Let’s Talk Speech Freedom… Again

The little blue censorship bird and the former NYT writer who still wears a cape. We didn’t know what we didn’t know.

This has been kind of a bonkers week. It has felt like the news has been coming so fast that it has been difficult to keep up with it all. This was my subheading in And Here We Go just yesterday:

So many wild things have happened in the last 48 hours or so that it’s hard to know where to even start.

Honestly, I want to say the same thing again and it has only been a day. I planned to write a post about Twitter’s announcement of a renewed commitment to being an arm of the state, but I can’t do it any better than El Gato Malo so I’m not even going to try. Just read this:

bending the first amendment past breaking

Then read this:

The White House privately demanded Twitter ban me months before the company did so

If I owe any apology to Alex Berenson after penning The Self-Sabotage of Alex Berenson it’s this one; Alex, I’m sorry I doubted how quickly you would accomplish what you told us very clearly you would do. Obtaining and publishing what sure seems like a smoking gun is huge. Discovery. Well done, sir.

There is clearly a relationship between the social tech giants and the establishment government that is beyond what I personally believe is acceptable. We’ve always known it. But now we know it. It is one thing to offer guidance on moderation policies, it is an entirely different thing to pressure a social media entity to de-platform a specific user who is simply inconvenient rather than actually in violation of policy. Beyond the pale. And Twitter is now essentially warning us it’s going to happen again just in time for mid-terms.

As I’ve said numerous times I don’t trust Elon Musk, but I now hope this Twitter deal gets pushed through and Musk honors the contract because if there is anyone who has the power to change the way this company operates, it’s him. He flat out DGAF and he’s the ‘villain’ the system deserves.

As for what I’m going to do

This time around, I’m not dumping Twitter. Twitter will dump me if those in charge of such policies decide to do so. And if that happens, it will be the end of the relationship permanently. I’m fine with that outcome. Life is just too short to fixate on one platform, profile, or policy. I’m going to speak my mind in the ways that I am able. I’m going to write for me, for you, and for the things I care about.

Odds are, we are going to disagree. Potentially often. But this place is open for conversation. Keep checking me when you think I’m wrong. I think it’s great and the handful of times that it has already happened in this Stack have allowed me to rethink how I view certain things. In the meantime, say no to the bug burgers, be the the ruler of your own experience, and have a great weekend.