“I invested in Twitter as I believe in its potential to be the platform for free speech around the globe, and I believe free speech is a societal imperative for a functioning democracy,” Elon Musk explains. Hear, hear!

Whatever Twitter’s potential, it’s a potent forum already — but far from a free-speech icon. And Musk’s takeover bid (he’s offered $43 billion) aims to fix that.

That’s throwing Twitter’s censorious staff into a tizzy. They just can’t handle the idea of letting people say things they don’t like to hear.

Hence the company’s wild inconsistency on what it will tolerate. E.g., former President Donald Trump has been permanently banned, but Iran’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei, who routinely violates Twitter’s “rules” against glorifying violence, gets to keep spouting off.

Those who pretend that more “content moderation” is vital for protecting democracy don’t actually believe in democracy or free speech — which both depend on letting individuals decide for, think for, themselves.

Musk gets it, which puts him on the side of the angels here.