Has X Become Social Media’s Pro-Second Amendment Sanctuary?

Elon Musk’s purchase of Twitter on Oct 28, 2022, has given gun owners breathing room in what has appeared to be an un-ending wave of social media censorship.

For nearly a decade, pro-gun and other gun-related creators have been on the receiving end of arbitrary censorship campaigns on prominent social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube.

The First Wave of Censorship

In the lead up to the 2016 presidential election, several gun companies and pro-Second Amendment proponents claimed Facebook was suppressing their content, effectively limiting their visibility.

“Content that would normally reach our nearly one million followers has steadily dropped to a fraction of what it once was, despite our page’s continual growth of new followers,” observed Rob Russo, the social media manager for Alien Gear Holsters at the time.

Pro-concealed carry website Concealed Nation experienced similar censorship attacks at the hands of Facebook during the 2016 presidential election cycle.

“We have over 700,000 likes on our Facebook page and tremendous reader response to our material. We didn’t change a thing about the way we post [but] in February our Facebook traffic fell off a cliff. It sank by nearly 50 percent in that first month,” complained Concealed Nation founder Brandon Curtis.

Curtis claimed he reached out to Facebook and was informed Concealed Nation’s page was censored owing to its alleged promotion of excessive “commercial content.”

Similarly, USA Carry founder Luke McCoy witnessed his Facebook page’s traffic plummet. McCoy recounted how he contacted Facebook and was subsequently told users were allegedly claiming USA Carry’s “content was overly promotional.”

Trump Era Censorship

In the aftermath of the Las Vegas mass shooting of 2017 and the Parkland massacre of early 2018, social media giants went on a censorship spree. One of the victims was popular firearms demonstration channel InRange TV, who saw many of its videos wiped out because of YouTube’s new policy banning videos that promote the sale of guns and certain accessories or instruct viewers on how to make or modify them. On Facebook, InRange sharply criticized YouTube’s policy, declaring:

“InRangeTV takes pride in its consistently forward looking approach to digital media in today’s world of partisan censorship, fake news, and corporate encroachment into publication of potentially controversial information. YouTube’s newly released vague and one-sided firearms policy makes it abundantly clear that YouTube cannot be counted upon to be a safe harbor for a wide variety of views and subject matter.”

In 2020, Karl Kasarda, the founder of InRange TV would later tell Fox News his channel “was wiped without warning in early 2018.”

“The issue of oligarchical control over the Internet and all the impact over the ability to use it for free speech is going to only get worse,” Kasarda added.

Kasarda alluded to the “big five” — Google, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube — as the main actors censoring the Second Amendment community. “It is unclear what the rules are,” Kasarda mused. “Specifically, with YouTube, they pretty much enforce whatever they feel based on their bias of the day. Regardless of your personal belief, firearms and their accessories are legal in the United States. So why are we seeing continuing restrictions and challenges towards content about something demonstrably legal yet not against that which is clearly illegal?”

During the 2020 election cycle, social media censorship continued apace. In October 2020, concealed carry clothing band Arrowhead Tactical Apparel (ATA) was temporarily deplatformed from both Facebook and Instagram. Alexander Spanopoulos reached out to Facebook multiple times to sort out the problem to little avail.

“We don’t sell weapons, we sell clothing,” Spanopoulos clarified. “Our posts and ads merely highlighted the features and benefits of our products. We were staying well away from anything that would be problematic. If you dip a pinky toe into the grey area of wrongthink though, big tech loves to come down on you. It’s their platform, and they can do whatever they want, but that won’t stop us from calling a spade a spade.”

In a similar vein, Facebook and Instagram censored international hunting agency Hunting Consortium by impeding users’ ability to share certain links to the hunting website on its platform or via Facebook Messenger.

“The Hunting Consortium, (@huntingconsortium) has recently fallen victim to the censorship issue that has been plaguing the hunting community for some time now,” recounted Vice President of the Hunting Consortium Rob Kern. “In July, we experienced a censorship issue greater than anything we, or any of the experts we have talked to, have encountered.”

Like most Big Tech platforms, Jack Dorsey-era Twitter was not friendly to gun owners. At the time, Twitter banned the “the promotion of weapons and weapon accessories globally.”

The weapons impacted by this policy included the following:

• “Guns, including airsoft guns, air guns, blow guns, paintball guns, antique guns, replica guns, and imitation guns
• Gun parts and accessories, including gun mounts, grips, magazines, and ammunition
• Rental of guns (other than from shooting ranges)
• Stun guns, taser guns, mace, pepper spray, or other similar self defense weapons.”

Enter Elon Musk

The game has changed since the end of 2022. Twitter gradually became a hub for free speech compared to its competitors. When the 2024 election cycle came around, Musk, who had a history of donating to both Republicans and Democrats, became more vocal about his pro-Second Amendment views.

During a campaign rally in Pennsylvania next to then-candidate Donald Trump (R), Elon Musk proclaimed, “The Second Amendment is there to protect the First Amendment. As soon as the government can disarm the people, they can do anything they want.” In a post he published on X on Sept. 8, Musk exclaimed, “The right to bear arms is there to protect free speech and stop a tyrannical government from taking our rights away!”

