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

Amid Twitter buyout, Musk says free speech is simply "that which matches the law."

Read the whole story

 

[DovePig]

The hysterical reaction to Elon Musk buying twitter is truly remarkable, and depressing. Reacting that way means you are so consumed by your ideology that everything is a threat. How do you find the courage to leave your house or talk to a girl? I bet you don't.

Twitter couldn't possibly get worse. If you believe twitter could get worse under new management you're not a serious person.

The insane rage directed at Musk shows how much a person believes their viewpoint or ego are too brittle to encounter any confrontation at all.

Pathetic really.

Cool, another unique and valuable take. People who criticize Elon Musk are virgins, way to show everyone how badass and not at all sensitive you are. I'm sure your T levels are in the stratosphere.

Don't mock the poster's T levels! He's been doing balls tanning therapy for weeks! Surely he's now the most alpha ever! /s

 

[aerogems]

In another tweet after completing his deal with the Twitter board, Musk wrote that "Truth Social is currently beating Twitter & TikTok on the Apple Store,"

And while that sounds amazing to someone who is dumb, Truth Social is estimated to have barely more than a half million daily active users. Twitter has more than 200 million DAUs as of Q4 of last year with TikTok at around 50 million in the US alone.

Well... yeah.

Most anyone who wants to use Twitter or TikTok already has it. Almost all daily downloads will be due to device repacements.

Truth Social downloads are going to be mostly interested-but-don't-have-it downloads.

Measuring the usefulness of a site based on its mobile app downloads is measuring something useless.

Wasn't Parler at the top of the downloads for a day or two way back? Looks like yes: https://fortune.com/2020/11/09/parler-c ... oaded-app/

And how many active users does it have now?

Dozens.

I think the implication was non-bot accounts.

Edit: Should have read a couple more comments... The Dark beat me to this comment.

 

[Deleted member 817175]

United Nations addressing Twitter, its responsibilities above and beyond the UN own failure to carry thee gravitas of its own imprimatur is fundamentally a first order logic error. Invoking WHO, using statements of that organization’s Covid communication fiasco, further burdening the bird-as-messenger with the weight of global catastrophe is laughable...

(rest of bizarre anti-globalist screed snipped)

Let's play a game.

You name a topic you disapprove of in the most outlandishly verbose terms possible, and I'll guess letters until I have spelled the word.

The first letter I guess is J.

 

[watermeloncup]

A lot of people got banned. Some like Pewdiepie got their account back but again, being censored over a tiny spicy comment is stupid and not democratic at all.

Banned for doing what?

And you didn't answer the question why "oversensitive morons" don't have the right to free speech as well.

 

[Deleted member 817175]

A lot of people got banned. Some like Pewdiepie got their account back but again, being censored over a tiny spicy comment is stupid and not democratic at all.

Banned for doing what?

And you didn't answer the question why "oversensitive morons" don't have the right to free speech as well.

Apparently conservatives feel that merely being expected to uphold the terms of contracts they have agreed to in good faith is an unacceptable bar to their ability to be themselves.

They are new men, overmen, living on the edge, unbound by mere normie integrity... How dare the rest of us? Just because they said they would behave according to Twitter's terms of service doesn't mean they should actually have to!

 

[GreyAreaUK]

A lot of people got banned. Some like Pewdiepie got their account back but again, being censored over a tiny spicy comment is stupid and not democratic at all.

Twitter isn't a democracy. When you sign up to Twitter you agree to terms of service, some of which are to do with how you comport yourself on their platform. Break those terms and they can (and will) ban your sorry arse.

So, again, cite examples of what you want to say on Twitter but feel you currently cannot.

 

[ZippyPeanut]

In many ways, this feels like yet another instance of 'wealthy white techbro finds out that thing outside their expertise is in fact complex after all'.

He's just riding the free speech train on his way to making crazy amounts of money. He doesn't actually care about free speech, as he has proven many times in the past.

