As the Twitter Files pile up, a new implication emerges. To get to the point where you can see it, start running through the list of the things we’ve seen so far: Twitter Files Part 8, constant intervention in the platform by military officials: Twitter Files, Covid Edition, constant intervention in the platform by the White House — during both the Trump and Biden administrations — and federal public health officials.
Like Steve Bannon said, Musk was buying a crime scene. Everything you write about is either illegal or unethical, as it all pertains to violating someone's free speech. The government is doing it through a private firm instead of directly themselves. Quintessential facism, as the government controls the private sector and they do what the government tells them to do. I haven't seen all the threads but in the ones I've read there's no push back from anyone at Twitter.
It is not only social media. When the “limited” government is so big, with so many employees who self-righteously believe, that they are empowered to dictate to others in the name of fairness or equity or whatever, citizens are no longer free. Many industries and businesses have to obtain “approvals” from one or more governments to do anything - to sell a new product, offer a discount, etc. The government often oversteps its role and competence. Nor does the government consider itself bound by the law. It’s interference in social media is one glaring example of a much larger infringement on our freedom.
I can only imagine what the 1) George Floyd, 2) J6 and 3) Inflation Twitter files look like . . . If this wasn't the government, I'd say it seems like organized crime. Since these are government actors, I'll refer to them as the disorganized crime syndicate.
I burst out laughing when I came to “Before you cook that cheeseburger for order number seven" - Twitter never produced anything. It was supposed to be a platform for OTHER PEOPLE to provide content. All they had to do was make the system functional.
But in the way that our bureaucracy takes on every aspect of our lives instead of actually being helpful, Twitter got way too big for its britches. The employees no doubt felt a sense of self-importance the equivalent of organizing a D-Day invasion. What a shit show.
We have separation of church and state for a reason. Now we need separation of state and information platforms.
You make a good point in this: "the Twitter files are about the way government without boundaries consumes resources from every entity it touches." But then there's this: "Twitter’s path to bankruptcy runs through the premise that every government official who doesn’t like a tweet deserves a meeting." That idea of "deserving" a meeting. That was ultimately Twitter's choice. Rather than telling all these various government "officials" to go pound sand, they invited increasingly more interference, reveled in it even.
And I know what you'll say: they had little choice. But they did. This situation very heavily lists to the left. All they really had to do was publicly expose the censorship on the left to the right and they would have been left alone in the ensuing battle. (Besides censorship *at the moment* is primarily a Democrat thing, not really a specifically liberal thing or a conservative thing or a Republican thing, but a Democrat thing, so they would have had large portions of the population backing them.)
"In addition to the free speech problem and the pathologies of gleichschaltung, the Twitter files are about the way government without boundaries consumes resources from every entity it touches."
To me, this is the overarching point. This goes well beyond twitter. The government has so much unaccountable power that it can choose to bankrupt almost anybody it wants. Fighting the government is hideously expensive (lawyers at $450/hr minimum, etc).
Meanwhile uk users are DEMANDING to see the UK twitter files....lol....but seriously, if folks are trying to blame Musk for driving the company into bankruptcy, well the twitter files exposed the true culprits didn't they?
Musk has been suspiciously silent on how exactly the new Twitter is handling all these government requests. I somehow doubt they started showing them the middle finger with Musk's arrival.
It makes sense now why elon fired so many people and everyone said Twitter would be flooded with hate and fail etc etc. Twitter was(is) a Govt spy app. I figure that’s why the child sex stuff was allowed to remain….either the accounts are Fbi traps or they are forever “monitoring” them.
Hey Chris. I’ve been thinking the same thing. And this wasn’t just a private enterprise. It was a publicly traded company, owned by shareholders, with an independent board of directors (theoretically). They have a duty to run the company for the benefit of shareholders, not to one customer’s political agenda. I suppose they might argue that serving the US government was the key to their business model, in general, but they obviously wouldn’t do that.
Ideology trumps common [and business] sense every time...
When you're dealing with the WORLD'S BIGGEST EMPLOYER [the United States government] which has (seemingly) infinite resources and no accountability, it's no wonder the bleeding heart commies that used to run Twitter were loosing $4 Million (+) per day. Turns out Censorship and Wokeism are EXPENSIVE... but to the purple haired ideologues that were "Twitter" , the cost of DESTROYING our American Republic was worth every penny.
Or, to strip the discussion down: It looks like Elon Musk bought a quasi-governmental agency, and he's trying to turn it into a business.
A side of the story that hadn't occurred to me. Good point! Something about the votes in 2016 really broke those people, didn't it?
