On Feb. 3, while Elon Musk was “feeding USAID into the wood chipper,” the names of six of his DOGE helpers were posted on X. Musk, a self-described free speech crusader, asserted on X, “You have committed a crime,” and the user’s account was suspended.

To be clear, posting the names of public employees on social media is protected by the First Amendment. But the next day, President Trump’s newly appointed federal prosecutor in Washington said in a letter to Musk that his office would investigate anyone who “impedes your work or threatens your people.”

Musk’s efforts to silence those whose speech he dislikes are not limited to posting to his 200 million followers on the social media platform he owns. Increasingly, Musk is using the courts to punish his critics.

On two recent occasions, X sued journalists and researchers for asserting that extremist content had been appearing on the platform with much greater frequency since Musk bought it. X also sued advertisers for cutting ties with the company because of the proliferation of extremist content.

As Musk’s power and influence grow — he now heads Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency, which is feverishly dismantling core federal programs and agencies — there is a risk he will make even greater use of the courts to stifle........

© The Hill