scene,” Peterson said.
Attorneys for the College of Psychologists have argued that the regulator is not “meaningfully” limiting Peterson’s freedom of expression and said the remedial training is not punitive.
“Members are required to uphold the standards and ethics of the profession and they remain subject to the regulation of their professional body for as long as they remain members,” the psychology regulator’s legal team wrote.
Mairead Elordi and Ryan Saavedra contributed to this report.