Elon Musk buys Twitter to bring back Free Speech

[Innula Zenovka]

4 minutes ago, Love Zhaoying said:

Thanks! Like most old people, I hadn't read it since school, and then with a different eye than I would today. Then, I read it as if through Winston's eyes with more attention to his lot, than "why".

I skipped that part, too, when I read it in high school, but when I came to re-read it in later years, I realised that section is basically Orwell's attempt to sketch out how they got from 1940s Britain to the world of 1984.   

[Love Zhaoying]

Idea for a thread, no more political than this one: "Is Elon Musk an Oligarch?" Also: same topic (Elon Musk).

[Ayashe Ninetails]

1 minute ago, Love Zhaoying said:

Interesting how this thread, started almost a week ago, is titled with the assumption it's a "done deal". Tabloid style!

Oh a lot of people think it's already done. There are people on Twitter who already think Elon's got control of moderation practices and whatnot. It's still got what, at least a few months before the deal closes fully. If...if it closes. *coughs*

[Luna Bliss]

3 minutes ago, Love Zhaoying said:

Idea for a thread, no more political than this one: "Is Elon Musk an Oligarch?" Also: same topic (Elon Musk).

For the life of me, I don't understand why all these people who fear the power of government so much don't realize that we are controlled by  the numerous oligarchs of the world, of which Musk is one, and so dangerous.

[Luna Bliss]

Nina Jankowicz is President Joe Biden's pick to serve as executive director of the Department of Homeland Security's new Disinformation Governance Board—and her appointment has already met with some controversy. (DeSatan calls it the Ministry Of Truth..lol)

Women face disproportionate attacks online.

[Love Zhaoying]

2 minutes ago, Ayashe Ninetails said:

Oh a lot of people think it's already done. There are people on Twitter who already think Elon's got control of moderation practices and whatnot. It's still got what, at least a few months before the deal closes fully. If...if it closes. *coughs*

Even if he fails, the whole "Look at me! Look at me!" tactic worked!

[Theresa Tennyson]

12 hours ago, Arielle Popstar said:

I disagree. I related to what he pointed out as my politics haven't changed from being a liberal but most here see me as conservative and have even been accused of being Q-anon. This all came up recently when I watched a segment of Bill Maher where he did a little routine explaining the exact same thing.:

"Look I haven't changed ... at all. My politics haven't changed. They've changed," said Maher, referring to those on the left of the political aisle.

A basic definition of "conservative" is someone who resists change.

[Luna Bliss]

10 hours ago, Scylla Rhiadra said:

To a degree, this encapsulates quite nicely the progress of history.

History is on the side of the Left.

I don't mean that in a partisan way. I don't mean that "The Left are the good guys, and the good guys always win."

I mean that, literally and demonstrably, the history of the West over the last several hundred years can be characterized in some measure as the gradual and incremental adoption of the programs of the Left, and their assimilation into the mainstream. The development of an economic system based upon capital, the abolition of slavery, the broadening of the democratic franchise, the development of trade unions, the slow but certain accrual of rights to women, the adoption of social welfare programs -- all of these were, in their times, the projects of the Left.

And, of course, in time, they have all become the position of the centre, as the Left shifts ever leftward, championing new causes that will, if history is any indication, one day also become the accepted norms of our culture.

I hope so. I hope we're just having a setback now. However, is the notion of progress a myth?  Maybe reality is just cyclical and we fight the battle for justice again and again, forever.

Edited April 30, 2022 by Luna Bliss

[Ayashe Ninetails]

3 minutes ago, Love Zhaoying said:

Even if he fails, the whole "Look at me! Look at me!" tactic worked!

Did you see what he started on there last night? I honestly wonder how long before companies start packing their bags. 

Even I was like welp that's enough social media for me for one day.

[Luna Bliss]

7 hours ago, AnthonyJoanne said:

If you don't think these organisations are a bad idea ... are you going to have the same opinion when the pendulum continues to swing and control of those Ministries end up in the hands of religious extremists who believe that homosexuality is a sin and should be treated by chemical castration or outright execution? Ministries that enforce the mandate that anyone who claims otherwise is spreading disinformation and should be blocked from posting, and charged with a crime. Because people are already being charged with crimes for expressing opinions on the net ... hell, people have been convicted of crimes for quoting song lyrics.

Because those Ministries won't always be under the control of people you approve of.

Where were 'you' when the hidden "ministries of truth" were chemically castrating gay people in the past, like with Alan Turing, for example.

We make laws to counter the hidden "ministries of truth".  They are out in the open then so we can debate them.  Are you against laws?

[Love Zhaoying]

Soon we will have "Truthiness" codified!  
Omg I just remembered a line from, I think, Vonnegut's Sirens of Titan: "Don't truth me, and I won't truth you." 

[Silent Mistwalker]

4 hours ago, Rat Luv said:

What film is that? 🙂

Mae West in My Little Chickadee with W. C. Fields.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Little_Chickadee

[Rowan Amore]

A recent MIT and Yale-led study of politically engaged U.S. Twitter users in both parties found that 36 percent of the Republican accounts studied had been suspended in the six months after the 2020 election vs. 8 percent of Democrat accounts. Conservatives often attribute that to political bias on Twitter’s part, but the researchers found it could be explained by the fact that Republicans shared substantially more misinformation on the platform.

