Elon Musk, a self-described "free speech absolutist," agreed to censor Twitter in Turkey on Saturday, the day before a critical election, at the request of the nation's autocratic government. The decision is a sharp break from how Twitter responded to the censorship requests of the current regime, led by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, before Musk bought the company. Musk has lucrative business dealings with the incumbent Turkish government through his company SpaceX.
Yes, the story of the two men who spent years perfecting what became the Tesla car, and how Musk was able to buy the fruits of their labor and make a fortune reveals a great deal of what Musk should and shouldn't get credit for.
This is how fascism will come here as well, recent appeasement of trump by ABC CBS CNN are more serious even than in 2015 and the media seeing DeSantis as a "reasonable" alternative to trump ignores how fascist takeover of FL already. How has nobody come up with an alternative to twitter, how has DOJ not investigated twitter as a foreign agent at this point?
1) how low your opinion of your fellow citizens is that you don't think they should be allowed to make up their own minds.
2) how high your own opinion of yourself is that you think the world would be better off if you got to choose what your fellow citizens were allowed or disallowed to read.
3) what you want is what the fascists you think you oppose want:
To be able to control the narrative;
To block narratives that you disagree with;
Appealing to nationalism and labeling views you disagree with as evil foreign adversaries.
All you would need to be a full-on fascist is to support a merger of corporate power and political power.
I was wondering if Elon Musk was censoring Erdogan and Modi criticism purely on ideological lines (while also being hypocritical about free speech), but it's oddly reassuring to read about his business deals in Turkey and India. When there's money to be made, rest assured men like Musk will chase it no matter the damage it might cause.
Yep, follow the money, as they say. We should also not forget that China is a source of much of Musk's wealth generating potential as well. Xi's right hand man and arguably the second most powerful person in China Li Qiang promoted and oversaw the building of the Tesla factory in Shanghai that drives much of Tesla's income. It is guaranteed that Li will seek to collect payback from Musk at some point, and Twitter is the perfect vehicle for this.
Musk is working on the side of Putin. Whatever the reason, that's all I need to know. He's dangerous, now one of the most dangerous men in the world. His links to likely Russian asset Dana Rohrbacher are suspicious. Was he targeted for kompromat early in his career? He's also turning Twitter to the far right supremacist realm. He's working against freedom and democracy and is not a friend of the US or our allies. Simply put, he's a bad guy.
Elon Musk uses Twitter to facilitate State Sponsored Terror!
(because profit means more than any f-ing thing or any f-ing one of you)
The preceding message was sponsored by; Tesla Corporation, Starlink and Erdogan Partners (a limited liability corporation) in a special partnership with Twitter and others.
Musk is a terrible person. He is not for free speech at all. He does what benefits himself. An elitist in every sense of the word. Only doing things to benefit himself and increase his wealth.
Musk is showing how he goes about getting his wealth. He is no genius. He blunders his way along with his businesses and is more than happy to comply when there’s money involved. He took advantage of breaks he got through the US government and turns around and happily does business with despotic regimes if he can make a buck. I hope he one day meets an appropriate end.
More evidence (based on further info) of what we The People assumed about Musk’s Twitter “Free Speech” policy. It’s bullshit. It’s whimsical. It’s whatever he decides when he decides. And descends further into madness with each day if my feed is any indication.
Musk is a chaos agent who cares not a wit about anything but his own self aggrandizing interests. Most amazing is how transparently he illustrates his complete indifference to his fellow humans.
He and the ever increasing population of filthy rich jerks is exhausting and at some point in time regular people will loudly say 'ENOUGH'.
I am amazed Musk found someone to become a CEO. Like working for the man who shan't be named...it won't end well. Why folks listen to or follow someone like Musk, I will never understand. Stop using Twitter and starve the company.
It has been the haven of Blue connection. I own no blue check. Me leaving won't starve him. His new CEO is after ad revenue. That's who left in droves.
