Musk needs to make big changes at Twitter and make them fast if he wants re-orient the platform towards free speech.
Well, he did it lads, Elon Musk pulled off the impossible and now owns Twitter. He overcame the nefarious plans of the Twitter board, with its poison pills, and after much struggle now has total ownership of the so-called public town square. But now that everyone’s favorite billionaire is in control, freedom lovers must ask: how is he going to make good on his offer to make 'Make Twitter Free Again?' With an ever-present media establishment and a left engaged in a great wailing and gnashing of teeth, ending censorship on Twitter will be an exceedingly ever more daunting challenge. So here is some useful advice for and what users should expect next from me your friendly neighborhood Twitter power-user.
To End the Shadow Bans, Document Everything
To stop the censorship problem at Twitter, Musk must immediately prioritize the archiving, documentation and release of Twitter’s algorithm and censorship records as soon as possible. As I’ve documented previously, Twitter is the most judgmental of the major social media platforms, routinely blocking, silencing, and shadow banning users without explanation or recourse. The number of accounts affected by censorship on Twitter is likely in the tens of millions. The Brrrr app is home to ridiculous algorithms controlled by self-righteous programmers actively working against users that go against the ever-changing establishment narrative.
Still, to solve the issue of censorship and shadowbans you must have transparent evidence and records showing the problem. You cannot cure a disease when you cannot diagnose it, and employees and leaders on Twitter do not want the public ever finding out all the nasty things they’ve done to users over the years. Those records of algorithm manipulation and enemies’ lists are exceedingly detailed and highly embarrassing for the company. We are already getting reports of Twitter having to close its source code to protect it from vengeful employees. The concern for the mass deletion of documents is in the extreme.
On day one, Elon must insist that all records are archived, and released to the public as either anonymous data collection, ala public open-source academic projects, or tell users straight up. However, he goes about, Elon must insist that every scrap of information be archived for current and historical purposes.
Separate the Wheat from the Chaff
With that accomplished Elon should focus on the long-term viability of the free-twitter project. And there’s no way to put this nicely. Solving the censorship problem will require a purge.
Elon must clear the company of all leaders and employees who favor censorship and controlling the public conversation. Twitter users have been outing themselves left and right the last month on Twitter, Slack channels, and the media. Activists suck at hiding their biases, so finding these individuals won’t be difficult but getting rid of them will be. Employees should be fairly incentivized to leave the company ala Coinbase. If they don't go, fire their woke ass.
Of all the tasks, this is likely the hardest. Here is what I caution readers to pay close attention to. If Elon is to succeed, he must clean house and not repeat the mistakes of his forbears.
It may seem strange that former CEO Jack Dorsey, who appeared to be in control of censorious Twitter, supports the Musk buyout. But that was never Jack’s intention. When Jack returned to the CEO position in 2015, he found himself often at odds with his company and failed in his quest to return the platform to its free speech stance it started with back in 2006.
Think of this problem like a Twitter deep state. It doesn't matter how much the guy at the top loves freedom of speech. If the people who man the company don't like it, nothing good will happen. The main benefit of going private is that Elon can get rid of the dead weight and stack the company with people who appreciate freedom and actually like the userbase.
Fight for the Users!
Twitter is a money-losing venture, and I guarantee Elon will want to fix that. To meet his vision of a freer Twitter, he will need to update the platform significantly. Elon outlined precisely this. Among those goals is the very divisive plan to authenticate all human accounts, whether that means giving everyone blue checkmarks or some other system I do not know.
He also wants to get rid of the bot accounts. Add something like an edit tweet feature. Make the Twitter search function usable and turn Twitter Blue into something that makes paying a monthly subscription fee worthwhile. All good ideas.
However, none of this will be easy to implement. Twitter is the de-facto town square and is the playing field for news, memes, journalism, politics, and culture. Musk and conservatives should expect Twitter employees, the media establishment, and even governments to ‘go to the mattresses’ to keep Twitter mired in the Swamp. The announcement of Musk exposés and warnings of federal investigations coming from the Biden White House on the same day as Elon buying Twitter is not a coincidence but a threat. Anyone else would be tempted to fold, but not Elon.
If there was ever a human born to free Twitter, it's Elon. Musk is a unique thinker, a hard worker, and one of the most outstanding entrepreneurs in history. He doesn't think like other people. He doesn't give up and roll over like most corporate creatures. While the task before us looks daunting, the only motive stronger than profit is a mission, and that's what this is for Elon. So, despite the tempests, and the heavy storms to come, I live in the hope that our meme lord will do the impossible and free Twitter.
To the Mattresses:
For the establishment, this is the end-all-be-all. Yes, they’ve long made fun of conservatives that said Twitter is the de-facto town square, but the Left really believed this all along. Twitter is the playing field for news, memes, journalism, politics, and culture. They knew Twitter was on their team. To ensure their people and ideas stayed in power. So, Musk should expect Twitter employees, the media establishment, and even governments to ‘go to the mattresses’ to keep Twitter mired in the Swamp.
The announcement of Musk exposés and warnings of federal investigations coming from the Biden Whitehouse on the same day as Elon buying Twitter is not a coincidence but a threat. Anyone else would be tempted to fold, but not Elon. If there was ever a human born to free Twitter, it's Elon. He doesn't think like other people. He doesn't give up and roll over like most corporate creatures. So, despite the tempests to come, I live in the hope that our meme lord will do the impossible and free Twitter.
Here comes the memes. Hail to the Doge King!