4 ms·

But it's one thing to have that rule and punish people that leak and another to delete the leaks from your platform. Particularly if you profess to be pro-freed

But it's one thing to have that rule and punish people that leak and another to delete the leaks from your platform. Particularly if you profess to be pro-freedom of speech.

WalterBright 4y ago
Leaking confidential information that you agreed to not leak is actionable as a contract violation. It's not a free speech issue.
- meheleventyone 4y ago
  Of course it is. The contract is merely an agreement that you won't exercise your right. It's actionable in a civil court obviously. That however says nothing about your right to publish or that the content must be removed just that changing your mind might have repercussions.
  - johnbellone 4y ago
    It isn't.
- brookst 4y ago
  Are you suggesting that Twitter will similarly remove leaks of other companies' confidential information? Or is this just a special case where they will be free speech absolutists for everyone else but carefully curate what people are allowed to say about Twitter?
  - mcrad 4y ago
    Twitter has a responsibility to its shareholders to protect its information. Why on earth are people jumping to the conclusion they would take on any similar responsibility for another company??
    - ytpete 4y ago
      Because not doing so would fly completely in the face of everything Elon claimed he wanted Twitter to stand for. They would be putting their finger on the scale to censor speech critical of Twitter, and Twitter only. (Or maybe other favored groups and politicians too, who knows? Starting off like this on day 1 kills any trust in neutral moderation immediately). Edit: that said, I'm not sure it's been confirmed yet whether the employee just deleted the tweet themself - which would be a very different story.
      - mcrad 4y ago
        Twitter is a beast. I think it would be a mistake to evaluate what it "stands for" based on some edge case of who/what/why behind a single tweet. Consider the fact that most execs at the top of this thing we call capitalism, are routinely caught in ethical dilemmas. Even the individuals you have decided are on your "side" morally, are forced to occasionally compromise their ethics in the short term, to achieve a longer term goal that is far more complex than people are giving credit here when they use terms like free speech so casually.
        lupire 4y ago
        Wow. Who besides Trump and Musk gets this treatment of "no reasonable person would believe what he says, yet what he says should be taken seriously"
        mcrad 4y ago
        uhm, paul pelosi?
      - WalterBright 4y ago
        > They would be putting their finger on the scale to censor speech critical of Twitter That's an entirely different issue. The issue at hand here is Twitter removing Twitter internal confidential material that Twitter employees agreed to not publish as a condition of employment. This is contract law, not free speech law.
  - WalterBright 4y ago
    Does Twitter have an NDA with other companies that says Twitter will remove other companies' confidential information? If they don't, they have no obligation to remove it.
  - vinyl7 4y ago
    They already do that with video game leaks
- throwawaysleep 4y ago
  Will Twitter apply that standard to other leaks of data?
  - vinyl7 4y ago
    They do that with video game leaks, and I'm sure they do it for movie leaks, music leaks, etc.
- scarmig 4y ago
  It makes sense to punish or reprimand someone internally for leaking confidential information. Something like a firing could be appropriate. But banning someone or their Tweets on Twitter for posting an internal corporate communication is wrong (at least, it's not the Twitter I want to see). That's using one's privileged position as steward of a public platform to enforce internal rules in an extraordinary way. If how Twitter moderates users on its platform is a free speech issue (I believe it is), this is just as much of one.
  - deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]
- pelasaco 4y ago
- dpweb 4y ago
  I don't believe this is always true. For instance, whistleblower cases, or NDAs that can be broken by supeona. Considering there is already some legal questions being raised about the firings - and I'm not arguing in favor of the merits of those cases - there is some possible scenario where an internal leak may be justified.
- actually_a_dog 4y ago
  Again, what information was leaked?
- three_seagrass 4y ago
  Being banned from Twitter for breaking their TOS agreement is just a contract violation too.
- maxerickson 4y ago
  Are the Twitter terms of use different for employees than they are for other users? Cause if they use the service under a personal agreement with Twitter that is separate from their employment, then removing the Tweet isn't really so actionable under their employment agreement. I mean, I guess it probably isn't separate, but I'm also not sure why people are so eager to pat Twitter on the back for using their position to control the public communications of employees/former employees.

