Elon Musk has put every lost young man on Twitter in the crosshairs of the far right | Katherine Denkinson

Letting the expert online recruiters Patriotic Alternative back on the platform isn't a win for free speech but for fascism

At the end of last year, the British far-right group Patriotic Alternative (PA) was allowed back on Twitter after a ban of nearly two years for an unknown transgression. Far-right groups immediately urged Elon Musk to be a hero" and also reinstate the account of the group's leader, Mark Collett. Three weeks later, they rejoiced as Collett's account was returned.

The reinstatements appear to be part of Musk's commitment to free speech. But if he knew anything at all about PA, he would realise that he has placed a target on the back of every disenfranchised and politically lost young man on Twitter, many of whom are recruited to the far right via the platform.

Katherine Denkinson is an investigative journalist whose work focuses on misinformation, conspiracies and the growth of the far right

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