Many of us have supported Elon Musk in his fight to restore free speech protections to Twitter despite concerns over decisions like the use of polls to determine if individuals should be allowed back on the social media site. He has now subjected himself to the same poll judgment in asking if he should step down as CEO. After more than 17.5 million users voted, 57 percent said yes. Unless Musk was looking for an exit, it was a mistake. He handed his critics an easy opportunity to remove him.
For the left, Musk has been a nightmare because he cannot be bullied like most corporate executives. He is an eccentric billionaire who has refused to yield despite a full mobilization of the political, media, and business establishment. That could now change.
While many on the left spent weeks dismissing Twitter’s polls as unscientific, they are now demanding that Musk follow through and step down. Some 42.5% of users wanted him to say.
On Twitter Sunday, Musk seemed to say that he would follow the results but expressed pessimism about the prospects for a new CEO. He said that the person “must like pain a lot” to run a company that “has been in the fast lane to bankruptcy.” He further noted that “no one wants the job who can actually keep Twitter alive. There is no successor.”
That is precisely why the left wants Musk out. As shown in companies like Disney, the left can muscle executives to take actions even against the interests of the company or shareholders. The left has strived to make such campaigns personal for executives, who often yield rather than risk being individually tagged and targeted.
That is why it was essential to remove Musk. The political and media establishments generally are unstoppable forces — but they met their first immovable object in Musk.
That immovable object has now taken a step to remove himself from the path of the establishment. One can hardly blame him, but, as Democratic members warned Facebook not to even consider following the path of Twitter, the prospect of Musk’s departure will strengthen the efforts to maintain censorship over social media.
It is hard to ask anyone to continue to stand against this alliance of political, media, and business forces. Musk has been made a persona non grata for seeking to reduce censorship on the site. He has put billions on the line for the free speech of others. One can certainly understand why he would want this cup to pass from his lips. However, if he stays the course, his work at Twitter could prove to be his greatest legacy in resisting the trend toward censorship and speech controls in social media.
Free speech…..Professor. You know better but your right wing bias is showing. The champion of free speech flexed his power by suspending journalists and having a lit of prohibited sights. Good grief he sounds like China.
Injustice Holmes, Twitter banned two reporters for one day. They are now back on Twitter. Twitter banned Project Veritas in April of 2021. After nineteen months Project Veritas is back on Twitter. I don’t recall your sanctimonious defense of Project Veritas when it was banned by Twitter. Not one peep. Thank God that you have never been anywhere near the place of employment of your namesake. Justice Holmes my ….
2 Reporters?
1. NY Times reporter Ryan Mac,
2. CNN reporter Donie O’Sullivan
3. Mashable reporter Matt Binder
4. independent journalist Aaron Rupar (@atrupar).
5. Washington Post’s Drew Harwell
6. Washington Post’s Taylor Lorenz
7. The Intercept’s Micah Lee
I probably missed several others, but this was easily proven false… Please stop spreading falsehoods.
Anonymous, all of the reporters who were banned by Twitter were banned for one day. I posted that Project Veritas was banned for 19 months. The New York Post was banned for two weeks just before an election. You did not come to the defense of Project Veritas or The New York Post when they were banned. It’s understandable that Elon became upset when the location of his son was exposed. One would think that you would be upset that such a thing would happen that put his child in danger. You being always for the children and all. One would think that the safety of Elons young son would be one of your priorities. If one should think that this would be one of your priorities one would be sadly mistaken.
You deflect. Is your above post that only 2 were banned accurate? Or do you acknowledge the inaccuracy?
Most of those people can hardly be called reporters. They are leftist activists devoted to hiding truth from the public.
When Musk engages law enforcement to beat and ‘disappear’ those he disagrees with, get back to us. China my foot.
JH, Exactly what of journalistic substance were they reporting? As usual, nothing, except to advance themselves.
The previous administrators did all this and more.
Special interests just don’t like it being done to them.
Musk has already made huge unforced errors, such as the policy of not allowing tweets that link to certain other social media platforms (e.g., Mastodon), which is contrary to EU law. Musk apparently didn’t bother to run the policy by his legal dept before implementing it. Clearly the choice of a skilled CEO. It’s also contrary to freedom of speech that Turley keeps pretending Musk upholds. Musk changed the policy again yesterday.
As for the CEO vote, it’s not legally binding on him. He can say that he changed his mind.
“policy of not allowing tweets that link to certain other social media platforms (e.g., Mastodon),”
It is interesting how quickly your mind can change from Twitter being a private business to Twitter making an error not permitting links to other sites. This policy is very complicated but fluid, yet to be finalized. Is Twitter censoring political speech? No. Those posts are on Twitter.
Why might Twitter want to stop linkage? Does Twitter desire to provide free advertisements to its competitors? Should Twitter be prevented from banning free advertisements? Twitter’s attitude is, if other companies want to advertise, let them pay.
which is contrary to EU law.
I consider it an unforced error for someone to act contrary to law. If you don’t, I’m not surprised.
EU law is become more fascist and resented by many EU nations.
That you wish to promote fascism is not surprising. Every sentient person on the blog already knows that.
That you lie about me is unsurprising. It is your nature.
No one is lying about you. You are a fascist and don’t know it because you don’t understand the different ideologies. You are a supporter of government involved censorship. That is a major thing that links you to fascism.
Stop the BS JT. This is not about free speech. Musk is a disaster of a CEO. The Twitter files showed the company struggling to deal with bad information that hurt people. Did Musk end censorship? Hardly. He just changed it to suite his dictatorial whims. Will you get booted from Twitter if you link to your mastodon account? Maybe, maybe not. Will you get booted if you call Musk a twit? Maybe, maybe not. How is that free speech absolutism? Musk himself used the site to cause an ex employee to flee his home for his safety. What a nice guy.
