Why the Twitter files are in fact a big deal
jacobin.com
Why the Twitter files are in fact a big deal
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Re: Why the Twitter files are in fact a big deal
#2They unfortunately fail to explain the "why" in their title. They label the behavior as "political suppression" but fail to explain how those politics are suppressed or how that suppression violates our constitutional rights. In fact, I'd even argue that it's Twitter's right to do what they want with their control; that's their prerogative as a private business. Don't like it? Regulate it.
Re: Why the Twitter files are in fact a big deal
#3They unfortunately fail to explain the "why" in their title. They label the behavior as "political suppression" but fail to explain how those politics are suppressed or how that suppression violates our constitutional rights. In fact, I'd even argue that it's Twitter's right to do what they want with their control; that's their prerogative as a private business. Don't like it? Regulate it.
This is one paragraph that I thought was salient:
In other words, the creeping merger of the national security state with Twitter doesn’t just bring up issues of political censorship. It also suggests that the website supposedly meant to be the “global public square” is being used as a geopolitical tool in the service of one government’s foreign policy interests.
If it's true, then that is indeed a big deal, seen from an international perspective. (And it doesn't just affect Twitter, of course.)
Re: Why the Twitter files are in fact a big deal
#4They unfortunately fail to explain the "why" in their title. They label the behavior as "political suppression" but fail to explain how those politics are suppressed or how that suppression violates our constitutional rights. In fact, I'd even argue that it's Twitter's right to do what they want with their control; that's their prerogative as a private business. Don't like it? Regulate it.
This is one paragraph that I thought was salient: In other words, the creeping merger of the national security state with Twitter doesn’t just bring up issues of political censorship. It also suggests that the website supposedly meant to be the “global public square” is being used as a geopolitical tool in the service of one government’s foreign policy interests. If it's true, then that is indeed a big deal, seen fro…
How is this news, though? The Snowden leaks, nearly a decade old at this point, directly highlighted the fact that the NSA and FBI personally oversee operations at Facebook, Twitter, and the rest of FAANG. Not only does the US know, but everyone does.
If you're foolish enough to treat Twitter like a global public square, you deserve everything that's coming to you. That's just the way the free market works in it's current incarnation.
Re: Why the Twitter files are in fact a big deal
#5Earlier quoted context omitted.
This is one paragraph that I thought was salient: In other words, the creeping merger of the national security state with Twitter doesn’t just bring up issues of political censorship. It also suggests that the website supposedly meant to be the “global public square” is being used as a geopolitical tool in the service of one government’s foreign policy interests. If it's true, then that is indeed a big deal, seen fro…
How is this news, though? The Snowden leaks, nearly a decade old at this point, directly highlighted the fact that the NSA and FBI personally oversee operations at Facebook, Twitter, and the rest of FAANG. Not only does the US know, but everyone does. If you're foolish enough to treat Twitter like a global public square, you deserve everything that's coming to you. That's just the way the free market works in it's cu…
Well, as you say, the Snowden leaks are ten years old. It's good to have some more recent details.
The result was a deluge of censorship requests from the FBI. The bureau, Taibbi reports, sent over “lists of hundreds of problem accounts” to Twitter executives, often so lengthy they came in the form of Excel spreadsheets, and “thousands of mostly domestic reports,” despite the fact that the FITF was meant to be focused on foreign influence.
Re: Why the Twitter files are in fact a big deal
#6Earlier quoted context omitted.
How is this news, though? The Snowden leaks, nearly a decade old at this point, directly highlighted the fact that the NSA and FBI personally oversee operations at Facebook, Twitter, and the rest of FAANG. Not only does the US know, but everyone does. If you're foolish enough to treat Twitter like a global public square, you deserve everything that's coming to you. That's just the way the free market works in it's cu…
Well, as you say, the Snowden leaks are ten years old. It's good to have some more recent details. The result was a deluge of censorship requests from the FBI. The bureau, Taibbi reports, sent over “lists of hundreds of problem accounts” to Twitter executives, often so lengthy they came in the form of Excel spreadsheets, and “thousands of mostly domestic reports,” despite the fact that the FITF was meant to be focuse…
Maybe so, but how does that make any of this a "big deal"? Nothing new has been revealed, let alone any wrongdoing. Of course people aren't going to give a shit about the Twitter Files if their biggest revelation is the same one we dug up years ago.
