Liz LawleyDec 9, 2022
Chanders

At this point the most important elite social media network in the western world has been captured by a partisan actor who is weaponizing internal company (and possibly user) information for partisan / ideological purposes, with uncertain consequences for the next American elections.

I am not sure if this has fully sunk in.

Dec 9, 2022 at 1:08pmWeb
Show threadChandersDec 9, 2022
Are journalists thinking about this? Are major news organizations internalizing this into their threat models? Are politicians and civil society actors? What are people thinking?
Show threadChandersDec 9, 2022
It just seems like an unmitigated disaster.
Show threadS.E.MacRaeDec 9, 2022
@Chanders given the lack of depth so many news organisations appear to have when writing about social media I would be surprised. I mean they take Jonathan Haidt's word when dealing with subject as if he were an objective actor. It was covered by the BBC on the 10.00 o'clock news last night as legitimate story of how Twitter held back the Biden Story no more than that. Very worrying indeed.
Show threadChandersDec 9, 2022
@Wsi2016 one of the things I realized is that a major player in this in the twitter end is apparently a well-known anti trans activist in the USA. Very disturbing.
Show threadS.E.MacRaeDec 9, 2022
@Chanders absolutely - a thread today suggests that very person has apparently unfettered access to the sites back channels at an extremely high level
Show threadJosh BraunDec 9, 2022

@Chanders Well CBS News has suspended its use of Twitter for the time being. So I think they’re at least aware of the hazards to their brand, if not civil society.

Edit: Correction. As I learned in the replies, CBS News apparently hopped back on Twitter more or less instantaneously.

https://variety.com/2022/digital/news/cbs-news-pauses-twitter-posting-1235437572/amp/

CBS News Pauses Twitter Posts ‘In Light of Uncertainty’ Over Platform

UPDATE, Nov. 20, 6:45 a.m. PT: CBS News Resumes Twitter Posting After Hiatus Over ‘Security Concerns’ CBS News is halting its activity on Twitter over Elon Musk’s turbulent and potentially de…

Variety
Show threadDamon KiesowDec 9, 2022
@josh @Chanders Oddly, their suspension lasted less than a weekend.
Show threadJosh BraunDec 9, 2022
@dkiesow @Chanders Ah. Should’ve checked for an update. 🤦‍♂️
Show threadPatrick LaForgeDec 9, 2022
@Chanders @josh That didn’t last; they’re back
Show threadJosh BraunDec 9, 2022
@palafo @Chanders So I just heard. Ugh.
Show threadChandersDec 9, 2022
@palafo since you are the only NYT journalist I know who is active on here - is this something that is getting talked about at all? Not even quitting TW but just an awareness of the nature of the platform they are on and the security of their data?
Show threadPatrick LaForgeDec 9, 2022
@Chanders It seems to be a huge topic on Twitter today. I've been out of the newsroom for various reasons -- time off, illness -- so have not had much casual conversation about it. Increasingly we have viewed Twitter as a hellhole even before this. I have never considered DMs secure.
Show threadChandersDec 9, 2022
@palafo thanks and also I hope you are feeling better. I agree about DMs.
Show threadJ. Nathan Matias 🦣Dec 9, 2022
@Chanders I have been trying to encourage folks to threat model this, unclear how much it has sunk in.
Show threadEric JacksonDec 9, 2022
@Chanders
True so far as it goes, but the world never stands still and Twitter won't be in two years what it is now, nor what it was in 2016.
Show threadHobson LaneDec 9, 2022
@Chanders We didn't notice it when #FANG did it -- were more subtle about it. At least this time, the elites were clumsy enough to shake a few of us awake.
Show threadNancy M RuffDec 9, 2022
@Chanders Denial is a fierce beast.
Show threadSagrilarusDec 9, 2022

@Chanders

This assumes he makes payroll for the next two years. That is far from certain.

Show threadLaureDec 9, 2022
@Chanders it has not and his info ops are working, getting picked up by so called news orgs around the world
#journalists #news #journalism
Show threadMike RetoolsDec 9, 2022
@Chanders Twitter's power is no doubt what attracted Musk. The question is whether he is pure enough to wield that immense power or not.