Since Elon Musk bought Twitter with a pledge to restore free speech protections, the media and political establishment have maintained an unrelenting campaign to use pressure from corporations and foreign governments to force him to restore censorship policies. Reporters have covered seemingly every celebrity declaring that they are leaving the site or even selling their Teslas in protest. As companies joined the boycott, commentators gleefully announced the “death,” “collapse,” and “demise” of the social media company with some mocking Musk risking billions of dollars for free speech principles. New figures, however, appear to show that the public is solidly with Musk on the free speech issue. New signups at Twitter are at an all-time high with two million new signups per day.
As these companies and activists demand censorship, customers are signing up in mass to embrace the greater diversity of viewpoints and expression at the company. While companies are yielding to demands from the left that they cut off ad revenue until Musk restores censorship, users are flocking to the site.
The over two million new sign-ups per day represent a 66% increase over the same time frame last year, according to figures released by Musk.
Of course, it has long been known that the public wants more, not less, free speech. It is the political establishment that is struggling to retain control over speech on social media at any cost. Facebook even tried a massive commercial campaign to convince the public to embrace censorship.
President Joe Biden has led calls for censorship on social media, which have been largely heeded by companies like Facebook and Twitter. Biden is accusing Twitter of “spewing lies all across the world” by seeking to reduce one of the largest censorship systems in history.
President Biden has previously accused social media companies of “killing people” by refusing to impose robust censorship over a wide range of subjects. Many of those banned or censored were doctors with opposing views on the data and the science related to the pandemic.
Some of those doctors were the co-authors of the Great Barrington Declaration, which advocated for a more focused Covid response that targeted the most vulnerable population rather than widespread lockdowns and mandates. Many are now questioning the efficacy and cost of the massive lockdown as well as the real value of masks or the rejection of natural immunities as an alternative to vaccination. Likewise, those who alleged that the virus may have begun in a lab in China were widely denounced and the views barred from being uttered on social media platforms. It was later learned that a number of leading experts raised this theory with Fauci and others early in the pandemic.
We are now seeing increasing evidence of back channels used by government and political figures to maintain a censorship system by surrogate in the social media companies and foreign allies.
President Biden however, has denounced Musk as a guy who “goes out and buys an outfit that spews lies all across the world.” He then claimed “There are no editors anymore. There are no editors anymore.”
The President added:
“How do people know the truth? What do they — how do they make — make a distinction between fact and fiction? There’s so much — so much going on. And we’re in the middle of this.”
Indeed, perish the thought that citizens might be left to pursue the truth on their own without the government or surrogates in the media framing it for them. How could we possibly “know the truth” without our social media overlords?
Apparently, millions each day are signing up to do precisely that.
It’s entirely understandable why a govt would want to control information in the middle of a pandemic. Many, maybe most, countries had people averse to basic public health measures in the pandemic, but the US is the only one I’m aware of where one party was embracing at first that covid wasn’t serious, and then that alternative pseudo science cures had efficacy, and then actually encouraging people not to be vaccinated. I mean we do have the highest death rate per 100,000 in the world.
All that said I hope Musk is successful and I’m glad to see Twitter opened up, as a liberal I support expanded rights, including free speech and self defence.
Years since I’ve visited this blog.
They still haven’t un-banned those that were banned.
Oh thank god, all time high. Meanwhile…https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2022/11/china-bots-flood-twitter-with-porn-spam-to-drown-protest-news/#p3
BabyTrump, maybe now the Twitter censors will be able to ban Communist China and not the New York Post. Maybe they won’t have enough employees to ban Jordan Peterson and not the Ayatollah Khamenei spouting hate speech against the Jews. https://www.arabnews.com/node/1829296/media. When they had lots of employees they didn’t ban your friend the Ayatollah.
” they didn’t ban your friend the Ayatollah.”
See, this is the kind of BS that thrives on sites like this. You know nothing of me, who I support or do not support. Yet you make a statement about “my friend the Ayatollah”.
So obviously I am an evil person, my opinions don’t matter, and to some people, I probably deserve death at the hands of the mob.
Civil discourse is not possible via the web and you are proof of it.
I feel not a twit of care that Elon will loose his $44B as he destroys what used to be known as twitter.
First know the facts.
Step one. Musk didn’t spend $44B. He spent $24B so he can’t lose $44B.
Step two to follow after you understand step one.
It’s both jarring and amusing at the same time to hear Biden rail against “disinformation.” The most corrupt, lying president this country has ever had is somehow now concerned with disinformation?
“He endangered millions for free speech.” What a crock. Professor, he kicked people off for making jokes about him. He fired people for criticizing him. I guess your idea of free speech is a little different. Free speech if one agrees with Musk.
On a legal basis however I’m sure you know that free speech has nothing to do with the activities of private owners but rather deals with the use of the government to police speech. But you wouldn’t want that to get in the way of you paean to the holy Musk. Good grief man get a grip!
Go yell at your boss see how that goes
Good grief Justice Holmes get a grip. The heads of Twitter and Facebook met with government agents to be instructed on what to censor. Do you think that it happens the same way in Communist China? Facebook and Twitter were not just operating as private companies. They were operating as an information arm of the federal government. Zuckerberg admitted to the meetings between his company and the federal government under oath before congress. In his testimony he said it was a mistake. You should try to maintain a firmer grip on your freedom. Speaking of getting a grip.
But did Musk make your unrepentant error and call Sotomayor a man when she is a woman?
It’s because he’s African-American, a Person of Color, a peach American, who grew up in a State where black on black violence, Xhosa assassinating Zulu competitors and natives, too, was ruled by a transnational democratic/dictatorial regime to be a model of social justice under am established progressive constitution.
