TarHeels77Dec 24, 2022
Taylor Lorenz
“Hell, no. I’m not deleting a tweet that contained factual information and didn’t violate anyone’s rules.
It’s [Musk’s] platform. He can ban anyone he wants. And we can point out how he’s making up pretextual rules that just so happen to target journalism he doesn’t like,” said @drewharwell
https://www.washingtonpost.com/media/2022/12/23/musk-twitter-journalists-suspended-elonjet/ #twittermigration #twitterexodus #elonmusk #news #journalism
Journalists who won’t delete Musk tweets remain locked out of Twitter

Musk suspended reporters from Twitter and later reinstated them, with a catch: They must delete tweets related to the account @ElonJet, which has tracked Musk’s plane using public data.

The Washington Post
Dec 23, 2022 at 11:08pmMastodon for iOS
Show thread72wagonDec 23, 2022

@taylorlorenz @drewharwell

Absolutely! Musk needs credible content creators more than you need him. There are other options...

Show threadRob Cottingham (OLD ACCOUNT)Dec 23, 2022
"Journalism he doesn't like" meaning, essentially, journalism. He makes as little effort to conceal his outright contempt for the profession or the people it comprises as he does to understand it or them.
Show threadAlan SillDec 23, 2022
@taylorlorenz @drewharwell 👆🏼Like this!
Show threadmasterdanDec 23, 2022

@taylorlorenz @drewharwell

I actually wonder that I'm still be able to tweet, despite my open and direct criticism to the "tech messiah"...

Show threadNate Bowling (نيت بولينج)Dec 23, 2022

@taylorlorenz @drewharwell

This is, at best, unfortunate:

"Aaron Rupar, an independent journalist, had his account reinstated after he agreed to Twitter’s demand that he delete a tweet linking to ElonJet’s Facebook page.

Rupar said he didn’t think the tweet violated any rules, but he weighed the platform’s demand against the prospect of being cut off indefinitely from his 836,000 followers."

The platform is more important to him than the principle, so he bent the knee.

Show threadGabriela Noriega 🏳️‍⚧️ 🇧🇷Dec 23, 2022

@taylorlorenz @drewharwell "It's Musk's platform and he can ban whoever he wants."

I beg to disagree. This is an overly American and property based view of free speech.

In Brazil (and probably most other Civil Law places), free speech is a right of the individual and just like your employer or a business cannot infringe on your right to health, they cannot infringe on your right to free speech.

Show threadRyan SmithDec 24, 2022

@gabri @taylorlorenz @drewharwell In the US, you have freedom of speech from the government. That’s right doesn’t extend to freedom from restriction from everyone else.

Personally, I think that’s right. You can be asked to leave someone’s house for being rude. You can be removed from a website for being racist.

Show threadGabriela Noriega 🏳️‍⚧️ 🇧🇷Dec 24, 2022

@realitythreek @taylorlorenz @drewharwell I agree that it's the law in the US but I still think it's a shitty law.

In the Brazilian legal system, free speech when applied to private entities is highly dependent on context.

And here you can be put in jail for promoting racism or just for racially insulting someone. Also homophobia and transphobia count as racism here.

Show threadRyan SmithDec 24, 2022
@gabri @taylorlorenz @drewharwell I’m probably just ignorant of the law in Brazil but that doesn’t sound very free. The way you’re describing it, they could stay on social media but face jailing instead.
I’d argue that freedom of speech as it’s done in the US is right (for us) but we need more carve outs of that freedom for hate speech. For instance, we should have moderation requirements that public companies (of say twitter’s size) have to follow.
Show threadGabriela Noriega 🏳️‍⚧️ 🇧🇷Dec 24, 2022

@realitythreek @taylorlorenz @drewharwell

As for carve outs in US Law, the US got "close" to banning racist speech when it ratified the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Unfortunately the US made reservations that basically nullified not only the anti racist provisions but pretty much the entire treaty.

