Elon Musk's pledge to allow any speech on Twitter that doesn't break the law would open the door to a pandemonium of objectionable and harmful content — from gory videos to efforts to mislead voters to promotions of phony COVID cures.

Why it matters: Even much smaller social networks that aimed to minimize content moderation have found that an "anything goes if it's legal" policy quickly devolves into a miasma of violence, spam, fraud and bullying.

State of play: Twitter's current rules lay out a wide range of prohibited types of content. Some, like violent threats or child exploitation, are likely to still be prohibited under Musk's policy.

But much of what Twitter now bars is not explicitly illegal. Here are some kinds of content Twitter's rules now prohibit that could return under Musk:

Election misinformation

• Twitter's current rules say, "You may not use Twitter’s services for the purpose of manipulating or interfering in elections or other civic processes. This includes posting or sharing content that may suppress participation or mislead people about when, where, or how to participate in a civic process."
• MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell lost his Twitter account after repeatedly claiming former President Trump had won the 2020 election.

Medical misinformation

• Twitter has a policy against COVID-19 related misinformation. Medical misinformation, though, is not broadly illegal, and limiting moderation to the terms of the law could open up a host of false claims on...

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