Last night I wrote a column on the challenges faced by Elon Musk in taking over Twitter and suggested steps to “hit the ground running.” One of those obvious steps discussed in earlier columns was to fire CEO Parag Agrawal, CFO Ned Segal and head of legal policy, trust, and safety Vijaya Gadde, the primary figures responsible for creating one of the largest censorship systems in history. He did so within minutes of taking over and their removal constitutes as singular advances in the cause of free speech around the world. As expected, this morning media figures are in full panic at the thought that one social media platform may restore free speech protections after years of biased and aggressive censorship. The controversial Washington Post columnist Taylor Lorenz lamented, “It’s like the gates of hell opened on this site tonight.” That’s right, the prospect of others having access to Twitter to express their own views is a hellish prospect for many in the media.
I think what CUNY Journalism Professor meant to write was, “Today on Twitter feels like the last evening in an East Berlin nightclub at the twilight of Democratic Socialist Republic of East Germany.”
My thoughts exactly..
Jonathan: Now that Musk has completed his purchase of Twitter what does that really mean for “free speech”? As the richest man in the world Musk gets to decide what will be permitted on HIS platform. Musk says he is a “free speech absolutist” and one of first acts will be to give Trump back his account. If Trump accepts that means non-stop disinformation about how the 2020 election was “stolen”. It will also be a free-for-all for the conspiracy theory crowd, the racists and antisemites who now largely gather on the dark edges of the internet. Musk says he wants Twitter to be a “warm and welcoming environment”. Will advertisers come back to Twitter to be associated with QAnon and other right-wing groupings? I think Musk will find some sort of “content moderation” will be required–something Twitter came to realize 15 years ago. And you don’t seem as excited now as you were originally. You say: “We will have to see if Musk can remain faithful to his pledge to restore free speech protections to the site”. Not exactly a full-throated endorsement. A Musk owned Twitter will reflect Musk’s views on whatever theme of the day he is pushing. The key will be whether Musk allows his severest critics to point out the less flattering aspects of how Musk runs his businesses. I suspect Musk will be watching closely on whether these people can keep their accounts. When one man gets to decide that’s not good for “free speech”!
DennisMcIntyre prefers that the decisions about speech should be from the central government planning commission also known as the central government Disinformation committee. Dennis also has supported the use of the gate of iron bars to make sure that compliance is universal. Now somehow Dennis is concerned about free speech at Twitter after advocating for censorship in the past. Do you get the drift about where Dennis is coming from? You have to give him credit. He got his daily shot at Trump in. Trump he delares!! Trump, Trump, Trumppp I say aaahh as he tumbles the steel bails in his hand.
“It will also be a free-for-all for the conspiracy theory crowd, the racists and antisemites who now largely gather on the dark edges of the internet.”
Dennis, up to now it has been a free-for-all on the left with their crazy theories. The remarkable thing is that the left is almost always wrong. Additionally the racists and antisemites were quite prominent on Twitter as long as they followed the crazy left-wing doctrines.
Brace yourself for another free-for-all, Alan. Paul Pelosi was attacked in his San Francisco home by a lunatic with a hammer. The Democrats will claim it’s “Insurrection 2.0.” No cell phone is safe.
That and a hot cup of coffee made my day today. I don’t want anyone injured, but maybe this will focus the left more on their families safety. I will be in NYC again and I am getting all sorts of warnings about where not to go and what not to wear.
What do you want to bet, the Pelosi’s buy a gun?
Somebody will have a gun in that house from now on.
Nancy called Paul informing him she was coming home. Paul understandably threw himself down the stairs, like any sane man would. The nudist from Berkeley, David DePape, saw Paul lying injured at the foot of the stairs, and went inside to offer medical assistance. Paul requested a screwdriver in a chilled glass, but like John Fetterman suffering “auditory processing issues”, DePape took him a hammer
/ sarc
Meanwhile Marco Rubio’s canvaser endured multiple surgeries due to a Democrat nutjob in Hialeah breaking his face, arm and orbital. The legacy media made excuses for the assailant saying the victim had a history of White Supremacy.
“Marco Rubio shares tale of canvasser being attacked, omits that he’s a notorious local racist”
https://www.dailydot.com/debug/rubio-canvasser-assaulted/
Paul Pelosi has a history of causing bodily injury to another driver while driving intoxicated.
Democrats continue to hurl hate speech at Herschel Walker for daring to leave the DNC plantation and have his own opinions, as crazy as they are like Maxine Waters, Federica Wilson, Sheila Jackson Lee, and on and on and on.
