Sorkin Grills Elon Musk For ‘Throttling’ The New York Times: ‘What Does That Say About Free Speech?’

Elon Musk sat for a question and answer session with journalist Andrew Ross Sorkin during the 2023 DealBook Summit sponsored by The New York Times.

During the discussion, Sorkin brought up the hot topic of free speech and whether Musk had targeted media outlets he didn’t particularly like.

“The New York Times Company and The New York Times newspaper; it appeared over the summer to be throttled,” Sorkin told Musk.

“What did?” Musk asked.

“The New York Times,” Sorkin repeated.

“Well, we do require that everyone has to buy a subscription. You know, we don’t make exceptions for anyone and I think, if I want The New York Times, I have to pay for a subscription. And, they don’t give me a free subscription,” Musk argued.

“But were you throttling The New York Times relative to other news organizations; relative to everybody else? Or was it specific to The Times? Was it specific to The Times?” Sorkin repeated.

“They didn’t buy a subscription. And, by the way, it only costs like $1,000 a month, so if they just do that, then they’re back in the saddle,” Musk exclaimed.

Sorkin pressed on.

“But you are saying that it was throttled? Was there a conversation you had with somebody and said, ‘Look, I’m unhappy with The Times, They should either be buying a subscription, or I don’t like their content, or whatever.'”

But Musk stayed stuck on a single track.

“Any organization that refuses to buy a subscription is not going to be recommended,” Musk shot back.

Sorkin then asked, “But, then, what does that say about free speech?”

“Free speech isn’t completely free, it costs a little bit,” Musk said to crowd laughter.

“But, that’s an interesting…” Sorkin began.

“Um, South Park when they say, ‘Freedom isn’t free, it costs a buck-oh-five,’ or whatever. So, but it’s pretty cheap, Ok? A low-cost freedom.”

Watch the clip above via NYT/DealBook