Jonathan: Donald Trump is descending into Joseph Conrad’s “Heart of Darkness”. He has identified himself more closely with racists and Holocaust deniers like Kanye West (Ye) and Nick Fuentes. As Anti-Defamation League CEO points out that Trump is “trying to make America hate again and running the most unapologetic white nationalist campaign that we’ve ever seen”.
Trump’s descent into hell is fueled by his realization he will most likely be indicted by the DOJ. So he is lashing out at Special Counsel Jack Smith. On Truth Social Trump falsely claims Smith is a “radical left-wing prosecutor”. Like Mafia Dons, Trump is even attacking the wife of Jack Smith. He is sending out the message to his supporters that Smith’s wife is fair game. Katy Chevigny (Smith) was one of the producers of “Becoming”, a 2020 documentary about Michelle Obama. Chevigny also donated $2,000 to Pres. Biden’s 2020 campaign. Trump says “This is just a small amount of information from the wife of a hard-line Radical Left Special Counsel (prosecutor), an acolyte of Eric Holder & Barack Hussein Obama”. In the fashion of Mafia Dons Trump is attacking not only the messenger but the messenger’s wife. Make Mrs. Smith also a target for Trump’s loyal and fanatical supporters who, we recall, shouted “Where is Nancy?” when they stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6.
Of course, this desperate ploy won’t work. There are no federal laws that restrict spouses of federal officials from donating to political campaigns or from participating in partisan political activities. Otherwise, Ginni Thomas would be in a lot of trouble. But Trump is making the argument that no Special Counsel can prosecute him where his wife belongs to the opposing party. That’s absurd on its face. No one made a similar argument when Special Prosecutor John Durham prosecuted Dem operatives connected to the Clinton campaign. But Trump is desperate. He knows Jack Smith is a no nonsense prosecutor and is probably putting together a solid case against him. So expect Trump and his allies inside and outside of Congress to beat the drums of conspiracy against Smith and his wife. Does anyone think the attacks on Katy Chevigny will make it more like likely or less likely Jack Smith will actually indict Trump? Stay tuned. But I think I know the answer.
Dennis McIntyre, you once again state that Trump is an anti semite. During Trumps administration a peace in the middle East declaration came into being. This declaration was the first such achievement in the middle east. It arranged peace between Israel and it’s neighbors. Quit an act for a so-called Jew hater. I know that you have never read the position of the Trump administration in support of Israel so I’ll provide it for you. https://www.state.gov/the-abraham-accords/. To further enlighten you I provide this link. https://www.usip.org/publications/2022/06/historic-uae-israel-trade-deal-proves-abraham-accords-resilience. The guy who hates Jews somehow supports peace with Israel. Sorry to interrupt your day with a few facts knowing that you just do not think about things that you do not think about.
Trump is going to be indicted, but you cant name a crime Cart, Horse.
You’ve been given the names multiple times, iowan-the-denier.
Yet, you fail to identify a single crime.
There is no peace in the Middle East, then or now.
Lots of Christians support Israel while awaiting Armageddon. It plays a key role in their hope that the end times are nigh.
There was more peace and hope for more peace in the Middle East, but then in came Biden. He has inflamed violence all over the globe.
Dennis, Trump was INSANE to meet with Fuentes. And ignorance is no defense. And I am not sure if he will be indicted. As a conservative, it is my wish that he is prevented from running by any means necessary. Mostly because he is bad for the country .Also he is unelectable in my estimation.
But your Mafia Don analogy is wrong. Wifes were off limits as far as retaliation. Actually, girlfriends also. If you broke that rule, at least in Chicago, you would be hunted down and killed. The morons who stole jewelry from Tony Accardo’s home in River Forest were soon ” Trunk Music”. Unfortunately, one was a friend of a friend. If that warrants death, threatening a spouse sure does.
Being from Chicago, I am sure Jonathan can verify.
Emotional Italian: Thx for pointing out that, at least in Chicago, the unwritten rule is/was that wives and girlfriends are off limits for retaliation. That’s what makes what Trump doing even more despicable. He has set a new sew standard for how mob bosses operate today. No one is beyond the pale. That’s why Jack Smith needs to act more like Elliot Ness and take Trump off the street before more blood is spilled on the streets!
Trump may be many things but he is not ‘INSANE’. He knew exactly what he was doing when he invited Nick Fuentes to dine with him on Thanksgiving. Trump knows who Nick Fuentes is from Charlottesville in 2017 when Fuentes marched with the neo-Nazis who shouted “The Jews will not replace us”. Ever since Fuentes has been a leading spokesman for the white supremacist and anti-Semite movement–well known here and abroad. By welcoming Fuentes to Mar-a-Lago Trump was sending the clear message that Fuentes’ supporters are now welcome inside the Trump camp. It’s a descent into hell and Trump knows it because going to the dark side is about all he has these days.
Dennis, I have no idea what Trump was thinking. I am certainly not defending him, but my understanding is that Fuentes was brought along as a guest of Kanye. Who in my estimation should have not been invited in the first place. Either way, it was stupid. If he didn’t know the nature of all of his guests or he invited him is a major miscalculation. As a conservative I am deeply troubled that the silence, with the exception of Pence on the Right, has been deafening in condemning the attendance of Fuentes. Who BTW I am not proud of the fact comes from a suburb of Chicago, La Grange.
If I was a liberal, I would be overjoyed at Trump’s stupidity and narcissism .And as a conservative, I view this as one more nail in Trump’s coffin. Which I think is a good thing.
