Matt Mullenweg claimed to be a victim in his conflict with WP Engine, asserting on social media and his blog that they are attempting to restrict his free speech. Reactions online varied from respectfully correcting his interpretation of the First Amendment to calling him hypocritical.
Summary of the Dispute with WP Engine
Matt Mullenweg, a WordPress co-creator and CEO of Automattic, sparked a disagreement with managed WordPress host WP Engine during a Q&A session at the WordCamp WordPress conference, criticizing WP Engine for not adequately contributing to the WordPress open-source project. He followed this up with a strongly worded post on the WordPress website, accusing WP Engine of being damaging to WordPress:
“This is one of the many reasons they are a cancer to WordPress, and it’s important to remember that unchecked, cancer will spread. WP Engine is setting a poor standard that others may look at and think is ok to replicate. We must set a higher standard to ensure WordPress is here for the next 100 years.”
He then proceeded to ban thousands of WP Engine customers, preventing them from updating their websites. Mullenweg later offered a temporary solution to avoid further inconvenience for WordPress publishers affected by the conflict and to allow WP Engine to develop a workaround.
The ban led to backlash from WordPress developers and businesses. A tweet by the CEO of Ruby Media Group reflected the widespread sentiment: “My dev team can’t update my plugins because of this. You are destroying people’s lives.”
WP Engine responded with a Cease and Desist letter to Mullenweg and Automattic, followed by a federal lawsuit alleging Mullenweg’s attempt to extort millions from WP Engine.
Allegations of Free Speech Violation
Mullenweg published a blog post claiming that WP Engine’s lawsuit against him and Automattic was an attempt to limit his First Amendment rights. He stated:
“WP Engine has filed hundreds pages of legal documents seeking an injunction against me and Automattic. They say this about community or some nonsense, but if you look at the core, what they’re trying to do is ask a judge to curtail my First Amendment rights.”
He concluded his post by announcing he would not comment further on the lawsuit and urged others to support his side of the conflict.
Social Media Reactions
Many on social media quickly pointed out that WP Engine, as a private entity, cannot infringe on his First Amendment rights. A WordPress software developer tweeted: “You have no first amendment rights in this context. WP Engine is not the government trying to curtail your 1A rights. 1A only applies to government entities."
Other responses included criticism of Mullenweg’s understanding of free speech rights, with some suggesting he seek legal advice to clarify the First Amendment’s meaning in this situation.
Accusations of Hypocrisy
Additionally, users on social media accused Mullenweg of hypocrisy, citing his actions of restricting others’ speech in WordPress forums and banning WP Engine users from accessing official WordPress resources.
A WordPress and open-source enthusiast tweeted: “Yes, ‘freedom of speech’ is so important. I assume you now will be unblocking everyone that was exercising their right to freedom of speech in the WordPress Slack and here on X. Or, did you just mean literally ‘my freedom of speech’ only."
Limited Sympathy for Mullenweg
Overall, there seemed to be little sympathy for Mullenweg’s stance on social media. A web applications developer commented: “Maybe, maybe. But you probably won’t be getting a lot of sympathy from the crowd right now due to this thing the kids these days call ‘consequences.’”
Matt Mullenweg’s blog post: "My Freedom of Speech"
Featured Image by Shutterstock/Wirestock Creators
