The globalist elite is not upset at Musk for his vision of censorship and free/unfree speech, it is that his regime of censorship does not favor the illiberal liberal class. Until people recognize that organizations like AI and the UN do not care about principles like universal human rights or free speech, the internet will become an overly regulated space, and the promise that its inception carried, a town square for anyone and everyone to freely express themselves, will be broken and along with it, the universal declaration of human rights, which includes the right to free expression, will be proven to be nothing more than words on a page, not enacted or inculcated values.
“At that moment I knew what the plebs were, much more clearly than when, years earlier, she had asked me. The plebs were us. The plebs were that fight for food and wine, that quarrel over who should be served first and better, that dirty floor on which the waiters clattered back and forth, those increasingly vulgar toasts. The plebs were my mother, who had drunk wine and now was leaning against my father’s shoulder, while he, serious, laughed, his mouth gaping, at the sexual allusions of the metal dealer. They were all laughing, even Lila, with the expression of one who has a role and will play it to the utmost.”[i]– Elena Ferrante
When Elon Musk decided to censor a selection of journalists who had been allegedly doxing him, the response from the illiberal liberal class was hilarious and sickening. This act of censorship from Musk occurred while the Twitter Files, reporting on internal documents from Twitter by journalists like Matt Taibbi and Barri Wiess, has revealed collusion between the FBI and Twitter and other disturbing actions.[ii] There is a mass campaign by the illiberal liberal class to smear the Twitter Files as a nothing burger. These same cretins expressed indignation at Musk’s decision to ban journalists like Aaron Rupar, yet they are fine with censorship so long as it works in their favor.
Joan Donovan discusses two recent internal document drops from Facebook and Twitter.[iii] To her, the revelations from the Facebook Files are far more consequential than the Twitter Files.[iv] If they had any principle, the revelations of the Twitter Files would be met with outrage as well. Apparently, the Facebook Files reveal that the social media platform failed to properly moderate content and that this “fuelled incitement across the globe.”, whatever that means, and for her, the Twitter Files are being pushed to demonize the previous regime at Twitter and to revel in Musk’s newfound adoration in conservative circles.[v] Donovan argues that the Twitter Files drop is all about public relations, and that “Like the brand management of Tesla, Musk is building a sycophantic legion of true believers bent on believing the platform can influence elections and change the culture (which all could very well be true in a limited way).”[vi] The platform does absolutely influence elections and culture, otherwise, why would its previous regime work so hard to suppress the Hunter Biden laptop story and to justify banning Trump? Hilariously, Donovan is an internet researcher, which is apparently a real job, and she writes “As an internet researcher, it is my job to monitor, measure and analyze trends in technology. I listened to several Twitter Spaces involving Musk and he is reveling in the attention from conservative media, even as he is chagrined at the lack of mainstream media uptake.”[vii] Many people did what she just described, including myself, however, I and most other people would never claim to be an internet researcher as if it’s some specialized role that takes a certain set of skills or training. Anyone can type words and phrases into Google. This notion that internet research and fact checking is a noble profession that requires years of education and formal training is absurd and is a huge problem plaguing our culture. The idea of fact checking and being an expert on the truth or on abstract concepts like online safety and trust is dystopian. Donovan is an example of someone who is desperate to treat the Twitter Files as nothing.
What makes headlines is Musk’s banning of journalists, and although this is wrong, the intricate censorship regime that was consolidated by the previous leadership in Twitter is insidious and it was inevitable that it would target those who put it in place. Just as leaders and activists in the civil rights era understood that banning their opponents, even the most virulently bigoted and disgusting, was wrong and pernicious as any censorship regime they put in place would eventually come for them. Important activists and revolutionary figures throughout history have understood this. Rosa Luxemburg, the famous anti-war Marxist revolutionary, argued that the point of free speech is to protect it for those who think differently.[viii] What the journalists and others in the illiberal liberal class do not understand is that the censorship they cheered, all the way back to the banning of Alex Jones and then Trump while he was still president, was always going to come for them. Those who are bereft of principle will always view actions and policy through a partisan lens. The main critique of Musk and how he runs Twitter is that he is favoring the political right. The Twitter Files drop and the reactions to reveal this.
