Elon Musk-owned X has employed lawyers to defend a student in trouble over posts made on the platform.
X (formerly Twitter) has employed lawyers to defend a student who is facing disciplinary action from his college over his tweets.
After acquiring Twitter, Elon Musk promised he would protect free speech. In August, the platform said it would cover all legal bills for anyone who was “unfairly treated by [ther] employer due to posting or liking something” on X.
Living up to its promise, X is gearing up to defend an Illinois student Juan David Campolargo facing disciplinary action from his college over his posts.
NEWS: 𝕏’s lawyers have come to the defense of an Illinois student being threatened with disciplinary action by his university over posts he made on the platform.
This is the first known example so far of X paying legal fees to support users’ free speech, as promised in August. pic.twitter.com/yFyK9dOwxS
— X News Daily (@xDaily) November 16, 2023
Campolargo, who is from the University of Illinois, is facing conduct probation. In fact, he could end up losing his campus housing since the school has accused him of violating their code of conduct.
X Is Actually Protecting Free Speech
Campolargo has been using his X account to spread the news on events hosting free food around campus. Much to his chagrin, one of these events was a private function.
According to X’s lawyers, Campolargo acted within his First Amendment rights. Also, they have issued a letter addressing the college, which has been spotted and reviewed by the Financial Times.
Sharing news of the case, Elon Musk wrote: “We will do whatever it takes to support your right to free speech!”
We will do whatever it takes to support your right to free speech! https://t.co/fdwOWguuko
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 16, 2023
One X user took to the comments section, responding, “We will do whatever it takes to support your right to free speech!”
Another user said, “It’s good to see that X is following through on its promise to support users’ free speech. I hope that this will set a precedent for other companies to follow. It’s important for companies to stand up for freedom of speech, even when it’s unpopular.”