Eugen Rochko

I'm just thinking about this blog post I wrote in 2018. Because even when Twitter makes a good decision, the first sentence comes to mind: Why does the entire world have to wait on the CEO of one US company to make a decision?

https://blog.joinmastodon.org/2018/03/twitter-is-not-a-public-utility/

Twitter is not a public utility

Isn’t it a bit strange that the entire world has to wait on the CEO of Twitter to come around on what constitutes healthy discourse? I am not talking about it being too little, too late. Rather, my issue is with “instant, public, global messaging and conversation” being entirely dependent on one single privately held company’s whims. Perhaps they want to go in the right direction right now for once, but who’s to say how their opinion changes in the future?

Official Mastodon Blog
Jan 9, 2021 at 12:27amWeb
Show thread@tlramiresJan 9, 2021
@Gargron concordo plenamente. às vezes me sinto tolo com tamanha dependência desses aplicativos
Show threadThe Mayor 👑Jan 9, 2021
@Gargron We need a Bill of Right for the Internett.
Show threadRuneJan 9, 2021
@Gargron I kinda have to log in here and use my account for once, but after what happened today with Trump's suspension, I'm getting the signal that not even a major corporation like twitter is immune from the problems of smaller communities. I just see the patterns from what happened on CL and also several other communities I was a part of that fell apart in a similar fashion. This may be the first sign of twitter's collapse, though I don't know if it'll lead to decentralization of communities
Show threadnmd176Jan 9, 2021
@Gargron Agree
Show threadBart Janssens 🇧🇪Jan 9, 2021
@Gargron Ironically, the Trump ban is exactly what inspired me to look around on Mastodon again after a long time, even though I agree with the ban 100%.
Show threadresist1984Jan 9, 2021
@janssens_bart @Gargron #Twitter banned me (a small-time activist who exposes the harms of #CloudFlare). My posts were civil but CF is a powerful adversary. Banning someone who incites violence & pushes misinfo from a trusted posture (e.g. #Trump) is not a strong case against Twitter. And sadly, only relatively non-controversial bans get headlines b/c civil activists like myself aren't notworthy.
Show threadresist1984Jan 9, 2021
@Gargron @janssens_bart It's precisely the banning of low-profile activists that serve as strong rationale to leave twtr, as well as the substantial number of Indians that #Twitter marginalized not too long ago.
Show threadresist1984Jan 9, 2021
@janssens_bart @Gargron As a state actor, #Trump has no place on #Twitter in the 1st place. Nor does #Biden or any other politician. We expect politicians to serve *the public*, not members of an exclusive walled garden that's centrally controlled by a private corporation who controls who among the /public/ may communicate to their representatives in /public/ office.
Show threadresist1984Jan 9, 2021
@Gargron @janssens_bart the ethical thing for #twitter to do is to acknowledge that it's not their place to control who gets to interact with politicians and refuse to serve all politicians who (mis)use Twitter as a public service. It's not the profitable move but it's the ethical one.
Show threadBart Janssens 🇧🇪Jan 9, 2021
@resist1984 @Gargron Very good points, it is exactly because it was profitable that they allowed Trump to continue as long as he did.
Show threadCallous Internet ManJan 9, 2021
@Gargron Or worse, why does no one question why they're making this decision *right now* when it's popular?
Show threadAri Romano McBrideJan 10, 2021
@Gargron because now they don’t need to fear repercussions from the trump administration. It’s all about appeasement.