After the release of the first part of the Twitter Files, Adam Rawnsley of The Rolling Stone wrote that the Twitter Files was hyped up and fell flat, that it was a snooze fest, and he writes “Taibbi and Musk’s “Twitter Files” appeared to add little beyond what former executives have said was a confused and bungled response.”[ix] He later refers to Taibbi as a “Substack blogger”.[x] Although this is more appropriate than how The Washington Post referred to him, who called him a “conservative journalist”, it is a signal to readers to ignore anything Tabbi says, as he is not a real journalist, just a blogger.[xi] The journalism that Taibbi and others have conducted through the Twitter Files is being met with rolled eyes and yawns by the illiberal liberal class, however, some argue that Musk is stirring the outrage among conservatives at policies like shadow banning and censorship that is imposed overwhelmingly against them. Katherine Cross went further in her article for Wired magazine, in which she argues that Musk’s Twitter Files leaks are transparency theater, and that “the Twitter Files are merely proving to be grist for the likes of QAnon and other extremely online individuals addicted to viral outrage.”, and she affirms the view that Musk is playing to a conservative fanbase.[xii] What she misses is that her and her class of self-righteous journalists are addicted to outrage as well. Their outrage is selective just like the outrage of Musk and the right is, and is not based on principle, but based on ideology. Anyone who does not share their ideology is to be targeted for censorship.
There is a link between the lack of outrage over the Twitter Files revelations versus the outrage over Musk banning a handful of journalists (he then reinstated them, which shows that he may have realized he made a catastrophic mistake). The selective outrage and where it is applied is revealing, and those who are angry about Musk’s version of free/unfree speech seek to impose a version of their own, not a version that respects freedom of expression and that abides by the first amendment. This is proven, as Miranda Devine points out in her recent piece for the New York Post, in an open letter that the slippery and loathsome Congressman Adam Schiff penned to Facebook in which he said that if Facebook went down the route that Twitter has, then there would be negative repercussions, meaning regulation of some sort.[xiii] How is not a violation of the first amendment? A sitting government official is threatening a social media platform to operate in the way it wants it to, otherwise, it will face consequences from the government. Authoritarian goons like Schiff are the real threat to human rights and civil liberties, not buffoons like Trump or Musk.
The reactions to Musk banning journalists were global and hysterical. The UN and Amnesty International (AI) expressed outrage at these actions taken by Musk, however, these groups have been hyper critical of Musk’s ownership and management of Twitter since before he even bought it. Human Rights Watch expressed concern over his early firing of thousands of staff members, notably the human rights team and the trust and safety council.[xiv] The UN Human Rights Chief, Volker Türk, penned an open letter to Musk that encouraged him to respect free speech and to monitor hate speech and the spread of dis and misinformation.[xv] In the letter Türk writes that “Human rights law is clear- freedom of expression stops at hatred that incites discrimination, hostility or violence.”, and he goes on to write that hate speech “spreads like wildfire”, and that this is known from their investigations.[xvi] Him penning this open letter to Musk in this moment, as well as the outrage over Musk banning journalists after years of censorship favoring the illiberal liberal class, where outlets like the New York Post and Project Veritas were censored, is absolutely disgusting for two reasons. Firstly, it’s as if Türk and his coterie of cosmopolitan, utopian elites are proud members of the illiberal liberal class as well, as he is advocating for the same position on free, or in this case, unfree speech. He is concerned about the spread of hate speech, but only enough to pen a pompous open letter when Musk buys and operates Twitter, yet he is not concerned when a sitting president, right wing journalists and luminaries like Alex Jones and Steve Bannon are banned. This is because Türk, like those in his coterie, do not care about free speech, they advocate for unfree speech masked under a guise of free speech but only within the bounds of harm and offense towards marginalized groups. If he was serious about human rights, Turk would have penned a letter to the previous regime at Twitter asking them why they blocked the account of the New York Post heading into the 2020 US presidential election. HHHe didn’t, he waited until Musk bought Twitter and banned journalists who his set of pompous, globalist ideologues favor, and secondly, the Twitter Files are revealing actions by its previous leadership that infringed on the freedom of expression of American citizens who joked about voting in the 2020 election, who were being flagged by the FBI. Turk has not issued a statement or penned another letter expressing concern over this, which shows that his words are empty and spoken more out of vanity than the interest of sanctifying human rights, also, open letters are typically pompous and melodramatic as well, especially in this context. It seems that Turk was looking for publicity, not change.
