Social Media Political Lens

[LordMortis]

I thought he didn't mind people being critical of him or posting satire on his absolutist free speech town square platform.

[Isgrimnur]

[Alefroth]

[Holman]

(It's also true. Footage from Musk's border trip a few months back shows him wearing his new cowboy hat backwards.)

Apparently Liam Nissan also somehow figured out that one of Musk's most fervent disciples was actually a Musk sock-puppet account. Maybe some others as well.

This may actually have been the bannable offense.

[Jaymann]

I wonder if Musk saw that the border is not quite the shit show the Banana Republicans are making it out to be.

[Holman]

I wonder if Musk saw that the border is not quite the shit show the Banana Republicans are making it out to be.

It doesn't matter what he saw or didn't see. He has come out in favor of the "Great Replacement" theory, and he's effectively a white supremacist.

[Unagi]

https://www.thedailybeast.com/twitter-f ... -elon-musk

No offense to anyone who cannot grow out a beard and/or mustache, but if yours looks like this, maybe just keep it shaved.

His upper lip looks like the high water line in my bathroom sink after I shave.

[Holman]

"Before" is in the PayPal days of the 90s.

He has always been follicularly challenged.

There's probably also a significant amount of Botox involved as well.

[LawBeefaroni]

(It's also true. Footage from Musk's border trip a few months back shows him wearing his new cowboy hat backwards.)

Apparently Liam Nissan also somehow figured out that one of Musk's most fervent disciples was actually a Musk sock-puppet account. Maybe some others as well.

This may actually have been the bannable offense.

I probably put this in the wrong thread but Musk called in to Infowars using the fake account's name.

Hey, look, Musk's sockpuppet calling in to Alex Jone's Infowars.


(Last 25 mins or so - this isn't a link to Infowars but a podcast about Infowars/Alex Jones)

[Alefroth]

https://www.cnn.com/2024/03/06/tech/ope ... index.html

“We’re sad that it’s come to this with someone whom we’ve deeply admired—someone who inspired us to aim higher, then told us we would fail, started a competitor, and then sued us when we started making meaningful progress towards OpenAI’s mission without him,” the company said in its blog post.

[Isgrimnur]

Trump Sues Truth Social Company Co-Founders to Zero Them Out

Donald Trump has sued two co-founders of his newly public Trump Media & Technology Group Corp., claiming they set the company up improperly and shouldn’t get any stock in it.

In the latest legal skirmish over who gets how much of the hot but flailing meme stock, Trump alleges that Andy Litinsky and Wes Moss violated an agreement about the setup and don’t deserve their 8.6% stake, currently valued at $606 million.

The lawsuit, which was filed on March 24 in Florida state court and hasn’t previously been reported, comes after the pair brought their own suit against the former president in Delaware Chancery Court over their promised stake in the the social media company.
...
Trump claims Litinsky and Moss failed to properly set up the corporate governance structure of Trump Media, launch his Truth Social platform and find an appropriate merger partner. That failure hurt the company, he argues. He says they then “began ceaseless attempts to thwart” the blank check deal in the struggle for their respective stakes. In their own suit, the two say Trump was planning to seek millions of extra shares, diluting their stake.
...
The Delaware judge, Sam Glasscock III, declined to fast-track Litinsky and Moss’s suit after Trump’s lawyers agreed to avoid lessening the value of their shares. But at a hearing Monday the pair told the judge they plan to seek an order barring the Florida suit from going forward while they litigate claims that Trump planned to target their stake all along.

The judge said he was “gobsmacked” to learn of Trump’s Florida suit — which he filed instead of bringing counterclaims against the two in Glasscock’s own courtroom — and would consider possible sanctions against the former president in the Delaware case.

[Jaymann]

The leopard would never rip my face.

[GreenGoo]

The leopard would never rip my face.

[Moliere]

Video text:

Spoiler:

BRAZIL IS ON THE BRINK

I’m reporting to you from Brazil, where a dramatic series of events are underway.

At 5:52 pm Eastern Time, today, April 6, 2024, X corporation, formerly known as Twitter, announced that a Brazilian court had forced it to “block certain popular accounts in Brazil.”

Then, less than one hour later, the owner of X,
@ElonMusk
announced that X would defy the court’s order, and lift all restrictions.

“As a result,” said Musk, “we will probably lose all revenue in Brazil and have to shut down our office there. But principles matter more than profit.”

At any moment, Brazil’s Supreme Court could shut off all access to X/Twitter for the people of Brazil.
It is not an exaggeration to say that Brazil is on the brink of dictatorship at the hands of a totalitarian Supreme Court Justice named Alexandre de Moraes.

