Free speech absolutist? What X actually does

X calls its approach “freedom of speech, not freedom of reach”: some rule-breaking posts stay up with reduced visibility. [1]

In December 2022, it suspended several journalists who had written about @ElonJet, an account tracking Musk’s plane, after a new rule on sharing live locations. Most were restored. [2]

In August 2023, the New York Times found X was delaying links to the Times, Reuters, Facebook, Substack and others by about five seconds; X reversed it for news outlets. [3]

In September 2024, X blocked links to a hacked Trump-campaign research file on JD Vance and suspended journalist Ken Klippenstein, citing its hacked-materials rule, the same type of rule Musk had criticized Twitter for using in 2020. In May 2023, X complied with Turkish court orders to restrict content before elections. [4][5][6]

Brazil’s Supreme Court blocked X on 30 August 2024 after it refused to block accounts and to name a legal representative. Musk called Justice Alexandre de Moraes a dictator. X then complied, paid about 28.6 million reais in fines, and was restored on 8 October. [1][2]

On 5 December 2025, the European Commission fined X €120 million, its first Digital Services Act fine, over deceptive blue checks, an inadequate ad repository and blocking researchers’ data access. U.S. officials attacked the fine as censorship. [3][4]

French prosecutors searched X’s Paris office in February 2026. After Musk skipped an April summons, the inquiry became a criminal investigation in May. An investigation is not a charge. [5][6]