I‘m not sure if its obvious to others but „free speech absolutist“ musk and his xitter adhering to orders suppressing dissent directly before an election feels like the typical musk bs.

That’s because he only cares about speech he likes. Modi is a strong-man fascist, Musk’s favorite bedfellow. As his banning of journalist’s accounts and lawsuits against journalists make clear, he doesn’t support free speech unless he agrees with it, and he very much agrees with authoritarians.