Democrat Members of Congress Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib are both notorious anti-semites who engage in hate speech regularly but Kanye West / Ye, who clearly has mental issues, gets cancelled by endorsers and loses billions for doing what Omar and Tlaib do yet less elegantly. Nancy Pelosi defends Ilhan and Tlaib habitually for their antisemitic comments.
https://www.sfchronicle.com/crime/article/What-we-know-about-David-DePape-man-accused-of-17542056.php
What we know about David DePape, man accused of attacking Paul Pelosi with a hammer
1. He was tapped to be the best man in a 2013 nudist wedding at San Francisco City Hall. David DePape was known as a “father figure” in a three-bedroom Victorian flat in Berkeley, where famed nudist activist Gypsy Taub lived with her three children and fiance Jaymz Smith prior to the wedding she had planned to hold on the steps of City Hall. The couple had tapped DePape, a hemp jewelry maker who lived with them in the crowded home, to be their best man.
2. He listed himself as a member of the Green Party. Voting records show DePape listed himself as a member of the Green Party years ago.
Once again, your comments show you to be a Catholic who does not take God’s admonition to love thy neighbors to heart.
and from the Left comes the predictable
what a world we live in!
https://www.forbes.com/sites/saradorn/2022/10/28/paul-pelosis-alleged-attackers-facebook-page-filled-with-2020-election-conspiracies-reports-say/
Paul Pelosi’s Alleged Attacker’s Facebook Page Filled With 2020 Election Conspiracies, Reports Say
KEY FACTS
The suspect, 42-year-old David Depape, reposted videos made by My Pillow CEO Mike Lindell — a prominent supporter of former President Donald Trump — which peddled false narratives that the 2020 presidential election was rigged in President Joe Biden’s favor, according to CNN, which confirmed the Facebook account with two of Depape’s relatives.
Depape’s Facebook page also reportedly linked to a YouTube video slamming the House select committee investigating the Capitol riots as a “farce commission.”
Depape shared links claiming Covid-19 vaccines were killing people and that the pandemic was engineered by those in power to dismantle and control society, a conspiracy known as the “Great Reset.”
You’re right that advertisers will be concerned. Unfettered access to those groups of non-critically thinking, self-determined victims must have been very lucrative.
I don’t recall Twitter banning Hillary Clinton or Stacey Abrams after they attempted to incite people by posting that elections were stolen from them.
“Incite people” to do what?
Neither Clinton nor Abrams incited their supporters to illegally enter the Capitol and disrupt the certification of the Electoral College vote.
None of the Presidents incited their supporters to illegally enter the Capitol.
But we did see governors and Mayors permitting violent actions by Antifa and BLM
We did see the VP advocating that criminals be let out of jail.
There is a lot of killings, other violence, theft in Democrat run cities.
Democrats are not known for their honesty and peaceful behavior.
Yabba dabba doo!
Me, too 🙂
I have a hunch–one of my illustrious quack theories–that Musk realizes green energy is unlikely to succeed, and that rolling blackouts like in California will never make the full adoption of EV’s practical. Windmills are the Maginot Line of the 21st century.
Musk may be moving toward nuclear in his thinking. Long-wave and thorium-salt nuclear reactors are much more promising as robust and safe energy sources than anything the left is proposing.
Musk must have seen how the left shutdown Bill Gates’ advocacy for new nuclear tech and realized at least one platform was needed where nuclear advocates can’t get flagged, censored, and booted off.
Perhaps that is why he wants Twitter, though I doubt he was happy with their communist bookkeeping.
I guess it’s always possible he just wants free speech. That’s a knock-on benefit in any event.
As for Pig Agrawal, Ned Segal, and other fanboys of the CCP, I wish Darren gave us a middle finger emoji for such occasions.
@Diogenes
I suspect you might be right, and Tesla is no small potatoes; investigating better nuclear could very well be his next thing. I guess time will tell. I would love to see the globalists try to get a fully electric rocket to Mars or beyond.
If they ever do, I’ll pay their fare–one way 😉
Diogenes: Some of your posts show a deeper knowledge of science. I never even heard these terms, (to show where I am, ha…) What are “Long-wave and thorium-salt nuclear reactors?” Are they capable of neutralizing residual radioactivity if attacked/destroyed? (apologies to all for going OT for a minute.)