Talk about fiduciary responsibility. How about Musk’s fiduciary responsibility to TSLA? I really am shocked he has not been removed as CEO of TSLA. The stock is a disaster since his take over of Twitter. He promised to not sell more TSLA stock, then sold $4+ billion. He is untrustworthy as a CEO. I have no doubt there will be shareholder lawsuits about exactly this behavior of Musk at TSLA. How many “lefties” will not buy a TSLA now after Musks behavior? Turns out more “lefties” buy Musks cars than right wing nuts. He is catering to the right wing nuts so good luck with that. I’m pretty sure that leaves a net decrease in potential purchases.
Free speech is fine if you stand on a soap box in your local town square, yell your screed at anyone passing by. Everyone will know who you are and treat you accordingly based on what you say. But when it is anonymous free speech. Some small but not insignificant number of people say all sort of disgusting (though legal) stuff. And some people go beyond legal and actually cause harm to people.
I predicted that Twitter would fail in a year. Tuns out Musk is killing the brand in less than 6 months.
” Musk himself used the site to cause an ex employee to flee his home for his safety. What a nice guy.”
Do you agree with Yoel Roth’s thesis that children should be able to access adult Internet services? It’s Yoel’s words that made some people angry.
Kids under 18 are accessing adult web services. Wake up. He did not advocate that they should be allowed, that horse left the barn 20 years ago. The question is how to deal with it. That was the thesis of his paper.
Get your facts straight. Roth did not say they should be able to access the sites. They already are.
Ask the average high school kid if they have ever seen porn on the internet. Ask the average high school kid where they can get cigarets, pot, or any number of other drugs. If you think making something illegal means kids can’t access it, well, I have a bridge to sell you.
I suggest you read Yoel Roth’s PhD submission. You believe the degeneration of our culture is a good thing. It isn’t. (not criticizing Yoel Roth’s personal choices) I’ll accept that you disagree, but I want my grandchildren in a more wholesome environment.
S. Meyer, What a dweeb. “You believe the degeneration of our culture is a good thing”
Where did I ever say anything close to that? I stated facts. Do you doubt at least half of the kids in HS have observed Porn on the internet? It’s just a wild ass guess on my part. But come on, it’s probably an underestimate.
I know it’s hard, buy just try to do a wee bit of investigation on your own, and don’t make up stories about people you know nothing about.
Your actual words across the blog speak louder than your protestations.
Kids get access to porn. I won’t disagree with that statement and that is not what is disturbing. They don’t need adult help in being more sexualized than they already are. Maybe as an adult you should act as an adult.
Yoel Roth doesn’t have a “thesis that children should be able to access adult Internet services.” Read what he actually wrote, not what someone else said about it.
Read what Roth wrote. Your emphasis on what you think his thesis was all about is a distraction from what it said. I note that you are winging a response rather than providing proof.
I did read what he wrote. He did not write “that children should be able to access adult Internet services.”
You still haven’t read what he wrote.
Not the same Anonymous, but here is the dissertation. The THESIS is not “children should be able to access adult Internet services.” I know, “thesis” is a big word….
THESIS: “This project examines the interplay of bodies, identities, and digital information as part of a process of networked self-expression on gay social networking applications. Throughout this work, I argue in favor of a model of networked interactivity that conceptualizes self-expression as an act determined by three sometimes overlapping, sometimes conflicting sets of affordances and constraints: (1) technocommercial structures of software and business; (2) cultural and subcultural norms, mores, histories, and standards of acceptable and expected conduct; and (3) sociopolitical tendencies that both are represented as and are popularly understood to be fixed technocommercial structures.”
Musk tweets a screenshot of page 248 of the dissertation, which involves a discussion of the proper approach Grindr (his case study social media network) should take to underage users. Here, Roth notes that Grindr relies on its policies to absolve itself of liability when an underage user is involved; rather than a realistic approach that recognizes Grindr’s inability to actually know whether underage adolescents are using the platform, Roth suggests an alternative approach, in which underage users could access more age-appropriate services (NOT ADULT INTERNET SERVICES). The direct quote: “Rather than merely trying to absolve themselves of legal responsibility or, worse, trying to drive out teenagers entirely, service providers should instead focus on crafting safety strategies that can accommodate a wide variety of use cases for platforms like Grindr — including, possibly, their role in safely connecting queer young adults.”
Therefore, the claim that Roth’s “thesis” is that “children should be able to access adult Internet services” in incorrect in 2 respects. First, his tweet of page 248 is NOT the thesis at all. Anyone who has written a college paper should know that page 248 is not where such a central thesis argument would be made. Second, Roth is not arguing that underage users should be able to access “adult” internet services.
If you think a service “connecting queer young adults” is an “adult Internet service,” then, by all means, please justify such a view. That may be hard to justify, however.
https://repository.upenn.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3771&context=edissertations
Sorry, link didn’t copy in above post. Please peruse if you wish to respond.
Its way past time to dispense with myth of the gay guy down the street as the sexual abuser.
https://learning.nspcc.org.uk/research-resources/statistics-briefings/child-sexual-abuse
From the above web page…
“The vast majority of children who experience sexual abuse were abused by someone they knew.”
In the past few months it seems to me the biggest news on child sexual abuse all involved abuse in churches.
You want to save the most kids? Close churches.
How does this relate at all to the above post? S. Meyer believes Musk’s tweet accurately describes Roth’s dissertation. This is false, as the above post demonstrates. Not sure what why you are bringing up stigma about sexual abuse in the gay community?
Musk made himself clear. I won’t try and explain things word by word to you ATS. I don’t care if one is gay or straight. That is not the problem. You are in a quest to destroy a culture, to break up families, to act in a fascist way. That is the problem.
The gay guy down the street is a good guy and might be a friend. If he is not like some of the awful people I am seeing, he’s ok. You are not.