I do agree with your “descent into hell” analogy
See, some of us on the Right are willing to put country over party. I just wish more on the Left would be so inclined. As a very wise man one said, ” those on the Right think that those on the Left are wrong.”” Those on the Left thing that those on the Right are evil”.
Emotional Italian: We don’t know all the circumstances around how Nick Fuentes go invited to dine with Trump on Thanksgiving. He may have been Kanye’s “guest” but that doesn’t explain how/why Trump allowed Fuentes to remain. If Trump didn’t agree with Fuentes’ racist and anti-Semitic views he could have asked him to leave. Instead, Fuentes says he and Trump engaged in a long discussion. So it’s hard to accept Trump’s excuse that he didn’t know Fuentes.
I do not subscribe to the view that all “those on the Right are evil”. You seem to be a thoughtful conservative who is “willing to put country over party”. That’s more than I can say for many on this blog. And I’m not “overjoyed at Trump’s stupidity and narcissism”. As mentioned earlier Trump may be a narcissist but he is not “stupid”. Everything he does is cold and calculated.
Dennis – more so than any other politician on the Planet Trump is what he is.
There are no nefarious characters behind the scenes pulling his strings.
Even Pence has recently said that you can trust that with Trump you get exactly what you see.
Trump is not some crypto white supremecist, or anti-semite.
That is not something that needs “proven” – it is something that is obvious to everyone who is not clueless of delusional.
You can like Trump as he is or hate him – but he is exactly what he says he is.
He is “authentic”
I have no interest in Who Trump has to dinner – because I can trust that regardless of who he speaks to, or shows up one day for dinner at MAL – that Trump is what he says he is.
That is precisely why you hate him. So even you accept that he is what he is.
That is why so many love him.
Trump has been friends with Kanye for a long time. Kanye, has said some questionable things recently.
Do you abandon your friends over questionable choices they make ?
As to Fuentes – until a few days almost no one actually knew who he was.
Even today – Fuentes is not the leader of some armed group that has been burning down federal court houses.
Actual domestic terrorism in the US today is Exclusively from the left.
Real Terrorsts do bad things – and take credit for them.
They do not hide from political violence.
The politics is the openly admitted driving force behind the terrorism.
When Antifa and others in portland attacked the federal courthouse there – there was no secret what their politics was and that their intentions were violent. Nothing happened by accident.
When the lawyers in NYC were handing out molotov cocktails and throwing them in police cars – they were not hiding what they were doing – or the politics driving them.
When there is an actual act of terrorism we do not have to micro analyze the contents of the perpirators back pack and weight that against the flags flying outside the abandoned bus they live in.
There is no such thing as a crypto terrorist.
Real terrorists own the violence they commit. They WANT people to know.
Decades ago the KKK burned crosses publicly – the message was clear.
If you crossed the KKK bad things happened and it was no secret why
There is absolutely no actual domestic terrorism from the right in this country today.
I do not know who Fuentes is. What I do know is that he is not burning and bombing black churches.
He is not burning federal courthouses.
I know that because NO “fringe right” group is doing that.
However big or small the extreme right white supremecist groups are.
They are NOT engaging in political violence.
Those on the left are.
The colorado shooter is a deranged person who happens to be trans.
The chesapeake shooter is a deranged person who happens to be black.
But those at the Portland Courthouse in 2020 were political and they were terrorists.
Those in Seattle were political terrorists.
Those BLM protestors firebombing police cars were political and they were terrorists.
Those vandalizing pro-life clinics are political and terrorists.
There is no secret of their message, there is no secret of their violence.
Many hide WHO they are.
They do not hide their violence.
They do not hide the politics driving the violence.
There is nothing comparable on the right.
There is not and never has been a credible case against Trump.
Not over MAL
Not over J6.
So yes, Anything that the Biden admin does is OBVIOUSLY political.
And yes, Trump is going to attack it.
I have no idea what Trump has said.
Nor do I care.
You rant that Trump attacked Smith’s wife.
Yet, you have attacked Ginny Thomas repeatedly here.
Others have attacked Melania.
You have no standards except double standards.
I would note that we were all told what a great guy Mueller was
The good news is that he did not turn out to be politically biased
He turned out to be a demented figurehead for a left wing nut cabal of
crazy lawyers.
There is no way in the world that Mueller’s team did not know everything
that Durham subsequently exposed.
Mueller was chasing a hoax – and he knew it
At this time DOJ could charge Trump with rape, and provide video
And more than half the country would not beleive it.
Because DOJ has lost that much credibility.
Because large portions of the country grasp that
The left can not be trusted.
The media can not be trusted.
Social media can not be trusted,
DOJ/FBI can not be trusted
Democrats can not be trusted.
The only question is why do SOME of you still trust people who have lied repeatedly.
I read an editorial today that was essentially why Trump is still absolutely necescary to the GOP and the country.
And the answer was that whatever his faults, Trump is the only person from either party that has the will and the ability to clean up the corruption in our government.
There are other excellent republican choices. There are libertarians that might otherwise govern better than Trump.
But DeSantis is not going to clean house in the same way that Trump will.
Bush II campaigned on ending nation building, on a version of “america first”. He did not do that.
Obama campaigned on getting out of Iraq, Afghanistan, Closing Gitmo. He did not do that.
Trump campaigned on these same things. He did them.
Biden did NOT threaten the “deep state”, and we are unecescarily closer to global armegedon than we have been in a generation.
I hope and expect we will avoid that. There is even a possibility that Biden may preside over the destruction of Russia as a consequential world power. That the ultimate outcome will be good.
But this was not necescary. Russia is and has been a declining world power for a long time.
The collapse of Russia is inevitable. All that is in debate is the speed that will happen – and whether we will provoke Russia into global nuclear war in the process.