I'm not sure how people don't seem to grasp that concept? Are that many people really so brainwashed?

Well, 60 million of them voted for Trump, so you can use that as a starting point.

And stupid brainwashed. That's what really gets me. You know, when there is some cult leader who has brainwashed people, that leader is usually charismatic in some way -- charming or smart or attractive -- friendly, maybe even sophisticated. Donald Trump is an ugly, stupid, unfriendly, bullying, bloviating asshole with zero charisma. The only thing he has to offer is hateful stupidity.

Yet, you are correct. He somehow, without an ounce of charisma, he brainwashed half the US electorate.

 

[Uragan]

A lot of people got banned. Some like Pewdiepie got their account back but again, being censored over a tiny spicy comment is stupid and not democratic at all.

Yeah... “Death to all Jews" is tiny and "spicy", right?

 

[aerogems]

Does Musk buying Twitter allow him to side-step the SEC? Since he owns it, are "his" tweets simply "his speech" from "his megaphone ?"

No. His ownership of Twitter has absolutely zero impact regarding the consent decree he entered into with the SEC and is currently throwing a tantrum over. He got in trouble with the SEC for what he said not where he said it.

 

[Snark218]

A lot of people got banned. Some like Pewdiepie got their account back but again, being censored over a tiny spicy comment is stupid and not democratic at all.

By "spicy," let's all be very clear, you mean things like racial slurs, white supremacist recruiting, calling people's human rights into question or negating them outright, threats of violence, incitement to violence, that kind of thing. Just so we're all on the same page about what you're telling us is "democratic" or not.

 

[Deleted member 817175]

In many ways, this feels like yet another instance of 'wealthy white techbro finds out that thing outside their expertise is in fact complex after all'.

He's just riding the free speech train on his way to making crazy amounts of money. He doesn't actually care about free speech, as he has proven many times in the past.

I'm not sure how people don't seem to grasp that concept? Are that many people really so brainwashed?

Well, 60 million of them voted for Trump, so you can use that as a starting point.

And stupid brainwashed. That's what really gets me. You know, when there is some cult leader who has brainwashed people, that leader is usually charismatic in some way -- charming or smart or attractive -- friendly, maybe even sophisticated. Donald Trump is an ugly, stupid, unfriendly, bullying, bloviating asshole with zero charisma. The only thing he has to offer is hateful stupidity.

Yet, you are correct. He somehow, without an ounce of charisma, he brainwashed half the US electorate.

This is probably a subject for an English lit grad (of all things) but one thing I learned from Trump is that charisma isn't actually about persuading people to believe things they didn't already.

It can just as easily be validating things they already believed.

Trump is an asshole. Most of his own supporters recognize that well enough. Trump is the asshole they can live vicariously through because the libs won't let them be assholes in their own lives anymore. Even if he doesn't liberate them from it, at least they can watch him live free.

Which is why it's so important to protect the freedom of people like Trump and Musk. If they can't be assholes either, what hope is there for me?

 

[Uragan]

If you poor saps can't detect the hysteria in your reactions you're pretty out of touch with yourselves.

I did call you all insecure virgins, so you got me on that.

As far as immaturity, it takes courage, maturity and some authentic confidence in your moral posture to encounter disagreement and grow from the process.

If you withdraw from the world into a bubble, you stagnate and never live up to your potential.

Personally I don't care if you live up to your potential, but for your own sake you should consider trying.

Pot, meet kettle.

 

[HiredGoons]

A lot of people got banned. Some like Pewdiepie got their account back but again, being censored over a tiny spicy comment is stupid and not democratic at all.

I don't think you actually understand what Democracy really is. True Democracy is when you're on a pirate ship, and the crew holds a vote to have you walk the plank because they're sick of your shit.

 

[ZippyPeanut]

The hysterical reaction to Elon Musk buying twitter is truly remarkable, and depressing. Reacting that way means you are so consumed by your ideology that everything is a threat. How do you find the courage to leave your house or talk to a girl? I bet you don't.

