Should you wished a reminder of who’s now in cost at Twitter, Elon has supplied a pair this week.
Yesterday, former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey posted his first-ever article to newsletter platform Revue, which Twitter purchased last January, by which he outlined his response to the latest ‘Twitter Information’ leaks, by way of which Elon has been working with chosen journalists to uncover previous moderation actions taken by Twitter, and the way they particularly relate to conservative customers.
Dorsey, in rigorously worded phrases, supplied a protection of his former colleagues, amid questions over their exercise, whereas additionally, as soon as once more, pointing to a decentralized mannequin for social platform moderation, which he believes may very well be a greater approach ahead to restrict bias, misinterpretation and hurt.
Which gained’t work, for various causes. However Dorsey, as all the time, stays steadfastly optimistic, making use of philosophy over substance to hunt a brand new approach ahead, in hopes of shedding the missteps of occasions previous.
I’m unsure which half upset Elon probably the most. Perhaps this line:
“The present assaults on my former colleagues may very well be harmful and doesn’t resolve something.”
Both approach, one thing appears to have gotten his goat, as a result of right now, lower than 24 hours after Dorsey posted his article, Twitter has despatched an electronic mail to all Revue customers informing them that the platform is shutting down subsequent month.
As per Revue:
“From January 18, 2023, it can now not be doable to entry your Revue account. On that date, Revue will shut down and all information shall be deleted. This has been a tough resolution as a result of we all know Revue has a passionate consumer base, made up of individuals such as you.”
Once more, Twitter solely acquired Revue final yr, with a view to facilitating new types of income era for creators, as a part of its broader push to construct in additional monetization instruments. However clearly, it’s not a part of Musk’s ‘Twitter 2.0’ plan – or perhaps Elon didn’t know that Twitter-owned Revue until he noticed Jack’s submit yesterday.
I imply, that has occurred with different components:
The opposite consideration is that that is only a coincidence, that Twitter was going to close down Revue anyway and Dorsey simply occurred to publish a submit the day earlier than that announcement.
However then once more, right now Twitter additionally shut down a Twitter profile that had been tracking Musk’s private flights, which he swore he wouldn’t do, even utilizing it for example of his dedication to free speech.
My dedication to free speech extends even to not banning the account following my airplane, although that may be a direct private security threat
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 7, 2022
It appears that evidently the definition of ‘free speech’, in Elon’s view, is variable, with studies that Musk has additionally been pushing staff to prioritize the removal of scam tweets that bear his likeness, together with some ideas that he had informed workers to remove videos of him being booed at a Dave Chapelle show earlier this week (this one appears to be a rumor, as the unique video continues to be up).
Musk himself has additionally commenced promoting COVID conspiracy theories and sharing transphobic perspectives. Each of which aren’t unlawful, which has been Musk’s acknowledged threshold for what shall be acceptable within the app. However a consumer with over 120 million followers posting COVID conspiracies would undoubtedly have come underneath scrutiny in occasions previous.
But, on the similar time, Musk has dominated out reinstating the account of banned broadcaster Alex Jones as a result of his private perspective on baby security.
In essence, what we’re seeing in ‘Twitter 2.0’ is that the platform is now being held to Elon Musk’s guidelines for ‘free speech’, and all that this entails. Which is seemingly extra versatile than the identical underneath earlier Twitter administration, however is far more aligned along with his private perspective than it’s the legislation or different established parameters.
Once more, should you wished a reminder of who’s in cost, Elon has made it clear, which might level to the longer term route of the app – and apparently, is strictly what Dorsey warns towards in his essay.
Revue says that customers will have the ability to obtain their subscriber record, previous publication points, and analytics by following these instructions.
