Holy crap!
Just a few minutes ago on Twitter (of course, where else?) Elon Musk quietly just broke some bombshell news…
Remember how he previously told us he was forming a “Moderation Council”?
And remember how terrible of an idea that was?
Well, it’s dead.
Gone.
Good riddance!
Take a look:
A large coalition of political/social activist groups agreed not to try to kill Twitter by starving us of advertising revenue if I agreed to this condition.
They broke the deal.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 22, 2022
Screenshot:
But in just one short Tweet, we learned much more than just that one detail.
We just learned for the first time that the Moderation Council wasn’t Elon’s idea.
Sounds like he didn’t like it any more than we did.
No, apparently the Moderation Council was forced on him by a large coalition of far-left groups!
Sounds like blackmail to me.
Or coercion.
Elon apparently reluctantly agreed, but now he says they broke the deal anyway.
No honor among thieves, I guess.
Elon, never expect the left to be honorable or virtuous! It’s not in their DNA. It’s literally impossible for them!
So apparently they couldn’t honor their own extortion scheme and now the deal is off….and the deal has now been made public.
These people are so sick!
https://twitter.com/SethAbramson/status/1595200581378899968
Council is DEAD:
NEWS: Elon Musk on why the content moderation council was disbanded pic.twitter.com/RIuADfPZbe
— X News Daily (@xDaily) November 22, 2022
The far-lefties at The Daily Beast are having trouble coping with the news:
In footage of a company Zoom call obtained by TMZ, Elon Musk revealed that while the council really will be formed, it will be completely powerless. In a shocking twist, he said the crucial decision-making power will ultimately lie solely with him.https://t.co/uhNkve4qPS
— The Daily Beast (@thedailybeast) November 22, 2022
From the DB:
When Elon Musk completed his $44 billion takeover of Twitter last month, advertisers and individual users feared what might happen to the site in the hands of a self-described “free speech absolutist.”
Musk sought to address their concerns by announcing the formation of a new “content moderation council with widely diverse viewpoints,” promising that no “major content decisions or account reinstatements will happen before that council convenes.”
But it seems that the arch-troll wasn’t exactly telling the whole story.
In footage of a company Zoom call on Saturday obtained by TMZ, Musk revealed that while the council indeed will be formed, it will be completely powerless and the crucial decision-making power will ultimately lie solely with him.
“We are going to do a content council, but it’s an advisory council,” Musk said in the call. “It’s not a… They’re not the ones who actually… At the end of the day it will be me deciding, and like any pretense to the contrary is simply not true. Because obviously I could choose who’s on that content council and I don’t need to listen to what they say.”
The revelation comes after a slew of recent controversial decisions about the way Twitter works and who gets to be on it. Over the weekend, Donald Trump was reinstated on the site after Musk ran a poll asking for users’ opinions on the matter. But the former president, who had been locked out of the platform in the wake of the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, said he intended to stick with his own Truth Social platform, adding that Twitter has “a lot of problems.”
Kanye West was also given access to his account on Sunday after being locked out after making a string of antisemitic comments, including a tweet promising to go “death con 3 on Jewish people.” Within hours of being back on the site, West put up a trolling message saying: “Shalom :)”
TMZ released secret video that told a little different story:
Elon Musk says the Content Moderation Council at Twitter will still have to answer to him at the end of the day regarding policy decisions, including what does and doesn't fly on the bird app. https://t.co/Dk7QGNoTj9
— TMZ (@TMZ) November 22, 2022
From TMZ:
Elon Musk’s Content Moderation Council will be nothing more than a paper tiger, because the Chief Twit himself told his staff … the ultimate power on what goes on the platform and what doesn’t rests squarely with him.
New video obtained by TMZ shows Elon talking to bird app staffers Saturday in a company Zoom chat. At one point, EM touched on the Council he promised late last month.
Watch … Elon says there will, in fact, be a Council — but he makes it clear it’s advisory only … he will pick the members and can either accept or reject their advice … he’ll make the call.
Since announcing the Council — which was seemingly meant to calm the waters with folks concerned about misinformation/hate speech on the platform — Elon has made A LOT of sporadic decisions about how Twitter will work, and who gets to tweet.
He’s suspended users and then reinstated them, seemingly on a whim. Over the weekend he asked users to vote on whether Donald Trump should be reinstated — a slim majority turned thumbs up and Elon gave the green light for his return.
Two points — first, Elon never said he’d adhere to the will of the majority … and that’s consistent with his view of the Council. Second, Trump has said he’ll decline the invitation, but the reality is … he’ll almost certainly return because that’s where he can reach voters.
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