5 ms·

Convince me that's not extortion. Think about some company that was just starting to think about advertising on Twitter. And now Elon Musk is threatening that

Convince me that's not extortion. Think about some company that was just starting to think about advertising on Twitter. And now Elon Musk is threatening that if you ever stop advertising with them, he will try to convince his followers to boycott your products.

lupire 4y ago
It's not extortion because Elon's fan army is an irrelevant niche in the market for anything not sold by Tesla.
- VikingCoder 4y ago
  He has like 103 million followers.
  - anigbrowl 4y ago
    True, though a lot of them are disposable accounts.
  - ahahahahah 4y ago
    Sure, but as he well knows, they are all bots.
  - manicdee 4y ago
    How many of them will follow his instructions to boycott advertisers who stop filling their Twitter feed with promoted tweets?
bamboozled 4y ago
It’s “free speech”, the dude has lost it
Jerrrry 4y ago
>Convince me that's not extortion. hard sell, considering you clearly don't know the meaning of the word.
- fortuna86 4y ago
  Kind of like how no one knows what free speech seems to mean
  - tbrownaw 4y ago
    It means it doesn't cost you anything, right? . (Note punishments for certain content do count as a cost.)
- dorkwood 4y ago
  Can you elaborate for those of us reading? I looked up the meaning, and it seems to match. "the practice of obtaining something, especially money, through force or threats." He's threatening advertisers so that they'll stay on the platform and continue to pay him. Why isn't that extortion?
  - Jerrrry 4y ago
    "threatening" doing a lot of lifting here
    - dorkwood 4y ago
      What constitutes a threat to you? "A thermonuclear name & shame is exactly what will happen if this continues." Saying you will publicly shame someone if they do something you don't want them to isn't a threat?
      - drcongo 4y ago
        Not if your tongue is glued to Musk's boots.
  - fallingknife 4y ago
    To be extortion, the threatened action has to be illegal. Threats are allowed. Your boss saying "do X or I'll fire you" is not extortion.
yucky 4y ago
It's extortion if you think coordinated boycotts are also extortion. They're two sides of the same coin.
- VikingCoder 4y ago
  Just out of curiosity, did you read this? https://i.redd.it/a41q5e8ka0y91.jpg https://i.redd.it/a41q5e8ka0y91.jpg
  - yucky 4y ago
    Yes, particularly his line how "Advertisers are not being manipulated by activist groups" convinced me that whoever Lou Paskalis is, he's either intentionally lying or willfully ignorant[1][2]. Either way, it proves he has no credibility. [1]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleeping_Giants https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleeping_Giants [2]https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2020/jun/30/third-of-advertisers-may-boycott-facebook-in-hate-speech-revolt https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2020/jun/30/third-of-...
    - VikingCoder 4y ago
      So, just to be clear, you think Twitter (and by extension Musk and Tesla), along with GM, Audi, Mazda, Porsche, VW, and Ford are being manipulated by activist groups? Or do you think it's more likely that GM, Audi, Mazda, Porsche, VW, and Ford don't want to give money to Twitter (and by extension Musk and their competitor Tesla), and they're blaming the boogey-man of "activist groups"?
      - yucky 4y ago
        I gave you references that prove it. Activists targeting investors and advertisers is not a boogieman, it's literally their publicly stated objective.
        VikingCoder 4y ago
        And just so we're all on the same page, you have no idea who Lou Paskalis is, and you're accusing others of being willfully ignorant. Got it.

lupire 4y ago

It's not extortion because Elon's fan army is an irrelevant niche in the market for anything not sold by Tesla.

VikingCoder 4y ago
He has like 103 million followers.
- anigbrowl 4y ago
  True, though a lot of them are disposable accounts.
- ahahahahah 4y ago
  Sure, but as he well knows, they are all bots.
- manicdee 4y ago
  How many of them will follow his instructions to boycott advertisers who stop filling their Twitter feed with promoted tweets?

bamboozled 4y ago

It’s “free speech”, the dude has lost it

Jerrrry 4y ago

>Convince me that's not extortion. hard sell, considering you clearly don't know the meaning of the word.

fortuna86 4y ago
Kind of like how no one knows what free speech seems to mean
- tbrownaw 4y ago
  It means it doesn't cost you anything, right? . (Note punishments for certain content do count as a cost.)
dorkwood 4y ago
Can you elaborate for those of us reading? I looked up the meaning, and it seems to match. "the practice of obtaining something, especially money, through force or threats." He's threatening advertisers so that they'll stay on the platform and continue to pay him. Why isn't that extortion?
- Jerrrry 4y ago
  "threatening" doing a lot of lifting here
  - dorkwood 4y ago
    What constitutes a threat to you? "A thermonuclear name & shame is exactly what will happen if this continues." Saying you will publicly shame someone if they do something you don't want them to isn't a threat?
    - drcongo 4y ago
      Not if your tongue is glued to Musk's boots.
- fallingknife 4y ago
  To be extortion, the threatened action has to be illegal. Threats are allowed. Your boss saying "do X or I'll fire you" is not extortion.

yucky 4y ago

It's extortion if you think coordinated boycotts are also extortion. They're two sides of the same coin.

VikingCoder 4y ago
Just out of curiosity, did you read this? https://i.redd.it/a41q5e8ka0y91.jpg https://i.redd.it/a41q5e8ka0y91.jpg
- yucky 4y ago
  Yes, particularly his line how "Advertisers are not being manipulated by activist groups" convinced me that whoever Lou Paskalis is, he's either intentionally lying or willfully ignorant[1][2]. Either way, it proves he has no credibility. [1]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleeping_Giants https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleeping_Giants [2]https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2020/jun/30/third-of-advertisers-may-boycott-facebook-in-hate-speech-revolt https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2020/jun/30/third-of-...
  - VikingCoder 4y ago
    So, just to be clear, you think Twitter (and by extension Musk and Tesla), along with GM, Audi, Mazda, Porsche, VW, and Ford are being manipulated by activist groups? Or do you think it's more likely that GM, Audi, Mazda, Porsche, VW, and Ford don't want to give money to Twitter (and by extension Musk and their competitor Tesla), and they're blaming the boogey-man of "activist groups"?
    - yucky 4y ago
      I gave you references that prove it. Activists targeting investors and advertisers is not a boogieman, it's literally their publicly stated objective.
      - VikingCoder 4y ago
        And just so we're all on the same page, you have no idea who Lou Paskalis is, and you're accusing others of being willfully ignorant. Got it.