[ExI] elon on twitter

[spike at rainier66.com]

-----Original Message-----
From: extropy-chat <extropy-chat-bounces at lists.extropy.org> On Behalf Of BillK via extropy-chat

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>...Elon has good intentions, but he really doesn't know about all the complexities of moderation in a huge world-wide social network.
Some of his USA biased ideas will break laws in other countries, with possible fines and jail sentences being applied.
Some countries have strict censorship laws - should Twitter comply?
What is free speech in some places is harassment and encouraging terrorism elsewhere.
Stopping anonymous tweeting could put opposition people at risk in some countries.

>...An article here discusses these problems - <https://www.technologyreview.com/2022/10/29/1062417/elon-musk-twitter-takeover-global-democracy-activists/>
Quote:
Elon Musk doesn’t know what it takes to make a digital town square Before making big changes, he should ask the global pro-democracy activists who do.
By   Jillian C. York    October 29, 2022
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BillK

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All good points, thx BillK.

In a country where free speech is codified in a document which acknowledges natural rights that predate and supersede government, we are still struggling to define the differences and similarities between a publisher and a platform.  It is all about who takes responsibility for content.

Regarding anonymous posting, if that is allowed, it is a path to destroy a platform.  We are seeing it already, with some apparently anti-Musk Twitter users anonymously struggling to get their accounts frozen or suspended by making Twitter a hellscape, posting pro-Nazi transphobic tweets.

It is clear enough to me what they are doing.  Any platform can be vandalized.  Any publisher will require power that will be abused.  The difference is who is accountable.

Knowing it comes with a severe cost, I must side with ending anonymous posting.  If Twitter is to be a platform, the content providers must bear responsibility for their own posts.  Otherwise it becomes a publisher.

spike