The main segment in question is article 20 of the ICCPR.

https://www.ohchr.org/en/instruments-mechanisms/instruments/international-covenant-civil-and-political-rights

http://hrlibrary.umn.edu/usdocs/civilres.html

International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights

Entry into force: 23 March 1976, in accordance with Article 49 Preamble The States Parties to the present Covenant, Considering that, in accordance with the principles proclaimed in the Charter of the United Nations, recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world, Recognizing that these rights derive from the inherent dignity of the human person,

OHCHR
Show threadGabriela Noriega 🏳️‍⚧️ 🇧🇷Dec 24, 2022

@realitythreek @taylorlorenz @drewharwell If Brazil, courts can order the deletion of racist and defamatory content online. But in cases of racism it's usually done by the platforms anyway.

Platforms can have their own rules and ban people but these rules cannot be arbitrary or excessive.

For example, ENEM (our SAT/gaokao) had a rule that essays contrary to human rights would get zero. But our courts later decided that this rule was excessive...

Show threadGabriela Noriega 🏳️‍⚧️ 🇧🇷Dec 24, 2022

@realitythreek @taylorlorenz @drewharwell ... and so this ENEM rule was toned down.

Another example was of a math teacher fired from a religious school for comments contrary to the religious ideology made outside of class. The judge in the case said the firing was unlawful but commented that if he was a teacher of religion instead the firing would've been legal.

(I'm telling these examples from memory so the details can be wrong)

Show threadDeepu RDec 23, 2022
@taylorlorenz @drewharwell Maybe worthwhile holding the oligarch accountable for all the lies he appears to get away with.
Show threadBert LatamoreDec 23, 2022

@taylorlorenz @drewharwell Funny how these right wing bullies scream about their free speech rights when a place like Mastodon cuts them off. But when they have control of places like Twitter they silence every body who disagrees with them and bully everybody who is left.

Just to be clear: The Constitution applies to the federal government, not private organizations.

Show threadAndy OuryDec 24, 2022
@drewharwell @taylorlorenz @acosta Jim, is this why your account is still locked? Crazy if true.
Show threadMadis Lobjakas Dec 24, 2022
@taylorlorenz
https://youtube.com/shorts/uLYvXgCR6-Y?feature=share
Remember When Leftists Thought Twitter Was a “Private Company”?! | #shorts

YouTube
Show threadNicholasRDec 24, 2022
@taylorlorenz @drewharwell don't ever delete the #truth. Please keep posting on the #Fediverse #mastodon
Show threadVoronDec 24, 2022
@drewharwell @taylorlorenz it’s a cudgel to beat journalists into line and make them hesitate when writing in a critical way about powerful people & companies
Show threadTJ109Dec 24, 2022
@taylorlorenz @drewharwell it is only ok if he approved it. Who the hell is Donald Trump!
Show threadPotato Enthusiast 🇵🇸Dec 24, 2022
@taylorlorenz @drewharwell can he really ban anyone he chooses? I'm not familiar with USA laws but most countries don't let you decide to not serve people, Eg can't ban all the black people, all the gay people, disabled ppl, fat ppl, and all the indigenous people. There are limits on why you can deny service to,in most places.
Show threadkeplernikoDec 24, 2022
@taylorlorenz @drewharwell It’s not just Musk‘a platform, though, is it? It’s a legitimate tool in the world of journalism used to publicise things. The Constitution guarantees freedom of the press and Musk is blocking that on his platform. Twitter is no longer just another platform that remains outside of fundamental freedoms guaranteed in the Constitution.
Show threadShrikant JoshiDec 24, 2022

@taylorlorenz @drewharwell Here is a bit of naive thinking: No tweets, no Twitter.

I say delete all tweets BUT don't delete the account itself. Move future interactions to another platform.

(I'm also saying this because I'm curious to see what happens if enough people delete their tweets...)