Gwen Snyder is uncivilDec 18, 2022

I'm having a hard time putting into words how chilling it is to see Elon hinting that he thinks journalists should be jailed for giving him unwanted coverage.

This is a person with access to God-knows-how-many reporters' private correspondences with sources, and each other.

Show threadGwen Snyder is uncivilDec 18, 2022

And we know he'll release anything he wants, when he wants.

He's fired his legal. He's shown us he believes he is above the law.

God knows he's demonstrated a willingness to release private communications.

Show threadGwen Snyder is uncivilDec 18, 2022

Who knows how many reporters he has compromising information on?

Who knows how many whistleblowers he could identify?

Tips and leaks come in by DM all the time.

Show threadGwen Snyder is uncivil

And of course everyone always knows in theory that these are misplaced trusts, the trusts we put in these comms platforms.

But we also tend to trust that the companies will keep up their side of the charade and not openly use our private messages to get us arrested or killed.

Dec 18, 2022 at 3:38amWeb
Show threadGwen Snyder is uncivilDec 18, 2022

But now... who knows, right?

There was already a "try not to get banned" chilling effect, especially the past couple days.

Now though?

He's signaling he thinks journalism is criminal.

And... who knows where that goes, right?

Show threadGwen Snyder is uncivilDec 18, 2022

These guys pose an existential threat to the institution of journalism, full stop.

Absolutely terrifying.

Show threadRaven OnthillDec 18, 2022

@gwensnyder we should have listened to the cipherpunks when they warned us. We don’t have to agree with their libertarian ideology to know that handing powerful people blackmail information is dangerous.

Gods help me, I trust the three letter agencies a lot more than I trust Elon Musk.

Show threadWayne RohretDec 18, 2022
@gwensnyder I wonder if this is the moment people start to encrypt emails since they are postcards right now
Show threaddragonfrogDec 18, 2022
@walflour @gwensnyder at the moment encrypting emails - a problem we've had decades to solve - is so unusably bad you have to laugh so you won't cry.
Show threadWayne RohretDec 18, 2022
@dragonfrog @gwensnyder absolutely but no one realizes that Google can go through all our emails like the card catalog at the public library
Show threaddragonfrogDec 18, 2022
@walflour @gwensnyder my guess is that most folks realize that, but don't realize that it's possible for it not to be so. I may be wrong though.
Show threaddusthawkDec 18, 2022
@gwensnyder He’ll get his day against the wall.
Show threadmyrmepropagandistDec 18, 2022

@gwensnyder I mean I think most of us KNOW.

(wait was that one of those, "don't answer questions?")

Show threadtoolbear#🪧Dec 18, 2022

@gwensnyder And then you remember his arsenal of semi-autonomous murder boxes on wheels and his curated neo-Nazi scientists torturing primates by gluing electronics to their brains. And look there's #Longtermism giving them the pseudo-rational justification of atrocity just like eugenics did a century ago.

Scary stuff these times.

Show threadredyoshi49qDec 19, 2022
@gwensnyder As a general PSA, SecureDrop (see https://securedrop.org/ ) is a (when appropriately configured and accessed) reasonably private and secure platform that journalist organizations can host for sources to use for their private submissions. It can be a useful tool for news organizations that aren't already using it (since, among other things, its use helps to minimize the degree to which third parties need to be trusted).
Share and accept documents securely

SecureDrop is an open-source whistleblower submission system that media organizations can install to securely accept documents from anonymous sources. It was originally coded by the late Aaron Swartz and is now managed by Freedom of the Press Foundation.

SecureDrop