Elon Musk, Twitter’s next owner, provides his definition of “free speech”

fritterVII

Wise, Aged Ars Veteran
119
Subscriptor
The cool thing about Twitter is that you don't need to follow people who post such things if you don't like them. Your unstated premise is that such content is persuasive and enjoys popular support, so this speech should be contained to decrease the likelihood of these things achieving political traction.
Ah yes, like that time Leslie Jones was harassed off of Twitter by people she was following.
 
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104 (109 / -5)

aerogems

Ars Scholae Palatinae
7,298
While I personally agree that free speech principles should be applied more broadly and apply to things like the workplace and even social media, I also recognize that it will result in a number of scenarios where things can get complicated. I also tend to follow the libertarian notion that my rights end when they infringe upon someone else's. So, I would say that a lot of things should earn you a ban, like various *phobic comments attacking people over some aspect of who they are.

It's pretty clear that Musk didn't really think this through and has no real idea what he's getting himself into. He just wants a new toy and has way too much money. It seems equally clear this is going to turn into a situation where anything Musk doesn't like will magically fall outside the realm of free speech. Someone talking about how their Tesla was acting funny? Not allowed. Telsa employees wanting to try to unionize? Banned. People calling Musk a pedo guy?

paddling.gif
 
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94 (98 / -4)
I remember people saying "Give Trump a chance", and I did. It didn't take long for his true colors to show.

I expect Twitter to be free speech as much as I expect Fox News to be Fair and Balanced. Hopefully I'm wrong.

We all knew what Trump was about before he ran for POTUS. Some people either liked what they saw or chose to ignore it because they thought it would hurt the libs.
 
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95 (99 / -4)
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what I constantly miss in this discussion, is his statement that "everybody is going to be a registered user" (or something in that direction) -> Which I, as a European, interpret as "no anonimous bullshit allowed".

When that's a fact, people will automatically be responsible for their "free speech".

Which doesn't matter in the slightest. Facebook has a real name policy. Nextdoor has a real name policy. These are arguably some of the most toxic major social media platforms available.
D'accord. And while giving some slack to the guy seems like a far stretch: If he implements law enforcement as content moderation, it might hit the right button. That will make it incredibly difficult, since the EU has different laws than the USA, f.i., that would be an interesting approach.

Seeing USA-nazi's post their crap, while Europeans cannot see their posts, f.i.
 
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ip_what

Ars Tribunus Angusticlavius
6,181
Kara Swisher on Elon Musk: 🤔

FRXVZSAVEAEe7aj.png

I actually agree with the thrust of this that Elon is a complex human being whose contributions to humanity/society cut both ways.

But the notion that someone who has done some impressive things can’t be fascist or silly is absolutely ridiculous.
 
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128 (132 / -4)

That kind of content would be illegal in Europe (with good reason).
 
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54 (55 / -1)

PentyPesu

Wise, Aged Ars Veteran
177
Hooray Freeze Peach.

Spam is not illegal
Bots are not illegal
Russian disinformation is not illegal
Racial slurs are not illegal
Rants targeting transgender persons are not illegal.
Gross memes about Muslims or minorities aren't illegal.

The vast majority of what is on 4chan is also not illegal it is just gross and disgusting.


Also "Musk recently suggested he would defy governments that demand speech restrictions" seems to be incompatible with "free speech is simply that which matches the law". I mean this is Trumper level doublespeak and lack of basic logic here which I guess is the whole point. Musk wants to be the new darling of the alt-right to stroke his insatiable ego and narcissism.

The cool thing about Twitter is that you don't need to follow people who post such things if you don't like them. Your unstated premise is that such content is persuasive and enjoys popular support, so this speech should be contained to decrease the likelihood of these things achieving political traction.
So you think all the women who receive rape and death threats are following all those people harassing them? 🙄
 
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127 (133 / -6)
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watermeloncup

Ars Tribunus Angusticlavius
8,882
Kara Swisher on Elon Musk: 🤔

FRXVZSAVEAEe7aj.png

I actually agree with the thrust of this that Elon is a complex human being whose contributions to humanity/society cut both ways.

But the notion that someone who has one some impressive things can’t be fascist or silly is absolutely ridiculous.

I generally like Kara Swisher, but I think she's often too credulous about the motivations of people like Musk.
 
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30 (33 / -3)

3force

Wise, Aged Ars Veteran
188
Guy who canceled a customer's Tesla order because "he was rude" has thoughts on censorship at a private non-governmental business.

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/ ... rs-model-x
Not to defend Musk, but free speech is not freedom from consequences. Inviting criticism and then punishing for it is immoral but not inconsistent.