Re: Why the Twitter files are in fact a big deal
#7Earlier quoted context omitted.
How is this news, though? The Snowden leaks, nearly a decade old at this point, directly highlighted the fact that the NSA and FBI personally oversee operations at Facebook, Twitter, and the rest of FAANG. Not only does the US know, but everyone does. If you're foolish enough to treat Twitter like a global public square, you deserve everything that's coming to you. That's just the way the free market works in it's cu…
Well, as you say, the Snowden leaks are ten years old. It's good to have some more recent details. The result was a deluge of censorship requests from the FBI. The bureau, Taibbi reports, sent over “lists of hundreds of problem accounts” to Twitter executives, often so lengthy they came in the form of Excel spreadsheets, and “thousands of mostly domestic reports,” despite the fact that the FITF was meant to be focuse…
I agree with that point, but this article basically just a report of one small piece of a huge issue we've known about for years, that so obviously encompasses both sides of the political spectrum, and tries to use it to make the left look bad. Which I agree, they do suck, for things like this and many others, but so does the right and the center and every other direction you can think of.
This actively harms the progress in general social awareness made by Snowden, by reducing the issue to a single party who is no more responsible than the other party - as if we could fix it by voting out democrats. This article would be so much better if it were merely useless
Re: Why the Twitter files are in fact a big deal
#8Earlier quoted context omitted.
Well, as you say, the Snowden leaks are ten years old. It's good to have some more recent details. The result was a deluge of censorship requests from the FBI. The bureau, Taibbi reports, sent over “lists of hundreds of problem accounts” to Twitter executives, often so lengthy they came in the form of Excel spreadsheets, and “thousands of mostly domestic reports,” despite the fact that the FITF was meant to be focuse…
I agree with that point, but this article basically just a report of one small piece of a huge issue we've known about for years, that so obviously encompasses both sides of the political spectrum, and tries to use it to make the left look bad. Which I agree, they do suck, for things like this and many others, but so does the right and the center and every other direction you can think of. This actively harms the pro…
I agree that it is a bipartisan problem, but then I thought that was the exact point the article was trying to make:
... many things could change in the years ahead that make the existing status quo more perilous for leftists: Twitter could start hiring conservatives; it could overcorrect in the face of right-wing criticism, or buckle under mounting FBI pressure; national security agencies could embark on a fiercer crackdown of the Left; a Republican could return to the White House; or a GOP Congress could follow Democrats’ example and pressure tech firms to censor what conservatives consider dangerous speech, to name a few possibilities. The best defense against this is to start opposing these trends now, not when it’s too late.
I didn't think they were trying to make the Left look bad. I thought they were trying to mobilise their fellow progressives, to get them to take an interest.
Re: Why the Twitter files are in fact a big deal
#9It is amazing to me how many people continue to obfuscate and/or downplay the revelations of the Twitter Files by pointing to the fact that Twitter is a private company that can do what they want. The issue isn't what Twitter did, the issue is that government agencies and politicians were directing Twitter to ban and censor people based on the content of their speech. This should be incredibly chilling to anyone who cares about free speech, the 1st Amendment or freedom in general. It isn't the place of the US government to regulate, suppress or attempt to influence the speech of US citizens in any way, shape or form, regardless of how much they don't like that speech or find it inconvenient to their respective agendas. It isn't the job of the FBI, the CIA, the DHS or any other 3-letter agency to try to control the public narrative, whether they call it "managing misinformation" or "disinformation" or any other euphemism they come up with. This isn't a "right wing" or "left wing" issue. If we purport to be a democracy that exists based on the consent of the masses then we need to ensure that our consent is not being manufactured and manipulated by the very government that supposedly exists to represent and work for us.
Re: Why the Twitter files are in fact a big deal
#10It is amazing to me how many people continue to obfuscate and/or downplay the revelations of the Twitter Files by pointing to the fact that Twitter is a private company that can do what they want. The issue isn't what Twitter did, the issue is that government agencies and politicians were directing Twitter to ban and censor people based on the content of their speech. This should be incredibly chilling to anyone who…
Are we to believe that the intent of the Twitter nothingburger isn't meant to be a left-wing vs right-wing issue? I see it as nothing than a political ploy by Musk to cater towards Republicans ignoring their own misdeeds, and trying to set aim on Democrats.