Musk torpedoes Axios report on 'lives at risk' over reinstating Twitter accounts: 'Much ado about nothing'

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Greg Gutfeld and Joey Jones discuss Elon Musk allegedly finding #StayWoke t-shirts at Twitter headquarters on 'Gutfeld!'

Elon Musk, Canadian psychologist Jordan Peterson and prominent conservatives slammed an Axios article about "activists" warning that lives will be "at risk" if Musk reinstates banned Twitter accounts. 

On Thursday, Axios published an article it shared on Twitter with headline, "Activists warn lives at risk over Elon Musk's amnesty plans for suspended Twitter accounts."

Musk declared he would reinstate banned accounts after a Wednesday poll revealed that's what Twitter users wanted. In response to Musk's declaration, the Axios piece reported, "Activists warn the situation would get much worse if people like former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke were welcomed back following permanent bans for hate speech." 

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WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 09: Elon Musk, founder and chief engineer of SpaceX speaks at the 2020 Satellite Conference and Exhibition March 9, 2020 in Washington, DC. Musk answered a range of questions relating to SpaceX projects during his appearance at the conference. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images) (Win McNamee/Getty Images)

The Axios report noted that hate speech has already been rising on the platform since Musk's purchase, claiming, "Online monitoring groups have reported a rise in racism, anti-Semitism and other hate speech on Twitter since free speech advocate Musk completed his $44 billion acquisition of the social media company last month, though the billionaire said Thursday it has declined."

The piece also cited activists, including Center for Countering Digital Hate CEO Imran Ahmed, who stated, "Superspreaders of hate, abuse and harassment will be the only people to benefit from this latest decision by Twitter."

However, Twitter users dismissed the Axios piece as just another part of the media vendetta against Musk for refusing to prop up liberal narratives. 

Conservative commentator Ian Miles Cheong noted that the alarmist reporting summed up the media’s attitude towards Musk owning Twitter, tweeting, "The story of our times. The establishment media in a nutshell."

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Still, Cheong acknowledged, "At least Axios admits here that the people opposed to @elonmusk’s amnesty are activists, correctly identifying the Center for Countering Digital Hate as an activist group—not experts."

Elon Musk himself, responded to Cheong’s comment on the piece, tweeting, "Much Ado About Nothing."

Conservative digital strategist Logan Hall wrote, "see how the censorship machine operates? left-wing activists in internet hall monitor groups launder the agenda through left-wing activists in media who send it up the totem pole to left-wing activists in big tech. they all work together."

The billionaire has said he believes at least 20% of Twitter's users could be spam, fake accounts. (Getty Images  |  istock)

Fox News contributor Joe Concha ridiculed the Axios story, tweeting, "Yep. This is a real headline."

Libertarian Twitter user Preston Byrne pushed back on Axios’ narrative, writing, "To date I have never seen or heard of anyone getting killed by a social media post. I have seen social media posts alert law enforcement to criminal behavior though. A threat paired with an IP address is really useful for the police."

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Journalist Carl Gottlieb mocked the activists cited by the piece. He wrote, "’Activists’ is there anything they don’t know?"

Christian conservative influencer Amy Curtis explained the real thinking behind Axios’ narrative, tweeting, "Let me translate this for you: @elonmusk has broken the left’s absolute stranglehold on one — ONE — social media platform and they’re arguing lives are at risk because they might be exposed to an opinion they don’t like. It’s not about ‘misinformation’ or "safety"…just power."

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RealClearInvestigations deputy editor Benjamin Weingarten dismissed the report, tweeting, "Haters of freedom gonna hate."

Psychologist and author Dr. Jordan Peterson even got in on the mockery, tweeting, "’activists warn’ let's all hide."

Elon Musk walks from the the justice center in Wilmington, Del., Monday, July 12, 2021. Musk took to a witness stand Monday to defend his company's 2016 acquisition of a troubled company called SolarCity against a shareholder lawsuit that claims he's to blame for a deal that was rife with conflicts of interest and never delivered the profits he had promised. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)