New Delhi, India

Elon Musk and former independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. have sparked controversy online, claiming that Vice President Kamala Harris would want to "shut down" X (formerly Twitter) if it fails to comply with government oversight. 

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What evidence do they have?

The two men shared a clip from a 2019 CNN interview with Harris where she criticised social media platforms for "directly speaking to millions and millions of people without any level of oversight and regulation," a practice she said "has to stop."

Kennedy, sharing his interpretation of the remark from the five-year-old interview, wrote: "Translation: If they don't police content to conform to government-approved narratives, they will be shut down."

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Musk backed Kennedy's claim, alleging that Harris and the Democratic Party were aiming to undermine free speech. He stated that "free speech is the bedrock of democracy," and accused Harris of merely acting as a puppet for the party's agenda.

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What did Harris say back then?

In the 2019 interview, Harris called for the shutdown of Trump's Twitter account because of its influence on society, including its role in spreading harmful narratives. 

Citing the El Paso shooter’s manifesto as an example, she argued that Trump's rhetoric had real-world consequences.

"When you're talking about Donald Trump, he has 65 million Twitter followers, he has proven himself to be willing to obstruct justice – just ask Bob Mueller. You can look at the manifesto from the shooter in El Paso to know that what Donald Trump says on Twitter impacts peoples' perceptions about what they should and should not do," she said.

She then said Trump's account "should be taken down" for violating the site's terms of service.

Harris also spoke of regulating social media platforms so that the words of popular figures like Trump can't become a bad influence on millions of users.

"And the bottom line is that you can’t say that you have one rule for Facebook and you have a different rule for Twitter. The same rule has to apply, which is that there has to be a responsibility that is placed on these social media sites to understand their power," she said.

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"They are speaking to millions of people without any level of oversight or regulation. And that has to stop," added Harris.

However, Kennedy misinterpreted Harris' comments, suggesting she was looking to destroy free speech.

"Can someone please explain to her that freedom of speech is a RIGHT, not a 'privilege'?" he wrote.

(With inputs from agencies)