41 Comments

They're just mad because all of the people whose opinions they don't all agree with will be back and readable again.

They had hegemony, at the hands of a billionaire and now they're losing that toxic playground where they can sneer at undesirables while they themselves do nothing to make the world better. The slacktivist elite piss biters are mad bro.

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I applaud the move for the reasons outlined in the last part of the article, but most of all because he believes in medical freedom, not medical apartheid. I have seen too many people censored by all the social media, including the so-called "ethical" ones the woman tweeted about (what a joke!), for espousing views related to Covid that go against the mainstream narrative. This whole thing about "misinformation" really gets me. Who gets to decide what misinformation is? When that's in the hands of a self-righteous and censuring ruling class, and all other views are shut down, as has been the case for the past two years, it's a terrifying and toxic scenario. Good for Elon Musk for shaking this up! I saw that two major Canadian banks helped finance his move and am not sure what to make of that. Any thoughts?

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I wouldn't read too much into the Canadian banks' involvement. They saw a chance to earn some interest income and they took it.

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Probably so, Miles.

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Yes I saw that too. Very curious.

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So well said. I agree 100%.

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I have a hunch that Katie Herzog was being sarcastic when she referred to rh "ethical" sites

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I scanned it quickly and missed the sarcasm. That must be it.

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Fascism is the abuse of somebody's rights for the benefit of somebody else. People on the right have had their rights to free speech in the internet sacrificed for the empowerment of people on the left. The left likes to call people on the right "fascists" when in fact they are the ones trying subvert the rights of others, because equality is inconvenient.

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The text book definition is an explicit partnership between government and business.

Mussolini would be awfully proud of the US and the wests gov'ts right now, but he'd say, "Hey! Why you no-a like-a ma fascism? It's-a no good-a but-a you like-a you OWN?!?" while making hand movements.

(Full disclaimer, I'm half Sicilian and talk with-a ma hands")

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Apr 27, 2022·edited Apr 27, 2022

There are times when the government needs things to be built or done. Open contracting is perfectly democratic. But it fascist when it is political, where favored businesses get favored deals, usurping the rights of other businesses to participate in the tendering process. Again, the rights of somebody (a private business) are being sacrificed for the benefit of somebody else (a government favoured business). It could also be called oligarchy.

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Like when Peter Griffin grew a mustache.

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Twitter, CNN+, Netflix, and Disney are all part of the narrative collapse. Subscribe to The Current Thing Company to stay up to date: https://yuribezmenov.substack.com/p/how-to-build-a-killer-business-and?s=w

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I'm certainly hopeful that this will go well for many of the people who've been destroyed thanks to Twitter. I made a conscious effort to avoid Twitter because of how politically problematic it is for those who aren't as on board with the way things have been going. Perhaps I'll use it more now.

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Regardless of the histrionics/adult tantrums, I trust him more than the current team at Twitter to deliver an even field of discussion.

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I have my concerns about Elon Musk and his cozy relationship with the Chinese government, but I trust him more than the Usual Woke Suspects of Silicon Valley (not that that's saying much).

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deletedApr 26, 2022·edited Apr 26, 2022
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I picked the Daily Mail because they're not woke the way CNN or CBC is. They're England's Fox News basically.

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My oh my! Won't it be interesting when Twitter changes course from hurtful and destructive notions (like Defriending)--particularly of school girls. When having a robust discussion about the appropriateness of gender transitioning for pre-teens is posible.

Musk will cause the necessary course correction. The current Twits have failed miserably to evolve Twitter into a positive social friend.

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It's about time someone brought free speech back and it's time someone stood up to the WOKE generation.

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If you have not noticed, the political game is negative branding through the media. It is a game that patriots don't tend to play too well... both because they are not as nasty... and are generally less interested in the political game and more interested in backyard family BBQs. However, it is a game that needs to be played.

So, now that Twitter is going back to free speech, let's start the negative branding engine. Anybody that posts absurd hyperbole - for example, that Musk buying Twitter is opening the door for Nazism - we can brand as non-serious, intellectually bankrupt, communist groomers.

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Whoa, Michelle Goldberg actually said that?

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Apr 28, 2022·edited Apr 28, 2022

But seriously, Twitter had become a place where woke identitarians could show off their hashtags and little flags to gain distinction in a digital economy where the real world of distinction is fast fading away. As Pierre Bourdieu hinted, this used to be done with physical objects like clothes and household furnishings. Now it's done with tweets and bylines and avatars.

Twitter was fairly pristine of late - in America, you couldn't question Biden's election, Fauci's weird moral shuffle on Covid policy, or anyone in "protected classes" if they did something bad, like faking hate crimes or murdering people in riots. Now it promises to become more of a Wild West, which will hurt peoples' feelings, but promises to be far more entertaining. Twitter was never about rational debate, given its original 140-character limits and focus on outrage. It was about quick information bytes, posing, preening, and moral grandstanding. The least one can ask of it is to be funny, even unintentionally, as when the CNN flack worried that Elon would use it to promote on party's candidates over another with a new algorithm. Oh no, that's never happened before, has it? (<=intentional sarcasm).