President Lula da Silva is participating in the push toward totalitarianism. Since taking office, Lula has massively increased government funding of the mainstream news media, most of which are encouraging increased censorship.

What Lula and de Moraes are doing is an outrageous violation of Brazil’s constitution and the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights.

At this moment, Brazil is not yet a dictatorship. It still has elections and the Brazilian people have other means at their disposal to confront authoritarianism.

But the Federal Supreme Court and the Superior Electoral Court are directly interfere in those elections through censorship.

Three days ago I published the Twitter Files for Brazil. They show that Moraes has violated the Brazilian Constitution. Moraes illegally demanded that Twitter reveal private information about Twitter users who used hashtags he considered inappropriate. He demanded access to Twitter's internal data, violating the platform's policy. He censored, on his own initiative and without any respect for due process, posts on Twitter by parliamentarians from the Brazilian Congress. And Moraes tried to turn Twitter's content moderation policies into a weapon against supporters of then-president Jair Bolsonaro.

I say this as an independent and non-partisan journalist. I'm not a fan of either Bolsonaro or Trump. My political views are very moderate. But I know censorship when I see it.

The Twitter Files also revealed that Google, Facebook, Uber, WhatsApp and Instagram betrayed the people of Brazil. If such evidence is proven, the executives of these companies behaved like cowards: they provided the Brazilian government with personal registration data and telephone numbers without a court order and, therefore, violating the law.
When Twitter refused to provide Brazilian authorities with private user information, including direct messages, the government attempted to sue Twitter's top Brazilian lawyer.

When I lived in Brazil in 1992, I was very left-wing. At the time, Lula and the PT's slogans were “Without fear of being happy”.

In recent days, I have spoken to dozens of Brazilians, including professors, journalists and respected lawyers. Everyone tells me they are shocked by what is happening. They told me that they are afraid to speak their mind and that the Lula government is complicit in creating this climate of fear.

Brazil belongs to the Brazilians. It is not my country. As such, there are limits to what I am capable of doing.

But I can say things that many Brazilians do not feel safe saying: Alexandre de Moraes is a tyrant. And the only way to deal with tyrants is to confront them. It is up to Brazil’s senators to confront the tyrant. And it is up to the people of Brazil to demand that their senators do so.

[LordMortis]

Without judgement on Brazil, per se, I do have to wonder why he would shut down X in Brazil but cave to government pressures in China. I wonder what the difference between the two nations is.

[Holman]

Without judgement on Brazil, per se, I do have to wonder why he would shut down X in Brazil but cave to government pressures in China. I wonder what the difference between the two nations is.

Not just China, but right-wing authoritarian governments all around the world.

Anything Musk says about "free speech" is bullshit.

[Alefroth]

"It is not an exaggeration to say that Brazil is on the brink of dictatorship at the hands of a totalitarian Supreme Court Justice named Alexandre de Moraes."

It certainly seems like an exaggeration. This guy was also involved in the Twitter Files.

[Zarathud]

Apparently the Texas attorney who beat Alex Jones just deposed Musk, whose lawyer screwed up so it’s not sealed. Absolute shit-show I’ve heard.

[Isgrimnur]

Elon Musk's ‘self-inflicted wounds’ and other highlights from a newly released deposition

[Exodor]

"It is not an exaggeration to say that Brazil is on the brink of dictatorship at the hands of a totalitarian Supreme Court Justice named Alexandre de Moraes."

It certainly seems like an exaggeration. This guy was also involved in the Twitter Files.

Holy shit, I don't click Twitter links so I didn't know that was a link to Michael Shellenburger.


His credibility is...low.

[GreenGoo]

Apparently the Texas attorney who beat Alex Jones just deposed Musk, whose lawyer screwed up so it’s not sealed. Absolute shit-show I’ve heard.

I read a little. Musk has quickly become Drumpf'esque in my desire to avoid him.

The difference between the public's perception of this guy and the reality is stark.

[Moliere]

I know this is the "I hate Elon" thread, but unfortunately he did another good thing in standing up to Australia trying to censor the entire world's online content.

"An Australian judge on Monday ruled that social media platform X must block every user in the world from accessing video of a bishop being stabbed in a Sydney church, extending the prohibition beyond users in Australia," noted the AP.

"Our concern is that if ANY country is allowed to censor content for ALL countries, which is what the Australian 'eSafety Commissar' is demanding, then what is to stop any country from controlling the entire Internet?" responded X owner Elon Musk. "We have already censored the content in question for Australia, pending legal appeal, and it is stored only on servers in the USA."

