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mikkergp commented on We’re in Denial About the True Cost of a Twitter Implosion   wired.com/story/musk-deni... · Posted by u/xrayarx
jleyank · 3 years ago
Isn’t HN one of the seats of startup or tech culture? If Twitter is that amazingly important, won’t it’s death spawn one or more startups to recapture its position? Is there some fundamental aspect that could be defended by a patent troll? I would think “social inertia” is all that makes it important and that can change on a dime when a cool alternative appears.

Would not be surprised if it’s already there awaiting word of mouth to kick in.

mikkergp · 3 years ago
I don’t think it’s that each of the elements of what Twitter does won’t be recreated, but the essence of Twitter, the je ne sais quio won’t. Whatever you want to call it, the town square we all participate in. It will be recreated in the aggregate, but that won’t be the same.
mikkergp commented on The Twitter Files   twitter.com/mtaibbi/statu... · Posted by u/lost1
StanislavPetrov · 3 years ago
>You took a giant leap from maybe people at Twitter were acting with bias. You’d need a lot more information to justify this assertion

A bipartisan group of 50 CIA agents and various spooks released a letter falsely labeling the Hunter Biden laptop "Russian disinformation" at the exact same time the story was being censored by Facebook and Twitter at the behest of the Biden campaign. It is unfortunate that so many are willing (and able) to willfully delude themselves into denying reality.

https://www.politico.com/news/2020/10/19/hunter-biden-story-...

>Hang them all, put social media in the hands of the government, ban moderation?

If Twitter had unilaterally decided to act as political partisans without direction from political campaigns, elected officials and intelligence agencies it would be an entirely different issue - this isn't the case as clearly illustrated by part one of the Taibbi series. I have little doubt when it comes to the Covid chapter you will see even more direct censorship coordination between Twitter and government officials, which will also be downplayed (if not supported) by those who believe it was "good" or "necessary". The fact is that The Constitution is the foundational document of our country. It isn't some sort of optional set of guidelines that can be ignored when inconvenient. The 1st Amendment is the most important part of this foundational document, the bedrock of a free society. All of our elected leaders, including the president, swear an oath of office to protect and uphold The Constitution. The legitimate authority of the government is derived from The Constitution. A government acting outside of the Constitution is not a legitimate government.

"I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."

mikkergp · 3 years ago
> It is unfortunate that so many are willing (and able) to willfully delude themselves into denying reality.

Deny reality of what?

I don’t really understand the rest of your post, I guess your alleging they government violated the first amendment. Ok, what’s the next steps then?

Deleted Comment

mikkergp commented on The Twitter Files   twitter.com/mtaibbi/statu... · Posted by u/lost1
StanislavPetrov · 3 years ago
When moderation policies (or laws) are subjectively and arbitrarily enforced based on the identity of the party being persecuted, it ceases to be a policy and is simply another tool used to bludgeon those who are disfavored. It was a big story in September of 2020 when the NYT published Trump's hacked/leaked tax returns - a story that did not receive the Hunter Biden treatment, but was amplified all across Twitter. How can anyone who is even reasonably impartial and reasonably intelligent argue that Twitter was merely neutrally enforcing moderation policies in the Hunter Biden situation when it took the polar opposite stance when it came to Trump?

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/09/27/us/donald-tru...

Indeed, numerous articles written explicitly from hacked sources (unlike the Biden laptop, which was only [faslely] rumored to be "hacked") were published and advertised on Twitter. These articles were never suppressed. How can it be argued Twitter was merely neutrally enforcing their policy when the only articles suppressed were clearly done to benefit their preferred political partisans?

https://twitter.com/ZaidJilani/status/1598855600083177472

Personally I am (and have never been) neither a Republican or a Trump supporter, but what I (and many other like me) am is someone who supports free speech, open discourse and rational thinking. This is only part 1 of the "Twitter files", with many more revelations to come, and it is already incredibly damning. It is stunning to me that so many otherwise intelligent people do not see the problem with big tech colluding with government officials and intelligence agencies to brazenly attempt to distort and censor public discourse - especially right before an election. The ability of people to willfully delude themselves is astounding.

mikkergp · 3 years ago
>It is stunning to me that so many otherwise intelligent people do not see the problem with big tech colluding with government officials and intelligence agencies to brazenly attempt to distort and censor public discourse - especially right before an election.