Lin, long-wave or traveling-wave reactors are based on nuclear fission. They do produce radioactive waste but also burn a variety of fissile fuels progressively and very efficiently. Admittedly, the research on this technology has stalled, but the concept still holds promise.
Thorium-salt reactors use radioactive thorium as fissile fuel and molten salts as coolants. This type of reactor can also burn radioactive waste already in storage. However, this technology also requires further research to overcome technical challenges, but it still holds promise.
Both types of reactors are much safer in principle than current production reactors; however, if attacked, these new reactors could release radiation, but not nearly on a scale like Chernobyl or Fukushima.
IMHO, nuclear fusion is less likely to work out as a practical energy source, which is unfortunate.
Hope this helps 🙂
Diogenes: Yes it did, thank you! I worry more about radioactive damage at nuclear energy locations that is caused by vandalism/terrorism –than I do about bona fide nuclear war.
Understandable. The new technologies will probably make that much less of a risk.
lin,
LFTR (Liquid Flouride Thorium Reactor) is a working concept (Oak Ridge National Laboratory). It is an interesting history lesson as to why is stalled. Basicaly it came down to the fact the Uranium reactors could produce weapon grade nuclear material. The Sodium reactors are not a pressurized reactor vessal so they are much safer. They also can not have a run away reaction. The heat melts a plug and the liquid drains to a tank stopping the reaction. Thorium is also very plentiful.
I had a conversation with a CEO of a company about 10 years ago who was trying to develop a thorium reactor car. The concept was very interesting. The cool part was, instead of plugging your car into your house to charge the car, you could plug your car into your house to run it.
Thanks, Jim
Diogenes, I noted your comment on nuclear tech. Very interesting and a good thought. Gates was dealing with the Chinese, I think, pushing this idea of small nuclear reactors. Nuclear is underutilized. Do you think Musk is looking at that in particular? There are also ways of retrieving energy from space sometimes talked about and that energy would be mobile.
Alan, Musk has tweeted advocacy for nuclear, but I haven’t heard that he’s actually investing in it, but if we go full-on green energy, his cars will likely be just a toy for the rich and nothing more. I’m sure that doesn’t bother globalists at all.
I’ve heard of solar reactors in orbit beaming down energy as microwaves to receiving stations. I’m no authority on it, but in principle, it could work. I haven’t heard of anybody investing in it.
Just read JP Morgan’s Jamie Dimon said,
“We are entering a period in human history, where for the first time, we are attempting to transition to a less dense form of energy. I suspect in the long run this will reverse course but not before a lot of pain.”
Guess who is going to feel the pain the most.
Those who can least afford it 🙁
EV’s are just another way for the left to redistribute wealth and to hurt the middle class. The poor can not afford to pay for an EV but the middle class can (It is not what we are asking for and it will cause a bunch of pain, but the middle class could struggle through). The rich can afford them so no big deal for them. So what will happen? Well there is no way the govt. will not let the poor be without a car, so they will just give them one. They will say that it is essential like Obama phones computers and internet. So who gets to pay for all of these EV giveaways? Well the middle class of course making us poorer and the lazy that much lazier.
@Diogenes
Yes Green energy is going to fail. Everyone with half a brain knows this.
Musk also knows that all of the policies from Biden and other ‘woke’ world leaders are going to fail.
Yes the answer for now is nuclear. The key issue is that its next to near impossible to build a nuclear plant in the US, not to mention we’ve lost the necessary skills.
But I digress.
Yes he wants twitter.
He understands the dynamics of a single town square.
He also sees the potential beyond just adverts.
Hint: If a company tweets, it satisfies their FD requirements.
So what if he charges corporations to tweet?
Just something to think about…
-G
All good points, G!
Welcome to the new twitter where racist, bigoted, homophobic, hateful, white supremacist language not to mention fake, false and make believe news is now tolerated and encouraged! Conservatives love it. Freedom weeeee!
Did you read Musk’s statement that that kind of language will not be tolerated?
But, that is what the Leftists, like you, are insisting is going to happen.
As I have stated previously on this blog, I am pro-1stA.
However, I do not think racist, anti-semite, or other anti-religion language should allowed. Nor calling for violence against a certain group, race, religion.
I am not keen on cuss or four letter words. I think as a civil society we can do better than that.
Look at the professor’s blog. He is very free speech. But at the same time, he has his rules of civility. Those whom violate them, get their posts deleted. It is clearly not a free for all of “. . . racist, bigoted, homophobic, hateful, white supremacist language . . .” as you would assert.
