Vitalik Buterin Says 'Free Speech Is Doomed' in Critique of Elon Musk
On Tue, 16 Dec 2025, Vitalik Buterin publicly attacked Elon Musk’s slogan of “free speech for everyone,” calling the space a growing hotspot of hate speech and hypocrisy and warning that “Free speech is doomed.” The critique, aimed at Musk’s influence over major social platforms, reflects mounting frustration among crypto figures about how absolutist free‑speech positions are playing out in practice and who bears responsibility for harmful content.
Buterin’s comments resonate beyond online squabbles: they feed into ongoing discussions in the Ethereum community about governance, moderation and the limits of decentralization. While not a protocol change, the rhetoric could influence community sentiment and policy debates as projects and users balance the ideals of censorship resistance with real‑world harms on centralized platforms.