[ExI] Twitter and free speech

[Dan TheBookMan]

A little problem. I agree it’s a private company and he can do whatever he wants on it with regard to who stays and who goes, what’s allowed, etc. But that was no what he and his fans said. They told us this was the public square of our time and that the First Amendment should be the guiding principle. So, Musk is just another rich hypocrite. (And pointing out his hypocrisy doesn’t mean I would take away his right to still pretend he’s a free of speech champion on Twitter as he bans or not as he pleases.)

Also, money has always always been convertible into political power and vice versa. It’s the height of naïveté to believe it was ever any other way, especially in the long run. (In the short run, there are deviations but these correct in short order as either the more wealthy but less politically powerful figure out how to access political power — or they lose their wealth.)

Regards,

Dan 

> On Dec 2, 2022, at 7:56 AM, spike jones via extropy-chat <extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote:
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> …> On Behalf Of Dave S via extropy-chat
> Subject: [ExI] Twitter and free speech
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> >…Musk/Twitter suspended Ye for posting a pic with a star of David and a swastika. They've also apparently suspended people critical of Musk. And the ex-president's account was only reactivated after a poll was in favor of it.
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> >…Not exactly shining examples of freedom of speech, but good examples of "power corrupts".
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> -Dave
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> Sure, but Twitter is a private company.  Musk owns that.  He can do whatever he wants.  Musk has no political office, and so he has no “power.”  He can’t arrest anyone or stop anyone from exercising their right to free speech.
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> Fun question however:  are we ready to admit that money and political power have become indistinguishable?  How did that happen please?
>  
> spike
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