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Railing against the "woke" crowd is fine, but there are legitimate concerns about the misuse of Twitter in the name of free speech. Twitter has been misused by traffickers, tyrants, election meddling troll farms, and criminals of many other stripes. Some form of content moderation on Twitter will always be necessary. It is chilling to know that complex decisions about content moderation will be at the whim of an impulsive, reckless, and unaccountable individual, regardless of whether that person is penniless or the richest person in the world. Twitter will never be a nirvana of free speech. The idea that Musk will make it so is a fallacy.

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Musk has said that he wants to distinguish between human accounts and bot accounts, as well as make the algorithms public, so there's that.

Content moderation isn't necessarily the issue; it's politically slanted content moderation that lacks transparency that's the issue. Musk could at least solve the transparency piece.

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How has it made Twitter worse than yesterday? It was always a toxic cesspool.

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Apr 27, 2022·edited Apr 27, 2022

Why bother though? Isn’t the pursuit of truth what most should be aiming for? None of these apps, or platforms possess the necessary vehicle for that.

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I left twitter yesterday. I do not want to be associated in any way with any enterprise he is connected to.

I feel his challenge to Putin was despicable, there are CHILDREN dying, and he makes a stupid joke that he can give the country to Putin if he loses mano a mano. It isn't fecking his!

He made fun of Bill Gates appearance this week like a 12 yo would.

He is a child who doesn't GAF about anyone else and he has billions at his disposal for any whim he likes.

MAGA love him, and he did nothing to support the black workers getting abused at his plants, that in itself would make me turn my back to him.

But he can and probably will be so much worse.

Wait for it...

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Wow. Every I-support-the-curent-thing cliche in one comment. Well done.

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I am wary, simply because he is a billionaire. Just like I’m wary of billionaires coercing me into experimental medical procedures, billionaires coercing me into thinking we must be at war with Russia (yes! children die during war!!! and it’s horrible! no one would or should say otherwise! unless, maybe, they are billionaires in the war machine!!) and I’m wary of billionaires coercing me into thinking that there is no path for negotiation etc, just like I’m wary of any space that censors me or anyone else, just like I’m wary of the fact that legacy media is heavily funded by pharma and weapons manufacturers etc. The world is full of corrupt systems. Musk is a drop in the bucket--everything is dangerous. We need to stay vigilant, and see the complexities around us, and be allowed to question and discuss them openly. I appreciate hearing your perspective on Musk because it opens my eyes to what people might be concerned about. Valid indeed! I hope he moves us all in a more open direction where it feels a bit less 1984ish online and in real life, though. But maybe I am naive. I will wait for it :)

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deletedApr 26, 2022·edited Apr 26, 2022
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Right-wingers being Musk groupies is a bit weird in the same way as liberals in 2020 suddenly loving Anthony Fauci.

From Spiked: https://www.spiked-online.com/2022/04/06/elon-musk-wont-save-free-speech/

"Those who value free expression would do well to temper their excitement at Musk’s new role. After all, the problem with Big Tech is not that the wrong corporate overlords are censoring speech and tightly controlling the public square – it’s that corporate overlords have ended up with the power to censor speech in the first place. The problem is not just that the 21st-century digital cage that limits public expression has been built by leftists, but that it has been built at all.

Critics of Big Tech should not be satisfied with finding a more conservative, libertarian or even truly liberal billionaire as a patron. They should be seeking a way out of corporate and billionaire patronage altogether – seeking a way to restore the power to the people.

But even if you were looking for a billionaire saviour, Elon Musk is not your guy.

Although Musk has called himself a ‘free speech absolutist’, employees at Tesla might disagree. Tesla workers have reportedly been fired for trying to unionise, for disagreeing with Musk and for reporting racist harassment.

Moreover, Musk’s more libertarian sympathies seem to melt away when it comes to his dealings with China. The Wall Street Journal, for instance, has described Musk as ‘a high-profile cheerleader of China’s ruling Communist Party, in sharp contrast to his renegade persona in the US’."

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ARE YOU CONFUSED OR JUST PLAIN STUPID

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1999 - "It's a bad idea to have billionaires control the media of mass communication. They will quash intellectual diversity and freedom of speech."

2022 - "Thank the gender-neutral Creator that Elon has bought Twitter. Finally, we're rid of woke censorship and authoritarianism."

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Apr 28, 2022·edited Apr 28, 2022

I'll see Jeff Jarvis and raise him - when I couldn't find any chicken fillets at the grocery store yesterday, it felt like the last night of Weimar Germany. I think I saw a pale reflection of Joseph Goebbels at the back of the freezer. Also, I stubbed my toe recently, and it felt like the invasion of Europe by Attila the Hun. This is by no means hyperbole.

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