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461 points GavinAnderegg | 1 comments | | HN request time: 0.201s | source
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ta8645 ◴[] No.42150508[source]
I'm still hoping that X wins. I'm hoping that we learn how to coexist with a diversity of viewpoints. It seems counterproductive to partition everyone up into their own little gardens, without any viable opposition to the dominant views.
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pessimizer ◴[] No.42150724[source]
I hope we get a nice distributed protocol, and I'm not completely negative on AT (or nostr) yet. Twitter is a critical chokepoint for independent media right now, and the guy who owns it is in the coming administration.

Shutting down twitter, rumble, and substack would be a massacre for independent media right now. Elon could make an offer that couldn't be refused on the other two, and turn on the censorship harder than Facebook.

The right-wing free speech heel turn is always the same: when you censor, you're trying to prevent the free expression of ideas, when we censor, we're trying to prevent the "support" of terrorism. Lèse-majesté is always around the corner.

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ta8645 ◴[] No.42150798[source]
I don't think the answer to the potential right-wing censorship, is left-wing censorship. Right now, X is actually closer to the ideal than any time in its history.

But yeah, if there is a truly distributed system, that had facilities and incentives which support and even promote diverse interactions, that'd be even better.

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pessimizer ◴[] No.42151905[source]
X is owned by an opinionated rich guy, completely entangled in government (even before the Trump win.) There's nothing ideal about a situation where he could be flipping the switch right now to turn it back like it once was, or even worse. He doesn't even have to care, all he has to do is lie back and let it happen. It's the path of least resistance.

I firmly believe his posture with twitter has been because 1) it's a fun place for him and it was obviously a money losing purchase* so he might as well have that fun, and 2) his level of censorship is something that he can use to negotiate with government over contracts or regulation.

He might even really believe in free speech, but a conceptual belief in free speech doesn't mean he'll feel obligated to personally provide it if he can make a dollar denying it. His speech will remain free no matter what happens, he's a rich guy.

-----

* (not unlike say the Guardian, the New Republic, Mother Jones, the Intercept, or the Atlantic, or the WaPo, aparently, and probably CNN and MSNBC at this point. They're not for making money.)

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1. ta8645 ◴[] No.42152056[source]
Again, I totally understand your objection, and you're right about the potential abuses that exist. The reason I said it is better now than before, is that the abuses under the previous ownership were not potential, they were real and being perpetrated every day. So I see X as _currently_ a much better place than it has ever been in its history.

But I'm with you on the potential problems and would rather have a system that was immune to such issues. What i'm really arguing against is people who saw the previous regime as correct and just, and are looking to recreate their echo-chamber somewhere else.

Part of what it will take to create a healthy town-center, that is much better than X, is for more people to speak up for ideals of diversity and tolerance. And to fight against the very loud and angry segment of people who see censorship and authoritarian control as good things, as long as they're working in their own favor.