I'm still trying to sort out what kinds of free speech you folks actually believe in. It feels very ad-hoc and situational.
Full disclosure: I am in favor of strong moderation, very much like what is done on this board thru the hard work of skilled humans enforcing a wide ranging list of standards of conduct which go far far beyond the rules of basic public free speech.
I'm nearly a free-speech absolutist, and I might believe in more free speech than you if we were to really drill down, and I'm used to contentious topics. Most of the issues I care about and fight for are contentious, because that's where the battles are. This could be anything from universal healthcare to combating moon hoaxers, discussing evolution vs. those who reject this fact, religious debates, debates about feminist ideology, guns and 'gun control', etc. I've dealt with all of these issues since before the Internet, and have been kicked off of a few forums for daring to discuss these topics with willing participants in off-topic sections. Forums aren't free either, but when rational and reasonable adults run them they're great places to exchange ideas.
However, I don't believe it's ethical to impersonate someone, especially when it's a mob of people with bad intentions. We have locked-in unique usernames on this board (as it should be) and I think the same would benefit Twitter. With verification, individuals and companies can prove who they are, and those impersonating them can be forced to simply choose another name if it's confusing to a reasonable person.
If you go on Twitter as Lockheed Martini using their logo and you start talking about the imminent invasion in Russia....you cannot tell me that you're okay with this. Not if you're a reasonable and ethical person. Same with impersonating Hillary in the worst way, or Elizabeth Warren, or Elon, or Biden, or you or me. Again, doing it as humor is one thing, but attempting to fool people for some weird point-scoring isn't okay. SNL is one thing, but the people impersonating Musk and trying to make it seem as if he had close ties to Jeffrey Epstein was simply character assassination, and it's nothing new from the Left.