I will use S. Meyer’s words…
“Read what Roth wrote. Your emphasis on what you think his thesis was all about is a distraction from what it said. I note that you are winging a response rather than providing proof.”
Do you have any response based on the text or are you blindly accepting whatever musk tweets as the gospel?
Curiously S. Meyer has yet to respond either.
“Curiously S. Meyer has yet to respond either.”
Respond to what? Maybe I don’t want to play in your sandbox. It’s messy where everything is out of place.
You want to know if people accept everything that Musk says. Musk has been open and on the right track, perhaps with minor errors. You haven’t disproved Musk’s comment, and he has a valid opinion based on what is known. You can have your own, but there is a problem with the leftist idea of sexualizing youth too early. They even try to do so in schools. You seem to be siding with those people, as cultural destruction is part of the Stalinist game.
ATS, I don’t know Musk, but you are asking me to choose from your version or Musks. You have mostly been wrong and Musk mostly right.
ATS we already know your stand on sexualizing children in schools and everywhere else. What is there to discuss. You have proven my point with your words across many pages.
Do you think 4 paragraphs make up a thesis for a PhD? Boy are you stupid.
So… No one actually read the dissertation to respond to my post above … I probably should have assumed as much on this blog.
Is it the culprit a lack of education or laziness? Not sure which is worse.
And for the above anonymous… A thesis is the main argument in the dissertation. Not sure where you get 4 paragraphs but the several sentences I quoted above are the thesis of the dissertation, not the random page Musk quotes from. Perhaps look the word up in a dictionary before you go on the offensive.
.”A thesis is the main argument in the dissertation.”
Let me help you make sense of what you say. A thesis can mean more than you think. You choose the meaning you desire, but you are interpreting what Musk said, so what you desire doesn’t count even though your ego makes you think that what you have to say is more important than what Musk was talking about.
The word thesis is defined as “a dissertation embodying results of original research and especially substantiating a specific view
especially: one written by a candidate for an academic degree”
If you wish to show Musk wrong, you cannot choose the parts you wish. You have to look and discuss the entire thesis and prove Musk wrong, NOT JUST THAT YOU HAVE ANOTHER VIEWPOINT.
S. Meyer, this is simply incorrect. A thesis is generally completed for a Master’s degree. A dissertation is completed for a PhD. This is true at Penn. See the explicit words from UPenn’s site: https://provost.upenn.edu/dissertation-deposit
Roth’s paper in question was a PhD dissertation, not a Master’s thesis.
And you failed to respond to above point that, even if Musk meant the paper itself, rather than the main argument, he was still incorrect. Do you think If you think “connecting queer young adults” is an “adult Internet service”? If so, please justify such a view. That would mean online LGBTQ support organizations are in the adult entertainment business, which is clearly incorrect.
I see, ATS, you wish to play your nitpicking game.
“A dissertation is completed for a PhD. This is true at Penn.”
Is it true everywhere? Providing your belief that is true at Penn doesn’t mean it is true everywhere. What does it matter in the context of this discussion?
I am telling you what Musk concluded, not what you concluded. Musk doesn’t think much of your conclusions and he probably would find you obnoxious. Can you not understand that you are not the center of the universe?
Roth completed his PhD dissertation at Penn. That is why it is relevant. But if you actually read the dissertation you would know that… So it is not nitpicking at all. It is literally what the graduate department calls the paper that Roth wrote. (not to mention most US graduate schools).
Again, you fail to respond to bigger question, namely, where in the document does Roth argue that young LGBTQ users should have access to adult content? You have failed yet again to respond because Roth does not make this argument at all. “Connecting queer young adults” is not an “adult Internet service.” Full stop.
” But if you actually read the dissertation you would know that”
It sounds like you deserve a Ph.D. in nitpicking, but I don’t think there is such a Ph.D. Is there a Ph.D. in underwater basket weaving? You ought to know. You are an expert at focusing on the wrong details, missing everything else.
Why did I need to read the dissertation when you forgot to read the Tweet? “If you actually read the” Tweet you would know that Musk used the word thesis. But you don’t know, as you are tied up elsewhere in nonsense.
“Looks like Yoel is arguing in favor of children being able to access adult Internet services in his PhD thesis,” _Musk
You also don’t know the dissertation was taken down and later put back up. So much for intellectual honesty as far as Penn is concerned. It sounds like Penn became nervous and wanted to see if they needed to wipe out another truth.
Having the origin for the word thesis appropriately understood and the thesis back up at Penn, you have to prove Musk’s firing was wrong. We know you are loose with the facts when sexualizing children is involved, so you will have to be very careful to define your terms and stay on topic.
S. Meyer, are you going to respond? You asked for proof from the text but have yet to provide a response from the text. You created the parameters of this “sandbox” as you called it above, not me. Where in the text has Roth argued that underage youths should be privy to “adult Internet services”? It is not an opinion to resort to personal attacks when something responds to YOUR OWN REQUEST for a text-based argument to point out why Musk was wrong.
Respond to what?
You haven’t proven Musk’s opinion wrong.
“Looks like Yoel is arguing in favor of children being able to access adult Internet services in his PhD thesis,” _Musk
I’ve listened to you and Svelaz and your opinions on sexualizing children. I wouldn’t let Svelaz close to my grandchildren. You are a bit smarter than Svelaz, not by much but enough that I might permit you near them with an adult. You have agreed with much of the indoctrination happening in our public schools, so of course, you will believe a moderate centrist has to be wrong on these issues.
You have destroyed your reputation on this subject and your credibility. Taking a paragraph out of the dissertation and saying it doesn’t cause harm is meaningless. You have to prove the entire work doesn’t cause damage. That is something you can’t do.
For the 5th time now, where in the text does Roth argue “in favor of children being able to access adult Internet services”? He doesn’t.
At least you now admit that you haven’t read the dissertation. So I guess you accept blindly as true whatever Musk says rather than doing your own research? Why then do you ask others for proof if you don’t value it yourself?