You took a giant leap from maybe people at Twitter were acting with bias. You’d need a lot more information to justify this assertion, and who is saying this wouldnt be a problem? I al saying this didn’t happen, not it wouldn’t be a problemZ

mikkergp commented on The Twitter Files   twitter.com/mtaibbi/statu... · Posted by u/lost1
taolegal · 3 years ago
It's not a partisan idea that democrats control every sphere of culture.
mikkergp · 3 years ago
> every sphere of culture.

Please clarify because absolutelutes are too easily disproven.

mikkergp commented on The Twitter Files   twitter.com/mtaibbi/statu... · Posted by u/lost1
dmitrygr · 3 years ago
Did you read the OP? Even their CEO questioned of this was proper application of the policy. Their top legal dude admitted that they had been wrong but advised to stay the course. It was NEVER about the policy, except as a justification. They literally admit so multiple times...
mikkergp · 3 years ago
Yes exactly! They asked all the right questions then realized they didn’t have justification and it was a mistaken, apologize and I hope learned from the incident. And will react faster in the future. But this is the point. They made a mistake, fine but no one said “hey, I hate Trump, maybe we should keep this down”

Never make moderation mistakes can’t be the standard.

mikkergp commented on The Twitter Files   twitter.com/mtaibbi/statu... · Posted by u/lost1
lapcat · 3 years ago
The worst part of this censorship was the pure stupidity of trying to censor links to a website that was always available independently of Twitter and Facebook. If someone wanted to read the story, they could always go to the original source, the NY Post. It's just impossible to keep it a secret, and that's why the censorship attempt was an utter failure, predictably so. Failure was inevitable in this case. Twitter could delete tweets and DMs, but they couldn't erase the NY Post. It was hubris that made Twitter and Facebook think they controlled access to the whole world (wide web), but they didn't.

The story itself, though, was a nothingburger IMO. Which is why the censorship of the story became the story. I hear a lot of people complain about the censorship of the story, which may be a legit complaint, but I haven't heard a good argument of why Hunter Biden should have been a crucial factor in deciding how to vote in 2020, when there were a ton of other vastly more important issues.

mikkergp · 3 years ago
But your point is the point as to why it’s not hubris! they weren’t trying to censor anything, they were just trying to follow their own moderation policies. This I think is why the censorship story is such a non issue, because Twitter is not an exclusive source of this information.
mikkergp commented on Twitter's Credit Rating Withdrawn by S&P on Lack of Information   google.com/amp/s/www.bnnb... · Posted by u/VagueMag
codefreeordie · 3 years ago
more likely as retaliation for what is currently underway (or in anticipation of the retaliation coming)
mikkergp · 3 years ago
What did Twitter do to S&P?
mikkergp commented on The Twitter Files   twitter.com/mtaibbi/statu... · Posted by u/lost1
refurb · 3 years ago
Did you miss the part where it was driven by “connections” and 97%+ Twitter employee donations were to Democrats?
mikkergp · 3 years ago
> 97%+ Twitter employee donations were to Democrats?

So what’s the principle here? What’s the plan. Which companies should have to disclose the political contributions of their employees and what should they do if it’s unbalanced at more than say 60-40, randomly fire employees until it’s back in line?

mikkergp commented on Twitter exec says moving fast on moderation, as harmful content surges   reuters.com/technology/tw... · Posted by u/mfiguiere
mikkergp · 3 years ago
Have they talked any further about releasing the algorithm? I know that was one of Musks goals

u/mikkergp

KarmaCake day2136September 30, 2015View Original