3 ms·

Twitter abruptly suspends half a dozen journalists

59 points by selimthegrim 4y ago

wpietri 4y ago
- tamaharbor 4y ago
  Now democrats know how republicans have felt all long.
  - wpietri 4y ago
    I see you're getting downvoted, but I think you have a sliver of a point. The US right does indeed often feel that way. The question for me is what those feelings were based in.
  - rektide 4y ago
    Im ok with it, then & now. Both are marks of character. I personally think Twitter used to work very very hard to tolerate a lot of activity it didnt really want & that was a bad look & source of ill strife. It took a lot to get banned & was for clearly bad behavior. There doesnt seem to be anything really controversial or interesting about these folks being banned; it's just small & petty & weak pushing folk around. Both bannings were within the right of the operator, and both reflect in the operator. Personally I think it's an interesting contrast, in cause/offense & process, and reveals a real contrast. Wasnt it amazing how nice & permitting twitter used to be, how it used to try to stay open to people across many tries? That grace seems a rapidpy receeding memory, but I also doubt you'll hear the same sad fiddling for ourselves & stomping indignation we were hearing about the bloody Babylon Bee or Alex Jones.
- orangecat 4y ago
  Ah, so free speech is good now? Some of us do have principles. When Twitter was suppressing conservatives, that was bad. If Musk is banning people for being critical of him, that is also bad.
tonetheman 4y ago
Here is pg trying to defend that "free speech" https://twitter.com/paulg/status/1603555493238435840 https://twitter.com/paulg/status/1603555493238435840
- wpietri 4y ago
  He writes: "My guess is someone got those accounts suspended by submitting a bunch of fake abuse reports." As somebody who worked at Twitter for a hot minute (2016-7), that could be possible now, but I don't think it was before Musk took over. I don't think my NDA would let me give details, but I think it's safe to say that mass reporting is not a new idea. If that's really what happened here (something I'd bet against) then it's almost like getting rid of 75% of the staff and 80% of the contractors could result in service degradation.
  - wpietri 4y ago
    Turns out his guess is wrong: "The account bans were labeled 'direction of Ella' in Twitter’s internal systems, according to two former employees in contact with Twitter’s staff. Ella Irwin, the company’s head of trust and safety, has carried out many of Musk’s orders since he purchased the company in late October and began upending it rules in the name of what he called 'free speech.'"
- neonate 4y ago
  > Apparently not. That's bad. https://twitter.com/paulg/status/1603572959758663680 https://twitter.com/paulg/status/1603572959758663680
32gbsd 4y ago
But this happens all the time! Or so i thought.
hcnews 4y ago
As an early Tesla investor (from early-mid 2010s), I find Elon's behaviour change over last 2-3 years pretty toxic and inhumane. From the days of fighting california for covid lockdowns to now hiding behind "free speech" doing whatever he wants anyways (which is sucking up to republics and russians and who knows who else). I want to say this isn't 100% unexpected (some people show true behaviour openly only once they have nothing to lose). However, this does indicate a very deep flaw in our existing society i.e. giving certain individuals too much power; either via their job position or capital. This is why I think we should have higher tax rates and prevent at least an individual just to gain too much control by their capital. I would even be ok with 50%-100% tax rate above 100 million dollars net worth. There needs to be less imbalance in society, not more. Edit: Also I had divested away from individual Tesla stocks a year or so ago.
nickthegreek 4y ago
I wonder if journalists are going to embrace the lesson from the 1983 classic Wargames and realize the only winning move is not play. They need to take their ball and move to a new court.
- mzs 4y ago
  about half have moved to mastodon: https://archive.today/gzjpa https://archive.today/gzjpa
egberts1 4y ago
Retweeting live location of someone’s child should be frown upon, lest it enables such child to become a target for a kidnapper(s). Since the child happens to belong to the owner of Twitter, it comes as no big surprise that the protactive aspect of parenting has kicked into overdrive. Oh well.
- mzs 4y ago
  right under the headline: >Company executives alleged that the more than half a dozen reporters endangered Twitter’s owner by sharing his location. But a review of their tweets shows no evidence of it. from a suspended journalist who shared the LAPD statement, "No crime reports have been filed yet." https://archive.today/51YXH https://archive.today/51YXH At this point you are taking the word of a serial liar where instead multiple journalists have found no evidence.