Statements and letters from the UN and its officials are not as pompous or ridiculous as the Toxic Twitter Reports compiled by AI, and the Troll Patrol report which is a joint effort between AI and human rights careerists and researchers.[xvii] The first Toxic Twitter Report was released in 2018 and the second in 2021.[xviii] AI put out a statement on Musk purchasing Twitter and concerns over the reinstatement of Trump and the risk posed to women and non-binary people. The 2021 Toxic Twitter report yammers on about the unique risk women face using the internet through harassment and other behavior, and it concludes with a letter written to Twitter leadership asking them to consider the findings of the AI report and to alter their policy accordingly.[xix] If using social media is such a threat to your security and safety, perhaps you should turn off your computer. The time organizations like AI waste on compiling these silly reports that show findings that support and amplify the justification for their preferred censorship regime could be better spent on actual advocacy for human rights. If you’re afraid to use the internet because Trump or a troll could tweet something and trigger you, then the problem may not be Musk or Twitter-it’s you.
[i]Ferrante, Elena. My Brilliant Friend. New York: Europa, 2020.
[ii] Griffin, Allie. “Latest ‘Twitter Files’ Show FBI Bullied Executives over Not Reporting ‘State Propaganda’ Enough.” New York Post, December 18, 2022. https://nypost.com/2022/12/18/latest-twitter-files-show-fbi-questioned-executives-over-users-spouting-state-propaganda/.
[iii] Donovan, Joan. “Opinion | Why the ‘Twitter Files’ Are Falling Flat.” POLITICO, December 15, 2022. https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2022/12/15/twitter-files-falling-flat-00073979.
[iv] Donovan. “Opinion | Why the ‘Twitter Files’ Are Falling Flat.”
[v] Donovan. “Opinion | Why the ‘Twitter Files’ Are Falling Flat.”
[vi] Donovan. “Opinion | Why the ‘Twitter Files’ Are Falling Flat.”
[vii] Donovan. “Opinion | Why the ‘Twitter Files’ Are Falling Flat.”
[viii] Luxemburg, Rosa. Reform or Revolution and Other Writings. Courier Corporation, 2012.
[ix] Rawnsley, Adam. “Elon Musk’s Big ‘Twitter Files’ Reveal Turns into Snoozefest.” Rolling Stone, December 3, 2022. https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/elon-musk-twitter-files-1234640842/.
[x] Rawnsley. “Elon Musk’s Big ‘Twitter Files’ Reveal Turns into Snoozefest.”
[xi] Robinson, Steve. “WaPo Falsely Calls Matt Taibbi Conservative, Sneaky Edits Story: Twitter Files.” The Maine Wire, December 13, 2022. https://www.themainewire.com/2022/12/wapo-falsely-calls-matt-taibbi-conservative-sneaky-edits-story-twitter-files/.
[xii] Cross, Katherine. “The Transparency Theater of the Twitter Files.” Wired, December 12, 2022. https://www.wired.com/story/twitter-files-elon-musk-shadowbanning-censorship/.
[xiii] Devine, Miranda. “Democrats Scramble to Save Censorship.” New York Post, December 19, 2022. https://nypost.com/2022/12/18/democrats-scramble-to-save-censorship/.
[xiv] Ganesan, Arvind. “Musk Chaos Raises Serious Rights Concerns over Twitter.” Human Rights Watch, November 12, 2022. https://www.hrw.org/news/2022/11/12/musk-chaos-raises-serious-rights-concerns-over-twitter#:~:text=One%20of%20the%20first%2C%20concrete.
