I've been on the Internet literally since before there was an Internet per se (that is, on the original DOD ARPANET that became the Internet). I've been thinking about Musk's actions over the last few days. I cannot think of any instance of any Internet-related firm ever attempting a broad *** censorship of their users' *** ability to post freely available, legal information, including discussion and links to such information, except ... that in so doing, Musk joins the ranks of Russia, China, North Korea, Iran, and other countries that criminalize all manner of information as part of their repressive regimes.

Musk has now bound himself to them and their philosophies, and any advertisers, firms, or other organizations doing business with him in any way, regarding any of his companies, will be doing the same by association going forward.

It's important to keep in mind what's happening. This isn't a case of a social media firm saying "you can't post lies here about COVID that can hurt people". This is a site saying "you can't even mention the fact that there is a controversy about COVID, or post a link to anyone at another social media site that may have users that discuss this topic. And Musk is attempting to extend that to mainstream media as well. He views #Mastodon in particular as a threat, no matter how much he tries to downplay it, otherwise he wouldn't be blocking links to large instances.
@lauren Elmo is turning Twitter into Ba Sing Se.
@lauren I lost a few coworkers to rona. Idk why some people I passes by while others it kills, but it’s a real deal. Didn’t hardly do anything to me, my wife and our youngest son but made my oldest son deathly sick. Strange how it works.

@lauren The action by NBC is particularly chilling. Musk seems to be blackmailing mainstream media with the threat of curtailing their use of Twitter. This goes beyond retribution against individual reporters.

#twittermigration