The ongoing Elon Twitter saga: "insert demographic" melts down

[unwashed potato!]

it seems like a ludicrous conclusion that two seemingly moderate/socially liberal types are somehow "far right" because they're anti woke?

Indeed, just as it is ludicrous to conclude that someone is far left because that arr against fasicm, or antifa for short. Right? Righttttt? Oh wait...

 

[dowie]

The text conversation is one thing, Musk has made it clear from his tweets that he is far right, from telling people to vote republican, to being friends with trump (well, was, since trump has now dissed him publicly).

You can search these yourself, super easy to find and already been discussed here and other threads.

Where has he made it clear he's "far right", you're just making an empty allegation here... what has he said, specifically, that makes him far right?

Your original claim was based on the text conversation but clearly, that's ridiculous, now you've gone with he is "friends with Trump"? Is he? Based on what and how does whatever you're basing that on translate to him being far right?

I can't search for vague arguments you've come up with yourself, I can read the text messages but I'm not a mind reader, I've got no idea what you believe is "far right" in those messages between Elon and his ex Hollywood actress wife and so far you haven't been able to directly quote anything either.

 

[StriderX]

America's ridiculous monodirectional idea of politics should never be worth discussing tbh.

 

[unwashed potato!]

Where has he made it clear he's "far right", you're just making an empty allegation here... what has he said, specifically, that makes him far right?

I wouldn't bother @mrk, this is a person that doesn't think jan6th was a coup attempt simply because they failed.

 

[dowie]

Plus I have seen your posts all over the place here, I will not be entertaining such things!

You don't need to "entertain" anything, if you had anything substantial to show Elon is "far right" you'd have linked to it in your first reply... as it turns out you're just engaging in the usual Spaceship man bad hyperbole.

Elon being annoying or telling dad jokes or openly trolling on twitter != "far right", people should at least try to ground their criticism in reality.

 

[diamount]

It's just a vocal minority fighting another Vocal minority though


Twitter attracts the 4chan/mumsnet weirdo types and keeps them away from the rest of the internet, it would be bad if it died

Twitter will be fine, but it's valuation will continue to plummet him at the helm - already happening with Tesla.

 

[mrk]

Where has he made it clear he's "far right", you're just making an empty allegation here... what has he said, specifically, that makes him far right?

Your original claim was based on the text conversation but clearly, that's ridiculous, now you've gone with he is "friends with Trump"? Is he? Based on what and how does whatever you're basing that on translate to him being far right?

I can't search for vague arguments you've come up with yourself, I can read the text messages but I'm not a mind reader, I've got no idea what you believe is "far right" in those messages between Elon and his ex Hollywood actress wife and so far you haven't been able to directly quote anything either.

"Allegation"....

Let's see.

If Elon Musk Really Doesn’t Want Twitter to Look “Right-Wing,” He’s Doing a Terrible Job

From reinstating Donald Trump to rubbing elbows with members of the online right, the tech billionaire has put his true colors on full display.

www.vanityfair.com

If we take Musk at his word—which history has proven to be ill-advised—then Twitter’s new owner is failing spectacularly at achieving his middle-of-the-road vision. Opening the door for a Trump return aside, Musk spent much of the past weekend interacting with numerous far-right bloggers, including Ian Miles Cheong, a Ron DeSantis supporter who falsely characterized the Buffalo mass shooter as a leftist.

Opinion | It's now obvious what Elon Musk is doing

Beneath the chaos, there's method to his Twitter madness.

www.msnbc.com

These explanations may still illuminate part of why he acted the way he did. But it's now impossible to ignore the emerging reality that Musk values owning Twitter as a powerful weapon for right-wing activism.

Elon Musk is reportedly micromanaging remaining Twitter workers

Elon Musk doesn't appear to be welcoming Alex Jones back to Twitter anytime soon but is platforming conspiracy theorist Dinesh D'Souza.

www.sfgate.com

That said, Musk’s implementation of “total” free speech has been inconsistent. In recent days, after Trump and Ye’s return to Twitter, Marjorie Taylor Greene’s personal account and Project Veritas’ account have been reinstated. He also tweeted to (and effectively platformed) far-right conspiracy theorist Dinesh D’Souza Tuesday.