My head will short circuit, so I'll say this in the most civil and nice way possible before that happens: freedom of speech is not freedom from consequences is the whole goddamn point. The entire rallying cry for "free speech" by Musk, Trump, and their ilk is them railing against the consequences of what they said.

Like... I legit never thought I would see "free speech is not freedom from consequences" being unironically used in defense of Musk. Jfc.
 
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149 (156 / -7)

PentyPesu

Wise, Aged Ars Veteran
177
Guy who canceled a customer's Tesla order because "he was rude" has thoughts on censorship at a private non-governmental business.

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/ ... rs-model-x
Not to defend Musk, but free speech is not freedom from consequences. Inviting criticism and then punishing for it is immoral but not inconsistent.
Consequences? Like having your posts deleted or being banned from a website for violating its rules? 🤔
 
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108 (113 / -5)

co-lee

Ars Tribunus Angusticlavius
6,123
Hooray Freeze Peach.

Spam is not illegal
Bots are not illegal
Russian disinformation is not illegal
Racial slurs are not illegal
Rants targeting transgender persons are not illegal.
Gross memes about Muslims or minorities aren't illegal.

The vast majority of what is on 4chan is also not illegal it is just gross and disgusting.


Also "Musk recently suggested he would defy governments that demand speech restrictions" seems to be incompatible with "free speech is simply that which matches the law". I mean this is Trumper level doublespeak and lack of basic logic here which I guess is the whole point. Musk wants to be the new darling of the alt-right to stroke his insatiable ego and narcissism.

The cool thing about Twitter is that you don't need to follow people who post such things if you don't like them. Your unstated premise is that such content is persuasive and enjoys popular support, so this speech should be contained to decrease the likelihood of these things achieving political traction.

I don't follow Musk at all and that stupid asshole still shows up in my Twitter feed thanks to their bullshit trending algorithm.
it's way better if you do latest tweets rather than letting the rage-maximization algorithm choose what to show you.
The other trick I recently learned is to set your location for trends to someplace else in the world. Cleans the trending up and can sometimes be interesting to see what people in, say, Costa Rica are talking about.
 
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17 (23 / -6)
Musk is going to break every rule about Tweeting as part of the acquisition deal and absolutely nothing of consequence will happen to him.

I am going firmly on the record that the awesome "'free' speech" model Elon has cooked up to improve Twitter revenues will literally be "paid speech" that allows political campaigns to pay for prioritization in the algorithm.
 
Upvote
46 (49 / -3)
Hooray Freeze Peach.

Spam is not illegal
Bots are not illegal
Russian disinformation is not illegal
Racial slurs are not illegal
Rants targeting transgender persons are not illegal.
Gross memes about Muslims or minorities aren't illegal.

The vast majority of what is on 4chan is also not illegal it is just gross and disgusting.


Also "Musk recently suggested he would defy governments that demand speech restrictions" seems to be incompatible with "free speech is simply that which matches the law". I mean this is Trumper level doublespeak and lack of basic logic here which I guess is the whole point. Musk wants to be the new darling of the alt-right to stroke his insatiable ego and narcissism.

The cool thing about Twitter is that you don't need to follow people who post such things if you don't like them. Your unstated premise is that such content is persuasive and enjoys popular support, so this speech should be contained to decrease the likelihood of these things achieving political traction.
So you think all the women who receive rape and death threats are following all those people harassing them? 🙄
I am pretty sure any such women were just asking for it! (do I really need to add the /S in here?)
 
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-13 (16 / -29)

CraigJ ✅

Ars Legatus Legionis
27,010
Subscriptor
Hooray Freeze Peach.

Spam is not illegal
Bots are not illegal
Russian disinformation is not illegal
Racial slurs are not illegal
Rants targeting transgender persons are not illegal.
Gross memes about minorities aren't illegal.
Demands that minorities go back to their own countries aren't illegal.
Falsehoods aren't illegal (except in very narrow circumstances).

The vast majority of what is on 4chan is also not illegal it is just gross and disgusting.


Also "Musk recently suggested he would defy governments that demand speech restrictions" seems to be incompatible with "free speech is simply that which matches the law". I mean this is Trumper level doublespeak and lack of basic logic here which I guess is the whole point. Musk wants to be the new darling of the alt-right to stroke his insatiable ego and narcissism.

Publishing Musk's plane flights is not illegal
Shorting Tesla is not illegal.
Calling Musk an asshole is not illegal.

Bet those disappear from Twitter...
 
Upvote
95 (103 / -8)
Some people will do or say just about anything for that next serotonin hit.

When you cultivate a personality that lacks any introspection, all you have is external validation to rely upon. If someone pats you on the head for being just a little hateful, and others call you out for it, you lean into being shitty because it’s easier than looking inward at yourself and judging yourself. All of those memes about how criticizing someone for a shitty idea makes them more beholden to it aren’t entirely wrong, but they miss the point: it’s the fault of the person so easily mislead.

