Former CEO of Twitter had, a few years ago, conceded famously that a majority of his company’s staff were left-leaning. No wonder, its censorship entailed banning former US President Donald Trump, marking BJP members’ tweets as “manipulated” and shutting down accounts of followers of the right-of-centre ideology of various shades from the US to India. Now the leftists, the hypocritical champions of free speech, have been trending #LeavingTwitter since the time the news arrived that billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk has taken over the social media platform at $44 billion or $ 54.20 per share.
Twitter will become a “privately held company” soon after this transaction between the social media platform and Musk is over. But was the previous management of the company government-owned or state-run? Was it a trust? Was it a nonprofit? The answer to all these questions is a resounding NO.
Leftists who say they’re leaving Twitter
Actress Jameela Jamil, best known for her role in The Good Place, announced that she would leave Twitter. “I fear this free speech bid is going to help this hell platform reach its final form of totally lawless hate, bigotry, and misogyny,” she wrote.
Charles Blow, a New York Times columnist, said Musk buying Twitter was “just the push” he needed to say goodbye to Twitter.
Retired wrestler and actor Mick Foley said he would seriously consider leaving Twitter too.
Right wing enjoys the burn
The leftists hate capitalists — when it’s somebody else’s capital that is. They want the money to rest with them or have the power to control the flow of others’ money. And the so-called right wing from the West to the East are enjoying the meltdown. Sample these two tweets:
While there are hundreds of funny takes on the #LeavingTwitter trend, which has been hijacked by the right big-time, the two samples above suffice.
Meanwhile, the man of the moment says he would like the leftists to stay. That is what free speech is all about, Musk avers.
Leftists allege that while Musk may fashion himself as a free speech absolutist, he has blocked people who have criticised him or his company in the past. Robert Morris University professor Anthony Moretti told CBS News, “The concern that most people are going to have is, on the one hand, Musk talks a lot about freedom of speech, say what you want, free country, all of that, almost a libertarian kind of approach.”
Moretti said, “But he [Musk] has been known to very critical, including blocking people who have been critical of him or his company in the past.” Others believe that he will create a free-for-all posting policy although the user can be clearly sued for defamation or face legal and/or employment-related consequences.
Interestingly, Dorsey is not worried. He said Twitter was the closest thing to “global consciousness”. He said that Twitter had been his biggest regret as a company as it was run by the Wall Street and ad model while adding that taking Twitter away from the Wall Street was the first step in the right direction.
Dorsey further claimed, “In principle, I don’t believe anyone should own or run Twitter. It wants to be a public good at a protocol level, not a company. Solving for the problem of it being a company however, Elon is the singular solution I trust. I trust his mission to extend the light of consciousness.”
— With inputs from CBS News
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