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Twitter Shadow Bans Turkish Presidential Candidate

utkusen.substack.com

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Re: Twitter Shadow Bans Turkish Presidential Candidate

#111

Post by drak0n1c »

panarky wrote: post #52
roughly wrote: post #8

I am not an Elon or X fan, and I don’t think this is Good, but Twitter’s policy pre-X to comply with national content laws was to geo-block content when a government demanded it be blocked. I don’t recall if the algorithmic shadow-ban was in that toolkit pre-X as well, but it wouldn’t surprise me. Again, I don’t think this is a good outcome, but it’s not substantially at odds with what Twitter pre-Elon would’ve done…

I happened to be in Istanbul during the Gezi Park uprising in 2013. I didn't participate in the protests, but I did manage to wander into the wrong place at the wrong time and got teargassed pretty good and hard. I sheltered from the gas and the water cannons and the soldiers with a group of protestors overnight and got to learn from them firsthand. They were using Twitter extensively to coordinate and to find out wh…

Keep in mind that Pre-2016 Twitter was markedly looser in enforcement than 2016-2022 Twitter which was increasingly run by legal and moral busybodies sensitive to the fallout of the Arab Spring, and habituated to government pressure (see Twitter Files). If anything, Twitter under Musk is a continuation of that trajectory for Rest-Of-World, but with special exemptions and protections for English language countries and issues in which he and the firm has personal awareness of and popular capital - for example, see how it stands up to the governments of Brazil and UK.

Re: Twitter Shadow Bans Turkish Presidential Candidate

#112

Post by immibis »

numpad0 wrote: post #61
socrates1998 wrote: post #25

[flagged]

Decentralized socials haven't found a great way to generate informational bandwidth comparable to peak Twitter. Twitter demographic is thoroughly desensitized with data bandwidth and will not move to alternatives that don't offer current Twitter even though it's nowhere near the rosy peak.

Bandwidth above a certain point is actively detrimental, and that point is quite low. It's not just why we all have ADHD now but also why we can't tell reality from fiction.

Re: Twitter Shadow Bans Turkish Presidential Candidate

#113

Post by graemep »

Quarrelsome wrote: post #87
graemep wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You would think so, but he seems to have had remarkably little impact so far.

you're focusing too much on him personally instead of the impact of his platform and how he runs it. Twitter has had significant impact on UK politics and will continue to do so, especially in spreading disinformation[0]. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2022_Leicester_unrest

The platform does spread disinformation, but he does not have much ability to direct it.

Yes, its a different issue from what influence he has personally.

Re: Twitter Shadow Bans Turkish Presidential Candidate

#114

Post by trelane »

selim17 wrote: post #55

Elon Musk loves to brand himself as a “free speech absolutist” but when it comes to authoritarian regimes like Turkey, that principle evaporates instantly. Pre-Musk Twitter, for all its flaws, at least pushed back against censorship requests - now, X bends the knee without hesitation. Shadow-banning opposition voices is a gift to governments that fear open debate, and Musk is complicit. Free speech isn’t free if it o…

> Free speech isn’t free if it only applies where it’s convenient.

Man, this is true across so much of the political landscape.

"Principles" are what we enforce on others and excuse away for ourselves.

Re: Twitter Shadow Bans Turkish Presidential Candidate

#115

Post by ronsor »

tracker1 wrote: post #101
ronsor wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> What other moral standard is there besides laws? To be honest, you could restrict your compliance to only the laws of the country you're based in. American companies follow American laws, etc. Then move your company to where you most agree with the laws.

And when your company has an office in that country, or prominent employees have family in that country?

Perhaps do not have an office in that country. As for employees, that is their concern. Ideally the country is not willing to punish the family members of employees of companies that do not follow its draconian laws, but we know some do, such as China. Regardless, that is not a reason to capitulate; if you do so, you are effectively enabling state-backed extortion.

Re: Twitter Shadow Bans Turkish Presidential Candidate

#117

Post by kiitos »

declan_roberts wrote: post #30
socrates1998 wrote: post #25

[flagged]

How do you measure viable? Twitter is still the best place to hear and read about breaking news.

are you stuck in 2021? hang on let me give you a hand, join us here in the present! things are different now, friend!

Re: Twitter Shadow Bans Turkish Presidential Candidate

#120

Post by immibis »

jjangkke wrote: post #51
socrates1998 wrote: post #25

[flagged]

by your own measure then communists and socialists have gotten control of platforms like Reddit and is no longer a viable platform

Reddit is terribly corrupted by something, but I don't think it's communism or socialism. Proof by contradiction: communists and socialists are very strong advocates for punching everyone they think are Nazis, but if you ever hint at that on Reddit (especially as your first comment), or you call Elon or Trump a Nazi, you'll be banned.

Identical to X, it's a platform that pushes what the corporate overlords want you to think, while making it look organic. Different from X, they push more advertising and pro-USA agenda than pro-right-wing.

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