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I don't understand the test. Is every nonsense tweet supposed to be reviewed and removed? There's nothing stopping me from going to the "town square" and yapp

I don't understand the test. Is every nonsense tweet supposed to be reviewed and removed? There's nothing stopping me from going to the "town square" and yapping on about how God has returned, or that Kanye West is my dad, or is dead. People would just ignore me, I suspect. Maybe the odd passer by would insult me. But I wouldn't expect to have some authority figure come by and tell me that I can't say those things. Or worse yet, banish me from the town square altogether so that I could never go there and say anything ever again.

pwinnski 4y ago
One difference is that Twitter actively promotes trending topics in the sidebar, so it's as if someone noticed that multiple people in the town square were shouting about the same thing and circulated it throughout the town, not just the square, just because of that. Twitter has always exercised some editorial control over that trending topics sidebar, but it's never been clear to me how much.
throwawaylinux 4y ago
> There's nothing stopping me from going to the "town square" and yapping on about how God has returned, or that Kanye West is my dad, or is dead. People would just ignore me, I suspect. As I understand it, many people are actually incapable of performing this function and are desperate to have what they view as a higher authority (corporations, governments) protect and guide them. I do feel for these people, this must be a terrifying and bewildering time for them. Hopefully if Twitter does become less moderated, it could provide an affordable service for them that filters out content that they would be unable to cope with being exposed to.
threeseed 4y ago
In most countries if you were at a town square yelling offensive content you would be arrested. In fact the EU were quick to remind Musk that they do not share the US definition of free speech.
- gadders 4y ago
  >>In fact the EU were quick to remind Musk that they do not share the US definition of free speech. Yes, that was particularly chilling. EU-approved opinions only.
  - h4kor 4y ago
    I'm pretty glad that it's forbidden to deny the holocaust.
    - the_third_wave 4y ago
      Some people deny the holocaust. some deny the Armenian genocide, some deny the death toll of the Chinese cultural revolution, some - many - deny or have not heard of the holodomor (Firefox spelling checker for one, it recognises holocaust but puts a red squiggle under holodomor...), some deny the decades of terror under the Bolsheviks in Russia and the Soviet Union. Denying clearly documented historical episodes speaks clearly of the intention of the agenda of the speaker. It is up to the listener to decide where to place that speaker. Of course this assumes the listener has a reasonably broad education giving him the needed information to evaluate such historically incorrect statements. This is unfortunate given that several of the mentioned episodes - the holodomor, the Chinese cultural revolution, the Armenian genocide, the exploits of the Bolsheviks - receive far less attention than the holocaust. This in turn makes it possible for people to walk around in T-shirts with hammers and sickles or the likeness of Lenin, Stalin and Che Guevara without any repercussions while those who would try to do the same with anything related to Nazism are quickly dealt with. It is also why Communism is allowed within the Overton window - or at least allowed to sit on the window sill - where Nazism is the prime example of something which should never be allowed in. While I'm fine with the latter the former is a disgrace given the fact that Communism has far surpassed Nazism in its death toll. So, either allow holocaust denial or forbid all the others - there are many more examples - as well. I vote for allowing denial but then I do have enough background information to be able to place these deniers. So, improve education, get the subject of history out of the hands of the ideologues and into those of historians worth this title. Make sure that the coming generations know where it is at when they read or meet any of these historically inaccurate narratives.
dragontamer 4y ago
I don't think this test is too useful. Elon Musk is actively tweeting misinformation about Paul Pelosi's attacker. Its clear he doesn't give a care. Its best if we just accepted Twitter's new owner and understand that the platform has a new set of owners, and misinformation will rise up now.
- isitmadeofglass 4y ago
  > Its clear he doesn't give a care Isn’t that the point? Previously misinformation would be fact checked and removed, and now Musk is opening up for the conservatives to make false statements without moderation, so people are pushing to see if it’s only conservatives that are allowed uncensored easily falsifiable claims, or if those that are against Trump will also be left alone.
  - dragontamer 4y ago
    Isn't misinformation bad in general? I don't care if it's left leaning or right leaning. Traditionally, antivax was left leaning misinfo. All those anti polio or anti measles vaccines people were left wing, and that was bad. If Twitter is the new breeding grounds for misinformation campaigns in general, how is that a good thing?
    - puffoflogic 4y ago
      - dragontamer 4y ago
        I know that the right-and-left flip sides every couple of decades. But even knowing the history of this phenomenon, the COVID19 flip from left-wing anti-vax idiots into right-wing anti-vax idiots caught me off guard. Its one thing when you read about old political issues from 50+ years ago that talk about these obvious bouts of hypocrisy. Its totally different though when it happens before your eyes live.
hendersoon 4y ago
No, but this is deliberate misinformation. I actually like how Twitter handled it. I don't know if this is new, but some user attached a note saying "This guy is a comedian, this is satire" and other users voted it up so it's right below the tweet itself.