59 points by selimthegrim 4y ago

tamaharbor 4y ago
Now democrats know how republicans have felt all long.
- wpietri 4y ago
  I see you're getting downvoted, but I think you have a sliver of a point. The US right does indeed often feel that way. The question for me is what those feelings were based in.
- rektide 4y ago
  Im ok with it, then & now. Both are marks of character. I personally think Twitter used to work very very hard to tolerate a lot of activity it didnt really want & that was a bad look & source of ill strife. It took a lot to get banned & was for clearly bad behavior. There doesnt seem to be anything really controversial or interesting about these folks being banned; it's just small & petty & weak pushing folk around. Both bannings were within the right of the operator, and both reflect in the operator. Personally I think it's an interesting contrast, in cause/offense & process, and reveals a real contrast. Wasnt it amazing how nice & permitting twitter used to be, how it used to try to stay open to people across many tries? That grace seems a rapidpy receeding memory, but I also doubt you'll hear the same sad fiddling for ourselves & stomping indignation we were hearing about the bloody Babylon Bee or Alex Jones.
orangecat 4y ago
Ah, so free speech is good now? Some of us do have principles. When Twitter was suppressing conservatives, that was bad. If Musk is banning people for being critical of him, that is also bad.

Here is pg trying to defend that "free speech" https://twitter.com/paulg/status/1603555493238435840 https://twitter.com/paulg/status/1603555493238435840

wpietri 4y ago
He writes: "My guess is someone got those accounts suspended by submitting a bunch of fake abuse reports." As somebody who worked at Twitter for a hot minute (2016-7), that could be possible now, but I don't think it was before Musk took over. I don't think my NDA would let me give details, but I think it's safe to say that mass reporting is not a new idea. If that's really what happened here (something I'd bet against) then it's almost like getting rid of 75% of the staff and 80% of the contractors could result in service degradation.
- wpietri 4y ago
  Turns out his guess is wrong: "The account bans were labeled 'direction of Ella' in Twitter’s internal systems, according to two former employees in contact with Twitter’s staff. Ella Irwin, the company’s head of trust and safety, has carried out many of Musk’s orders since he purchased the company in late October and began upending it rules in the name of what he called 'free speech.'"
neonate 4y ago
> Apparently not. That's bad. https://twitter.com/paulg/status/1603572959758663680 https://twitter.com/paulg/status/1603572959758663680

32gbsd 4y ago

But this happens all the time! Or so i thought.

hcnews 4y ago

As an early Tesla investor (from early-mid 2010s), I find Elon's behaviour change over last 2-3 years pretty toxic and inhumane. From the days of fighting california for covid lockdowns to now hiding behind "free speech" doing whatever he wants anyways (which is sucking up to republics and russians and who knows who else). I want to say this isn't 100% unexpected (some people show true behaviour openly only once they have nothing to lose). However, this does indicate a very deep flaw in our existing society i.e. giving certain individuals too much power; either via their job position or capital. This is why I think we should have higher tax rates and prevent at least an individual just to gain too much control by their capital. I would even be ok with 50%-100% tax rate above 100 million dollars net worth. There needs to be less imbalance in society, not more. Edit: Also I had divested away from individual Tesla stocks a year or so ago.

nickthegreek 4y ago

I wonder if journalists are going to embrace the lesson from the 1983 classic Wargames and realize the only winning move is not play. They need to take their ball and move to a new court.

mzs 4y ago
about half have moved to mastodon: https://archive.today/gzjpa https://archive.today/gzjpa

egberts1 4y ago

Retweeting live location of someone’s child should be frown upon, lest it enables such child to become a target for a kidnapper(s). Since the child happens to belong to the owner of Twitter, it comes as no big surprise that the protactive aspect of parenting has kicked into overdrive. Oh well.

mzs 4y ago
right under the headline: >Company executives alleged that the more than half a dozen reporters endangered Twitter’s owner by sharing his location. But a review of their tweets shows no evidence of it. from a suspended journalist who shared the LAPD statement, "No crime reports have been filed yet." https://archive.today/51YXH https://archive.today/51YXH At this point you are taking the word of a serial liar where instead multiple journalists have found no evidence.