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Friday 25 November 2022

The war against rational criteria continues



Elon Musk to 'unlock doors to Twitter jail' with amnesty for suspended accounts

Critics say the move will see far-right and white supremacist accounts such as the American Nazi Party back on the platform - with one award-winning journalist warning it will put lives at risk and telling Musk "you will have blood on your hands!"

The billionaire asked his followers in a poll to vote on reinstatements for accounts that have not "broken the law or engaged in egregious spam".

The yes vote was 72%.

There are people who just don't like the idea of abiding by a popular vote. Criteria based on not breaking the law and not engaging in egregious spam are not enough for such folk. 

There is much to be said for allowing extreme viewpoint differences to be aired, otherwise official errors of judgment and stupidity go uncorrected. As we should always have known because it was obvious decades ago. 

4 comments:

DiscoveredJoys said...

Censorship is about power and control and (currently) it is the 'Left' who see power and control slipping out of their hands. Perhaps the pendulum will swing the other way so we should appreciate life in the mid-swing when it happens.

Sam Vega said...

There's also the point that - unlike majority voting decisions in national politics - if people don't like it, they can just leave. In that respect, Twitter is just like the local tennis club. Don't like the constitution? Then look for another club, or put up with it, or give up playing.

"You'll have blood on your hands" means "I won't like it as much as I used to".

dearleme said...

It's all a wonderfully funny joke but is it really worth spending $44 billion to make it? We shall see. Maybe he's so rich that it's just "walking around money".

A K Haart said...

DJ - the pendulum seems to be swinging a little, although it has some way to go before we can appreciate life in the mid-swing.

Sam - I agree, there are a number of alternatives to Twitter and if they become popular then the significance of Twitter will decline. It's dynamic, but of course they don't like dynamic either.

dearieme - I assume he has a big idea about what Twitter should be and expects to show the online world how social media should be done.