Thank you, Judd Legum, once again. Not a Twitter member, nor social media user, I am aware of Twitter's influence, but I would not have known about Musk's recent censorship of Turkey's election. Not surprising, though. Musk seems to enjoy his illiberality and shoulder-rubbing with despots, demagogues, and deadbeats. His adolescent "look at me" boosterism is particularly annoying when all signs point to his hypocrisy and corporate elitism. I am always wondering, however, why people remain on a platform that is anti-human rights and run by a teenager.
Twitter’s selective censorship for the profit of the brands of Musk is deplorable and certainly not in alliance with any allegiance to free speech. He is doing irreparable harm to the citizens of nations seeking the truth for fair elections. May he be rewarded in a very negative way (expletives deleted) for interference in the process of governing elsewhere and in the coming elections in America in 2024. Ideally, his rockets will continue to blow up as his stock prices fall in all his financial interests. His allegiance is to whatever 💰💰💰 he holds on a given day, his hobbies, nothing more. He is likewise a narcissist caring not about the outcomes and welfare of others. Twitter will fall completely in time as selective approval of postings will not be tolerated as readers glean the whole stories elsewhere.
In contrast: “Wikipedia was banned in Turkey for nearly three years, beginning in 2017, after it "refused to delete articles critical of the country's government." Instead, Wikipedia challenged the Turkish government's actions in court. In January 2020, Wikipedia won, and access was restored. Wales argued that Wikipedia's actions demonstrated what it "means to treat freedom of expression as a principle rather than a slogan."
When people show you who they are, believe them.
Musk is an autocrat, he is not a genius, he is a leech, feeding off the genius and work of others.
You forgot massive government subsidies. Without that, Tesla would have gone kaput in 2011, and SpaceX would not have launched.
The man is the face of a welfare queen
None of them are geniuses - Musk, Bezos, Zuckerberg. They are all rich kids, backed by con artists who have been gaming the system.
Yes, the story of the two men who spent years perfecting what became the Tesla car, and how Musk was able to buy the fruits of their labor and make a fortune reveals a great deal of what Musk should and shouldn't get credit for.
Let’s call him a tick. He rather resembles one.
This is how fascism will come here as well, recent appeasement of trump by ABC CBS CNN are more serious even than in 2015 and the media seeing DeSantis as a "reasonable" alternative to trump ignores how fascist takeover of FL already. How has nobody come up with an alternative to twitter, how has DOJ not investigated twitter as a foreign agent at this point?
When I read things like this, I despair.
1) how low your opinion of your fellow citizens is that you don't think they should be allowed to make up their own minds.
2) how high your own opinion of yourself is that you think the world would be better off if you got to choose what your fellow citizens were allowed or disallowed to read.
3) what you want is what the fascists you think you oppose want:
To be able to control the narrative;
To block narratives that you disagree with;
Appealing to nationalism and labeling views you disagree with as evil foreign adversaries.
All you would need to be a full-on fascist is to support a merger of corporate power and political power.
That's what fascism is.
Stare into the abyss, and all that.
I was wondering if Elon Musk was censoring Erdogan and Modi criticism purely on ideological lines (while also being hypocritical about free speech), but it's oddly reassuring to read about his business deals in Turkey and India. When there's money to be made, rest assured men like Musk will chase it no matter the damage it might cause.
Yep, follow the money, as they say. We should also not forget that China is a source of much of Musk's wealth generating potential as well. Xi's right hand man and arguably the second most powerful person in China Li Qiang promoted and oversaw the building of the Tesla factory in Shanghai that drives much of Tesla's income. It is guaranteed that Li will seek to collect payback from Musk at some point, and Twitter is the perfect vehicle for this.
Had to giggle here... Twitter being the *vehicle* to *drive* Tesla's income...
Musk is working on the side of Putin. Whatever the reason, that's all I need to know. He's dangerous, now one of the most dangerous men in the world. His links to likely Russian asset Dana Rohrbacher are suspicious. Was he targeted for kompromat early in his career? He's also turning Twitter to the far right supremacist realm. He's working against freedom and democracy and is not a friend of the US or our allies. Simply put, he's a bad guy.
