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Elon Musk brings Alex Jones and Infowars back on X after user poll

12 points by lopkeny12ko 3y ago

CM30 3y ago
I wonder how many more advertisers this will scare away? Alex Jones and Infowars have been demonetised or banned from just about every other social network on the internet, and it's in part because no one wants their products advertised next to his work.
- billy99k 3y ago
  He's had his own products for a long time now. It's better for him in the long-run, so advertisers don't end up being the arbiters of truth.
  - ender341341 3y ago
    OP is talking about advertisers on x/twitter though, not ads directly paying to Jone's.
audunw 3y ago
Sure, bring him back or whatever. But don’t pretend it has anything to do with free speech. That’s undermining the importance of the concept free speech. Free speech has never been about forcing all (social or not) media platforms to publish the opinions of all people. The concept of “free speech” that Elon Musk is chasing is noble in a twisted way I suppose. But it’s naive. Especially in the coming era of “AI”, where it will be increasingly easy to generate fake activity if you have the money. I think people will seek platforms that do work like open forums, so you get the opinions and ideas of people outside your immediate network… but people will increasingly value that those opinions and ideas are held to a certain minimum standard. Otherwise the platforms will just be spammed to death by people with a zealous political agenda and state actors trying to amplify political divides. I found the recent Kurzgesagt video on this topic illuminating, and an essential perspective when considering how to go forward with these social platforms https://youtu.be/fuFlMtZmvY0?si=50Ekloc5FGnrUfgY https://youtu.be/fuFlMtZmvY0?si=50Ekloc5FGnrUfgY
- billy99k 3y ago
  How are you 'spammed to death' by people like Alex Jones? You can easily just block him and or ignore his posts. I've been on Twitter for a decade and have never seen posts by Jones, even before the ban. It was never about what you just described. It's not that you don't want to see posts by Alex Jones, it's that you don't want anyone to see posts by Alex Jones. This IS a freedom of speech issue.
  - cromwellian 3y ago
    I wanted to see critics of Tesla, but I can't, because Musk has banned several accounts that track Tesla manufacturing defects, FSD crashes, etc. Jenn Senshiba even got banned for talking about unions it appears. Lots of others too: https://twitter.com/dictionaryhill/status/1729975494316314655 https://twitter.com/dictionaryhill/status/172997549431631465... Free speech, sure, right.
Zigurd 3y ago
"Free speech" is a bogus concept in social media. Social media is a controlled environment shaped by algorithms. Ideally, is is like Disneyland: Very safe seeming, attractive to families, and very profitable. On a smaller scale compare it to a local pub. You have a bouncer to make sure fun doesn't turn into bad experiences. The so-called "free speech" in social media is the equivalent of buying the local pub and firing the bouncer. And then a biker gang starts cooking meth in the back room. You now own a biker bar meth lab.

12 points by lopkeny12ko 3y ago

CM30 3y ago

I wonder how many more advertisers this will scare away? Alex Jones and Infowars have been demonetised or banned from just about every other social network on the internet, and it's in part because no one wants their products advertised next to his work.

billy99k 3y ago
He's had his own products for a long time now. It's better for him in the long-run, so advertisers don't end up being the arbiters of truth.
- ender341341 3y ago
  OP is talking about advertisers on x/twitter though, not ads directly paying to Jone's.

audunw 3y ago

Sure, bring him back or whatever. But don’t pretend it has anything to do with free speech. That’s undermining the importance of the concept free speech. Free speech has never been about forcing all (social or not) media platforms to publish the opinions of all people. The concept of “free speech” that Elon Musk is chasing is noble in a twisted way I suppose. But it’s naive. Especially in the coming era of “AI”, where it will be increasingly easy to generate fake activity if you have the money. I think people will seek platforms that do work like open forums, so you get the opinions and ideas of people outside your immediate network… but people will increasingly value that those opinions and ideas are held to a certain minimum standard. Otherwise the platforms will just be spammed to death by people with a zealous political agenda and state actors trying to amplify political divides. I found the recent Kurzgesagt video on this topic illuminating, and an essential perspective when considering how to go forward with these social platforms https://youtu.be/fuFlMtZmvY0?si=50Ekloc5FGnrUfgY https://youtu.be/fuFlMtZmvY0?si=50Ekloc5FGnrUfgY

billy99k 3y ago
How are you 'spammed to death' by people like Alex Jones? You can easily just block him and or ignore his posts. I've been on Twitter for a decade and have never seen posts by Jones, even before the ban. It was never about what you just described. It's not that you don't want to see posts by Alex Jones, it's that you don't want anyone to see posts by Alex Jones. This IS a freedom of speech issue.
- cromwellian 3y ago
  I wanted to see critics of Tesla, but I can't, because Musk has banned several accounts that track Tesla manufacturing defects, FSD crashes, etc. Jenn Senshiba even got banned for talking about unions it appears. Lots of others too: https://twitter.com/dictionaryhill/status/1729975494316314655 https://twitter.com/dictionaryhill/status/172997549431631465... Free speech, sure, right.

Zigurd 3y ago

"Free speech" is a bogus concept in social media. Social media is a controlled environment shaped by algorithms. Ideally, is is like Disneyland: Very safe seeming, attractive to families, and very profitable. On a smaller scale compare it to a local pub. You have a bouncer to make sure fun doesn't turn into bad experiences. The so-called "free speech" in social media is the equivalent of buying the local pub and firing the bouncer. And then a biker gang starts cooking meth in the back room. You now own a biker bar meth lab.