“Then give my old account back”- Internet debates as Elon Musk’ claims “cancel culture” has been “cancelled”

The CEO of X, Elon Musk, recently announced that cancel culture is allegedly over. The news came just months after he took over the platform after promising to uphold free expression in the United States. Stating the same, Musk wrote on X on December 1, Sunday:

“Cancel culture has been canceled.”

However, he didn’t provide any context behind the particular tweet. Nevertheless, once the post went viral, people took to the comment section to react to the whole thing. Many people disagreed with him. One X user said that, if that’s true, then Musk needs to give his “old account” back.

“Then give me my old account back…” stated one user.

Other people also said similar things. One tagged him as a “capitalist,” while another one affirmed that the culture is still there in the UK. Moreover, one user also said that some people are still banned from different sites.

“You are living proof that capitalists will side with fascists to protect their interests at the expense of the people,” said another X user.

“Not in the UK. It's getting worse here,” one user disagreed.

“People are still banned on tons of platforms…. Cancel culture is now more frowned upon but it’s still very much alive. I’m still banned on Facebook, Instagram, PayPal, Venmo, GoFundMe, CashApp, Lyft and a multitude of other sites. Cancel culture is still here,” another one said.

On the other hand, many people supported him, stating that it was true and that it had now been canceled.

“Let that sink in!” commented one user.

“Correct. I've been "cancelled" many times but can confirm that I'm still here,” affirmed another one.

“Good riddance to cancel culture,” wrote another one.

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Elon Musk says cancel culture "needs to be cancelled"

Elon Musk (Image via Getty/@Anna Moneymaker)

This isn’t the first time Elon Musk said something reportedly controversial. On February 14, 2023, Tuesday afternoon, he took to X to write:

"RIP Cancel Culture, you won't be missed.”

He commented this after Matt Taibbi and Joe Rogan had a conversation on Joe Rogan's show, Matt Taibbi & Joe Rogan on Twitter 2.0 and the Fall of Cancel Culture. Discussing the changes on the social media platform, Rogan said:

"Because now people aren't scared to speak their mind on Twitter, you're seeing so much pushback… Now, people aren't scared to go in after it. They're not worried about losing their account, which they were before... You are seeing a much more vigorous debate.."

Taibbi then replied:

"I hope that’s one of the results [of Musk buying Twitter], the old Twitter was just a grindstone of official messaging."

Moreover, on Thursday, December 1, Elon Musk responded to a clip from CNBC's Squawk Box by saying that "cancel culture needs to be canceled." In the clip, AEI President Emeritus Arthur Brooks discussed the criticism Musk has received since acquiring X with CNBC host Joe Kernen.

Kernen alleged that the nation is being divided into two parts and becoming "further apart." Additionally, according to Brooks, just a small portion of Americans are allegedly causing this conflict, and the majority are not interested in the culture war.

He further warned the viewers and said:

"Three percent of your employees are activists.. they’re blowing up your Slack channel right now demanding that you get involved in a culture war… Don’t do it!... It’s time for us to say ‘I will not be conscripted into America’s culture war!'”

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In other news, Elon Musk has been chosen by President-elect Donald Trump to co-head the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), along with Vivek Ramaswamy.