A regular on Twitter, Mahindra Group Chairman Anand Mahindra on April 27 batted for permitting a greater degree of participation and expression on the social media platform, agreeing with his followers. He, however, said there is an urgent need for agencies and platforms that are dedicated exclusively to calling out fake news, fake posts and displaying fact-based information on a real-time basis in the society.

Amid a debate over freedom of speech, with Elon Musk promising less regulation of opinions and speech after he takes over Twitter, Mahindra had conducted a poll on the social media platform, seeking opinions from his followers if they supported Musk or not. As many as 80.7 percent of those who voted had supported and only 19.3 percent did not.

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Reacting to the outcome of his Twitter poll, Mahindra in a series of tweets said, "Clearly Freedom of Speech is cherished. I, too, agree Twitter can permit a greater degree of participation & expression. Because censorship doesn't suppress the hate-mongers & a platform like this can flush them out into public view allowing law enforcers to act against them".

"…society urgently needs more agencies and platforms that are dedicated exclusively to calling out fake news, fake posts & displaying fact-based information on a real-time basis," he added.

Musk, who on April 25 clinched a deal to buy Twitter for $44 billion at his offer of $54.20 per share, in a tweet clarified that "I simply mean that which matches the law. I am against censorship that goes far beyond the law." He further said, "If people want less free speech, they will ask government to pass laws to that effect. Therefore, going beyond the law is contrary to the will of the people."

Musk had also hoped that "even my worst critics remain on Twitter" after he acquires the social media platform "because that is what free speech means.”

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(Edited by : Shoma Bhattacharjee)