Posted on 06/28/2023 9:42:26 PM PDT by RandFan
When Elon Musk was taking over Twitter, he styled himself a free speech warrior. He repeatedly promised that all speech protected by the First Amendment would be allowed on the platform.
This was met with sheer delight from many conservatives, libertarians, and others on the right. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), for example, heralded Musk’s Twitter takeover as “one of the most significant developments for free speech in modern times.” Right-wing media stars like Ben Shapiro similarly celebrated the takeover.
I myself was optimistic, although more cautiously so. Yet since actually assuming control of Twitter, Musk’s taken a decidedly different approach to what true free speech advocates hoped.
The CEO’s latest free speech controversy comes, of course, in the context of the never-ending culture war over transgender issues. While it’s not commonly used in daily life, the term “cisgender,” or “cis,” is increasingly used in academia, media, and various progressive spaces to describe people who are not transgender—a.k.a. people whose gender identity matches their birth sex. Some people, particularly those who lean to the right on the debate over transgender issues, reject this term and do not wish to be called “cisgender.”
The “free speech” approach would be to let proponents use the term and let critics critique it. Then… there’s Elon’s new approach.
One Twitter user complained after tweeting that he doesn’t like being called “cis,” many people flooded his replies calling him, well, “cis.” (Welcome to Twitter, folks. Trolling isn’t a reason to tweet, it’s the only reason.) In response to this random post, Musk announced a new Twitter policy that will treat “cisgender” as a slur and suspend users who repeatedly use the term to describe someone who doesn’t want to be called it.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
Elon is ok, he is striking a good balance with this.
In my view.
Australia is coming after Elon, and also has a new law in mind. read about it here:
28 June: Substack: Stephen Reason: TRUTH AS LIES, AND LIES AS TRUTH: The ‘Communications Legislation Amendment (Combatting Misinformation and Disinformation) Bill 2023’
New ACMA draft legislation proposed to counter “misinformation and disinformation,” will enable only Government-approved misinformation and disinformation.
New Federal draft legislation is afoot, that, if passed, will stomp upon the free expression of information online. What Australians can currently access and communicate, and the enabling platforms, will be suppressed, and erased. The heel of the governmental jackboot will be aimed at the throat, our throats — to preemptively crush the larynx of Truth. The blackened-sole of the rubber-tread hovers above, but we can still pivot, and evade the downward thrust.
We must inform other Australians, and collectively oppose this new legislation. They must not be permitted to throttle and silence our freedom of speech...
To combat ‘misinformation and disinformation,’ the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) will be given extraordinary new powers1 to compel Big Tech companies to quash anything that conflicts with the Official Narrative: basically, the truth...
https://stephenreason.substack.com/p/truth-as-lies-and-lies-as-truth-the
“Government approved mis and disinformation.”
What possibly could go wrong?
Yahoo/Daily Beast! Has Yahoo or Daily Beast mentioned yet that the guy they helped become President is the biggest crook and traitor in the history of American politics?
He can’t single handedly change the laws around the world.
Criticizing him for not being willing to have twitter break the law is not fair in my opinion.
He has pushed and dragged his twitter people (unwillingly) to allow free speech as much as the laws in their respective countries allow.
a.k.a. the vast majority of us.
Most anything sourced from Yahoo! is Ratwing tripe
it’s about making up words to fit a narrative...
The ADL is powerful. Plenty of supporters in Big Tech and servants in Washington.
I think Musk is trying to get away with as much free speech as he can, while also trying to placate ADL (and SPLC, and other powerful groups) to whatever extent he feels he must.
The connotation of "cisgender" has become a slur. Maybe not the most odious slur, but still a slur.
and why would we believe the Daily Beast?
we dont need a new word for normal.
There are simply normal people, and the mentally ill who think they are the wrong gender, or a tree, or whatever.
The trannies are all about demanding that the rest of us use their terms. Well, I want THEM to use MY term to describe me:
normal.
It's normal or marginal.
.
There is no such thing as “free speech” on Twitter. Liberals are still controlling the site and suspending accounts of people they don’t like! Don’t be fooled by Elon’s words!
A close friend emailed me the other day to tell me he had been permanently suspended for making the following tweet;
“@realDonaldJNews IMHO, a special firing squad for
traitors should be used at GITMO. Fill all of the empty
cells with Biden’s administration.”
According to my friend, twitter told him that his tweet violated twitters rules against “violent speech”.
In other words, a liberal got triggered. That along with the banning of certain words like CIS sure doesn’t sound like free speech to me or my friend.
Elon Musk is great at building rockets and fairly good with electric cars but has certainly failed in the twitter department. Perhaps his decision to keep twitter in San Fran. and keep employees from that area have caused this but I think he likes a lot about liberalism which would explain his decision to build a big plant outside Austin, TX.
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