Twitter couldn't possibly get worse. If you believe twitter could get worse under new management you're not a serious person.

The insane rage directed at Musk shows how much a person believes their viewpoint or ego are too brittle to encounter any confrontation at all.

Pathetic really.

Cool, another unique and valuable take. People who criticize Elon Musk are virgins, way to show everyone how badass and not at all sensitive you are. I'm sure your T levels are in the stratosphere.

Don't mock the poster's T levels! He's been doing balls tanning therapy for weeks! Surely he's now the most alpha ever! /s

And you'd think that browner balls would pose a very serious threat to Tucker's followers. Oh, the irony.

 

[Hack-n-Slash]

The hysterical reaction to Elon Musk buying twitter is truly remarkable, and depressing. Reacting that way means you are so consumed by your ideology that everything is a threat. How do you find the courage to leave your house or talk to a girl? I bet you don't.

Twitter couldn't possibly get worse. If you believe twitter could get worse under new management you're not a serious person.

The insane rage directed at Musk shows how much a person believes their viewpoint or ego are too brittle to encounter any confrontation at all.

Pathetic really.

Cool, another unique and valuable take. People who criticize Elon Musk are virgins, way to show everyone how badass and not at all sensitive you are. I'm sure your T levels are in the stratosphere.

Don't mock the poster's T levels! He's been doing balls tanning therapy for weeks! Surely he's now the most alpha ever! /s

I mean, it does take a special kind of man to follow through with the process...

 

[DovePig]

Spoiler

United Nations addressing Twitter, its responsibilities above and beyond the UN own failure to carry thee gravitas of its own imprimatur is fundamentally a first order logic error. Invoking WHO, using statements of that organization’s Covid communication fiasco, further burdening the bird-as-messenger with the weight of global catastrophe is laughable.

Twitter, the little bird, is growing thanks to privatization. Big Bird it’s not. But rhetoric that is being espoused certainly is Big Brother. Twitter’s governed, regulated and subjects who tweet are themselves responsible; held to account for violations in statutory law or constitutional. That’s Twitterverse physics!

Twitterverse is space. A space where tweets can be heard(get read). Like birds tweeting speech can get cacophonous. Elon can improve use of space. There is little that Elon can do in space beyond reducing the cost of access, making twitter’s tweet success audible (better read) and enhancing twitter’s tweets so that Twitter delivery does reach twitter’s intended audience.

You all get to choose how you like your Twitterverse; raw, chronological, filtered or sliced and diced by algorithm. It is at this context that Big Brother UN is manifestly dictating that your Twitterverse should comply with fuzzy logic rules that once the UN reads a tweet they know exactly what is/is not fit for your eyes.

Not my Twitterverse, thank you. I have the ability to judge, filter and self-censor what content I wish or not to read, view, listen… In homage to liberty and the freedoms elited in the U.S. constitution freedom of speech includes the right to listen, read in any and all forms. Elon Musk can improve my Twitterverse. Build the tools that provide the granularity of choice I select incrementally to extreme mute cancel. That’s an improved twitter where it is in the control of the recipient, WHO be damned they think they should be exempt and exonerated for content they produce.

WHO be damned they think they should be exempt and exonerated for content they produce

Ah, so you are a total shill. Should have just said so, why did you bother with all your gibberish word salad then? It's not even intelligible! F-, fail. Ouch, is that too ugly for you? Oops, freeze peach useful idiots getting offended over freeze peach, how totally sad!

 

[GreyAreaUK]

Spoiler

If you poor saps can't detect the hysteria in your reactions you're pretty out of touch with yourselves.

I did call you all insecure virgins, so you got me on that.

As far as immaturity, it takes courage, maturity and some authentic confidence in your moral posture to encounter disagreement and grow from the process.

If you withdraw from the world into a bubble, you stagnate and never live up to your potential.

Personally I don't care if you live up to your potential, but for your own sake you should consider trying.

Did that little display of impotent chest-thumping sound good in your head?

