Musk, Zuckerberg and Free Speech
Radical with Amol Rajan
BBC
4.5 • 919 Ratings
🗓️ 9 January 2025
⏱️ 50 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
The billionaire owner of X has made misleading claims about Keir Starmer’s handling of the grooming gangs scandal and Meta boss Mark Zuckerberg has announced the end of independent fact-checking on Meta’s platforms in the US. The move comes as Zuckerberg and other tech executives seek to improve relations with US President-elect Donald Trump before he takes office later this month.
In this episode Amol and Nick talk to Vivian Schiller, former head of news at Twitter, about what is happening to free speech online. They also reflect on how Prime Minister Keir Starmer, the Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch and the Reform UK leader Nigel Farage have reacted to Elon Musk’s intervention.
To get Amol and Nick's take on the biggest stories and insights from behind the scenes at the UK's most influential radio news programme make sure you hit subscribe on BBC Sounds. That way you’ll get an alert every time we release a new episode, and you won’t miss our extra bonus episodes either.
GET IN TOUCH: * Send us a message or a voice note via WhatsApp to +44 330 123 4346 * Email today@bbc.co.uk
The Today Podcast is hosted by Amol Rajan and Nick Robinson who are both presenters of BBC Radio 4’s Today programme. Amol was the BBC’s media editor for six years and is the former editor of the Independent, he’s also the current presenter of University Challenge. Nick has presented the Today programme since 2015, he was the BBC’s political editor for ten years before that and also previously worked as ITV’s political editor.
This episode was made by Lewis Vickers with Nadia Gyane and Grace Reeve. Digital production was by Nadia Gyane. The technical producer was Jonny Baker. The editor is Louisa Lewis. The executive producer is Owenna Griffiths.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | We get it. |
| 0:02.5 | Life is busy. |
| 0:03.6 | You want to keep up with the news, but there's just too much going on. |
| 0:06.9 | Which is where Newscast comes in. |
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| 0:14.8 | It does mean we have to put in the hard work, though. |
| 0:17.5 | Listen to Newscast every day on BBC Sounds. |
| 0:20.1 | So before we get started with this episode, |
| 0:22.2 | we thought it would be useful to explain how to subscribe to the Today podcast on BBC Sounds. |
| 0:27.6 | Yes, because as well as doing our regular weekly episode, where we take a step back and look |
| 0:32.1 | at a big story in depth, like the episode we did on Elon Musk's relationship with Donald Trump |
| 0:36.6 | or the reporting I did from Europe's front line against illegal migration, we also do bonus Q&As where we take you behind the scenes of the Today program. |
| 0:46.5 | And sometimes we get together to record extra episodes to bring you fresh insights on breaking news stories that are hot at the time and that deserve a bit of |
| 0:55.6 | today analysis. So to make sure you get an alert every time we release a new episode, you need to |
| 1:00.8 | search for the Today podcast on BBC Sounds, hit the subscribe button and make sure you've got push |
| 1:06.3 | notifications turned on. Now, let's get on with this week's episode. |
| 1:12.5 | BBC Sounds, music, radio, podcasts. Do you know, Nick, what Elon Musk's first tweet was when he offered to buy Twitter? |
| 1:23.0 | I confess, I don't remember. Don't follow these things, nearly as closely as I do. It was, and I quote, free speech is the bedrock of a functioning democracy. |
| 1:32.8 | Now, that is a sort of phrase that most people could get along with. |
| 1:36.5 | But is it the bedrock of a functioning democracy if the man exercising his right to free speech |
| 1:41.9 | is an American billionaire, maybe one day a trillionaire, |
| 1:45.3 | getting involved in the politics of another country, which is what happened this week, |
... |
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