In the headlines of history:
Elon Musk uses Twitter to facilitate State Sponsored Terror!
(because profit means more than any f-ing thing or any f-ing one of you)
The preceding message was sponsored by; Tesla Corporation, Starlink and Erdogan Partners (a limited liability corporation) in a special partnership with Twitter and others.
We should know who and what Musk is and about. Drop Twitter now.
I quit Twitter 6 years ago, have never regretted it.
I say more than ever. Twitter needs you. Fight the good fight.
But, Twitter is so "easy" to use, and the other options seem complicated (especially Mastodon).
I appreciate being able to access everyone from Biden to CNN to all of our elected officials...and giving them my questions and input.
Musk is a terrible person. He is not for free speech at all. He does what benefits himself. An elitist in every sense of the word. Only doing things to benefit himself and increase his wealth.
Musk is showing how he goes about getting his wealth. He is no genius. He blunders his way along with his businesses and is more than happy to comply when there’s money involved. He took advantage of breaks he got through the US government and turns around and happily does business with despotic regimes if he can make a buck. I hope he one day meets an appropriate end.
Thank you for this story. Keep shining light on darkness.
More evidence (based on further info) of what we The People assumed about Musk’s Twitter “Free Speech” policy. It’s bullshit. It’s whimsical. It’s whatever he decides when he decides. And descends further into madness with each day if my feed is any indication.
Exactly as I said in “polite speak”. Yours is more memorable!
Musk is a chaos agent who cares not a wit about anything but his own self aggrandizing interests. Most amazing is how transparently he illustrates his complete indifference to his fellow humans.
He and the ever increasing population of filthy rich jerks is exhausting and at some point in time regular people will loudly say 'ENOUGH'.
I am amazed Musk found someone to become a CEO. Like working for the man who shan't be named...it won't end well. Why folks listen to or follow someone like Musk, I will never understand. Stop using Twitter and starve the company.
It has been the haven of Blue connection. I own no blue check. Me leaving won't starve him. His new CEO is after ad revenue. That's who left in droves.
Thank you, Judd Legum, once again. Not a Twitter member, nor social media user, I am aware of Twitter's influence, but I would not have known about Musk's recent censorship of Turkey's election. Not surprising, though. Musk seems to enjoy his illiberality and shoulder-rubbing with despots, demagogues, and deadbeats. His adolescent "look at me" boosterism is particularly annoying when all signs point to his hypocrisy and corporate elitism. I am always wondering, however, why people remain on a platform that is anti-human rights and run by a teenager.
Twitter’s selective censorship for the profit of the brands of Musk is deplorable and certainly not in alliance with any allegiance to free speech. He is doing irreparable harm to the citizens of nations seeking the truth for fair elections. May he be rewarded in a very negative way (expletives deleted) for interference in the process of governing elsewhere and in the coming elections in America in 2024. Ideally, his rockets will continue to blow up as his stock prices fall in all his financial interests. His allegiance is to whatever 💰💰💰 he holds on a given day, his hobbies, nothing more. He is likewise a narcissist caring not about the outcomes and welfare of others. Twitter will fall completely in time as selective approval of postings will not be tolerated as readers glean the whole stories elsewhere.
Or, hopefully, someone without Musk's character flaws will buy and redeem Twitter.
Perhaps an entire Board of Responsible Directors and diverse shareholders.
They'll likely have to wrest it from his cold, dead hands.
Sadly, it is a bully’s pulpit.
What a clever and apt description. Yes. Agreed.
Musk is just a "Mini-T"(rump).
In contrast: “Wikipedia was banned in Turkey for nearly three years, beginning in 2017, after it "refused to delete articles critical of the country's government." Instead, Wikipedia challenged the Turkish government's actions in court. In January 2020, Wikipedia won, and access was restored. Wales argued that Wikipedia's actions demonstrated what it "means to treat freedom of expression as a principle rather than a slogan."