pwinnski 4y ago

One difference is that Twitter actively promotes trending topics in the sidebar, so it's as if someone noticed that multiple people in the town square were shouting about the same thing and circulated it throughout the town, not just the square, just because of that. Twitter has always exercised some editorial control over that trending topics sidebar, but it's never been clear to me how much.

throwawaylinux 4y ago

> There's nothing stopping me from going to the "town square" and yapping on about how God has returned, or that Kanye West is my dad, or is dead. People would just ignore me, I suspect. As I understand it, many people are actually incapable of performing this function and are desperate to have what they view as a higher authority (corporations, governments) protect and guide them. I do feel for these people, this must be a terrifying and bewildering time for them. Hopefully if Twitter does become less moderated, it could provide an affordable service for them that filters out content that they would be unable to cope with being exposed to.

threeseed 4y ago

In most countries if you were at a town square yelling offensive content you would be arrested. In fact the EU were quick to remind Musk that they do not share the US definition of free speech.

gadders 4y ago
>>In fact the EU were quick to remind Musk that they do not share the US definition of free speech. Yes, that was particularly chilling. EU-approved opinions only.
- h4kor 4y ago
  I'm pretty glad that it's forbidden to deny the holocaust.
  - the_third_wave 4y ago
    Some people deny the holocaust. some deny the Armenian genocide, some deny the death toll of the Chinese cultural revolution, some - many - deny or have not heard of the holodomor (Firefox spelling checker for one, it recognises holocaust but puts a red squiggle under holodomor...), some deny the decades of terror under the Bolsheviks in Russia and the Soviet Union. Denying clearly documented historical episodes speaks clearly of the intention of the agenda of the speaker. It is up to the listener to decide where to place that speaker. Of course this assumes the listener has a reasonably broad education giving him the needed information to evaluate such historically incorrect statements. This is unfortunate given that several of the mentioned episodes - the holodomor, the Chinese cultural revolution, the Armenian genocide, the exploits of the Bolsheviks - receive far less attention than the holocaust. This in turn makes it possible for people to walk around in T-shirts with hammers and sickles or the likeness of Lenin, Stalin and Che Guevara without any repercussions while those who would try to do the same with anything related to Nazism are quickly dealt with. It is also why Communism is allowed within the Overton window - or at least allowed to sit on the window sill - where Nazism is the prime example of something which should never be allowed in. While I'm fine with the latter the former is a disgrace given the fact that Communism has far surpassed Nazism in its death toll. So, either allow holocaust denial or forbid all the others - there are many more examples - as well. I vote for allowing denial but then I do have enough background information to be able to place these deniers. So, improve education, get the subject of history out of the hands of the ideologues and into those of historians worth this title. Make sure that the coming generations know where it is at when they read or meet any of these historically inaccurate narratives.

dragontamer 4y ago

I don't think this test is too useful. Elon Musk is actively tweeting misinformation about Paul Pelosi's attacker. Its clear he doesn't give a care. Its best if we just accepted Twitter's new owner and understand that the platform has a new set of owners, and misinformation will rise up now.

isitmadeofglass 4y ago
> Its clear he doesn't give a care Isn’t that the point? Previously misinformation would be fact checked and removed, and now Musk is opening up for the conservatives to make false statements without moderation, so people are pushing to see if it’s only conservatives that are allowed uncensored easily falsifiable claims, or if those that are against Trump will also be left alone.
- dragontamer 4y ago
  Isn't misinformation bad in general? I don't care if it's left leaning or right leaning. Traditionally, antivax was left leaning misinfo. All those anti polio or anti measles vaccines people were left wing, and that was bad. If Twitter is the new breeding grounds for misinformation campaigns in general, how is that a good thing?
  - puffoflogic 4y ago
    - dragontamer 4y ago
      I know that the right-and-left flip sides every couple of decades. But even knowing the history of this phenomenon, the COVID19 flip from left-wing anti-vax idiots into right-wing anti-vax idiots caught me off guard. Its one thing when you read about old political issues from 50+ years ago that talk about these obvious bouts of hypocrisy. Its totally different though when it happens before your eyes live.

hendersoon 4y ago

No, but this is deliberate misinformation. I actually like how Twitter handled it. I don't know if this is new, but some user attached a note saying "This guy is a comedian, this is satire" and other users voted it up so it's right below the tweet itself.