Darren, the moderator of this site does his best to keep those types out. There are a few whom did not follow the rules used bad language or other violations and play the victim.
I can live with any standard Twitter choses to follow that is Open and strictly followed without political malice.
I am not rushing back to twitter.
“If I ruled the world” – I would allow most of what you would ban. I would as Musk had initially claimed, limit censorship to what Government is allowed to censor.
Ultimately even racist etc. speech is on net beneficial – if nothing else we know who the racists are and how many of them their are.
@John Say
I left Twitter in 2011, and I had a great many followers, and that was with me personally vetting carefully for spam and bots. I am never going back. Hopefully this a bright day for those that are still on or join it going forward. Interestingly, my success without it in the ‘real world’ has been exponential; I never needed social media, because what I offer is of actual value to people that encounter it in real life. Social media is actually an absolutely meaningless metric, unless one is selling advertising, and that is the hook – it is and has always been about money. See ‘Meta’s’ (i.e. Facebook) stock dip for proof. ‘Influencers’ are basically mouthpieces to rake in ad dollars. Anyone that thinks this was ever about anything but money is deluding themselves, and THAT is why people in the upper echelons of the private sector are freaking over Elon’s buyout.
One cannot censor out words and censoring ideas can only broadly be done. Take the four letter words. If F… is not permitted a new word takes its place F@#K. What has changed? It is society that ultimately censors these thing.
It’s a private company so he’ll do what he wants. If you don’t like it then start your own.
@Ivan
😂😂 Exactly. And honestly, I can’t imagine it being too terribly different from this very comments section. The trolls don’t seem to mind showing up here everyday.
For those of us that were heavy Twitter users a decade or more ago, newsflash – this is what Twitter was before. It could almost be argued that the people the most upset at the moment made their own bed by introducing the toxicity, which did not exist prior to their arrival, in the first place.
I hope this is the first of many house cleanings.
A statement without substance or proof. To paraphrase Shakespeare, a tale told by a radical leftist signifying nothing but their own fanatical perception.
Exactly right, that is what they fear, that without a bot army and with contrary opinions allowed, support for their fantasy world will dry-up like the Salton Sea.
They always project, except for the white supremacist part. Insert gaytheist instead and that would sum-up yesterday’s craphole twitter.
That you actually beleive yourself is damning.
Yup, free spech for all!
Finally we can get a facist free twitter
Some of the worst, racist, bigoted, homophobic, hateful white supremacist language, as well as fake, false and make believe language I have seen has come from the main stream media, the White House and elected democratic and progressive office holders. You’re projecting but both side do have them.
Where racist, bigoted, homophobic, hateful, white supremacist language is defined as anything that falls short of the obligatory daily two-minutes hate.
That is the choice their thought leaders have given them, Us or racist,…. It is absolutely unbelievable to think that so many people fall for that crap, but then again, I went to public school a couple years and well,…as they say, over half the population is average or below (and it’s getting worse by the day).
They are being conditioned like the Germans were in the 30s.
Have you made your new account and started Smolletting to prove you’re point?
Must be terrifying believing that the only thing between you and sure death and destruction of all you hold holy is censorship. If you believe that, you’ll believe anything. Boo!
I’m not a big fan of the kind of speech you refer to, but . . . the entire premise of the value of free speech is that while ‘bad’ ideas can and will be expressed along with ‘good’ ones, it is through reasoned debate, often spirited and frequently messy, with lots of hurt feelings all around, that the truth will eventually emerge. I don’t fear the expression of ‘bad’ ideas, since I have confidence that ‘good’ ideas will in time discredit them. The greater danger is to think that we on ‘our side’–and only those on our side–know which ideas are worthy and which are not, and that those that we dislike are illegitimate and should be silenced. That’s a view that leads to totalitarianism, and a review of the last century suggests it’s not exactly a wise course. So let a thousand ideas bloom. People can pick the flowers they like. It’s more or less a democratic idea when you think about it, is it not?
willbarthelmy: nice comment.
Sounds like the definition of freedom.
You are being manipulated like the Germans were in the 30s…just saying.
I believe most social media companies “started” with good intentions regarding free speech. Facebook was nice to communicate with family and friends. Twitter allowed us to follow our favorite accounts to keep up with breaking news, fads, etc. However, over time, as the platforms grew, they seemed to skew themselves toward extreme Liberal viewpoints or viewpoints jealousy guarded by the left. After a time getting established, Reddit banned so called “climate change deniers”. Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and others banned any discourse on Covid that didn’t fit the “official” dialog. Seems each of the social media “giants” banned certain political viewpoints.