 

[gsgrego]

A lot of people got banned. Some like Pewdiepie got their account back but again, being censored over a tiny spicy comment is stupid and not democratic at all.

So. Question. You hold a party at your house. I come over. Your kids are there. Do you believe it is wrong for you to ask me to stop talking about sex, and cussing loudly in front of your kids?

 

[daveishereagain]

United Nations addressing Twitter, its responsibilities above and beyond the UN own failure to carry thee gravitas of its own imprimatur is fundamentally a first order logic error. Invoking WHO, using statements of that organization’s Covid communication fiasco, further burdening the bird-as-messenger with the weight of global catastrophe is laughable...

(rest of bizarre anti-globalist screed snipped)

Let's play a game.

You name a topic you disapprove of in the most outlandishly verbose terms possible, and I'll guess letters until I have spelled the word.

The first letter I guess is J.

Verbose indeed. I never saw so many words that added up to zero sense.

 

[watermeloncup]

Spoiler

If you poor saps can't detect the hysteria in your reactions you're pretty out of touch with yourselves.

I did call you all insecure virgins, so you got me on that.

As far as immaturity, it takes courage, maturity and some authentic confidence in your moral posture to encounter disagreement and grow from the process.

If you withdraw from the world into a bubble, you stagnate and never live up to your potential.

Personally I don't care if you live up to your potential, but for your own sake you should consider trying.

Did that little display of impotent chest-thumping sound good in your head?

No, that's I'm Tom Hanks, or am I? living up to his potential. Yes, that's the best he can do.

 

[Uragan]

The hysterical reaction to Elon Musk buying twitter is truly remarkable, and depressing. Reacting that way means you are so consumed by your ideology that everything is a threat. How do you find the courage to leave your house or talk to a girl? I bet you don't.

Twitter couldn't possibly get worse. If you believe twitter could get worse under new management you're not a serious person.

The insane rage directed at Musk shows how much a person believes their viewpoint or ego are too brittle to encounter any confrontation at all.

Pathetic really.

Cool, another unique and valuable take. People who criticize Elon Musk are virgins, way to show everyone how badass and not at all sensitive you are. I'm sure your T levels are in the stratosphere.

Don't mock the poster's T levels! He's been doing balls tanning therapy for weeks! Surely he's now the most alpha ever! /s

And you'd think that browner balls would pose a very serious threat to Tucker's followers. Oh, the irony.

What is browner balls?

Balls that are more brown?

 

[HiredGoons]

A lot of people got banned. Some like Pewdiepie got their account back but again, being censored over a tiny spicy comment is stupid and not democratic at all.

Banned for doing what?

And you didn't answer the question why "oversensitive morons" don't have the right to free speech as well.

Never said they didn't, what I did say is that they shouldn't have the right to have others banned over anything they find offensive.

Why not? That's how Democracy works.

 

[GreyAreaUK]

A lot of people got banned. Some like Pewdiepie got their account back but again, being censored over a tiny spicy comment is stupid and not democratic at all.

Banned for doing what?

And you didn't answer the question why "oversensitive morons" don't have the right to free speech as well.

Never said they didn't, what I did say is that they shouldn't have the right to have others banned over anything they find offensive.

Specific examples of which you have still yet to cite.

 

[Deleted member 817175]

The hysterical reaction to Elon Musk buying twitter is truly remarkable, and depressing. Reacting that way means you are so consumed by your ideology that everything is a threat. How do you find the courage to leave your house or talk to a girl? I bet you don't.

Twitter couldn't possibly get worse. If you believe twitter could get worse under new management you're not a serious person.

The insane rage directed at Musk shows how much a person believes their viewpoint or ego are too brittle to encounter any confrontation at all.

Pathetic really.

Cool, another unique and valuable take. People who criticize Elon Musk are virgins, way to show everyone how badass and not at all sensitive you are. I'm sure your T levels are in the stratosphere.