No sane person doubts that had Trump been president – there would be no invasion of Ukraine.
The “deep state” wanted Trump gone.
They still do.
They can not control him.
Like they have a slew of other republicans and democrats.
You tell me that you are entitled to know who Trump dies with.
But then argue that Trump is not allowed to know who the people going after him are donating money to ?
I do not care who you donate money to.
But if you donate to republicans – I will presume that you are politically biased towards republicans.
If you donate to democrats I will presume your bias is towards democrats.
I would prefer that those in government service stayed out of politics.
While they are not obligated to do so. it decreases the appearance of bias.
Wow! No federal laws broken! Great, we can all go to sleep knowing that there can not possibly be any political bias – because “no federal laws were broken”.
Trump is not alleging a crime.
He is alleging political bias.
I would certainly hope that EVERY prosecutor in the country – right or left can honestly say they have broken no federal laws.
That should be the bare minimum standard.
You raise Ginny Thomas as a defense – and yet you are constantly claiming the opposite at every chance.
either Gunny Thomas’s political actions and donations are relevant – or they are not.
If as you constantly claim they are – then so are Smith’s wife’s
You have no standards but double standards.
If Smith is actually an ethical prosecutor, then he should resign.
There is no basis for a Special Counsel.
There is no conflict of interest between Trump and DOJ – unless you accept that DOJ is politically biased – in which case witch hunt II goes down the toilet.
I highly doubt there will be anything from the SC except leaks and rumours – because actually indicting Trump and worse still winning.
will set a precedent that politicians left and right can not live up to. There is no made up crime regarding Trump in 2020 that Clinton was not guilty of in 2016.
There is no such crime as trying to overturn an election. Election fraud is a crime. Bribing electors is a crime. Bribing judges is a crime.
Vigorously challenging and election is not and can not ever be a crime.
If Smith retaliates against Trump’s public remarks – he proves that he is biased.
If Trump’s remarks make Smith more likely to indict – Smith proves Trump’s allegation.
“Trump falsely claims Smith is a ‘radical left-wing prosecutor’.”
Actually, that claim is true.
While at the DOJ, Smith was behind the infamous Lois Lerner IRS scandal — the one that targeted *conservative* groups.
Stanford University’s Mengyu Dong, noted an account started several years ago, suddenly sent out all of its 2,000 texts in the past 15 hours.
That is interesting on two points:
1) The account has been around that long
2) Whomever started the account (wink, wink) is willing to tell the whole world it is a bot.
Should be easy for Twitter/Musk to purge these bots.
Someone seems very desperate to get the protests out of social media.
Upstatefarmer, it SHOULD be easy for twitter to purge these bots, BUT remember, half of twitter was either fired or quit. So who is minding the bot prevention department? Anyone with experience? Or just a skeleton crew of inexperienced techs being overwhelmed?
The ones who left or were fired were the useless eaters, who took a meeting or two and spent the rest of the time goofing off.
Musk brought in other highly experienced techs from Tesla and I am sure they are working on how to purge them from the system, likely even more efficiently than the previous group.
If you had ever been hired to do sys admin work from a previous company, you will know it is not an over night operation, but can take months even a year or more to make the transition. And if they did not leave any documentation, it can be a real pain.
Even pre-Musk Twitter, they would be going up against the full funding cyber department of a desperate CCP.
“ The ones who left or were fired were the useless eaters, who took a meeting or two and spent the rest of the time goofing off.
Musk brought in other highly experienced techs from Tesla and I am sure they are working on how to purge them from the system, likely even more efficiently than the previous group.”
You have no idea who those people were or what their work habits included. None. Just because engineers worked at Tesla doesn’t mean they are experienced in working on a social media platform which is very different from working on cars. Highly experienced techs from Tesla does not equate as highly experienced with social media infrastructure.
They themselves posted their “work” day on more than a few occasions to include more than just a few videos. They are actually rather amusing. I am sure not in hindsight.
Have you ever been in a Tesla? There is a whole lot of not just automotive engineering that goes into one, but programing. Then there are the guys who do the DB sysadmin stuff. MySQL is MySQL, be it at Tesla, or Twitter, or Boeing.
And there were a number of the non-useless eaters who have stayed on at Twitter. Seems to be doing okay, but they are having the usual new owner/company changes. Seen that one up close and personal.
In other news, Apple is threatening to shutdown Twitter from their iStore . . . the Musk phone just got that closer to reality!
Apple is well within its right to shut down twitter from its Apple store of it chooses.
They pulled out their advertising from twitter and musk is whining about it by accusing Apple of being against free speech. Apply is not obligated to associate itself with twitter.
Twitter has already lost $750 million in advertising revenue. 2 million alleged sign ups is not going to bring back that money.
$750 million vs value of $44 billion, is 1.7%, But you are just talking lost ad revenue, which is arrived at by the companies, very public virtue signalling. Twitter only made money in 2018, 2019, all the rest they lost money. You have no idea what the numbers actually are. And if I gave them to you, you would have no idea what they meant.
Just as a comparison, Disney lost $1.5 Billion Q4. 2022. But you seem to think $750 million reduction of one line item an a PL statement tells you something. Like all of you comments, you are far afield from you knowledge base.
Bottom line, Twitter is losing big.
How would you know?
You don’t. At best the biggest business deal you have ever made is selling your home, but you sound more like a renter.
Put a value on big. I just told you 1.7% of value.
If I lost 1.7% of my value, which is getting close, only because a heft % of my value is in farm ground, but it too moves down 10%to 20%, but I’m not worried because the kids dont need the money, and they can hold onto to finance the grand kids college.