Google was great when it started, they had no censorship of any web searches. But once Google became established, it too began a censorship campaign skewing search results toward their own viewpoints. We see the same pattern with every social media platform. Even the supposedly “privacy” browser/search engine DuckDuckGo censors search results that aren’t favorable to the founders opinions on the situation in the Ukraine. He makes no apologies for his censorship.
Professor Turley perhaps offers the absolute least censored platform for anyone and everyone to submit their thoughts. Professor Turley is one of the very few Academics that understands the value of uncensored free speech. Thank You Professor Turley for your platform that permits free speech whether it agrees or disagrees with your columns.
Social media companies started with the the idea of censorship — to boil a frog, start with cold water and slowly bring it to a rolling boil.
Pam; I never thought of it that way, but you may very well be correct. It would be extremely difficult to start any “social” type business without accepting any and all business that might come your way. Once the business is established and income streams are stable, a company can be more “selective” as to what it will and won’t accept. Years ago, when I started my business, I accepted and welcomed work that wasn’t what I would have considered “the core” of the business model. As the business grew, I found I didn’t have to accept everything and anything, concentrating instead on the core business. After growing the core business large enough, I was able to add additional staff and management to once again accept that type of business that was outside of the core business thus enabling another revenue stream. Though my business was on a much smaller scale, one has to look at Google for instance. Beginning as a “search engine”, they now provide server farms, dabble in clean energy, and are involved in many other diverse businesses that in no way have any “social type” content.
@CS
No, they really didn’t. I say that as someone that has been involved with the web from the beginning. If you haven’t already, watch ‘The Social Network’, about the nascent Facebook, as it is a largely accurate portrayal of just how twisted the likes of Zuckerberg have always been. They were riding the coattails of the exploitative Microsoft paradigm from the 90s, the one that people like Steve Jobs stood in staunch opposition to (Tim Cook, not so much). ‘Web 2.0’, and indeed, the entire ‘unicorn’ era ere never anything but a ponzi inwhich ethics went right out the window. Where we are today was inevitable without course correction, and nobody wanted to hear it back in the days of Eric Schmidt, Theranos, and large stock portfolios.
Sorry for the typos. Web 2.0 was a ponzi scheme from the beginning. Unfortunately Microsoft had already legitimized chicanery as business practice under Gates and Ballmer; Google did the same under Schmidt; and those were the lessons the up and comers took away with them. They were all getting rich (or in some instances, richer), you see – even if ultimately their businesses failed. The old guard of media became more and more marginalized, and they wanted a piece of the pie; and ultimately, under Obama, the Feds realized this was how control could be broadly implemented in a fashion that people willingly participate in. It’s that simple, but too expansive a time period to encapsulate in a comment. Nevertheless, that is what happened. Many were sounding the alarm in 2010; no one cared to listen.
Does the left have any understanding of what a fascist is?
No, because it’s them.
A Fascist to the left is someone with the power to treat them as they treat others. That is why they are scared.
“Some people you just can’t reach.” There’s no reasoning with some of the people Turley mentions. Politics is religion.
“It’s impossible for anyone to be 100% objective.” That might be true, but we can try.
“I don’t understand why anyone would be for less freedom of speech?” If I got into a Twitter war with Max Boot, who do you think people, in general, would take more seriously? Why does Max Boot think my ability to write what I want to write here constitutes the end of democracy?
If the gates of hell are now open, I call on all my fellow demons to hold every single representative accountable for their mistakes, fraud, abuse of power, and anything and everything they do to damage our freedom. Make no mistake, very VERY few politicians care about their subjects. It’s our duty in the Republic to force those who REPRESENT us to care. They don’t care about protecting us from disinformation. The gatekeepers (pun intended) in the media and in seats of power don’t have the cajones to encourage legislators to pass legislation limiting free speech. They prefer to have their oligarchs of internet do for them with content moderators. Elon Musk should paraphrase John Roberts, “Twitter is not a legislative body. If Americans want Twitter to inhibit free speech, they need to elect enough representatives in the of seats of power necessary to pass a Social Media Amendment to the First Amendment that would force Twitter to moderate content.”
It’s the end of their fantasy world. A trans-reality designed to domesticate the masses supported by bots and mediocre people like max boot and the EU overlords will hopefully crash and burn when reality is allowed to flourish.
People in power, particularly evil, weak people, hate free speech. That is why they flourished on twitter and the likes.
