Should you needed a reminder of who’s now in cost at Twitter, Elon has supplied a pair this week.
Yesterday, former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey posted his first-ever article to newsletter platform Revue, which Twitter purchased last January, during which he outlined his response to the latest ‘Twitter Files’ leaks, by means of which Elon has been working with chosen journalists to uncover previous moderation actions taken by Twitter, and the way they particularly relate to conservative customers.
Dorsey, in rigorously worded phrases, supplied a protection of his former colleagues, amid questions over their exercise, whereas additionally, as soon as once more, pointing to a decentralized mannequin for social platform moderation, which he believes could possibly be a greater approach ahead to restrict bias, misinterpretation and hurt.
Which received’t work, for plenty of causes. However Dorsey, as at all times, stays steadfastly optimistic, making use of philosophy over substance to hunt a brand new approach ahead, in hopes of shedding the missteps of instances previous.
I’m undecided which half upset Elon probably the most. Perhaps this line:
“The current attacks on my former colleagues could be dangerous and doesn’t solve anything.”
Both approach, one thing appears to have gotten his goat, as a result of immediately, lower than 24 hours after Dorsey posted his article, Twitter has despatched an e mail to all Revue customers informing them that the platform is shutting down subsequent month.
As per Revue:
“From January 18, 2023, it will no longer be possible to access your Revue account. On that date, Revue will shut down and all data will be deleted. This has been a hard decision because we know Revue has a passionate user base, made up of people like you.”
Once more, Twitter solely acquired Revue final yr, with a view to facilitating new types of income technology for creators, as a part of its broader push to construct in additional monetization instruments. However clearly, it isn’t a part of Musk’s ‘Twitter 2.0’ plan – or perhaps Elon didn’t know that Twitter-owned Revue until he noticed Jack’s submit yesterday.
I imply, that has occurred with different components:
The opposite consideration is that that is only a coincidence, that Twitter was going to close down Revue anyway and Dorsey simply occurred to publish a submit the day earlier than that announcement.
However then once more, immediately Twitter additionally shut down a Twitter profile that had been tracking Musk’s private flights, which he swore he wouldn’t do, even utilizing it for example of his dedication to free speech.
My dedication to free speech extends even to not banning the account following my airplane, though that could be a direct private security threat
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 7, 2022
Plainly the definition of ‘free speech’, in Elon’s view, is variable, with stories that Musk has additionally been pushing staff to prioritize the removal of scam tweets that bear his likeness, together with some recommendations that he had instructed employees to remove videos of him being booed at a Dave Chapelle show earlier this week (this one appears to be a rumor, as the unique video continues to be up).
Musk himself has additionally commenced promoting COVID conspiracy theories and sharing transphobic perspectives. Each of which aren’t unlawful, which has been Musk’s said threshold for what can be acceptable within the app. However a consumer with over 120 million followers posting COVID conspiracies would undoubtedly have come underneath scrutiny in instances previous.
But, on the similar time, Musk has dominated out reinstating the account of banned broadcaster Alex Jones resulting from his private perspective on youngster security.
In essence, what we’re seeing in ‘Twitter 2.0’ is that the platform is now being held to Elon Musk’s guidelines for ‘free speech’, and all that this entails. Which is seemingly extra versatile than the identical underneath earlier Twitter administration, however is rather more aligned along with his private perspective than it’s the regulation or different established parameters.
Once more, in the event you needed a reminder of who’s in cost, Elon has made it clear, which may level to the long run route of the app – and apparently, is strictly what Dorsey warns in opposition to in his essay.
Revue says that customers will have the ability to obtain their subscriber listing, previous e-newsletter points, and analytics by following these instructions.