(This also explains the distraction over “thesis.” Who the hell cares that Musk incorrectly calls it a thesis? It isn’t one. It is a dissertation. To put it in Musk-ian terms, if Musk refers to a Tesla as a spaceship, that does not mean that the Tesla is indeed a spaceship. This further proves that Musk himself was shooting from the hip rather than reading the dissertation.)
Please conduct your own research rather than accept as true what people tweet. This should be a foundational element of anyone who wishes to engage in discussion on this blog. The fact that it isn’t is depressing.
You are oblivious. I didn’t comment, Musk did, and I have no intention of reading the entire dissertation. I look at what I see and then place some trust in others. Musk has credibility, while you do not (you have negative credibility), yet you ask me to believe you over Musk, who has credibility. Roth was an executive of a corrupt organization that corrupted the news and prevented honest discussion of CRT, so I can’t trust him.
Not ever hearing of Roth’s dissertation, and even if he were my friend, I would fire him without second thoughts. I have to err on safety because the damages that might ensue from my choice can be catastrophic. I have made many decisions of this nature, placing my businesses first, for if any of them fail, many people are hurt.
I didn’t admit whether or not I read the dissertation. Based on what I already know, it doesn’t add anything. You don’t seem to understand these things that are clear to me, perhaps because you are not a businessman. Instead, you chose the anonymity of one who attacks people in the dark. I am more used to light while facing people face to face.
“To put it in Musk-ian terms, if Musk refers to a Tesla as a spaceship, that does not mean that the Tesla is indeed a spaceship. ”
You are making a mockery of yourself. The difference between a spaceship and a Tesla is meaningful. In context, the difference between a dissertation and a thesis doesn’t matter much except to nitpickers.
“Please conduct your own research rather than accept as true what people tweet. This should be a foundational element of anyone who wishes to engage in discussion on this blog. The fact that it isn’t is depressing.”
This comment shows how much you lie because even your links prove you haven’t read everything, much less anyone else’s. No one reads everything. That idea is another thing that business people understand that you don’t. Resources are scarce, so to survive, the businessman uses them wisely.
Where in the dissertation does Roth advocate for “sexualizing children?” Or are you again just making stuff up? What page?
If you wish to show Musk wrong, you cannot choose the parts you wish. You have to look and discuss the entire thesis and prove Musk wrong, NOT JUST THAT YOU HAVE ANOTHER VIEWPOINT.
What other posting were you referring to?
I don’t ask you to “believe” anyone… I ask you to support your claim that Musk is correct with a reference to the dissertation. You still haven’t done this.
I’m not sure why this is that complicated.
If no such reference exists, then all I ask is that to admit Musk has no textual basis for making the claim that Roth advocates for youths to have access to adult internet services.
This is a judgment call, not a multiplication question. Yes, I believe Musk is correct based on the factors I am aware of. On the other hand, you did not provide me with information that would lead me to change my mind. You too frequently bite off more than you can chew and are wrong, so your opinion of what the dissertation said has to be more inclusive than what you provided. I have to take your credibility into account.
@baby whatever
Baby Trump is a newer troll. Nevertheless, they fail to address the topic at hand every single time they post. That the and the likes of Gigi have been here for years should tell you all you need to know about censorship policies on this blog, Darren does not censor or delete anyone unless they cross a serious line, and indeed, I have had stupider comments deleted, but have found him fair in general as a mod, far more fair than 99% of the rest, and those lines are very clearly outlined if you explore the links here in the menu, and that is the end of my PSA. Back in the early days of the WWW, all we had were mods, not algorithms, and it was a bout a kajillion times better. Plant a tree. Pick up trash every time you see it and throw it in a bin. Make a delicious dish for a neighbor, and because you can buy the food. Love the earth by actually living on it and cultivating it, not by reading Tik Tok and guessing that ‘wilderness’ is peril or death (and I know that is what gen z thinks. Do not use pronouns. Your thinkingis your proble. Exeroens something for once in your lives)
Elon Musk is realizing that he is better off running companies he likes to run. Tesla and Space X are better suited for him than running a social media company. He’s also realizing that he had fewer criticisms when he was running Tesla and Space X. With Twitter, trotting out these stupid ideas and finding himself doing what he criticized them of doing is proving to be more than he bargained for. He’s looking for someone to take the brunt of that criticism and the harsh spotlight that comes with it as a massive hypocrite.
He should stick to what he does best, be an engineer. He may be a genius when it comes to engineering, but he’s a massive pillock when it comes to social media.
” he’s a massive pillock when it comes to social media.”
It takes one to know one.
I don’’t run a social media company. Is that all you got?
Oh Please LOL he will still run it. He owns it.
Of course. He will eventually find a competent CEO who shares Musk’s general view and retain influence through the board and his shareholding.
If you listen to the fans, you’ll find yourself sitting with them. Joe Kuharich
There’s no way he used $40 billion to simply start a dumpster fire and then run away.
Why not? He’s the richest man in the world. Many here have pointed out how he could still bankrupt twitter and still have enough to buy Facebook if he wanted to and still come out ok.
If he ends up running away he will just chalk it up as a stupid misadventure that cost thousands their jobs and livelihoods.