PsyArXiv Preprints | Is Twitter biased against conservatives? The challenge of inferring political bias in a hyper-partisan media ecosystem

[Love Zhaoying]

I've got it! Don't think of Elon Musk as an oligarch, think of him as..a Big Brother!

After all, he's just..watching..out for us.

[Love Zhaoying]

14 minutes ago, Rowan Amore said:

researchers found it could be explained by the fact that Republicans shared substantially more misinformation on the platform.

Sounds legit.

*Bonus* Occam's Razor!

Edited April 30, 2022 by Love Zhaoying

[Love Zhaoying]

3 hours ago, Jackson Redstar said:

and who defines "harmful content"? The Ministry of Truth?

Chickens. Without chickens, there would be no harm. This is the origin of the saying, "No harm, no fowl."

[Krystina Ferraris]

1 hour ago, Luna Bliss said:

This says it all...

Is it just me or Elon’s pic looks a bit rude 😅

[Love Zhaoying]

9 minutes ago, Krystina Ferraris said:

Is it just me or Elon’s pic looks a bit rude 😅

Self-portrait, perhaps?

[Istelathis]

24 minutes ago, Krystina Ferraris said:

Is it just me or Elon’s pic looks a bit rude 😅

 

[Paul Hexem]

1 hour ago, Krystina Ferraris said:

Is it just me or Elon’s pic looks a bit rude 😅

I must be a bad person, because I thought he was pretty funny there.

Speaking as someone that lives in her state, "Senator Karen" is really on the mark.

[Ayashe Ninetails]

14 minutes ago, Paul Hexem said:

I must be a bad person, because I thought he was pretty funny there.

Speaking as someone that lives in her state, "Senator Karen" is really on the mark.

I dunno. I feel like he could easily make his points without resorting to grade school humor. 

I should add a disclaimer: I definitely do appreciate goofy, childish humor - like a LOT at times. It's just that when you've got damn near 90 million followers and you're in talks to buy the very platform you're tweeting on, it's not a terrible idea to act like a grown-up on occasion. Maybe at least when tweeting to US senators and other elected officials.

Or am I just being too grumpy about that? 😂

Oops quick edit: I mean all of his recent tweets, not just the one posted above. That one could be pre-purchase...didn't see the date.

Edited April 30, 2022 by Ayashe Ninetails
Clarifyin'

[Eggy UwU]

i'm a complete advocate for free-speech, regardless of political party and belief structure. we all have a right to speak our minds.

i don't see the point in elon buying twitter. i think it was a stunt to say, "hey look at how much money i have!" but, then again, who really knows?! 

at the end of the day, i don't think it has anything to truly do with free-speech.

Edited April 30, 2022 by Igne Aurelia

[Love Zhaoying]

18 minutes ago, Paul Hexem said:

Speaking as someone that lives in her state, "Senator Karen" is really on the mark.

I thought "Karen's" called the cops because black people exist.

[Scylla Rhiadra]

20 minutes ago, Paul Hexem said:

I must be a bad person, because I thought he was pretty funny there.

Speaking as someone that lives in her state, "Senator Karen" is really on the mark.

Well, I have rather mixed feelings about Warren, politically . . . but really, this is a bit of a cliche, no? Strong, articulate, and forceful women have often been labeled as "strident" or "shrill" . . . or as "Karens."

Musk's remark does also rather underscore the nature of his personal idea of what "free speech" means, though. It's a pretty characteristic retort, and fits in well with labeling a man busy rescuing trapped children a "pedo," or wondering aloud why Bernie Sanders is even still alive. Musk can be amusing, but he's frequently also insulting and uncivil.

Which is one of the reasons why some (including myself) are concerned about his championing of so-called "free speech." The complaint raised in this thread by @Extrude Ragu and @Eirynne Sieyes  about the vitriol and toxicity of some of the attack on Musk here in this thread are a wee bit ironic in this context. I don't mean this in a snarky way, but, really, this does seem to be, in some measure, the tone that Musk himself has established, and that will probably become a lot more prevalent should he actually get his way about opening up the platform to "free speech." It happens a lot on Twitter now: expect it to happen more. And the "vitriol" here is, ironically, an exemplification of the potential impact of his control over the platform.

Edited April 30, 2022 by Scylla Rhiadra

[Love Zhaoying]

2 minutes ago, Scylla Rhiadra said:

The complaint raised in this thread by @Extrude Ragu and @Eirynne Sieyes  about the vitriol and toxicity of some of the attack on Musk here in this thread are a wee bit ironic in this context. I don't mean this in a snarky way, but, really, this does seem to be, in some measure, the tone that Musk himself has established, and that will probably become a lot more prevalent should he actually get his way about opening up the platform to "free speech." It happens a lot on Twitter now: expect it to happen more. And the "vitriol" here is, ironically, an exemplification of the potential impact of his control over the platform.

The normal pattern is it gets more and more shrill, with italics, bolding, underlining, all caps, and demands for replies. We've already been given Proof by the OP. Proof, I say!