Don't mock the poster's T levels! He's been doing balls tanning therapy for weeks! Surely he's now the most alpha ever! /s

And you'd think that browner balls would pose a very serious threat to Tucker's followers. Oh, the irony.

What is browner balls?

What your balls look like after you're done applying the treatment recommended by your hero Tucker.

A hint for sad white boys: you can't actually grow your penis just by changing your skin color. Sorry.

 

[GreyAreaUK]

Spoiler

If you poor saps can't detect the hysteria in your reactions you're pretty out of touch with yourselves.

I did call you all insecure virgins, so you got me on that.

As far as immaturity, it takes courage, maturity and some authentic confidence in your moral posture to encounter disagreement and grow from the process.

If you withdraw from the world into a bubble, you stagnate and never live up to your potential.

Personally I don't care if you live up to your potential, but for your own sake you should consider trying.

Did that little display of impotent chest-thumping sound good in your head?

Yep. Did it not sound good in what passes for your head?

I used the term 'impotent' for your screed intentionally.

 

[Hmnhntr]

In many ways, this feels like yet another instance of 'wealthy white techbro finds out that thing outside their expertise is in fact complex after all'.

He's just riding the free speech train on his way to making crazy amounts of money. He doesn't actually care about free speech, as he has proven many times in the past.

I'm not sure how people don't seem to grasp that concept? Are that many people really so brainwashed?

Well, 60 million of them voted for Trump, so you can use that as a starting point.

And stupid brainwashed. That's what really gets me. You know, when there is some cult leader who has brainwashed people, that leader is usually charismatic in some way -- charming or smart or attractive -- friendly, maybe even sophisticated. Donald Trump is an ugly, stupid, unfriendly, bullying, bloviating asshole with zero charisma. The only thing he has to offer is hateful stupidity.

Yet, you are correct. He somehow, without an ounce of charisma, he brainwashed half the US electorate.

That's because you're using a narrow definition of charisma. It comes in all forms. Sadly, "unfriendly, bullying, bloviating asshole" is one of them. Think about how many friends the school bullies had. It wasn't because they were secretly nice in private with their friends.

 

[Deleted member 817175]

A lot of people got banned. Some like Pewdiepie got their account back but again, being censored over a tiny spicy comment is stupid and not democratic at all.

Banned for doing what?

And you didn't answer the question why "oversensitive morons" don't have the right to free speech as well.

Never said they didn't, what I did say is that they shouldn't have the right to have others banned over anything they find offensive.

Such as?

 

[Jordan83]

My neighbor is a full-fledged red-hat, and chose to tell me "You Democrats are destroying the country" after I said "Good morning" to him while walking my kid to school. Emphasis: he chose to engage while my kid was with me.

I said "We can disagree without being assholes. Or, at least, I can."

I will continue to say good morning to him, while knowing it is quite possible I will wind up elbow-hooking him.

I can't even. What the fuck does "destroying the country" even mean? How fucking fragile do you think the USA is if it's being "destroyed" by wind turbines and parental leave and anti-discrimination laws, or any of the 1,000 things that liberal/Democrats support?

Are your gay neighbors destroying the country because they cook meth in the garage and sacrifice virgins in the back yard, or because they got married?

I would genuinely like to know that guy's answer. WTF was done to you buddy? Did somebody take a Greenpeace flag, break into your house and sodomize you with the flagpole? Or are you just having a panic attack cause that's what Fucker Carlson told you is gonna happen?

I saw a Trump 2024 flag flying from a house the other day, with the slogan "Take America Back" and had similar thoughts. Has America been lost? Has it ceased to exist? Is it that fragile of a construct that not being under the leadership of your choice completely destroys it and leaves nothing redeemable, until we "take it back" from the dastardly occupiers? The laws and foundations have stopped functioning, and it's just complete chaos and anarchy now? It went from the greatest nation on Earth to a completely failed state in just two short years? A nation of almost 400 million people? Really?