I honestly doubt Elon Musk started here. But he clearly craves attention and praise and he’s more likely to get that by yielding to shitty people than he is to being decent. Being decent is hard. Being decent requires you to reassess and judge yourself, and accept that maybe while you thought you were being decent, your standard isn’t high enough.

For some, that’s too hard. So it’s the easy path: find people who will validate you being shitty…and drag you deeper into it.
 
Upvote
49 (53 / -4)
Hooray Freeze Peach.

Spam is not illegal
Bots are not illegal
Russian disinformation is not illegal
Racial slurs are not illegal
Rants targeting transgender persons are not illegal.
Gross memes about Muslims or minorities aren't illegal.

The vast majority of what is on 4chan is also not illegal it is just gross and disgusting.


Also "Musk recently suggested he would defy governments that demand speech restrictions" seems to be incompatible with "free speech is simply that which matches the law". I mean this is Trumper level doublespeak and lack of basic logic here which I guess is the whole point. Musk wants to be the new darling of the alt-right to stroke his insatiable ego and narcissism.

The cool thing about Twitter is that you don't need to follow people who post such things if you don't like them. Your unstated premise is that such content is persuasive and enjoys popular support, so this speech should be contained to decrease the likelihood of these things achieving political traction.
So you think all the women who receive rape and death threats are following all those people harassing them? 🙄
Can't agree with you more.
 
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21 (22 / -1)
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MrWalrus

Ars Tribunus Militum
1,710
Kara Swisher on Elon Musk: 🤔

FRXVZSAVEAEe7aj.png

The idea that people working on important things can't be bad people has to be the dumbest logical leap ever.

The Nazis had lots of very smart people working on ways to destroy the armies of the free world and cover all of Europe and probably Africa in a genocidal dark age.

So one might want to remind her they even have people working on such important things like <gasp> rockets.

For some reason this came into my mind just now, can't think why. Nice tune, though...

Tom Lehrer":pnfwvorn said:
Gather 'round while I sing you of Wernher von Braun
A man whose allegiance
Is ruled by expedience
Call him a Nazi, he won't even frown
"Nazi, Schmazi!" says Wernher von Braun

Don't say that he's hypocritical
Say rather that he's apolitical
"Once the rockets are up, who cares where they come down?
That's not my department!" says Wernher von Braun
 
Upvote
42 (44 / -2)
Guy who canceled a customer's Tesla order because "he was rude" has thoughts on censorship at a private non-governmental business.

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/ ... rs-model-x

Don't forget he also fired an employee of his for talking on Youtube about his own privately purchased vehicle. Freedom of speech indeed. The only "free speech" Musk is interested in is that which he agrees with. If you have something contrary to his beliefs or opinions, you can expect to be banned from Twitter once he owns it.
 
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56 (62 / -6)

nehinks

Ars Tribunus Angusticlavius
7,421
I wonder how strong the "deal terms that prohibit him from criticizing Twitter and its representatives" are? Because I don't think he's capable of keeping himself from doing that over the new few months (given he's already doing it).

This could turn into a free billion dollar cash infusion for Twitter if he's not careful.
 
Upvote
26 (27 / -1)

PentyPesu

Wise, Aged Ars Veteran
177
Hooray Freeze Peach.

Spam is not illegal
Bots are not illegal
Russian disinformation is not illegal
Racial slurs are not illegal
Rants targeting transgender persons are not illegal.
Gross memes about Muslims or minorities aren't illegal.

The vast majority of what is on 4chan is also not illegal it is just gross and disgusting.


Also "Musk recently suggested he would defy governments that demand speech restrictions" seems to be incompatible with "free speech is simply that which matches the law". I mean this is Trumper level doublespeak and lack of basic logic here which I guess is the whole point. Musk wants to be the new darling of the alt-right to stroke his insatiable ego and narcissism.

The cool thing about Twitter is that you don't need to follow people who post such things if you don't like them. Your unstated premise is that such content is persuasive and enjoys popular support, so this speech should be contained to decrease the likelihood of these things achieving political traction.
So you think all the women who receive rape and death threats are following all those people harassing them? 🙄

Threats are obviously illegal, but let me remind you that freedom of speech doesn't guarantee that people won't be upset at your speech and harass you for it.
And yet people still continue to issue them against other Twitter users. And there's no reason to believe Elon is gonna crack down on them based on his vapid statements.

Also, the only thing illegal, at least in the US, are credible threats. Good luck convincing law enforcement that every such message is such a thing.
 
Upvote
49 (51 / -2)