The right to bear arms is there to protect free speech and stop a tyrannical government from taking your rights away!

That’s why the first thing that all tyrants do is disarm the people, just like Chavez did when he was first elected. After that, no more real elections in… https://t.co/p3Wrk2GMHr

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 8, 2024

In politics, talk is cheap, though. Many a Republican politician or pundit will pound their chest about supporting gun rights. But when the rubber meets the road, they invariably fold by doing nothing to advance gun rights or, worse yet, sell out gun owners. Musk at least put his money where his mouth is when he awarded $47 to every registered voter who refers others to sign a petition in support of free speech and the right to bear arms.

He used his political action committee (PAC), Elon’s America, to collect signatures from voters in key battleground states such as Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.

X As the Pro-2A Sanctuary

Although Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg has been ingratiating himself with President-elect Trump in the last few months, Facebook’s parent company Meta continues to hamper the ability of firearms advocacy and industry groups to promote their content.

On Sept. 18, 2024, Guns.com announced its decision to stop posting content on YouTube due its arbitrary censorship procedures. Instead, it is now posting more of its new content on Rumble and X. It noted the following:

“After 13 years, more than 2,000 videos, nearly 400,000 subscribers, over 120 million views, and 4.4 million hours watched, Guns.com will stop publishing content on YouTube. Instead, the leading online retailer will publish new video content on channels that support First and Second Amendment freedoms, like Rumble and X.”

“We pride ourselves in creating content that is educational, informative, and entertaining to gun owners nationwide,” Scott Gara Guns.com Managing Editor, announced. “Our customer base is in the U.S., but our content has a global reach. Unfortunately, YouTube continues to move the goalposts with its restrictions and censorship, which is unsustainable for brands in the firearm industry. Our main YouTube channel will remain unless they take it down; however, we will no longer post new content.”

Gara cited YouTube’s new firearms policies that went into effect on Jun. 18, 2024, as the final straw for the website. He added:

“As a respected leader in the firearms industry, the decision to leave became clear as censorship and restrictions have increased significantly in the past year. YouTube updated its firearm policy on June 18, 2024, adding more restrictive content guidelines and ambiguous enforcement protocols. Since then, censorship has increased dramatically against Guns.com, including reduced organic reach, multiple violations and strikes, and two suspensions spanning nearly a month – for content that complies with the new policies as written.”

The Guns.com Managing Editor called attention to the overarching trend of social media censorship present on other platforms such as Facebook and Instagram. However, Gara argued that YouTube’s policies were far more restrictive, prompting the website to stop posting on YouTube altogether. He concluded:

“Social media giants, including Meta’s Facebook and Instagram, continually impose restrictions on brands and content creators within the firearms industry. YouTube’s policies are more restrictive than others, like Meta; however, the harassment and shadow banning of permissible firearm content are common denominators.”

Even after Trump was re-elected, Facebook continued its censorship streak when it temporarily suspended the account of firearms manufacturer Smith & Wesson towards the end of November. Smith & Wesson later informed its followers on X about the censorship it was subjected to on Facebook.

“Despite our extensive efforts and resources spent on trying to adhere to Facebook’s ever-changing community guidelines on firearms, our account was suspended indefinitely on Friday, November 22nd, 15 years after its original creation,” the gunmaker revealed.

Smith & Wesson published the notice Facebook sent them on Nov. 22, which read, “We suspended your Page.” In typical fashion, Facebook did not issue a prior warning for the suspension. Smith & Wesson would later heap praise on X for its commitment to free speech:

“In an era where free speech and the right to bear arms are under constant attack, we want to thank Elon Musk and X for supporting free speech and our constitutional rights guaranteed by the 1st and 2nd Amendments.” In the end, Meta lifted the suspension and claimed the move as a “mistake”.

From the looks of it, Twitter has become the de facto social media sanctuary for Second Amendment supporters. In a time of heightened political polarization, people tend to be migrating towards platforms where like-minded individuals congregate, as evidenced with the recent migration of liberals to X rival Bluesky. A “great sort” is taking place as people move to different parts of the country and frequent venues with other individuals who share similar backgrounds and political values.

While Musk is no savior, having a tycoon of his stature nominally giving pro-gun advocates a space to disseminate their ideas and make a living is a welcome development. It also provides a check against anti-gun plutocrats such as George Soros and Michael Bloomberg, who use their vast wealth to bankroll campaigns and organizations promoting civilian disarmament. The last thing we need is every prominent entrepreneur conspiring to destroy the Second Amendment.

Nevertheless, champions of the Second Amendment should not get complacent. They must be prepared to call out any form of censorship they spot on Musk’s X. When we drop our guards, that’s when the enemies of freedom pounce and commit unprecedented transgressions against our freedoms.

About José Niño

José Niño is a freelance writer based in Austin, Texas. You can contact him via Facebook and X/Twitter. Subscribe to his Substack newsletter by visiting “Jose Nino Unfiltered” on Substack.com.