I think musk honestly started to believe his own nonsense that Twitter was silencing conservative voices and elevating liberal ones at their expense (the truth is that Twitter bends over backward to put their thumb on the scale for right wingers but even with that right wing ideas are so unpopular and conservative personalities so off putting that no amount of tweaking the algo could enable them to compete in the marketplace of ideas). Lipstick on a pig, and all that. Article/data can be found here: https://www.economist.com/graphic-detail/2021/11/13/according-to-twitter-twitters-algorithm-favours-conservatives
He probably thought he was gonna fire those dastardly liberals which would usher in a new era of Conservative domination on Twitter. Once he realized they don’t exist, and that all that noise amounted to just so much right wing bellyaching I’m sure he panicked, Realizing for the first time the precocity of his financial position. I think that goes a long way to explaining some of the truly bizarre behavior he’s exhibited recently, including:
banning/unbanning journalists under flimsy/no pretense, claiming he was being tracked and his “assassination coordinates” (what?) were being shared on Twitter, claiming that he has a stalker (he doesn’t-Grimes does), claiming that the stalker used the twitter bot that tracks his private jet using publicly available flight plans to find him (the incident took place 23 hours after the last post from the account and dozens of miles away from the airport at a gas station near Grimes’ house, and the police have come forward to say they see no connection), going onstage at a Dave Chappelle show and getting booed off stage, banning sharing links to other services, a policy which he amended three times on the fly before it was deleted from the website this morning, having his mommy log on to Twitter and argue with his critics…do these sound like the action of a stable man?
Meanwhile at least one Tesla board member has called for Musk’s ouster and he has almost certainly at least started to realize that he paid 44 billion dollars for a website that’s not worth 4 billion. He already has the $8 from everyone who’s ever gong to pay it, so that revenue stream’s dried up, advertisers fled in droves because they don’t want to find their ads next to the 14 words, and he’s alienated every granola guy and girl in America who he needs to support his (also wildly overvalued) electric car business. Dude’s in trouble and he doesn’t have a ton of options.
Intentional or Coincidence? Far-Left New York Times Publishes Crossword Puzzle Resembling Nazi Swastika on the First Day of Hanukkah
By Jim Hoft
Published December 19, 2022 at 7:45am
50 Comments
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2022/12/intentional-coincidence-far-left-new-york-times-publishes-crossword-puzzle-resembling-nazi-swastika-first-day-jewish-festival/
Silly thing to even discuss, Professor. The whole nothingburger is beneath you
— He always said he would lay off 75% of the employees when he took over — he did
— He always said he would put all those taken off back on with a few exceptions — he did
— He always said he would only stay on as CEO for a transition period — he will
So-called Twitter 1 was mostly a place where people in my town could check to see if there were spots open in the beach parking lot. I am sure it had similar mundane purposes everywhere else in the country. One of those places was the swamp where a few hundred journalists used it to replace Journolist
Much ado about nothing
Rumor as of last night was that Musk was in contact with Alex Jones of Infowars to help right the ship at Twitter but Jones said he wasn’t interested in running the Govt Intel Service.
Further that AJ suggested Musk sell Twitter to one of the other failing Govt Intel Flame Throwing outfits of the NYT, Wapo,Cnn, etc..
NYT,Wapo, CNN, where Truth Dies a little bit more every dawn.
Alex Jones is a conspiracy theorist nut who filed for bankruptcy to protect himself from the $1.5B in damages in the Sandy Hook defamation suits.
You’re the Theorist Nut!
People are free to think what they wish about AJ & the info he reports on like the SSRI like shooting @ Sandy Hook, but if Jones cant receive a fair trial in the US No One is safe to do Biz in the US!!!
Below are some of the take ways from the Jones/US railroad job.
************
https://banned.video/channel/alex-jones-kangaroo-court-watch-
Are you kidding, or does this rumor legs?
Partly kidding.
Musk speaking with Jones, that was the gossip I heard. Could be they were just Cursing each other? LOL;) Hallway sex you know.
& I know Jones we;ll enough now no way he’d want that Twitter POS. IE: There’s a reason I’ve never signed up & elsewhere.
Over 80 govt agents? In Twitter, no telling how many + the rest were Not American Govt Agents.
Jones/supporters Hate Pedos/Pedo supporters.
What a complete Mess our USA is in.
Hopeful Jesus has our back as the Ruskies/etc., have every reason to B-itch slap our so called leaders for violently provoking them.
I can’t help but notice the bad guys Dumping of all of their dirty laundry going into these holiday season W/musk forcing them to disclose. I think Musk knows how to herd those idiots.
We’ll know soon.
Note Musk has been cleaning the hell of the Pedo Crap from Twitter as Trump was doing everywhere.
Thought is that’s why the Deep State/UN/WEF hate both of the so. Just look, who were those advertisers a Twitter that were leaving. Looks like Cockroaches in Sec8 Govt Housing to me.
“That is precisely why the left wants Musk out. As shown in companies like Disney, the left can muscle executives to take actions even against the interests of the company or shareholders. The left has strived to make such campaigns personal for executives, who often yield rather than risk being individually tagged and targeted.”
Turley is wrong. This is not about the left. It’s about Musk not being a good CEO of a social media company. He may be seeking to leave the position since he mistakenly thought this would be easy. What this is is Musk realizing that being a free speech absolutist is a lot harder than it seems. He’s already backtracked on his promises and he’s already found himself suspending and banning accounts because of criticism.
With Disney they chose to defend their employees and their choices. They exercised THEIR free speech right to criticize the policies of Florida governors DeSantis who punished the company for expressing their view and disagreement on his anti-woke policies. THAT was a direct violation of Disney’s free speech rights. It was a direct violation of the 1st amendment and Turley, a constitutional scholar who supports free speech, remained dead silent on that egregious violation and still remains so. It’s that sort of gross hypocrisy that rewards him with the criticism and vitriol that is increasingly chipping away at his tattered “credibility” and stature as a “prominent scholar”. He’s shrunk to the level approaching Jerry Springer’ tv show. Where a mob of “fans” happily cheer him on to keep peddling these “conflicts” for his fans instead of being a real scholar and dive into the details that make these issue complicated and rife with nuance.
Svelaz.
None of this has anything to do with Musk.
The only story here at all is YOUR immorality.
“None of this has anything to do with Musk.”
It has everything to do with Musk.
His name sits prominently on the title of Turley column.
My immorality has nothing to do with Elon’s stupid polls and hypocrisy.
