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Elon Musk’s X has made good on its promise to back users that are being punished for statements they make on his social media platform, coming to the defence of a US university student facing disciplinary proceedings over his posts.
According to a letter obtained by the Financial Times, University of Illinois student Juan David Campolargo was accused in early November of violating the school’s student code of conduct after he posted on X promoting an event as an open gathering with free food, when it was a closed conference.
Campolargo is at risk of being placed on conduct probation and being kicked out of campus housing as a result of the disciplinary action, the letter said.
Lawyers at Schaerr Jaffe — who said they are representing Campolargo “with the support of X Corp” — wrote on November 14 that if the university did not “reverse the preliminary finding” against the student, it would “result in a violation of his rights”.
The letter added: “Should the University uphold and punish Mr Campolargo for his September 30, 2023 posts, Mr Campolargo would have a claim against the University for violation of his First Amendment rights.”
Musk, a self-declared “free speech absolutist”, in August pledged to fund the legal bills and sue on behalf of X users who believe they have been “unfairly treated” due to posting or liking something on the platform. It comes despite his efforts to wrestle X’s costs under control.
“No limit,” he wrote on X at the time. “We won’t just sue, it will be extremely loud and we will go after the boards of directors of the companies too.”
Musk has doubled down on his free speech bent since buying the platform for $44bn just over a year ago, loosening its moderation policies. The moves have been applauded by many of his followers as well as libertarian tech figures in his orbit, but has driven away advertisers concerned that their marketing will run alongside toxic content. On Wednesday, Musk prompted further criticism when he appeared to agree with an antisemitic theory online.
Musk’s critics have pointed out that the billionaire entrepreneur has occasionally fired staffers from X when they criticised him.
According to the letter, Campolargo ran an account on X sharing information about where open events were taking place on the university campus that had free food. However, following a complaint, the university charged him with violations of the university’s code of conduct for “inciting, aiding, or encouraging others to engage in a behavior which violates the Student Code”, and for theft, alleging that an event he had promoted, and later taken food from, was a private conference.
In the letter, Schaerr Jaffe alleged that there were procedural irregularities in the university’s treatment of Campolargo, that there was further evidence that was not considered, and that the sanctions imposed were not appropriate.
The University of Illinois said it was not familiar with the letter or allegations, but added: “We cannot comment on specific students due to federal privacy laws and our student discipline process is confidential.”
Schaerr Jaffe confirmed that it had sent a letter earlier this week and that it was providing assistance with support from X, but declined to comment further.
According to his website, Campolargo is an engineering student at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, who has given several TedX talks and self-published a book on lithium.
