'Free speech opportunist' Elon Musk caved to government pressure to censor tweets

[j brown's body]

"Elon Musk's reputation as a free speech absolutist took another hit on Saturday after Twitter sided with the Turkish government and censored the accounts of political opponents ahead of a contentious election.

In an announcement posted Friday evening, at approximately 6 a.m. in the country, Twitter's official Global Government Affairs account declared the platform would "restrict access to some content in Turkey" in response to legal requests made of the social media site.

Turkey's presidential election — the most closely contested in years, The Washington Post reported — is set for May 14.

"The day before a critical election in Turkey, Twitter appears to be acquiescing to the demands of the country's autocratic ruler, Erdogan, and is censoring speech on the platform," California Representative Adam Schiff tweeted in response to the news. "Given Twitter's total lack of transparency, it is hard to avoid the conclusion that Musk's promises of free speech have again fallen away.""

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He's only following orders.

 

[ralfy]

Before that, Twitter worked for the U.S. government, and that was exposed only later.

 

[Galactic Spin]

Before that, Twitter worked for the U.S. government, and that was exposed only later.

Nah, that's overblown nonsense. The twitter Files were a laughable pile of nothingness. Rational people are past it already.

 

[Checkerboard Strangler]

He wants to be the next Charles or David Koch, clearly.

 

[ralfy]

Interestingly enough, the Kochs are also one of the main manufacturers of renewable energy components.

 

[Seth]

.

This move is in line with Elons interviews while purchasing Twitter, that Elon defines free speech as anything that's legal; that if you want something censored on Twitter then you'll have to make a law about it, Twitter will not be arbitrary.

That's what's happening here. The fact that Turkey isn't lining up with western morals is immaterial.

 

[Jason Warfield]

Interestingly enough, the Kochs are also one of the main manufacturers of renewable energy components.

And that has what to do with this thread?

If you would like to make a thread on that topic, by all means...but why mention it here?

 

[j brown's body]

Before that, Twitter worked for the U.S. government, and that was exposed only later.

Working for the US government bad, working for the Turkish government good?

 

[j brown's body]

This move is in line with Elons interviews while purchasing Twitter, that Elon defines free speech as anything that's legal; that if you want something censored on Twitter then you'll have to make a law about it, Twitter will not be arbitrary.

That's what's happening here. The fact that Turkey isn't lining up with western morals is immaterial.

"Acquiescing to the demands of a country's autocratic ruler" does not a free speech absolutist make.

He has immense power. He could refuse to post anything until after the election - or even longer. If he were truly a f4ee speech absolutist.

BTW - Telling Twitter it can't publish Hunter Biden's dick pics is following the law.

 

[ralfy]

Working for the US government bad, working for the Turkish government good?

I think the default for for-profit corporations is that one works for investors.

The problem is that Old Twitter worked for asset managers who promoted ESG scoring, so that meant going woke, and thus following what alphabet agencies wanted. In return, asset managers pored in more money even though the company was losing money almost every year.

However, in the case of New Twitter, Musk likely works for what gives the most profits, and in this case, it was a decision based on whether or not to lose a Turkish market. And this time the company has to reverse losses.