Edward Snowden’s free speech retort to Elon Musk’s poll on dissent

Americans’ freedom of expression is ‘constitutionally protected’ for a very good reason, US whistleblower Edward Snowden responded to X owner Elon Musk after the latter created a poll as to what should be done with a person who ‘disrespects the American flag’.

“Proposed law: if someone tears down the American flag and puts up another flag in its place, that person should get a free (but mandatory) one-way trip to that flag’s country,” Tesla chief Elon Musk on Thursday posted on X with options ‘Yes’ or ‘No.’

Proposed law: if someone tears down the American flag and puts up another flag in its place, that person should get a free (but mandatory) one-way trip to that flag’s country

Among many hits and replies to the post, one came in from whistleblower Edward Snowden, whose revelations about alleged espionage by the US National Security Agency (NSA) shook the world back in 2013.

“First of all, Americans’ freedom of expression, which includes all manner of flag-trampling and other unlikable acts, is constitutionally-protected for a very good reason. Secondly, what are you going to do when they tear it down and replace it with this?,” Snowden posted on X with a picture of fast food giant McDonald’s in his reply.

Elon Musk’s post apparently referred to the ongoing pro-Palestine protests at university campuses across the United States and how those protesters should be treated.

Musk followed his online poll with a comment on his own post that read “I’m not saying they can’t come back, but they have to experience that country for some period of time before returning.”

Meanwhile, Snowden seemed to be suggesting that it would rather be a good idea to take those using the right to free speech to McDonald’s to eat.

Edward Snowden had fled the US and was given asylum in Russia after leaking secret files in 2013 that revealed vast domestic and international surveillance operations carried out by the NSA, where he once worked.