IN this day and age, what does a blue checkmark mean to you? For some, it could be a badge of honor or perhaps a sign of fame, but ultimately it is a mark of accountability — a symbol that verifies who is behind the screen. However, as we enter the era of Twitter 2.0 with Elon Musk’s acquisition of the application last October 27, the mark may just be given a new meaning, with a new free speech landscape to boot.

Like an agora of the latest scoops and public discourse, Twitter has created a platform that enables voices of any size to become thought leaders of different causes and opinions, which has contributed to many significant movements, such as #BlackLivesMatter and #MeToo. It is such facets that we may lose with the new regulations — or lack thereof. 

After his takeover, Musk, a self-described “free speech absolutist,” has made many rash changes to the platform. Some of these include the altering of the verification system that allows anyone to receive the blue checkmarks with an $8 monthly subscription, the lifting of the policy against COVID-19 misinformation, and the reinstatement of the accounts of Donald Trump, Kanye West, among others which have been suspended due to not adhering the old Twitter rules on abuse and hate speech. Not long after, these altercations have been faced with consequences such as the rise of spammers and impersonators and the pull out of half of Twitter’s top 100 advertisers. One notable is Musk’s claim of Apple’s threat to withhold the platform from the app store.

Unsurprisingly, many are fleeing the application as it becomes an unmoderated avenue of potentially unsavory content that may be abused for disinformation and propaganda. And it can’t be denied that these changes may be resolved with better policies to protect the freedom in the community, creating a neutral environment that acknowledges that to be genuinely free, room for exploitation must be limited. If any of us are lucky, Mr. Musk actually practices what he preached when he tweeted, “Vox Populi, Vox Dei” or “the voice of the people is the voice of God.” Let’s not let Twitter become an echo chamber where the misuse of the platform silences voices.