X threatens lawsuit over student disciplined for tweets
According to recent data reportsElon Musk’s
According to information collected by Financial TimesJuan David Campolargo, an engineering student at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, was charged in early November with violating the university’s code of conduct after promoting an event on Twitter as an open gathering with free food, when it was a closed conference. As a result, he faced being placed on probation for driving and evicted from campus housing.
According to a letter obtained by the Financial Times, lawyers representing Campolargo “with the support of Twitter Inc.” wrote to the university on November 14, stating that upholding disciplinary charges relating to his September 30 tweets would violate his rights under the first amendment. They threatened legal action if the preliminary findings against Campolargo were not overturned.
The case highlights Musk’s efforts to position X as a bastion of free speech since its $44 billion acquisition in October 2022. In August, the self-described “free speech absolutist” ‘is committed to paying legal fees and suing on behalf of users unfairly targeted for their posts.
Musk kept his promise while simultaneously working to reduce the company’s costs. “No limits,” he says wrote in August. “We won’t just sue, it will be extremely loud and we will also sue the boards of directors of the companies,” he said. added.
The University of Illinois said it could not comment on the letter or the allegations due to federal privacy laws. The law firm representing Campolargo confirmed it had supported X, but declined further comment.
According to his website, Campolargo is a student who has given TedX talks and published a book on lithium. The engineering student ran a Twitter account sharing information about campus events with free food before facing disciplinary charges for alleged student conduct violations and theft.
photo by Sora Shimazaki.