“Paul Pelosi said to be ‘violently assaulted’ with a hammer in S.F. home invasion”
President Joe Biden said he spoke to Nancy Pelosi to express his support, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Piette said in a statement. Biden said he “continues to condemn all violence, and asks that the family’s desire for privacy be respected.” U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., called the attack a “dastardly act” and said he spoke to Nancy Pelosi to convey his concern and wishes.
Sure it was a hammer and not a whole bunch of screwdrivers?
I hear he likes to get hammered.
One can always tell something is particularly on point when the trolls you’ve never seen before and never will again pop up. Troll-bombing aside, I think, or at least hope, that this is a good first step. Bravo to Elon for firing the censorship squad on his first day (let’s do the federal government next). This is a dose of human reality and basic common sense that hopefully over the coming years we can re-inject into absolutely everything. We have come very close to remodeling our entire society, largely thanks to modern Democrats and globalists, exclusively to placate several generations that can’t cope with tying their shoes, let alone having adult jobs, engaging in adult polemic, and generally being positive, contributing members of a free society with at least a basic human respect for all. I think we may have another lost generation on our hands just as in the 60s. It means more work for the rest of us, as it was then, but the sanity is worth it.
As an aside, it cracks me up when anyone accuses the Professor of being a ‘conservative’. He has said likely 1,000 times, right here on this blog, that he comes from deep, generational, liberalism (it’s just that no one under 40 has the faintest inkling what that means anymore with the complete hostile takeover of our institutions by Marxists). For a certain generation that is an invective and translates to ‘anyone that disagrees with me and disrupts my personal comfort’. If the spankings their parents didn’t give have to come verbally or in the form of firings accompanied by work histories that would give others pause in ever hiring them again, so be it. They don’t need the jobs anyway, largely these snowflakes are (white) trust fund babies. The institutions playing along with the globalist plot are one thing, they are in it for the satisfaction of their narcissism and for greed; the younger folks that used iPhones as a pacifier when they were teething are entirely another.
Anyway, thank you for launching the ship, Mr. Musk. This was the original spirit of the people that *created* the WWW in the first place.
I think is is equally likely that Musk will abandon his “free speech” ideas and start censoring liberals and turn Twitter into a right wing hate engine.
I am betting the don’t on that one. Virtually no chance of that happening.
If he only allowed truths on twitter, I’m certain many’s perspective would be that it became a right-wing hate machine and people would be wondering where the left went.
Face it, the mass propagandizing is in jeopardy and that threatens the likes of the current us regime, the EU, the gaytheists, and much of the left. That is why, before he’s done one thing, they are enraged…they know what they deserve may be coming soon.
Neil: Nice thinking but the opposite might happen: that woke/left-wing users will bombard/overwhelm the site, in an attempt to outnumber/shout out or marginalize conservative/right-wing users as de minimus–just as I have noticed on this blog site. Just as James said (@11:12 a.m.), “One can always tell something is particularly on point when the trolls you’ve never seen before and never will again pop up.”
Lin,
I myself had similar thoughts.
Or, that woke/leftists would post posing as far right extremists, “. . . racist, bigoted, homophobic, hateful, white supremacist language . . .” to then cry they were right.
I recall when Parlor came out some leftist went on the site to troll and got banned. Then declared how anti-free speech they were!
I commented at October 28, 2022 at 11:48 AM that the professor’s site is very pro-free speech, but is not a site free for all of “. . . racist, bigoted, homophobic, hateful, white supremacist language . . .”
I think Musk would follow something along the same lines.
Upstate Farmer: You are absolutely right in your posit, “posing as far right extremists,” -just as has happened before in other public forums, -both actual and electronic. That is a veddy veddy skeddy reality, happy Halloween, buddy!
lin: You guys may be right, I do bet there will be a massive amount of false flag posts trying to get the platform ‘regulated,’ but hopefully that will be short-lived and a failure…one can hope.
bobthere: and I hope you are correct. The most effective tactic of propagandists is to make one believe that his/her views are outdated/incorrect/naive/clearly in the minority of numbers.
Lefties are always projecting.
If that actually happened – which is highly unlikely, the world would not end.
Musk is not however conservative. He is just someone who grasps the left has jumped the shark – repeatedly
and gone way too far.
What he appears to have said is that
Twitter will follow the same free speech framework that governs US government constraints on censorship.
In otheerwords Twitter under Musk will censor only that which the US government can constitutionally censor.
