Posted in: Pop Culture, TV | Tagged: elon musk, stephen king

Stephen King Book Ban: Will Elon Musk Defend King's Freedom of Speech?

Bestselling author Stephen King posted online about 23 of his works being banned in Florida. Will Elon Musk defend King's freedom of speech?

Could this be an opportunity for Twitter owner and self-proclaimed "free speech defender" Elon Musk to finally step up, put aside his personal issues, and do whatever he can to defend bestselling author (and thorn in Musk's side) Stephen King? It sure would see that Gov. Ron DeSantis has set up the perfect situation where that should happen – if Musk is who he truly thinks he is. In 2022, DeSantis signed legislation into law that essentially gave folks who live in the state the right to call out any books being made available in school libraries that they consider objectionable. When that happens, the book in question is removed until a regulatory board meets to review the matter and determine if the book is suitable to be returned or remain removed. Just from that overview alone, you can see how easily the law can be abused – censorship in the name of "protecting kids."

PEN America is an organization charged with raising awareness of the need to protect freedom of expression in the United States and worldwide, advocating for the advancement of literature and human rights to help ensure that goal is achieved. In a recent report, the organization reported that Florida accounts for nearly 72% of the total number of texts that were pulled from U.S. school library shelves this year (3,135 of the 4,349 titles removed).

As a number of publishers look to challenge the law in court as being a violation of their First Amendment rights, the rundown of books that have been banned is jaw-dropping. As the report notes, the approximately 1,600 books removed in Escambia County include dictionaries, the Guinness Book of World Records, biographies of Oprah Winfrey and Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, and works from a number of bestselling authors – including 23 King novels (including Carrie, It, The Gunslinger, The Running Man, and The Long Walk).  The reporting wasn't lost on King, who took to Twitter to call out what's been done to his works:

Well, if Musk's previous offer to fund anyone looking to legally fight against having their freedom of expression trampled upon still stands, it looks like King might have some financial backing to take on DeSantis' law in court. It would only make sense since there's no way Musk would ever make those kinds of decisions based on political, ideological, and/or personal reasons – right?

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