But it's one thing to have that rule and punish people that leak and another to delete the leaks from your platform. Particularly if you profess to be pro-freedom of speech.

WalterBright 4y ago

Leaking confidential information that you agreed to not leak is actionable as a contract violation. It's not a free speech issue.

meheleventyone 4y ago
Of course it is. The contract is merely an agreement that you won't exercise your right. It's actionable in a civil court obviously. That however says nothing about your right to publish or that the content must be removed just that changing your mind might have repercussions.
- johnbellone 4y ago
  It isn't.
brookst 4y ago
Are you suggesting that Twitter will similarly remove leaks of other companies' confidential information? Or is this just a special case where they will be free speech absolutists for everyone else but carefully curate what people are allowed to say about Twitter?
- mcrad 4y ago
  Twitter has a responsibility to its shareholders to protect its information. Why on earth are people jumping to the conclusion they would take on any similar responsibility for another company??
  - ytpete 4y ago
    Because not doing so would fly completely in the face of everything Elon claimed he wanted Twitter to stand for. They would be putting their finger on the scale to censor speech critical of Twitter, and Twitter only. (Or maybe other favored groups and politicians too, who knows? Starting off like this on day 1 kills any trust in neutral moderation immediately). Edit: that said, I'm not sure it's been confirmed yet whether the employee just deleted the tweet themself - which would be a very different story.
    - mcrad 4y ago
      Twitter is a beast. I think it would be a mistake to evaluate what it "stands for" based on some edge case of who/what/why behind a single tweet. Consider the fact that most execs at the top of this thing we call capitalism, are routinely caught in ethical dilemmas. Even the individuals you have decided are on your "side" morally, are forced to occasionally compromise their ethics in the short term, to achieve a longer term goal that is far more complex than people are giving credit here when they use terms like free speech so casually.
      - lupire 4y ago
        Wow. Who besides Trump and Musk gets this treatment of "no reasonable person would believe what he says, yet what he says should be taken seriously"
        mcrad 4y ago
        uhm, paul pelosi?
    - WalterBright 4y ago
      > They would be putting their finger on the scale to censor speech critical of Twitter That's an entirely different issue. The issue at hand here is Twitter removing Twitter internal confidential material that Twitter employees agreed to not publish as a condition of employment. This is contract law, not free speech law.
- WalterBright 4y ago
  Does Twitter have an NDA with other companies that says Twitter will remove other companies' confidential information? If they don't, they have no obligation to remove it.
- vinyl7 4y ago
  They already do that with video game leaks
throwawaysleep 4y ago
Will Twitter apply that standard to other leaks of data?
- vinyl7 4y ago
  They do that with video game leaks, and I'm sure they do it for movie leaks, music leaks, etc.
scarmig 4y ago
It makes sense to punish or reprimand someone internally for leaking confidential information. Something like a firing could be appropriate. But banning someone or their Tweets on Twitter for posting an internal corporate communication is wrong (at least, it's not the Twitter I want to see). That's using one's privileged position as steward of a public platform to enforce internal rules in an extraordinary way. If how Twitter moderates users on its platform is a free speech issue (I believe it is), this is just as much of one.
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
pelasaco 4y ago
dpweb 4y ago
I don't believe this is always true. For instance, whistleblower cases, or NDAs that can be broken by supeona. Considering there is already some legal questions being raised about the firings - and I'm not arguing in favor of the merits of those cases - there is some possible scenario where an internal leak may be justified.
actually_a_dog 4y ago
Again, what information was leaked?
three_seagrass 4y ago
Being banned from Twitter for breaking their TOS agreement is just a contract violation too.
maxerickson 4y ago
Are the Twitter terms of use different for employees than they are for other users? Cause if they use the service under a personal agreement with Twitter that is separate from their employment, then removing the Tweet isn't really so actionable under their employment agreement. I mean, I guess it probably isn't separate, but I'm also not sure why people are so eager to pat Twitter on the back for using their position to control the public communications of employees/former employees.