Elon Musk never cared if Twitter was a business failure – he wants a political win | Richard Seymour

The social platform’s new owner wants to rebalance information ecologies in favour of the right, says activist and author Richard Seymour

www.theguardian.com

As Twitter CEO, he used the platform to encourage voters to support the Republicans in the US midterm elections and, when they lost, spread a conspiracy theory that Sam Bankman-Fried laundered money for the Democrats. He is, though hardly a Trumper, cheerfully adjacent to the culture war politics of the American far right.

This would suggest that the billionaire takeover was, in part, a political move aimed at “disrupting” communications networks that the American right has repeatedly claimed are biased against it.

Elon Musk and right-wing extremism: part of the problem, not the solution

He was rather quick to amplify disinformation that served the Trumpian right.

www.motherjones.com

When Hillary Clinton on Twitter cited a Los Angeles Times article that reported the would-be assassin of Nancy Pelosi, who assaulted Pelosi’s husband Paul, was a QAnon fanboy who espoused right wing conspiracy theories and extreme MAGA rhetoric, Musk replied with a tweet promoting a false story disseminated by a known disinformation site that claimed that the assailant was a man Pelosi had met in a gay bar late that night

Elon Musk Keeps Taking Twitter Advice From Right-Wing Trolls

Elon Musk talks with right-wing conspiracy theorists on Twitter as he shapes the future of the social-media site.

www.rollingstone.com

Musk deleted the tweet, but he hasn’t stopped engaging with figures on the far right as he struggles to get a grip on his increasingly chaotic company. While antagonizing powerful Democrats like Sen. Ed Markey — who dared to voice his concern after a Washington Post reporter was able to successfully impersonate him with a paid, verified account — he has patiently listened and replied to suggestions and complaints from those on the other end of the political spectrum.

As Elon Musk Buys Twitter, the Right Is Celebrating

Some conservatives hailed Musk's takeover as a win for 'free speech'

time.com

To media analysts, it comes as little surprise that right-wing influencers and politicians celebrated Musk’s acquisition of the platform. Polling from the Pew Research Center in 2021 showed that 6 in 10 Republican Twitter users felt that limiting the visibility of certain posts—like obscuring election misinformation—was a major problem. The polling also found that Republicans are more likely than Democrats to say Twitter is bad for democracy.

Musk’s Twitter reinstates far-right US congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene

This comes after a similar move to restore the account of ex-US president Donald Trump, after Musk held an unscientific social media poll.

www.scmp.com

Musk has frequently expressed his belief that Twitter had become too restrictive. Before the US midterm elections this month, he urged his “independent-minded” Twitter followers to vote Republican.

Why is Elon Musk’s Twitter takeover increasing hate speech?

Musk’s acquisition of Twitter and his potential plans to loosen moderation guidelines will exacerbate the proliferation of hate speech and likely inhibit the ways that marginalized groups mobilized on the platform to combat racism and discrimination.

www.brookings.edu

Twitter saw a nearly 500% increase in use of the N-word in the 12-hour window immediately following the shift of ownership to Musk. Within the following week, tweets including the word “Jew” had increased fivefold since before the ownership transfer. Tweets with the most engagement were overly antisemitic. Likewise, there has also been an uptick in misogynistic and transphobic language. This surge in hateful language has been accredited to various trolling campaigns on sites like 4chan and the pro-Trump forum “The Donald.”

In response to these reports, Yoel Roth (former Head of Safety and Integrity at Twitter) posted a thread detailing that the majority of this derogatory language is coming from about 300 “inauthentic” accounts. Even if this hateful conduct is coming from a small number of troll accounts, this phenomenon speaks to how fringe, alt-right networks not only feel empowered by Musk’s takeover, but protected as well.

So just a snippet but yeah, he is definitely not even leaning even slightly right.... Just your everyday independent disruptor/anarchist as he calls himself! /s

The stark reality is that Musk is an entrepreneur and knows how to get the best out of technology and science minded engineers. SpaceX and Tesla are proof of that. however, he has strayed far away from his lane and this is the result, Tesla stocks going down, his global reputation is affected, his social commentary leaving much to be desired for an influencial tech billionaire etc etc etc.

I wouldn't bother @mrk, this is a person that doesn't think jan6th was a coup attempt simply because they failed.

Just seen this, I was actually mid-post with the above when you posted it seems! I don't think he will be back on this front after the above though, I mean a reasonable thinker would just bow out at this point.