Your pitiful attempt at deflection is notable.
Musk is the target – because he is the one who has exposed your immorality.
None of this has to do with Musk.
It is entirely about you.
I would note that you spent years telling us that Twitter could be whatever those running it wished.
Now you are engaged in a holy war to assure that does not happen.
The big hypocrite here is YOU>
Why are you still here ?
Have you no shame ?
Argentina just won the world cup.
They did not cheat to do it.
They did not lie and deceive 10’s of millions of people.
Decision-making via Twitter poll, because apparently his Magic 8-Ball was in the shop and Musk wanted to have an end-of-year clearance sale on really dumb ideas.
Pick any old western TV show you like — Bonanza, Gunsmoke, Rawhide, or a dozen others and twice as many movies — and there’s an episode where someone is killed, someone else is wrongly accused and jailed, and someone else swaggers into the saloon intent on rabble rousing the cowboy inebriati into forming a drunken lynch mob to dispense frontier “justice.”
That’s what Twitter polls are — and what Twitter has generally been over the years — and Musk was SUPPOSED to be the responsible sheriff that STOPS the lynch mob, not the swaggering bully that encourages the lynch mob, because we’ve already got the sham media to do that job.
It’s a good bet that Musk doesn’t run his other companies using the American Idol/Dancing with the Stars voting system that he used here — otherwise there’d be a Kardashian running the engineering department at SpaceX.
Elon Musk and Donald Trump are alike in one way. They are masters of misdirection. They hold up a shiny object for everyone to stare at and use that time to make a decision on what course of action to take next. Testing the sheep. Both men are brilliant manipulators. Something is on the way. And as what we have seen from the past, what comes next usually works out well.
Except Twitter is not an engineering project. It’s a people thing. And Musk is not very good at dealing with people.
I can’t say much about that, but having competent journalists release the files, is a job well done. The two journalists I am familiar with are on the left side of the aisle, so there should be no complaints from the left.
To date, they are doing a service demonstrating how the government overstepped its Constitutional restrictions and big businesses complied. Such a relationship is fascist.
None of the files demonstrated that. All they showed is the FBI and other agencies sharing concerns and information to SM platforms. Nothing they did was illegal or unconstitutional.
Warning them of certain information is not telling them to censor or asking them to censor. The choice is ultimately still SM’s.
Of course, what the FBI and other agencies did is contrary to what the Constitution allows. You like to bypass things you don’t like and make things up while providing “facts” based on your dreams.
Too bad you are unable to prove any of your contentions. That places you in the spotlight, sharing the stage with the ‘ignorantia’.
(ig·no·ran·tia ju·ris ne·mi·nem ex·cu·satˌ
ignorance of the law excuses no one ignorance of the law is no defense)
“Of course, what the FBI and other agencies did is contrary to what the Constitution allows.”
The constitution does not prohibit the FBI and other government agencies from sharing information with social media. It doesn’t prohibit them from warning them that certain information may be harmful. You don’t cite exactly what in the constitution does not allow the FBI to meet with social media to discuss information they may deem harmful or misinformation.
YOU can’t prove your own contentions. I bet you can’t even cite the law that you claim prohibits the FBI from sharing information with social media. Go ahead, prove me wrong.
One can not rely on anything you say regarding what the Constitution allows. There is no necessity to debate the finer aspects of constitutional law, for the tweets produced to date have demonstrated the FBI has obliterated any proper understanding of constitutional law.
If you do not recognize this is a problem for you, not anyone else. Most recognize the illegalities, and that you cannot see them only reflects your poor understanding of America’s history and the law.
“Go ahead, prove me wrong.”
Proving you wrong is easy. Every reply you have recently received proves you wrong. To make you understand and comprehend is nearly impossible. I demonstrate the proof of my claim in the following link.
https://jonathanturley.org/2022/01/21/the-other-big-lie-democrats-fuel-doubts-over-the-legitimacy-of-the-coming-elections/comment-page-1/#comment-2153325
“One can not rely on anything you say regarding what the Constitution allows. There is no necessity to debate the finer aspects of constitutional law, for the tweets produced to date have demonstrated the FBI has obliterated any proper understanding of constitutional law.”
LOL!!!! You can’t show where in the constitution prohibits the FBI from sharing information with social media.
You don’t have an argument LOL!!!
If proving me wrong is easy you certain couldn’t here.
Are you talking Svelaz. Go to link below that proves you are a liar. You have been proven wrong page after page.
https://jonathanturley.org/2022/01/21/the-other-big-lie-democrats-fuel-doubts-over-the-legitimacy-of-the-coming-elections/comment-page-1/#comment-2153325
Anonymous the Stupid is back to his antics deleting his own words. He says, “Allan’s comment proves he doesn’t understand an orderly way to establish proof. Yet again.” He knows he is lying so he makes his post disappear. What a lunkhead.
“That’s a real nice social media company you got there, pity of something should happen to it. Just sayin”
They don’t have to threaten or demand that Twitter follow their “requests” or “suggestions”, the message is clear.
He has done very well so far, and it has been barely a month.
It’s not misdirection. It’s being cowardly. Musk wants someone else to take the heat for the ideas he’s putting out. He’s realizing that being at the front of the line is not as glamorous as he though it would be. Being at the center of the digital public square comes with big downsides and he’s just now realizing it.
Musk bit off more than he could chew and he’s trying to spit it out without looking stupid. Unfortunately it’s way too late to save face. Turley is trying his best to put a positive spin on this fiasco by deflecting attention to “leftists” and their “attacks” on Musk. Musk brought it upon himself just like Trump has a knack for bringing problems upon himself and blaming others for it.
This is not about musk,
It is not about Trump.
In the midst of this morality play – the left has been caught naked, and instead of having the decency to scurry off and hide.
Is bitterly attacking those who exposed the left for the morally bankrupt sociopaths that they are.