I mean, I know the reasonable interpretation of "take it back" is nothing more than a rallying cry to show up at the polls and vote in favor of their preferred party. But with an increasingly large element of one side of the political spectrum becoming increasingly batshit crazy over the past ~12 years...I'm sure there are more than a few true believers who actually do view the country as having been "destroyed" and in need of being "taken back".

After all, Obama was President while being black. He also wore a tan suit once. And Joe Biden looked at his watch during a funeral once. These sorts of transgressions must not stand, man! Or something.

 

[watermeloncup]

A lot of people got banned. Some like Pewdiepie got their account back but again, being censored over a tiny spicy comment is stupid and not democratic at all.

Banned for doing what?

And you didn't answer the question why "oversensitive morons" don't have the right to free speech as well.

Never said they didn't, what I did say is that they shouldn't have the right to have others banned over anything they find offensive.

I see we're in the gaslighting phase of the conversation. From a few comments ago:

Speak freely without being censored or be jumped on by oversensitive morons?

Seems like oversensitive morons are just exercising their free speech rights, but you don't want to hear from them.

 

[Deleted member 817175]

A lot of people got banned. Some like Pewdiepie got their account back but again, being censored over a tiny spicy comment is stupid and not democratic at all.

Banned for doing what?

And you didn't answer the question why "oversensitive morons" don't have the right to free speech as well.

Never said they didn't, what I did say is that they shouldn't have the right to have others banned over anything they find offensive.

I see we're in the gaslighting phase of the conversation. From a few comments ago:

Speak freely without being censored or be jumped on by oversensitive morons?

Seems like oversensitive morons are just exercising their free speech rights, but you don't want to hear from them.

It really is telling that when asked for some examples of the free speech he wants to express but can't now, his first idea was "Other people should not have freedom of speech."

I guess he needs a safe space...

 

[daveishereagain]

In many ways, this feels like yet another instance of 'wealthy white techbro finds out that thing outside their expertise is in fact complex after all'.

He's just riding the free speech train on his way to making crazy amounts of money. He doesn't actually care about free speech, as he has proven many times in the past.

I'm not sure how people don't seem to grasp that concept? Are that many people really so brainwashed?

Well, 60 million of them voted for Trump, so you can use that as a starting point.

And stupid brainwashed. That's what really gets me. You know, when there is some cult leader who has brainwashed people, that leader is usually charismatic in some way -- charming or smart or attractive -- friendly, maybe even sophisticated. Donald Trump is an ugly, stupid, unfriendly, bullying, bloviating asshole with zero charisma. The only thing he has to offer is hateful stupidity.

Yet, you are correct. He somehow, without an ounce of charisma, he brainwashed half the US electorate.

Oh, they were already brainwashed, he just pushed the right buttons that guided their bodies to the polling place. "He hates everyone I hate! Let's make him emperor!"

 

[Hack-n-Slash]

In many ways, this feels like yet another instance of 'wealthy white techbro finds out that thing outside their expertise is in fact complex after all'.

He's just riding the free speech train on his way to making crazy amounts of money. He doesn't actually care about free speech, as he has proven many times in the past.

I'm not sure how people don't seem to grasp that concept? Are that many people really so brainwashed?

Well, 60 million of them voted for Trump, so you can use that as a starting point.

And stupid brainwashed. That's what really gets me. You know, when there is some cult leader who has brainwashed people, that leader is usually charismatic in some way -- charming or smart or attractive -- friendly, maybe even sophisticated. Donald Trump is an ugly, stupid, unfriendly, bullying, bloviating asshole with zero charisma. The only thing he has to offer is hateful stupidity.

Yet, you are correct. He somehow, without an ounce of charisma, he brainwashed half the US electorate.

That's because you're using a narrow definition of charisma. It comes in all forms. Sadly, "unfriendly, bullying, bloviating asshole" is one of them. Think about how many friends the school bullies had. It wasn't because they were secretly nice in private with their friends.

Wait... you mean diplomacy, intimidation, and deception are ALL CHA-based skills?