3 ms·

Nowhere in this piece is the FBI mentioned... And it's fine to make an argument against moderation in general. But that's not what this article is doing.

twblalock 4y ago
The FBI comes up in plenty of the other Twitter censorship stories. Covid is not a one-off, and this article exists in that broader context, or it would not be interesting. It was part of a sustained, illiberal, counterproductive, and overall pretty stupid pattern of behavior from both the government and Twitter.
- actually_a_dog 4y ago
  Have you tried discussing these points on the submission page for those other Twitter stories?
- thinking4real 4y ago
  [flagged]
  - ethanbond 4y ago
    Like gaslighting people into thinking FBI requested suppression of the Hunter story (they didn’t), or that the FBI == the Biden team (it’s not), or that the FBI was suppressing COVID stories (it wasn’t) or that Twitter felt compelled to satisfy all Biden team or FBI requests (it didn’t)? That sort of gaslighting? Or maybe the implication that Twitter will henceforth not allow government or govt affiliated entities to request content moderation (they will) or that they won’t give such requests preference (they will) or that they shouldn’t give such requests preference (a matter of opinion, but not crazy to believe they should).
  - stiltzkin 4y ago
    And most surprisingly HN falls into this.
    - MrMan 4y ago
      you guys should go somewhere more extreme, this place is too vanilla for you, too many sheeple
eddhead 4y ago
Jim Baker is a double agent for the FBI. Everyone is Quite obvious of why he was there.
- echelon 4y ago
  > Jim Baker is a double agent for the FBI. Geopolitical hat on. Elon Musk is getting close to the Saudis (Twitter), China (Gigafactory Shanghai), and Russians (necessary industrial inputs). In the past few months he's casually suggested a handover of Ukraine and Taiwan. Now he's turning on the Democrats and the FBI, or at least certain members of those organizations. My mind wonders if the DoD will sour on his role at SpaceX. We've recently seen lawmakers impact the valuation of Tesla vis a vis tax incentives. Are Musk's foreign ties and obligations a risk to a defense company that services classified national interests? Perhaps he or the company he keeps have enough friends within the DoD chain of command that there won't be any issues. Or maybe none of this matters. But I am half expecting to see sparks fly. (I'm 100% reading between the lines here, and I don't have any evidence for any of my suspicions. Feel free to dismiss outright, though I would appreciate additional commentary if anyone has anything interesting to add.)
  - jacquesm 4y ago
    I'm pretty sure that conversations along those lines have already taken place. This is no trifle matter and Musk may think that he can shitpost himself out of any hole he digs himself into but that may well be an illusion on his part.
  - ethanbond 4y ago
    Yeah even going so far as replying “Epic thread!!” to Medvedev’s propaganda tweet thread with 2023 predictions like “the US will experience civil war and Musk will win the presidency in states that have been given to (?) the GOP.” 4 hours later he tried to backpedal, which is perhaps the only move more pathetic than having boosted the propaganda in the first place.
  - concordDance 4y ago
    I'd bet good money Musk is no more entangled in those countries than any other big Corp or billionaire. Everyone has Chinese suppliers and Saudi investors.

twblalock 4y ago

The FBI comes up in plenty of the other Twitter censorship stories. Covid is not a one-off, and this article exists in that broader context, or it would not be interesting. It was part of a sustained, illiberal, counterproductive, and overall pretty stupid pattern of behavior from both the government and Twitter.

actually_a_dog 4y ago
Have you tried discussing these points on the submission page for those other Twitter stories?
thinking4real 4y ago
[flagged]
- ethanbond 4y ago
  Like gaslighting people into thinking FBI requested suppression of the Hunter story (they didn’t), or that the FBI == the Biden team (it’s not), or that the FBI was suppressing COVID stories (it wasn’t) or that Twitter felt compelled to satisfy all Biden team or FBI requests (it didn’t)? That sort of gaslighting? Or maybe the implication that Twitter will henceforth not allow government or govt affiliated entities to request content moderation (they will) or that they won’t give such requests preference (they will) or that they shouldn’t give such requests preference (a matter of opinion, but not crazy to believe they should).
- stiltzkin 4y ago
  And most surprisingly HN falls into this.
  - MrMan 4y ago
    you guys should go somewhere more extreme, this place is too vanilla for you, too many sheeple

eddhead 4y ago

Jim Baker is a double agent for the FBI. Everyone is Quite obvious of why he was there.

echelon 4y ago
> Jim Baker is a double agent for the FBI. Geopolitical hat on. Elon Musk is getting close to the Saudis (Twitter), China (Gigafactory Shanghai), and Russians (necessary industrial inputs). In the past few months he's casually suggested a handover of Ukraine and Taiwan. Now he's turning on the Democrats and the FBI, or at least certain members of those organizations. My mind wonders if the DoD will sour on his role at SpaceX. We've recently seen lawmakers impact the valuation of Tesla vis a vis tax incentives. Are Musk's foreign ties and obligations a risk to a defense company that services classified national interests? Perhaps he or the company he keeps have enough friends within the DoD chain of command that there won't be any issues. Or maybe none of this matters. But I am half expecting to see sparks fly. (I'm 100% reading between the lines here, and I don't have any evidence for any of my suspicions. Feel free to dismiss outright, though I would appreciate additional commentary if anyone has anything interesting to add.)
- jacquesm 4y ago
  I'm pretty sure that conversations along those lines have already taken place. This is no trifle matter and Musk may think that he can shitpost himself out of any hole he digs himself into but that may well be an illusion on his part.
- ethanbond 4y ago
  Yeah even going so far as replying “Epic thread!!” to Medvedev’s propaganda tweet thread with 2023 predictions like “the US will experience civil war and Musk will win the presidency in states that have been given to (?) the GOP.” 4 hours later he tried to backpedal, which is perhaps the only move more pathetic than having boosted the propaganda in the first place.
- concordDance 4y ago
  I'd bet good money Musk is no more entangled in those countries than any other big Corp or billionaire. Everyone has Chinese suppliers and Saudi investors.