First of all, the gates of hell are open over around Ukraine. .. if Ms Taylor and the Tick Tok Twitter crowd want to check it out.
The problem is a handful of private global conglomerates control my news feed and Twitter owns a “70.96% market share” in the social media ‘marketplace’ (of ideas). Obviously, there must be some reasonable balance between the untrammeled authority of privately owned organizations and the Individuals (in this case, me.) responsibility to society writ large.
Lets hope Musk can do a better job .. . his recent thoughts (basically, the ‘Minsk’ agreements) on closing the gates the hell in Ukraine made good sense.
*”Reputation, reputation reputation! .. . Oh, I have lost my reputation and what remains is bestial” ~Marcus Aurelius
Fire all the freaks, Elon.
I see this nation much like a house that has been infested by termites and is being consumed from within. The only solution is to tent the house and exterminate the infestation. Leaving it alone will only allow for the ultimate destruction and you cannot talk a termite into not eating your home.
Alma…you mean like CONGRESS??
I mean ANYWHERE these prog/left, misinformed, brainwashed semi-socialist ignoramuses are abiding, especially in our bureaucracies (all levels) our libraries, our institutions of indoctrination, our clergy, our medical professions – they have infiltrated everywhere. ( I am beginning to think Tail Gunner Joe was on to something back in the 50’s.)
Where have all my comments gone.?
Long time passing.
Turleyblogs a censor dog.
Twitter would benefit enormously from having Professor Turley on its Board of Directors.
I often marvel at how productive and seemingly well balanced Turley’s life is. His plate is full between writing blog posts; columns, essays and academic scholarship; teaching at GW; public speaking engagements; and still somehow finds time for family and staying up on Chicagoland and DC sports.
But if Musk extends him an invitation to be a Director on Twitter’s board, I hope Turley decides to arrange his life to make it a priority.
I agree. Professor Turley would be a perfect to sit on the board of Twitter.
Typo. “A perfect fit” is what I intended to type. Thanks autocorrect 😡
“CUNY journalism professor Jeff Jarvis wrote [. . .]: ‘Today on Twitter feels like the last evening in a Berlin nightclub at the twilight of Weimar Germany.”
Just, Wow!
It has long been noted that the Left accuses others of doing exactly what it’s doing. But this one is the rancid cherry on the cake.
It is the Left that is polluting Western culture, in a way that makes Weimar Germany look innocent and healthy. (I’m not going to list the particular perversions, because there are some sewers I won’t wade through.)
If Jarvis is equating propagandists of today to the Jews of the Weimar, he may have a point. The only difference would be that the new Twitter regime would be celebrated, unlike the Nazi’s who were scum (ironically, like Jarvis is).
Sometime in the 1980’s, the term ‘situational ethics’ began to get traction.
I believe those who now advocate for activist journalism and censorship are one of the many offshoots of situational ethics……for example,
Joe Biden and Kamala Harris have changed their plans so they may visit Pennsylvania to support Fetterman after the painful debate and the vote-shifting potential it has wrought —– Both JB and KH absolutely HAVE to know Fetterman can’t do the job of a United States Senator — but to hell with the ethics involved — the situation overrules the ethics……..and that’s just the most recent example — there’s 30 years worth of examples.
As times pass and we see more evidence of ballot harvesting and other nefarious acts, I actually begin to like to do what Europe does and declare a national holiday, have polls open for 24 hours, have voter ID with clearly described requirements, all voting in person with absentee voting tightly managed and limited to military personnel away from home. Everyone else makes arrangements to stay home and vote. We need to cease this contesting of elections otherwise they will get worse and maybe more violent. Get ahead of the game for a change.
Voting legally and freely is the truest form of free speech.
GEB.
That would be a good structure to implement.
In the mean time can we just get a hard, no adjustments allowed, Total votes cast. It would be announced 30 minutes after polls close. It would add a huge level of transparency.
Or just follow whatever election laws exist and toss all ballots that do not meet those laws.
If you expect election officials and voters to follow rules – you must enforce them.
When hundreds of thousands of ballots are tossed for improper chain of custody or improper ID or because they are not on the state printined ballot form, or ….
Then you will see election officials and voters start to follow the laws and the oportunity for fraud to decline.
After Democrats lost three consecutive presidential elections in 1980, 1984, and 1988, they realized they had to radically change the electorate through massive immigration AND radically change voter/election laws. They’ve done both.
