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Left-Wing Voices Are Silenced on Twitter as Far-Right Trolls Advise Elon Musk

17 points by hn2017 4y ago

hn2017 4y ago
"Several prominent antifascist organizers and journalists have had their accounts suspended in the past week, after right-wing operatives appealed directly to Musk to ban them and far-right internet trolls flooded Twitter’s complaints system with false reports about terms of service violations. "
Zigurd 4y ago
I have seen several press mentions, by people who have previously interviewed and covered him, say Musk has changed. Outwardly, he seems like a typical red pilled dude. Except he can buy Twitter. This appeals strongly to the sense of powerlessness of the red pilled dudes who can't afford to Twitter, or even a Tesla.
- bediger4000 4y ago
  His progression seems like that of a lot of people, Matt Taibbi and Glenn Greenwald also seem like examples, maybe Matt Yglesias: 1. Liberal Dem 2. Contrarian 3. Double down contrarian 4. Conservative 5. Monarchist
  - sn0w_crash 4y ago
    So basically a 2012 democrat? That’s what all of those people are
  - Zigurd 4y ago
    The "2. Contrarian 3. Double down contrarian" part tracks with conspiracy theorists' need to feel like they have special knowledge the rest of us don't see.
    - bediger4000 4y ago
      My observation is that the "double down" part is important. If someone is particularly privileged, getting smacked down for having an easily refutable idea is rare. But The Internet typically doesn't care about privilege, so cruel smackdowns effect sheltered rich kids differently. They double down, falsely believing their money or status will cause opponents to change their minds. Opponents do not change their minds, progress to 4. Conservative.
  - MockObject 4y ago
    20s Greenwald hasn't written anything that 10s Greenwald would disagree with. The country has changed around him. Remember when the left was against globalization, racial segregation, corporate power, speech control, foreign intervention, and big pharma?
    - sn0w_crash 4y ago
      All of these narratives were adopted by corporations in the wake of the occupy movement. These are no longer values of the American left, as it is now 100% the party of big corporations. It’s actually really amazing to watch this happen in real time and the lack of self awareness of people. Imagine thinking you are the “resistance” when your opinion is identical to that of every big bank, every major institution, the military industrial complex, big tech, big pharma, and every major corporation and rich celebrity. Imagine that.
      - MockObject 4y ago
        You are absolutely, totally correct. Watching the class strategy play out in real time has been fascinating.
  - lambic2 4y ago
    I would say 3. Libertarian and 5. pro-oligarchy
tonetheman 4y ago
It is cringeworthy to watch people try to defend it on twitter. https://twitter.com/paulg/status/1597944281963978752 https://twitter.com/paulg/status/1597944281963978752
legitster 4y ago
> “What I believe happened is that I and other accounts have been mass reported for the last few weeks by a dedicated group of far-right extremists who want to erase archived evidence of their past misdeeds and to neutralize our ability to expose them in the future,” Loder said. “What I suspect happened is that Twitter’s automatic systems flagged my account for some reason and no human being is reviewing these.” > “Twitter was never a healthy ‘public square’ for most of us. Let’s not rewrite history while eulogizing the hellsite,” Loder wrote on Mastodon on Sunday. “Twitter was a frightening battleground where we managed barely to claw out an uneasy existence amidst the worst violent neo-Nazi extremists who constantly published our home addresses, threatened our kids’ lives, and sent hordes of racist trolls into our mentions.”
cactusplant7374 4y ago
Musks ex wife disputes his rationale for suspending Alex Jones. Basically, calling him a liar. He picks and chooses like every ideologue.

17 points by hn2017 4y ago

hn2017 4y ago

"Several prominent antifascist organizers and journalists have had their accounts suspended in the past week, after right-wing operatives appealed directly to Musk to ban them and far-right internet trolls flooded Twitter’s complaints system with false reports about terms of service violations. "

Zigurd 4y ago

I have seen several press mentions, by people who have previously interviewed and covered him, say Musk has changed. Outwardly, he seems like a typical red pilled dude. Except he can buy Twitter. This appeals strongly to the sense of powerlessness of the red pilled dudes who can't afford to Twitter, or even a Tesla.

bediger4000 4y ago
His progression seems like that of a lot of people, Matt Taibbi and Glenn Greenwald also seem like examples, maybe Matt Yglesias: 1. Liberal Dem 2. Contrarian 3. Double down contrarian 4. Conservative 5. Monarchist
- sn0w_crash 4y ago
  So basically a 2012 democrat? That’s what all of those people are
- Zigurd 4y ago
  The "2. Contrarian 3. Double down contrarian" part tracks with conspiracy theorists' need to feel like they have special knowledge the rest of us don't see.
  - bediger4000 4y ago
    My observation is that the "double down" part is important. If someone is particularly privileged, getting smacked down for having an easily refutable idea is rare. But The Internet typically doesn't care about privilege, so cruel smackdowns effect sheltered rich kids differently. They double down, falsely believing their money or status will cause opponents to change their minds. Opponents do not change their minds, progress to 4. Conservative.
- MockObject 4y ago
  20s Greenwald hasn't written anything that 10s Greenwald would disagree with. The country has changed around him. Remember when the left was against globalization, racial segregation, corporate power, speech control, foreign intervention, and big pharma?
  - sn0w_crash 4y ago
    All of these narratives were adopted by corporations in the wake of the occupy movement. These are no longer values of the American left, as it is now 100% the party of big corporations. It’s actually really amazing to watch this happen in real time and the lack of self awareness of people. Imagine thinking you are the “resistance” when your opinion is identical to that of every big bank, every major institution, the military industrial complex, big tech, big pharma, and every major corporation and rich celebrity. Imagine that.
    - MockObject 4y ago
      You are absolutely, totally correct. Watching the class strategy play out in real time has been fascinating.
- lambic2 4y ago
  I would say 3. Libertarian and 5. pro-oligarchy

tonetheman 4y ago

It is cringeworthy to watch people try to defend it on twitter. https://twitter.com/paulg/status/1597944281963978752 https://twitter.com/paulg/status/1597944281963978752

legitster 4y ago

> “What I believe happened is that I and other accounts have been mass reported for the last few weeks by a dedicated group of far-right extremists who want to erase archived evidence of their past misdeeds and to neutralize our ability to expose them in the future,” Loder said. “What I suspect happened is that Twitter’s automatic systems flagged my account for some reason and no human being is reviewing these.” > “Twitter was never a healthy ‘public square’ for most of us. Let’s not rewrite history while eulogizing the hellsite,” Loder wrote on Mastodon on Sunday. “Twitter was a frightening battleground where we managed barely to claw out an uneasy existence amidst the worst violent neo-Nazi extremists who constantly published our home addresses, threatened our kids’ lives, and sent hordes of racist trolls into our mentions.”

cactusplant7374 4y ago

Musks ex wife disputes his rationale for suspending Alex Jones. Basically, calling him a liar. He picks and chooses like every ideologue.