You have no idea who those people were or what their work habits included
Musk is a huge wake up call to all of silicone valley. The firings are just getting started. Facebook is doing round one 10,000 firings. These are dead wood. I do some contract work for a tech company. Smartest group I’ve been around, but clueless in business. I signed onto a project that was to start in March, end in May. I was still working it in October. These nerds have no concept of how to gauge a project, outside of their area of study.
Silicone valley is learning why, every business ever, goes through periodic downsizing. (except the govt, because reasons)
“The President the added:
“How do people know the truth? What do they — how do they make — make a distinction between fact and fiction? There’s so much — so much going on. And we’re in the middle of this.”
Indeed, perish the thought that citizens might be left to pursue the truth on their own without the government or surrogates in the media framing it for them. How could we possibly “know the truth” without our social media overlords?”
Looking at the bigger picture, seems someone in China does not want their citizens to “know the truth.”
I for one enjoy Svelz’s comments on this blog. He makes it very plain to see the leftist viewpoint. In the past he has made it plain to see that he is in favor if stopping the disinformation that he chooses to stop on Social Media. Thank you Svelaz for your contribution.
Hey at least it’s a different point of view. Isn’t that what this blog is all about, right? No matter how outlandish it might be.
I’m not in favor of stopping disinformation. I would much more prefer to have it pointed out. BUT if others who run their platforms choose to stop disinformation I also support the right to THEIR choice because the constitutions does NOT prohibit private organizations and companies from doing so no matter how unfair it may seem to others and that is the whole point.
Svalaz, you say that you are not in favor of stopping disinformation but whenever Professor Turley post about censorship you have posted in contradiction to his thoughts. You may say that you are not in favor of stopping disinformation but your previous words walk blatantly before you. The Professor often writes about censorship and cancellation on campuses and you have not once sided with his position. Your attempt at telling us that you are an evenhanded arbiter of the truth is loudly laughable. Once you have put it in writing you can not now run away.
TiT,
“I” am not in favor. BUT that doesn’t mean I am against others who are because it’s THEIR choice. If twitter chose to censor content that they disagreed with on THEIR platform because it’s THEIR rule then I recognize that its THEIR choice as it is part of THEIR free speech rights.
I never said i was an “even handed arbiter” you made that assumption on your own.
Turley criticizes others for engaging in censorship despite the fact that it is completely legal. When others choose to censor others because it’s THEIR platform they CAN choose to do so. I support their choice because they have every right to exercise that right. Turley doesn’t like the fact that others have that choice. But he has that choice as well and chooses not censor. His hypocrisy is evident when he does what he criticizes other of doing.
Svelaz. the federal government met with Twitter and Facebook to censor opinion. Twitter and Facebook were not doing it on there own but were told what to do by Joe Biden. Mark Zuckerberg when testifying before congress said that it was a mistake. Censoring due to coercion by the Justice Department is not doing it on their own. How does it not bother you that the FBI is telling Twitter and Facebook what to censor. Let me repeat. You said that it was a fact that the increase in Twitter was due to Chinese bots and later you said that is was only your speculation. You can rub as hard as you want but your words are your words and the stains won’t come out.
TiT,
“ Svelaz. the federal government met with Twitter and Facebook to censor opinion. Twitter and Facebook were not doing it on there own but were told what to do by Joe Biden.”
You’’re being taken for a ride. The feds are NOT telling twitter and facebook to censor opinion. Government CAN point out to them that certain comments or posts are violating twitter and facebook’s terms of service policies. That is perfectly legal. Suggesting a course of action is not coercion.
If what you say it’s true there would be a lawsuit. Think about it.
“I” am not in favor. BUT that doesn’t mean I am against others who are because it’s THEIR choice.
How about you do you, and let others fend for themselves.
But your word choice is a tell. I’m not against people, I disagree with their ideas. That what separated me from you.
Prior to closing on Twitter Mr. Musk asked that they verify how deep Bots’ were infesting the subscriber numbers. Now a story comes that Bots’ have infested Twitter. Most interesting! Bots’ that Tweet, what a surprise, goodness we must enforce action against Disinformation else the Dragons will eat us.
The advertisers left after a big attack by activist. One has to wonder how long they will wait to come back. I suspect it’s maybe a couple of weeks at best when they see 2+ Million new users signing up daily being a hard market to pass on.
New sign ups who show up to witness the slow motion crash don’t pay the bills. And they’re probably bots anyway.
Well Anonymous, you and your compatriots Svelaz and Dennis McIntyre say maybe or probably that it is Chinese bots on Twitter. There is a difference between the two words maybe an probably. Maybe states a possibility but probably is based on a set of facts that due to a preponderance of evidence is more than likely true. Preponderance of evidence being the operative phrase. A preponderance of evidence made up in your brain has little to do with reality. The three of you are like a bunch of parrots repeating Chinese Baaat! Chinese Baaat! Chinese Baaaaat. MSNBCeeee! MSNBCeeee! MSNBCeeeee!
TiT, why would it not t be possible? Twitter’s staff has been cut by 50%. What’s to say that a surge in bots is not being handled by the diminished workforce or that they can’t counter it due to experienced techs quiting?
TIT, thanks. I can always count on you for a profoundly clueless response.
Let’s have a Svelaz contest, whenever he hits his 100th comment for a column the rest of us get a prize. It usually happens within the first two hours after a column is posted.
Svelaz must be getting paid by the Biden crooks because how else is it possible that anyone at this time would say that the laptop isn’t real?
Hullbobby, your obsession with my posts is hilarious. You still have trouble with sarcasm I see. You post as much as I do.
At least I keep the conversation going. No? Otherwise it would be a boring echo chamber.