Like Steve Bannon said, Musk was buying a crime scene. Everything you write about is either illegal or unethical, as it all pertains to violating someone's free speech. The government is doing it through a private firm instead of directly themselves. Quintessential facism, as the government controls the private sector and they do what the government tells them to do. I haven't seen all the threads but in the ones I've read there's no push back from anyone at Twitter.
Danny Huckabee
It is not only social media. When the “limited” government is so big, with so many employees who self-righteously believe, that they are empowered to dictate to others in the name of fairness or equity or whatever, citizens are no longer free. Many industries and businesses have to obtain “approvals” from one or more governments to do anything - to sell a new product, offer a discount, etc. The government often oversteps its role and competence. Nor does the government consider itself bound by the law. It’s interference in social media is one glaring example of a much larger infringement on our freedom.
This is what the Snowden revelations showed us -- for Google, and 'social media' in general, the government is the customer. Surveillance is what they buy. And they had 52.6 billion dollars in their off-the-books black budget as revealed in 2013. https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/black-budget-leaked-by-edward-snowden-describes-nsa-team-that-hacks-foreign-targets/2013/08/30/8b7e684c-119b-11e3-bdf6-e4fc677d94a1_story.html
I can only imagine what the 1) George Floyd, 2) J6 and 3) Inflation Twitter files look like . . . If this wasn't the government, I'd say it seems like organized crime. Since these are government actors, I'll refer to them as the disorganized crime syndicate.
I burst out laughing when I came to “Before you cook that cheeseburger for order number seven" - Twitter never produced anything. It was supposed to be a platform for OTHER PEOPLE to provide content. All they had to do was make the system functional.
But in the way that our bureaucracy takes on every aspect of our lives instead of actually being helpful, Twitter got way too big for its britches. The employees no doubt felt a sense of self-importance the equivalent of organizing a D-Day invasion. What a shit show.
Well, yes, but....
The squeak that greases the wheel gets the attention.
What if Twitter is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Deep State?
What if the Deep State (the Feds) are paying for (either with cash or in-kind) attention to their issues?
Then the Deep State is the client.
And all those meetings that are seemingly disruptive to "the business", actually ARE "the business."
We have separation of church and state for a reason. Now we need separation of state and information platforms.
You make a good point in this: "the Twitter files are about the way government without boundaries consumes resources from every entity it touches." But then there's this: "Twitter’s path to bankruptcy runs through the premise that every government official who doesn’t like a tweet deserves a meeting." That idea of "deserving" a meeting. That was ultimately Twitter's choice. Rather than telling all these various government "officials" to go pound sand, they invited increasingly more interference, reveled in it even.
And I know what you'll say: they had little choice. But they did. This situation very heavily lists to the left. All they really had to do was publicly expose the censorship on the left to the right and they would have been left alone in the ensuing battle. (Besides censorship *at the moment* is primarily a Democrat thing, not really a specifically liberal thing or a conservative thing or a Republican thing, but a Democrat thing, so they would have had large portions of the population backing them.)
"In addition to the free speech problem and the pathologies of gleichschaltung, the Twitter files are about the way government without boundaries consumes resources from every entity it touches."
To me, this is the overarching point. This goes well beyond twitter. The government has so much unaccountable power that it can choose to bankrupt almost anybody it wants. Fighting the government is hideously expensive (lawyers at $450/hr minimum, etc).
Meanwhile uk users are DEMANDING to see the UK twitter files....lol....but seriously, if folks are trying to blame Musk for driving the company into bankruptcy, well the twitter files exposed the true culprits didn't they?
Musk has been suspiciously silent on how exactly the new Twitter is handling all these government requests. I somehow doubt they started showing them the middle finger with Musk's arrival.
Good thoughts. A prime example of how governments are essentially parasites.
It makes sense now why elon fired so many people and everyone said Twitter would be flooded with hate and fail etc etc. Twitter was(is) a Govt spy app. I figure that’s why the child sex stuff was allowed to remain….either the accounts are Fbi traps or they are forever “monitoring” them.
Hey Chris. I’ve been thinking the same thing. And this wasn’t just a private enterprise. It was a publicly traded company, owned by shareholders, with an independent board of directors (theoretically). They have a duty to run the company for the benefit of shareholders, not to one customer’s political agenda. I suppose they might argue that serving the US government was the key to their business model, in general, but they obviously wouldn’t do that.
Ideology trumps common [and business] sense every time...
When you're dealing with the WORLD'S BIGGEST EMPLOYER [the United States government] which has (seemingly) infinite resources and no accountability, it's no wonder the bleeding heart commies that used to run Twitter were loosing $4 Million (+) per day. Turns out Censorship and Wokeism are EXPENSIVE... but to the purple haired ideologues that were "Twitter" , the cost of DESTROYING our American Republic was worth every penny.