But it does. He sends a clear signal that criticism of him is not allowed.

You will see that no-one with a significant following which applauded his recent "free-speech" actions will say a word about this.

Just like in the mafia, the boundaries of what's allowed must be very clear and ruthlessly enforced.

If you are billionare and buy private jet you're obliged to share it's location by law.

Dont want to share your current location? Dont use private jet.

Elon's perfectly free to institute such a policy, and everyone is free to point out that he's a complete hypocrite w.r.t. his own stated position on "free speech," in general and this specific account in particular.

Especially when he used it as an example of his commitment to free speech.

This really takes the wind out of the 'twitter files', shows that anything can be construed as a safety risk and censored at will.

The Twitter Files just appeared to be typical inner workings of a tech company that has to deal with sociopolitical issues related to their product. Sure I enjoyed reading the Slack screenshots but it's not some conspiracy that mainstream media outlets aren't covering this story. It just isn't that remarkable or explosive.

If this causes you to see through him, you aren't the target audience. He wants unquestioned fealty, regardless of logical inconsistencies.

Does this really seem like something that will cost him with the audience he's been courting in recent years? At this point I feel pretty confident they enjoy watching idols squash their "enemies" as much as they enjoy watching them role-play victimhood.

Tesla stock isnt great... and I know several people who were excited for their next car to be Tesla's. One of them just bought the VW id.4. I have decided to hold off on my EV purchase (After test driving Tesla locally and loving them) for a few years and seeing what the other auto makers are putting out. Whatever car I do get, it will not be a Tesla.