Well said John Say!!
John, this is about Musk. His hypocrisy is being exposed and he’s looking for a way out of his mess.
Twitter’s own “citizens” are saying “enough of this BS, Elon must go.”
The “people” have spoken.
Nope, This is about you.
Twitter is not a democracy.
I have no idea if Musk will stay or go.
But He Owns twitter – you do not.
If he leaves – he will put in place the CEO of HIS choosing – not yours, not mine.
I would further note that he need not be CEO of twitter to continue to do as he please with twitter
I do not know if Musk will step down.
I highly doubt it will return to its pre-musk state.
The best case scenario for the left is that the rate of change is slowed.
Oops! As Devine Nunes was investigating the DOJ/FBI over the collusion delusion the DOJ/FBI was spying on Nunes.
One of the focuses of Nunes investigation was the coordination between the FBI and the DNC regarding the Collusion delusion.
This is similar to the coordination between FBI DHS CIA Biden campaign and Social Media in 2020
More evidence of Immoral conduct from the left.
https://justthenews.com/accountability/russia-and-ukraine-scandals/nunes-accuses-doj-seeking-blackmail-material-during?videoPosition=aniplayer_AV62cf06064203de29964ba1d6-1671558082334&videoId=68810
Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.
Amen
“While many on the left spent weeks dismissing Twitter’s polls as unscientific, they are now demanding that Musk follow through and step down. Some 42.5% of users wanted him to say.”
Many on the left are holding him accountable for his own actions. Dismissing his polls as unscientific is besides the point. Turley is oblivious to the fact that Musk really stepped into a situation that he is terrible at handling and it shows. He’s backtracked on his free speech promises when he started suspending without notice critics and those who are merely sharing information. This is exactly what he vehemently criticized Twitter of doing before he bought it. Now that he had the opportunity to run it he found himself doing exactly what he complained about and THAT is what he is being excoriated for. For being a massive hypocrite. Not because he is exercising his right to censor, ban, or suspend things he doesn’t like. The left is not against his right to censor which is still his right. They are against the blatant hypocrisy, just as Turley is also criticized of.
Elon still can choose to ignore this poll. I have no issue with it. BUT it won’t stop the waves of criticism that he brought upon himself by running things by these stupid polls. All he’s doing is showing everyone that he’s being a klutz and it’s all fun and games until the criticism starts to get to him.
There is no “anti-free speech” movement. That is entirely a construct from Turley’s Don Quixote like quest against this perceived mirage that is an anti-free speech movement.
Turley is simply upset that not everybody chooses to follow the principles he wishes everyone should follow when it comes to free speech. He WANTS to force everyone to do follow it without looking like the authoritarian he would be if he had his way. It would put him in the ironic position of trampling on someone else’s free speech so that everyone follows his version. But like every authoritarian or dictator they are the most hypocritical once they are forced to adhere to their own rules and claims. Suddenly there are exceptions and limitations. To be an absolutist is to be just that, an absolutist, meaning there ARE no exceptions. That is what it is to be an absolutist and I don’t think Turley or Musk really understands what it is to be what they claim to be.
@svelez
😂😂😂 You should write comedy, Svelez. Oh, wait. You do. Right here. Every single day. You are very good at your job.
Svelaz – you have no moral standing to hold anyone accountable for anything.
“At long last, have you no decency left ?”
You have fallen so far that you have made Sen. Joe MacCarthy look good in comparison.
And even right for going after communists.
Nixon resigned when the country learned who he was.
You are still defending bad conduct.
And attacking Musk, for exposing it.
John B. Say, this has nothing to do with morality. This is about Musk being an idiot with Twitter and his realization that the digital public square he envisioned is a lot meaner than he though. He’s no victim of “vicious attacks”. He’s facing the consequences of exercising free speech and learning what it is to be a free speech absolutist.
Musk is the one who loudly claimed to be a free speech absolutist and he’s the one who wanted to create a digital town square by criticizing those who were anti-free speech on twitter before he bought it. Now he’s being mercilessly mocked and derided IN HIS DIGITAL TOWN SQUARE because he’s being an obvious hypocrite. Free speech doesn’t protect anyone from the consequences of exercising it and it certainly doesn’t protect anyone from mockery and criticism for being an obvious hypocrite.
That mockery and criticism being the “attacks” against him ARE part of free speech. He’s annoyed by the fact that he isn’t protected from that and in response he suspends and bans certain journalists and posters completely eviscerating his claims of being a free speech absolutist.
Crying foul over his self inflicted victimhood is a pi$$ poor defense.
Musk exposed his own hypocrisy and that is what is getting the most attention. Not the pithy “twitter files” that show nothing illegal or malicious occurred other than show a company grappling with difficult decisions.
Of course you are deflecting.
It is your bad moral conduct that is being exposed.
With respect to Musk. He appears to have decided not to step down, and that future polls regarding Twitter rules will be limited to paid subscriber blue checks. That eliminates bot problems.
“This is about Musk being an idiot with Twitter and his realization that the digital public square he envisioned is a lot meaner than he though.”
Shortly after Musk took over Twitter became a much calmer happier place.
It only turned mean as left wing nuts whigged out. I have lots of “hate speech” in my twitter feed. It is entirely from the left.
Everyone on the right is very happy with the new state of things.
You are correct that there is a real problem with meanness, but it has nothing to do with whether speech is free or not. Or if so only to the extent that the LEFT’s speech is free.
I would note, I left twitter a couple of years ago – because it had become a mean place. That was under the massive censorship regime before.
Again the speech bullies – on Twitter as here are near exclusively on the left.
Any forum for speech – including turley.org that does not censor the left, will be mean.
I am not advocating censoring the left, just pointing out the truth.
“He’s no victim of “vicious attacks”.”
Of course he is. Look he is a big boy, he ca deal with it.