[xv] United Nations Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner. “UN Human Rights Chief Türk Issues Open Letter to Twitter’s Elon Musk.” OHCHR, November 5, 2022. https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2022/11/un-human-rights-chief-turk-issues-open-letter-twitters-elon-musk.
[xvi] United Nations Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner. “UN Human Rights Chief Türk Issues Open Letter to Twitter’s Elon Musk.”
[xvii] Amnesty International. “Twitter Scorecard: TRACKING TWITTER’S PROGRESS in ADDRESSING VIOLENCE and ABUSE against WOMEN ONLINE in the UNITED STATES,” 2021. https://www.amnestyusa.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/2021-Twitter-Scorecard-Report.pdf., and Amnesty International. “Troll Patrol Findings.” Troll Patrol Report, 2018. https://decoders.amnesty.org/projects/troll-patrol/findings.
[xviii] Amnesty International. “Twitter Scorecard: TRACKING TWITTER’S PROGRESS in ADDRESSING VIOLENCE and ABUSE against WOMEN ONLINE in the UNITED STATES.”
[xix] Amnesty International. “Twitter Scorecard: TRACKING TWITTER’S PROGRESS in ADDRESSING VIOLENCE and ABUSE against WOMEN ONLINE in the UNITED STATES,”
Bibliography
Amnesty International. “Troll Patrol Findings.” Troll Patrol Report, 2018. https://decoders.amnesty.org/projects/troll-patrol/findings.
———. “Twitter Scorecard: TRACKING TWITTER’S PROGRESS in ADDRESSING VIOLENCE and ABUSE against WOMEN ONLINE in the UNITED STATES,” 2021. https://www.amnestyusa.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/2021-Twitter-Scorecard-Report.pdf.
———. “What Does Elon Musk’s Twitter Takeover Mean for Human Rights?” Amnesty International Australia, November 7, 2022. https://www.amnesty.org.au/what-does-elon-musks-twitter-takeover-mean-for-human-rights/.
Cross, Katherine. “The Transparency Theater of the Twitter Files.” Wired, December 12, 2022. https://www.wired.com/story/twitter-files-elon-musk-shadowbanning-censorship/.
Devine, Miranda. “Democrats Scramble to Save Censorship.” New York Post, December 19, 2022. https://nypost.com/2022/12/18/democrats-scramble-to-save-censorship/.
Donovan, Joan. “Opinion | Why the ‘Twitter Files’ Are Falling Flat.” POLITICO, December 15, 2022. https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2022/12/15/twitter-files-falling-flat-00073979.
Ferrante, Elena. My Brilliant Friend. New York: Europa, 2020.
Ganesan, Arvind. “Musk Chaos Raises Serious Rights Concerns over Twitter.” Human Rights Watch, November 12, 2022. https://www.hrw.org/news/2022/11/12/musk-chaos-raises-serious-rights-concerns-over-twitter#:~:text=One%20of%20the%20first%2C%20concrete.
Griffin, Allie. “Latest ‘Twitter Files’ Show FBI Bullied Executives over Not Reporting ‘State Propaganda’ Enough.” New York Post, December 18, 2022. https://nypost.com/2022/12/18/latest-twitter-files-show-fbi-questioned-executives-over-users-spouting-state-propaganda/.
Luxemburg, Rosa. Reform or Revolution and Other Writings. Courier Corporation, 2012.
Rawnsley, Adam. “Elon Musk’s Big ‘Twitter Files’ Reveal Turns into Snoozefest.” Rolling Stone, December 3, 2022. https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/elon-musk-twitter-files-1234640842/.
Robinson, Steve. “WaPo Falsely Calls Matt Taibbi Conservative, Sneaky Edits Story: Twitter Files.” The Maine Wire, December 13, 2022. https://www.themainewire.com/2022/12/wapo-falsely-calls-matt-taibbi-conservative-sneaky-edits-story-twitter-files/.
United Nations Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner. “UN Human Rights Chief Türk Issues Open Letter to Twitter’s Elon Musk.” OHCHR, November 5, 2022. https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2022/11/un-human-rights-chief-turk-issues-open-letter-twitters-elon-musk.
Not Without Incident: Questioning Big Brother's Platitudes 
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