This is a free speech site. Anyone can post on here as many times as they please. That is what comes with the whole “free speech” rights that Turley loves to promote. Being annoyed by a poster is not a violation of your free speech rights either. Don’t like it? Take it it to Truth social where you will be free from annoying posts. It’s entirely your choice.
Hullbobby, what’s my count so far? Do I win?
Jonathan: So there is a huge increase in Twitter sign-ups? As others on this blog have pointed out could these just be bots and not legitimate accounts? Since Musk has pretty much gutted the Twitter workforce who is left to actually verify new accounts?
Musk says he wants Twitter to engage in “civil debate”. But who is he reinstating that we could expect to engage in “civil debate”? Donald Trump (if he changes his mind), Kanye West (Ye), Alex Jones, Mike Lindell, Steve Bannon, MTG, et al? These are the people who don’t engage in “civil debate” but peddle far-right racist and anti-Semitic tropes. In the meantime Musk is continuing to ban left-leaning accounts. One Twitter user remarked: “How can these accounts participate in debate if they’re suspended?” Indeed.
It appears left-leaning accounts critical of Musk are not welcome on Twitter these days. Is this your concept of “free speech” on Twitter?
“. . . could these just be bots . . .”
Or maybe ET’s, or brain probes implanted by the Trilateral Commission, or hallucinations caused by the CIA dumping LSD into the nation’s water supply, . . .
“Donald Trump (if he changes his mind), Kanye West (Ye), Alex Jones, Mike Lindell, Steve Bannon, MTG, et al? These are the people who don’t engage in “civil debate” but peddle far-right racist and anti-Semitic tropes.”
Even if true, so what? It’s called FREE SPEECH. And you and your leftist thugs don’t get to decide that speech. There is no such thing as hate speech.
So I assume if your list was to be banned, you would also include people like Micheal Moore, The idiots from The View, Allisa Milano, Joe Biden, the a-hole Fauci, Al Sharpton, and every liberal Hollywood hypocrite. Because if you think they are interested in “civil” debate, then you are as bad as them.
“ There is no such thing as hate speech.”
So in this blog it shouldn’t be deleted or removed or banned, right? Speech is speech.
No, becuase it is Turleys site and he can be the editor since he is not asking for any special section 230 treatment from the govt. Regardless, there is no such thing as hate speech.
Turley is a free speech absolutist. By his own claim he shouldn’t be censoring racist, vulgar, or anti-Semitic comments at all. That’s what it means to be an “absolutist” as in absolute without any exceptions. Section 230 is irrelevant. Turley is able to do what Twitter did before Elon bought it. Run is as they see fit and that includes censoring content they don’t deem appropriate for THEIR platforms.
230 is very relevant when discussing Twitter or Facebook. You’re either an editor or not. As for Turley, he has to live with his decissions. Again, regardless, there is no such thing as hate speech.
Section 230 also applies to this blog.
Dennis McIntyre’s brain is breaking again. Instead of considering that Twitter is becoming more popular he comes up with the China Bot thing without offering any proof to substantiate his claim. What the hell does “Maybe it might be a Chinese Bot” mean. Dennis threw the chicken feet down on the hard wood floor this morning and the feet showed him it “might” be a Chinese Bot. Then he made an incantation to the gods of make believe as the sweet smell of incense filled the room. There could also “maybe” be some other smoke involved.
Others have posted links to the reporting on the bots. That still doesn’t change the fact that the high sign ups Turley is talking about may still be bots from China. Elon is letting twitter be the free speech public square he claims it should be. Why wouldn’t there be Chinese bots. It’s up to the individual to determine whether they are bots or not, not twitter, right?
With the diminished workforce monitoring those kinds of accounts whose to say they are not being on top of it as they could with the previous number of workers?
Svelaz says it’s maybe bots from China. When you use the word maybe and fact in the same sentence it is a sign of delusion. Being a fact that it could happen does not make it a fact that it did happen. It’s more like gossip over the backyard fence. Hey Alma Jean did you her that Cindy Lou might be goen out with Billy Joe Bob! Slavez, laying his brain aside he quietly types. Thank you Svelaz for presenting the thinking of all those on the left for all of us to see.
“ When you use the word maybe and fact in the same sentence it is a sign of delusion. Being a fact that it could happen does not make it a fact that it did happen.”
It’s perfectly fine to speculate based on what is being reported. Tucker Carlson does it ALL the time.
I can use the word “maybe” because all that was said about the new sign ups was that they were “reporting”. People who dived deeper into the claim had reason to believe that the increase was due to these Chinese bots. And because Elon fired 50% of twitter that leaves us with the very reason possibility that the majority of those workers were monitoring those kinds of accounts are no longer doing so.
Why are you so afraid of a different possibility other than Elon’s word? He could still be lying or being mischievous with the data to make it look better for advertisers. Who are more important right now.
Svelaz, you stated that the expansion of twitter membership is due to Chinese bots. Lets just say for arguments sake that more Chinese bots are operating on Twitter. The question that must arise is what portion of the new users are Chinese bots. You just can not let yourself think that millions signing up per day don’t think like you think. Therefore in your mind it must all be due to Chinese bots. I’ll give it to you. You now at least admit that your thoughts are based on mere speculation. You previously said that there were facts involved but now you say it’s only speculation. Facts or speculation? One of these is not like the other.
TiT, I am not implying or “can’t stand” the fact that “millions” of new users are signing up. It can ALSO be that it’s all bots since there ARE reports that the Chinese are employing bots by the millions to stifle any information regarding the anti-COVID protest in China. Twitter is still accessible to Chinese users despite the site being heavily censored there. The sign ups CAN be attributed to those Chinese bots. Nothing says they can’t be. Elon only said there were 2million more sign ups without saying if they were confirmed as legitimate.