 

[arknor]

Twitter will be fine, but it's valuation will continue to plummet him at the helm - already happening with Tesla.

it would have nayway be 50-70% like any other tech company did.

it only didn't because foolish elon locked in at the covid inflated bubble price

 

[diamount]

it would have nayway be 50-70% like any other tech company did.

it only didn't because foolish elon locked in at the covid inflated bubble price

I'm guessing his public image has nothing to do with it. Nothing at all.

 

[Colonel_Klinck]

What does that have to do with whether it is a conspiracy theory/whether it's true or not? He could have deleted it for any number of reasons, deleting it doesn't imply a lack of belief.

Then why post it? It appears to have come out of nowhere. And again why delete it after posting it. Its all odd at the very least.

 

[dowie]

"Allegation"....

Let's see.

Now you've just gone for some incoherent link dump... it's like throwing **** at the wall and trying to see what sticks.

He's far right because he sacked twitter workers? Does that make Mark Zuckerberg far right too and whole load of other CEOs?

Or he's far right because he's changed twitter's moderation policy and let back some right-wing figures onto the platform? But he's also let some left-wing figures back onto the platform so that seems flawed?

Or he's far right because some blatant trolls posted on twitter immediately after the takeover and used the n-word etc.. then were subsequently banned?

Your original claim that he was far-right related to some text messages exchanged between him and his ex-wife, yet when questioned on this you can't quote anything that illustrates how Elon is "far right".

So your solution to being called out on that and not being able to back up the claim seems to have been to google for any news article mentioning Elon and any topic remotely associated with something right-wing then dump in a load of links and quotes.

What is missing though is any coherent argument or direct evidence to show that Elon himself is actually "far right".

 

[dowie]

Then why post it? It appears to have come out of nowhere. And again why delete it after posting it. Its all odd at the very least.

Maybe it is odd, so what?

 

[mrk]

Now you've just gone for some incoherent link dump... it's like throwing **** at the wall and trying to see what sticks.

He's far right because he sacked twitter workers? Does that make Mark Zuckerberg far right too and whole load of other CEOs?

Or he's far right because he's changed twitter's moderation policy and let back some right-wing figures onto the platform? But he's also let some left-wing figures back onto the platform so that seems flawed?

Or he's far right because some blatant trolls posted on twitter immediately after the takeover and used the n-word etc.. then were subsequently banned?

Your original claim that he was far-right related to some text messages exchanged between him and his ex-wife, yet when questioned on this you can't quote anything that illustrates how Elon is "far right".

So your solution to being called out on that and not being able to back up the claim seems to have been to google for any news article mentioning Elon and any topic remotely associated with something right-wing then dump in a load of links and quotes.

What is missing though is any coherent argument or direct evidence to show that Elon himself is actually "far right".

Folks this is what it looks like when someone brain farts

 

[dowie]

Folks this is what it looks like when someone brain farts

If you had evidence that Elon was "far right" based on the text messages you'd have posted it and explained what you were referring to, you can't so you've just gone for an incoherent link dump.

 

[mrk]

Sure.

 

[dowie]

Sure.

OK so here are the text messages, this is what you claimed made both Elon and his ex-wife "far right"



It doesn't seem too coherent so far mrk, being anti-woke or concerned about free speech and the use of Twitter by extremists doesn't seem to have much to do with any definition of "far right" I'm aware of.

 

[Colonel_Klinck]

Maybe it is odd, so what?

He appears to be going out of his way to "own the libs" atm. Engaging with absolute loons like Dinesh D'Souza. It just seems odd because it certainly isn't calming things down and putting advertisers concerns front and centre. It does seem like he's trying to cause as much disruption as possible in as short amount of time as possible. If i was trying to calm my clients this wouldn't be the way I'd be doing it.

 

[Colonel_Klinck]

OK so here are the text messages, this is what you claimed made both Elon and his ex-wife "far right"



It doesn't seem too coherent so far mrk, being anti-woke or concerned about free speech and the use of Twitter by extremists doesn't seem to have much to do with any definition of "far right" I'm aware of.

That doesn't say far right but it does say loon. She has been sucked right in and blown out the other side by the culture wars nonsense

 

[dowie]

If i was trying to calm my clients this wouldn't be the way I'd be doing it.

Well, that seems like a likely reason for why he deleted it.

 

[dowie]

That doesn't say far right but it does say loon. She has been sucked right in and blown out the other side by the culture wars nonsense

If mrk's claim was that she's a loon then I'd not have objected, he's claimed and then doubled down on some nonsense argument that Elon and his ex-wife are "far right".