Some users have noted that pornography is already showing up more often on X, and that this new policy could open the floodgates. Musk has already responded to the backlash. When one user asked if there was an available function that could allow people to use X without being exposed to pornography, Musk personally replied, “This is a top priority.” That, it must be said, is not good enough. As it stands, X’s policy ensures that minors will be able to access pornography, and makes it increasingly likely that everyday users will be exposed to it.

Elon Musk’s decision to purchase Twitter in 2022 for $44 billion was a game-changer. Due to his longstanding commitment to freedom of speech and his stated intention to ensure that Twitter remained — or became — the “digital public square,” he began by eliminating many of the restrictions that had previously choked off debate on incredibly contentious cultural issues.  

As I noted in a recent essay, his purchase of Twitter allowed critics of gender ideology to speak the truth on the platform — something that had been previously forbidden under Twitter’s Orwellian ban on “misgendering” (accurately noting the sex of a trans-identified person). Without Musk at the helm, for example, J.K. Rowling would not have been able to take on — and neuter — Scotland’s new “hate crime” law. 

Twitter (or X) has had plenty of problems since Musk’s takeover as he and his team work through the new rules, tweak the algorithms, and implement their own biases. Despite all that, X has still served effectively as Musk’s desired “digital public square” for several key cultural debates. But a new policy change may change the trajectory of the social media site for good if Musk doesn’t change course. 

As Newsweek reported, X has now released a new position on pornography, stating that “we believe that users should be able to create, distribute, and consume material related to sexual themes as long as it is consensually produced and distributed.

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