Megyn Kelly called on Elon Musk to reinstate suspended reporters he said had violated a rule after posting information about the “exact real-time location” of his private jet and said that people should stand up for free speech “on both sides.”
During Sirius XM’s “The Megyn Kelly Show” podcast, the host was speaking with Stanford University professor Dr. Jay Bhattacharya — formerly blacklisted on the platform — about the consequences of censoring science-based COVID discussions and Musk banning these journalists.
Kelly said Musk was “taking a beating because he kicked off Twitter several journalists, including reporters from The New York Times, Washington Post, not all reporters” who she said had covered Musk’s repeated complaints about a specific account that “tracked Elon’s private jet. And Elon felt doxxed, felt unsafe.”
“And then he permanently suspended, at least for now, these journalists who … shared links to that guy’s handle which revealed Elon’s location in the process of their reporting,” the former Fox News host explained.
WATCH:
“Masking people can provide a false sense of confidence..You may have ended up killing vulnerable people.” @DrJBhattacharya on real consequences of censoring science-based COVID discussions.
Watch, download: https://t.co/F96HgIpiAuhttps://t.co/UhjYejkbFM
— The Megyn Kelly Show (@MegynKellyShow) December 16, 2022
“Now, there’s been blowback by the left and the right on this decision,” she added, asking the professor what he made of it.
Bhattacharya noted that he could understand on the “one hand” how Musk felt because “the site [handle] said where his kid was. And somebody stopped the car where the kid was.”
On the other hand, the professor shared that he’s “against censorship” and said he didn’t agree that Elon should’ve gotten rid of the journalists on the platform. He noted that some journalist’s didn’t seem to care when he was censored on the site, but despite that he said, “We got to care when everyone’s free speech is suppressed.”
“Absolutely right,” Kelly replied. “I think Elon’s got to reverse suspensions of those reporters. One guy targeting him with repeated updates on where he is, that’s more problematic. I understand they stopped his son because they thought it was him, but still it does show the danger of this practice.”
“But I think those reporters need to come back online as hateful they may be when it comes to this particular issue,” she added. “We’ve got to stand up for it on both sides.”
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