Elon Musk’s X flags NPR story on Trump’s Arlington Cemetery visit as “spammy or unsafe”

Elon Musk (left) and former President Donald Trump (right).

Since purchasing Twitter in 2022 and rebranding it X, Elon Musk has fashioned himself a free speech absolutist.

He has reduced moderation on the platform, calling it a form of censorship. He has also recently come to the defense of Telegram CEO, Pavel Durov, who also eschews moderation and who French police arrested last week in connection to criminal activity on the messaging app.

There appear, however, to be some exceptions to Musk’s commitment to the First Amendment.

After NPR published a story this week detailing how former President Donald Trump’s campaign may have violated federal law by filming at Arlington National Cemetery, X flagged the article, warning it may be “unsafe or spammy.”

The story also reported that a cemetery staffer tried to stop the filming but was pushed away by members of the Trump campaign. An Army spokesperson confirmed the incident in a statement to B-17.

Hmmm, so Twitter is now marking the link to this NPR story about Trump potentially violating federal law with his Arlington National Cemetery video as “unsafe” https://t.co/77Oh6OhxAv pic.twitter.com/E8qwx2yYiM — Justin Baragona (@justinbaragona) August 29, 2024

X’s warning label on the NPR story is the latest installment in an ongoing tiff between Musk and the news organization. In April 2023, the outlet announced that it would stop posting on its X accounts because the company had labeled it “state-affiliated media.” A few days later, Musk called NPR a “hard left propaganda machine.”

“We are not putting our journalism on platforms that have demonstrated an interest in undermining our credibility and the public’s understanding of our editorial independence,” NPR told The Hill at the time. Musk later reconsidered whether the designation was appropriate.

X’s decision to flag the NPR article also comes after Musk publicly endorsed the former president. Musk has hosted Trump for live discussions on X, giving the candidate the opportunity to speak at length to millions of X users.

He also reinstated Trump’s account after buying the platform, saying at the time, “The people have spoken. Trump will be reinstated. Vox Populi, Vox Dei,” which is Latin for “the voice of the people is the voice of God.”