The changes in election laws has been staggering. It has been near constant. Each cycle brings new “innovations”. Then leading up to the 2020 election they exploited the Wuhan virus to engage in what can only be described as an orgy-like climactic frenzy of changes in voter laws intended to benefit Democrats and defeat Trump.
Each new innovation necessarily involves a tradeoff: greater voter accessibility on one hand, and a higher tolerance for potential “illegal” voting on the other. At this point the low hanging fruit has been picked. Each new innovation (ballot harvesting, for example) results in a much higher potential for illegal voting.
The pendulum has swung way too far.
Ignore “research” from the Brenan Center, Brookings, or even academia who may say otherwise.
The simpler and more rigid you make elections the less fraud and the greater trust we will have.
I would prefer what you describe. There are many reasons to keep things as simple as possible.
But there is a difference between absentee voting and mailin voting.
Absentee voting requires the Voter to go to a Government election facility – for those oversees a consulate, and for those in the military to an appropriate military authority.
Present ID, fill out their ballot, Seal it, and return it to that authority.
There is never an instance in which ballots are outside the supervision of government authorities.
If there is ever evidence of a ballot that is illegitimate – it can always be traced to a specific election official.
So absentee ballots meet the secret ballot requirement AND are as fraud proof if not more so than in person elections.
One of the Fights regarding WI in 2020 (and now 2022), is that in WI, a shutin can request to vote.
State election officials then are supposed to bring the ballot to that shutin and essentially go through the same process as an absentee ballot.
Most states do NOT have mailin ballot provisions, they have absentee ballot provisions and these do NOT involve ballots ever leaving control of election officials.
If we wish to make voting easier – and still meet Secret Ballot requirements – have the state authorize all Notaries to function as voting stations or even to take ballots to voters, let them cast their vote and collect and return the ballots.
The requirements for secret ballots are even on wikipedia
It is simple – election officials must be present to assure that no one induces or coerces a voter,
Ballots must be printed by and always in the control or direct oversight of election officials.
Voters must vote privately.
Separately laws regarding chain of custody make it such that any effort to inject ballots into the system at any level will be identified, caught and will be prosecuted.
Yet, in CA as an example 350K+ ballots have no or incomplete chain of custody. Nor is that unusual – all the swing states have similar scale problems.
You will not end this until you reject ballots without chain of custody or proper ID>
Why is it I can buy something on Amazon and follow the package as it crosses the country. But I can’t look up my ballot and see where it is and how I voted? Everyone should get a receipt of their ballot with a number and bar code.
No one except you should be able to tell how you, personally, voted. No ballot should have individually identifying info on it.
First you should not vote by mail.
That opens up nearly infinite means for fraud.
Just the most trivial version is that it means husbands, wives, sons, daughters, fathers, and mothers can coerce or induce others in their family to vote as they wish.
I discuss my vote with my wife and she with me.
And I go into the voting both and vote. Sometimes taking her advice sometimes not, but knowing that when I go home it will not be an issue.
We have far too much political conflict between strangers – why would you invite that into your home.
Next, although vote by mail already violates the state constitutional provisions of 38 states requiring secret ballots – ANYTHING – bar codes etc that made you ballot traceable would make that problem even worse.
Do you want the whole world to be able to find out how you voted ?
Beyond getting coerced by immediate family – the moment you can prove how you voted you can get paid for your vote.
A major problem with mailin voting. In ther late 19th century voters were being paid directly by political parties about $3 for a ballot as the party bosses wanted it. That is over $100/vote today.
In 2020 $14B was spent for about 150M votes – that is about $100/vote.
Just skip advertisers and outright buy the voters directly.
We know that the ballot harvestors were being paid $10/ballot – just for collecting sealed ballots and dropping them into dropboxes.
In Michigan those collecting ballots from homes – assuring that the voter voted as required were being paid $300/ballot
Both those figures come from undercover videos of ballot harvestors.
If you want to assure the greatest possible amount of fraud – do what you are after – vote by mail and improve ballot tracking to the max.
Finally unless you are seriously disabled of have another significant problem driving 5 minutes to the polls or walking a block or two in the city – get off your ass and vote in person.
If you are unwilling to do that – your vote SHOULD NOT COUNT.
Voting is not about your convenience. It should be hard enough to get you to think.
One thing we know for absolute certain – that extends will beyond voting is that people do not think about, and they do not value what has no cost to them.
Voting is important and you should think seriously about it – and if you can not do that, you should not vote.
but that would be ruining the prog/left end game – how do you expect them to win without fixing the results?