But that does not mean that the rest of us are not going to call those of you on the left out for the mean spirited liars and bullies that you are.
“He’s facing the consequences of exercising free speech and learning what it is to be a free speech absolutist.”
Nope, the consequences Musk is dealing with are those always associated with the fear of the left that they might lose power over anything.
The only way it has anything to do with free speech is that Musk is not censoring the left.
Musk is not being attacked by conservatives.
He is not being attacked by neo-nazi’s.
He is being attacked by people like you.
I do not have any problem with that.
But it is still perfectly appropriate for the rest of us to put your attacks under a microscope and expose them for the bullying idiocy that they are.
Again this is not about Musk – it is about YOU.
Twitter under Musk is NOT going to become the absolutist free speech platform where anything that is not illegal goes.
No matter what anyone may have said.
Quit beating a dead horse. Musk said that he would err towards free speech, that he leaned towards an absolutist approach – anything that is legal. But he did not say that is what he would make Twitter, only that he would head that direction.
He was asked if he would let Der Sturmer and Nazi’s back and he said probably not.
If it makes you happy to rant about “hypocricy” waste your breath all you want.
Regardless, Musk never promised that.
That he would not should have been obvious from the start.
There is nothing wrong with an absolute free speech model – “anything legal”.
But it is a niche market.
Musk is a businessman first. It would be strange for Musk to deliberately choose to convert Twitter from a large platform to a small one.
Disney has made a fortune catering to families with family freindly entertainment.
They just fired their CEO for losing sight of that, and damaging their brand and their market.
It is my expectation – and there is alot of evidence that Musk is looking to make Twitter a Trillion dollar company.
That requires making it a place where everyone is comfortable.
As I noted before – he is likely to have to come to some terms with the EU. He is unlikely to give them everything they want. Frankly they do not know what they want.
I fully expect to see a “return” of more content moderation at Twitter. But NOT a return of the army of left wing nut content moderators.
Musk will be working far more heavily to automate the process as much as possible – though I would note that Twitter had an automated content moderation process before, and THAT was not were the political biases were.
The problem was never with the automated processes, but with the political biases in the human processes.
Revealed more and more is that Twitter did not follow its own rules in banning conservatives.
An automated system can be biased too, but it is easier to do an automated system that is not.
Regarldess, for many reasons – including user trust and cost, Twitter under Musk will move to less human content moderation.
Again – this is not about Musk – it is about you.
It is about the immoral things you did at Social Media to rig an election (or two).
It is also about your vile, repugnant baseless ataccks – not just on musk but others that you disagree with.
Absolutely you are free to make them.
And the rest of us are free to show how you expose yourself to be brain dead bullies.
With respect to suspending journalists.
They did not have to within less than 24hrs after Musk extended the doxxing rule to include ANYONE’s location information, to violate that rule.
What did they expect.
I am glad that Musk has changed to Blue Check voting. Had he done that before polling to let the journalists back, they would still be banned.
I have no problem with Musks ban of doxxing – including location information. It is consistent with many state – including California’s laws.
And as Trump said from the start – illegal speech would still be barred.
Was there a need for these journlists to link to the site that tracked musk ? Nope.
They caused their own problems.
They are used to censoring others, not getting censored themselves.
Now they are on notice.
Next time the subscribers will not let them out of twitter jail.
Regardless, I want them and you to speek freely on Twitter and elswhere.
I want them and you to attack Trump or whoever else you want. To do so however floats your boat.
I want you to show us all who you are.
And you have.
It is not about Musk, it is STILL about you.
Makes me think he may already have someone picked out to take over. Still, if the reaction to Musk hasn’t shown our left’s descent into fascism like a neon sign, I don’t reckon anything will. ‘Good’ democrats skulls appear to be made of titanium and are about ten feet thick. I do not feel hopeful for freedom on this planet, at least in the near term, and I sure hope it doesn’t culminate in something none of us ever thought would happen again. We have passed the point of reconciliation, at least through words, ideas, compassion, and understanding, I think, and it is truly sad.
Musk could find a new CEO but stay involved on free speech and other strategic matters as executive chairman of the board.
Musk is drawing the bits out of hiding with this gambit.
👍
Well, he is not really leaving. He still owns the Company and, as such, will pick the next CEO. I have loved the fact that he bought the company and has laid bare the falsity of modern day “journalism” and the illegality of the FBI. We new that was all happening but there it is now in the print and e-mails. I would prefer that he continue to run Tesla , SpaceX, the Boring Company and others because he adds to the technology and competition in this competitive world and is brilliant at. I suspect that he can find a very good, smart ass CEO that can run the company and assemble a good team built around a good set of principles where all have a voice and the right to be heard. Even though he is pessimistic, I think he will find someone.
As a caveat to the progressive readers I know there is always some censoring because there are people on both sides who can be jerks and a———s. And sometimes they need to take a time out. Apparently too many people have never learned that and instead of using humor and intelligence, they just let their meanness and lack of manners poison civil discourse. Remember to attack the position and not the person. Usually.
Today’s journalists have seemed to forget that point and have betrayed their position as members of the 4th estate and no longer deserve their privileged status.
GEB,
Good post.
This is not about censoring jerks for incivility.
This is about a very large conspiracy between government, democrats, social media and the media to gain power by undeniably immoral means.
To those trying to argue that they successfully gamed the constitution and the law to censor the truth and to silence the voices of political opponents, that is not something you should be proud of.
That is a reason no one should ever trust any of you with power of anykind anywhere ever again.
Musk’s great service has been to show us that the MSM, big tech, and government agencies conspired to silence conservative Americans.
A secondary service was to expose the shameless hypocrisy of the left.
Hear! Hear!
Edward Snowden Signals Interest In Replacing Elon Musk As Twitter CEO: ‘I Take Payment In Bitcoin’
Elon Musk: making Twitter a respected honeypot again.