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.
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.
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.
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.
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?
These guys pose an existential threat to the institution of journalism, full stop.
Absolutely terrifying.
Gwen Snyder is uncivil
Wayne Rohret
dragonfrog