FORMER FOX NEWS talk show host Tucker Carlson has announced that he will be moving his popular programme to Twitter after being fired by the US network last month.
Carlson criticised mainstream media outlets and, in what must be music to owner Elon Musk’s ears, claimed that Twitter is the only large platform that allows freedom of speech.
“There aren’t many platforms left that allow free speech. The last big one remaining in the world is Twitter, where we are now,” Carlson said in a video posted on the social media site simply captioned “We’re back.”
“Twitter has long served as the place where our national conversation incubates and develops. Twitter is not a partisan site, everybody is allowed here and we think that’s a good thing,” he said.
He described the “English language media” as “thinly disguised propaganda outlets” and declared bluntly that “at the most basic level, the news you consume is a lie, a lie of the stealthiest and most insidious kind.”
We’re back. pic.twitter.com/sG5t9gr60O
— Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) May 9, 2023
The reasons behind Carlson’s departure from Fox, where he hosted the network’s most popular talk show, have not yet been made clear by either party.
Carlson hinted that he may have “bumped up against” the limits when it came to editorial decisions while speaking about self-censorship in the media more generally.
Carlson and Fox decided to “part ways” not long after the network lost a court case over defamatory claims made against electronic voting machine company Dominion.
No date was given for the relaunch of the show, with Carlson simply saying it would be coming soon.
“Starting soon, we’ll be bringing a new version of the show we’ve been doing for the last six and a half years to Twitter. We’ll be bringing some other things too which we’ll tell you about.”
Commenting below the video post, Musk, a self-styled “free speech absolutist,” said that no deal had been struck between Carlson and Twitter but endorsed the description of the site as a haven for free expression.
“On this platform, unlike the one-way street of broadcast, people are able to interact, critique and refute whatever he or anyone may say,” he wrote.
“I also want to be clear that we have not signed a deal of any kind whatsoever. Tucker is subject to the same rules & rewards of all content creators.
“I hope that many others, particularly from the left, also choose to be content creators on this platform,” he said.
On this platform, unlike the one-way street of broadcast, people are able to interact, critique and refute whatever he or anyone may say.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 9, 2023
And, of course, anything misleading will get @CommunityNotes.
I also want to be clear that we have not signed a deal of any kind…
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