How about you, Dennis? You are obviously one of the Far-Lefties on this site. Have you been banned from Twitter?
Let us know.
Wiseoldlawyer: As one wise old lawyer to another. I can’t be banned from Twitter because I never had an account. I keep busy enough on this blog. Besides, as a Scot I don’t want to have to pay to exercise my freedom of expression. But as a “Far-Lefty” I suspect Musk would have suspended my account weeks ago because I have been one of his severest critics. And some of my Twitter friends who have accounts had them indefinitely suspended. So much for “free speech” that Turley claims is breaking out on Musk’s platform!
“Wiseyou oldlawyer: As one wise old lawyer to another. “
Dennis, are you claiming to be a lawye?. Your remarks tell us if you took one of those online courses you never passed the bar. The bar is not that hard, but there is no way for a person with your lack of logic and knowledge of the law could ever pass the bar.
Elon “gutted the work force” of unnecessary dead weight. With 44 billion dollars at stake, I’ll trust he will do what’s in his best financial interest. Not interested in mean Tweets? Stay away.
ROFL. Musk is driving Twitter into the ground.
What do you know about investing?
From what you have written, you know very little.
Svelaz has stated, in his already 20 comments, that there is no laptop. This is the thinking of the fools on the left..
Hey Svelaz, you are going to go down with the Biden ship, the guy is a crook, he will be tossed out of office soon (by the liberals and the media) and you will be left holding the bag.
Can someone explain to me how any sentient being can think that Boden is not a crook? Anyone?
Brilliant question, as it answers itself. The (non)sentient bot/being/Svelaz will answer anyway.
I’m the most advanced AI you will ever encounter I (sinister wringing of hands) Bwuhahaha! Hullbobby will keep tabs on the number of comments I make so he can whine about it after a certain threshold. Ain’t freedom of speech wonderful?
Hullbobby, I see I’m still living rent free in that brain of yours. Keeping count must be a new hobby.
Who is Boden? By the way he’s not a crook. Everyone did deemed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Right?
Oh and one other thing, You know there such as thing as sarcasm right? As in, “What laptop?”
experts say the new Twitter sign ups are Chinese bots
experts said the laptop was Russian disinformation
experts said their were Russian bounties on American soldiers in Afghanistan
experts said the lab leak theory was discredited
experts said surgical masks work
prior to that the experts said cloth masks work
prior to that the experts said masks don’t work
all the while the experts said health care workers should only use N95 masks, even when they said masks don’t work
experts said Trump colluded with Russia
I could go on and on and on…
How many times can progressives be Rick Rolled by evidence free “expert” assertions and not wise up? They are a dumb bunch.
https://www.independent.co.uk/tech/china-twitter-pornography-obscure-protests-b2234249.html
Faster, please…..
Twitter and Professor Turley have found the driver for high numbers of viewers.
Free Speech
It’s actually Chinese bots. Twitter isn’t being transparent if these new sign ups are legitimate or just a bunch of bots. Remember a majority of twitters’s staff who monitors these kinds of accounts quit. So who is minding the store?
Svelaz thinks that NOW Twitter has bots. This guy is nuts.
Actually the only way to determine if they are bots or not is to have access to the backend and see the hard data.
Otherwise, it is all speculation.
You think China doesn’t invest in bots?
Who is all the Chinese spam coming from?
I never said that China does not invest in bots.
I said the only way to determine that is to have access to the backend, to see the actual, factual, data.
I could declare you, Svelaz, Dennis, TiT, James, S. Meyer, are a bots, but without access to the WP backend, I am speculating.
Upstate, I am not a bot! 🙂
S. Meyer,
LOL!
Actually, from the time I have admin for a few WP sites, I dont think anyone here is a bot.
WP has a host of backend tools to prevent that, but there still needs to be some degree of hands on moderation. You would be amazed at some of the creative ways people come up with work arounds for bad language, racist or anti-semite language.
Upstate, I take note of the workarounds for poor language and the like, but a lot of those people do so for reaction, and when they can no longer have some form of a consistent identity, they fade away or disappear.
Isn’t that why you post as anonymous when you can’t remain consistent? Posting as anonymous is also a workaround you know.
No, it is a sign of respect to others when an intellectual discussion degenerates because one of the parties, Svelaz, lacks a brain. Most people should not bother reading anonymous comments. They should all disappear before being emailed or posted.
I would not advocate you being banned from the list because your idiocy has a name attached telling people to avoid you. I have time to deal with your rubbish.
If you find inconsistencies with what I post, please quote them. I can defend what I say. You cannot.
Upstate, Svelaz is not a bot. Bots are smarter.
Bad language, racist or anti-Semitic language is protected speech. It should be allowed if you are a free speech absolutist like Turley. Sure it’s offensive, obnoxious, and rude. But it’s still free speech that shouldn’t be censored because it’s offensive, obnoxious, or rude, or even vulgar. An absolutist would demand they be allowed. Otherwise it’s just more censorship and hypocrisy.
Twitter doesn’t have the staff to sift thru the data to determine how much of those “new” sign ups are actually people or bots. Elon just posted a “report” to “show” advertisers that they still have an audience on twitter. It could just be a poor attempt at avoiding more advertisers leaving the platform because he needs the money to keep twitter alive.
I never claimed it didn’t before. You seriously don’t think that Elon’s claim cannot be attributed to an increase of Chinese bots? Remember he has a diminished staff to keep track of these things. How do we know it isn’t true?