[LordMortis]

I know this is the "I hate Elon" thread, but unfortunately he did another good thing

It happens. It happens quite a bit. It's not unfortunate but it's also not carte blanche to do the shitty things he does either. Of course capitalization is different any I would read his subtext.

Our concern is that if any COUNTRY is allowed to censor content for all countries

Because he is very much about independent billionaire interests controlling the flow of content.

[Moliere]

Our concern is that if any COUNTRY is allowed to censor content for all countries

Because he is very much about independent billionaire interests controlling the flow of content.

What other reference besides "country" is he supposed to use? Why does Australia think they can censor U.S. speech? There should be an uproar at the very suggestion, instead we get independent billionaire just wants to control the flow of content. I am more worried about billionaires working with the government to control the flow of data. No concern about Google, FB, et al falling in line?

[LordMortis]

Our concern is that if any COUNTRY is allowed to censor content for all countries

Because he is very much about independent billionaire interests controlling the flow of content.

What other reference besides "country" is he supposed to use? Why does Australia think they can censor U.S. speech? There should be an uproar at the very suggestion, instead we get independent billionaire just wants to control the flow of content. I am more worried about billionaires working with the government to control the flow of data. No concern about Google, FB, et al falling in line?

He had to bold any to call attention to the idea that nations shouldn't control the flow of information on app, while he has been using his app to control the flow of information after saying he needed to save the "public square."

[gbasden]

Our concern is that if any COUNTRY is allowed to censor content for all countries

Because he is very much about independent billionaire interests controlling the flow of content.

What other reference besides "country" is he supposed to use? Why does Australia think they can censor U.S. speech? There should be an uproar at the very suggestion, instead we get independent billionaire just wants to control the flow of content. I am more worried about billionaires working with the government to control the flow of data. No concern about Google, FB, et al falling in line?

He had to bold any to call attention to the idea that nations shouldn't control the flow of information on app, while he has been using his app to control the flow of information after saying he needed to save the "public square."

That being said, Elon is right in this case. Australia does not have the right to censor content outside their borders.

[LordMortis]

Agreed. He's not wrong all of the time and does good quite a bit. It doesn't make me overlook the shitty things he does.

[Smoove_B]

[YellowKing]

You guys are crazy if you think Elon is against this for the same reason you and I are against it. His history has more than proven that his crusade for "free speech" only applies to things he agrees with. Everyone else he'll ban, censor, or paywall out of existence. He sees someone else trying to encroach on his control. He's "right" only in that his thirst for power happened to intersect with our thirst for freedom of information.

[Moliere]

You guys are crazy if you think Elon is against this for the same reason you and I are against it. His history has more than proven that his crusade for "free speech" only applies to things he agrees with. Everyone else he'll ban, censor, or paywall out of existence. He sees someone else trying to encroach on his control. He's "right" only in that his thirst for power happened to intersect with our thirst for freedom of information.

Thank you for getting this "I hate Elon" thread back on track. I was worried the OO crowd was going soft.

[Holman]

You do know why we hate Elon, right?

[Alefroth]

You guys are crazy if you think Elon is against this for the same reason you and I are against it. His history has more than proven that his crusade for "free speech" only applies to things he agrees with. Everyone else he'll ban, censor, or paywall out of existence. He sees someone else trying to encroach on his control. He's "right" only in that his thirst for power happened to intersect with our thirst for freedom of information.

I don't think he cares Musk did the right thing for the wrong reason, he just needs to show Musk did something right.

[hepcat]

You do know why we hate Elon, right?

There’s apparently a list of people that we can’t dislike or were considered sheep. No matter what they do.

[Moliere]

You guys are crazy if you think Elon is against this for the same reason you and I are against it. His history has more than proven that his crusade for "free speech" only applies to things he agrees with. Everyone else he'll ban, censor, or paywall out of existence. He sees someone else trying to encroach on his control. He's "right" only in that his thirst for power happened to intersect with our thirst for freedom of information.

I don't think he cares Musk did the right thing for the wrong reason, he just needs to show Musk did something right.

I don't think you care Musk did the right thing, unless you can spin it to a cynical reason.

[Moliere]

You do know why we hate Elon, right?

Because he's a terrible father to his 11 children? I agree!

[Alefroth]

You guys are crazy if you think Elon is against this for the same reason you and I are against it. His history has more than proven that his crusade for "free speech" only applies to things he agrees with. Everyone else he'll ban, censor, or paywall out of existence. He sees someone else trying to encroach on his control. He's "right" only in that his thirst for power happened to intersect with our thirst for freedom of information.

I don't think he cares Musk did the right thing for the wrong reason, he just needs to show Musk did something right.

I don't think you care Musk did the right thing, unless you can spin it to a cynical reason.

No, even then I don't care.