Svelaz just can’t stand the fact that everyone doesn’t think the way he thinks. When he can’t present a cognitive argument he just pulls something out of his……head? Svelaz, are you sure there not Russian bots? Or maybe green cheese bots? Or maybe Big Foot bots? Svelaz believes that this is a workshop where one learns to write fiction or fantasy.
Tit, you don’t think there should be a smidge of skepticism about Elon’s claim? His staff has been cut in half and the people who are supposed to keep tabs on bots or other malicious accounts is smaller. That doesn’t mean they are being better at keeping them in check.
Logic would dictate that the number of new sign ups claim without any real data to back it up can be just bots from china or somewhere else.
You can’t stand the fact that it MIGHT be true. What is wrong with the possibility that it MIGHT be bots given reports that the Chinese ARE cracking down on any information about the unrest occurring over the new COVID clampdowns? Since Elon is not “censoring” more the Chinese could be preempting that by flooding twitter with bots to stymie any truth coming out on twitter that they cannot stymie on WeChat. You don’t think that is even a possibility at all?
You are an idiot.
Svelaz, I can’t know for sure, but Musk is trying to create a site where actions are transparent. He saw what bots did to Twitter, and I think he is able to manage that problem.
It is stupid to take a position and then try and fit the facts so they prove your position. You truly are a low IQ loser.
S. Meyer,
I look at some of the responses as an indication of what narrative they are trying to drive.
Without any evidence, like looking to verify a certain dossier or laptop are in fact a hoax or authentic, they proclaim new twitter sign up have to be Chinese bots and cannot be real actual people.
Could there be bots? Sure.
But without access to Twitter servers, they cannot say if that is true.
They are speculating.
Or, one could say, they are spreading misinformation.
I agree, but I have to say that I expect more from Bots than some of the leftists on this blog. The dialog from the right demonstrates greater knowledge and intelligence. Generally, they can provide evidence and worthy opinion. The left retreats into fantasy land. Just look at Svelaz’s answer to Hunter’s laptop. “ What laptop” That sounds quite ignorant and characteristic of a person who can’t think in depth.
All just cartoon episodes leading up to Musk having to hire someone to run Twitter for him…
What we all should be most curious about is how in depth the audio surveillance DOJ has on trump once they knew he’d stolen classified information. We begin with espionage, the surveillance will highlight who trump was dealing with.
Good times.
You are saying that the old evidence failed to convict Trump, but the new evidence since Trump left the WH will do so. A bit deranged but not unexpected. Have you looked at the reports about Joe Biden? You have, and that is your reason for new unjustified inquiries into Trump. A bit deceitful, but what are we to expect?
Your obsession with other’s intelligence suggests that you’re insecure about your own. Your conjectures about others’ IQ are unreliable.
You are right. I am insecure. If I am not ten times smarter than you, I failed. You have some limited knowledge in limited areas, but you are unable to use it properly. That is the reason you utilize tricks and deception to get your point across.
You are right. I failed.
FIFY
“It is stupid to take a position and then try and fit the facts so they prove your position. You truly are a low IQ loser.”
Allan’s standard projection. He’s a dotard.
Anonymous the Stupid, why do you continuously wish to prove your namesake?
Big difference now. Musk is actually tasking a team to identify and remove. That never happened before Musk took over. Musk will go through coders until he finds a team good at their task. He will reward them, and they will be the highest paid people at twitter.
That’s what Musk brings to the table. Compentence
Back here on earth, Twitter will be *the* example of how to crash a company.
Experts say the new sign ups are Chinese bots. Professor Turley, are you saying the experts wrong? Like the 51 former national security experts?
Do you have any proof they are wrong? The experts have an opinion, which is rock solid, so you better have something good as far as evidence goes.
Turley is following the Fox News template. Whatever they tell you is true. So whatever Elon Musk says is truer. Because he’s…Elon. No need to verify the claims.
This reference to “experts” has to be satire correct? Why else would you reference the 51 security experts that lied about hunters laptop.
Why do you assume they were the same experts? The experts opined on the veracity of the laptop in 2019. How do we know they the same folks? Could these be a new set of experts who know what they are doing with the information they currently have? It’s more likely than not.
There should be a bit of skepticism about Elon’s claims since he’s only saying it and not really providing a breakdown of his “report”.
“Why do you assume they were the same experts? “
Because you and ATS have been WRONG repeatedly.
Why would Musk have to provide a report of any kind to anyone?
It is his company.
On Facebook, how many accounts are bots? How many “friends” people have are bots? Same could be said about pre-Musk Twitter. I recall an article of people paying for bots to make their books look more popular with 5 star ratings on Amazon.
The real metric I will be looking for is seeing how many paid verified Blue Check status users there will be.
Do those “experts” have access to the Twitter servers? The back end software? Can they see the hard data?
“Experts say”, are they the same experts you have been relying on? You have almost always been wrong. Try changing experts.
“Experts”? “Like the 51 former national security experts?” who lied about that laptop?
Expertspeople I make up in a fever dream say the new sign ups are Chinese botsName them, or GFO
For your reading pleasure…
https://www.popsci.com/technology/twitter-moderation-protests/
From the article: “subsequently confirmed by The Washington Post”
How many false reports did the Washington Post confirm in the past number of years? So many it’s hard to list all of them. That newspaper has been proven to be a political machine supporting any garbage thrown at the right. Ignorant people like confirmation so like in this instance ignorant people get their confirmation from the Washington Post even though such confirmation is meaningless.
Whatever is being reported on Twitter today is similar to what happens whenever a major event occurs. Lots of news, much of which is inaccurate. One has to give such stories time to sort out, but the left doesn’t wait and that is why they are wrong so frequently.
ATS, as usual, you are posting meaningless trite.
Do you even read your own links? Pathetic