this post was submitted on 07 Feb 2025
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Summary

Elon Musk called for the firing of Wall Street Journal reporter Katherine Long after she exposed racist tweets from Marko Elez, a Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) employee who later resigned.

Long’s report revealed Elez had posted remarks promoting racism and eugenics.

“Just for the record, I was racist before it was cool,” Elez posted in July, according to the Journal’s review of archived posts.

Musk, who claims to support free speech, labeled Long “disgusting and cruel” and demanded that she should be fired.

Critics noted the hypocrisy of Musk advocating for a journalist’s removal over accurate reporting on a public official’s misconduct.

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[–] Chainweasel@lemmy.world 21 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Any sane country that wants to remain that way should be banning Twitter immediately.
It feels like insanity to me that they're watching what he's doing to America right now and not immediately reacting by banning the tools he used to do it here.

[–] Kecessa@sh.itjust.works 0 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (2 children)

I find it very funny how the Internet switched from "net neutrality at all cost, websites shouldn't be banned!" to finally realizing that actually yeah, some websites are just bad for social cohesion and should be banned or at least under strict regulation!

[–] NocturnalMorning@lemmy.world 7 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Network neutrality, often referred to as net neutrality, is the principle that Internet service providers (ISPs) must treat all Internet communications equally, offering users and online content providers consistent transfer rates regardless of content, website, platform, application, type of equipment, source address, destination address, or method of communication

Net neutrality is not what you think it is.

[–] Kecessa@sh.itjust.works 2 points 1 year ago

It also includes ISPs not censoring certain websites.

[–] AA5B@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

That’s not the same as net neutrality, more a free speech concern.

I used to be a free speech absolutist, partly on the grounds that people recognize lies, hatred, racism, sexism, and bs of every kind, so are generally not affected. We always ostracized the nut cases, so why wouldn’t we online as well? I had faith in my fellow citizens that letting extremists speak out would just shine the light on that extremism., expose the truth, correct the facts.

But we’re clearly in a world where none of that is true. We have people spewing forth all sorts of extremism, and people believe it. They’re gullible, naive, easily manipulated. Hatred, anger and lies have done serious harm to our society, economically, socially and politically.

The right to free speech only applies to government, and does not guarantee freedom from consequences. The root of the problem is online speech without consequences, but that’s a commercial entity, not government . If the service won’t rein in the worst speech, or provide consequences for speech that harms society then society doesn’t need the service. Shut ‘em down

[–] SabinStargem@lemmings.world 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I am a free speech absolutist myself: I like my enemies to out themselves as facist, and to be able to tell my like-minded comrades what should be done to those facists.

Elon is using free speech as a sword and shield, while not offering that freedom to others. He is first and foremost a coward, and secondly a hypocrite.

[–] AA5B@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

He’s probably the worst example. I don’t know if he was actually free speech in the beginning, but now he certainly seems deceptive, controlling speech, and using his platform to quiet any dissenters. Free speech is one thing but there should be consequences for harmful speech

But how do you rationalize the clear harm to society from misleading, divisive, violent speech? Where were the consequences for those instigating treason a few januaries ago? Where are the consequences for the illness and death caused vaccine and other health misinformation? Where are the consequences for being the fool that is manipulate into spreading these?

While I see your point and would have agreed for most of my life, speech without consequences has caused some serious harm to millions of people and the stability of our society. Free speech doesn’t mean freedom from the consequences of that speech, but so far free speech online seems to have mostly escaped consequences

If I had a family member die of COVID, I should be able to successfully sue for wrongful death whatever idiot persuaded her not to get vaccinated

And yes whatever idiot of a national leader deliberately and maliciously countermanded their medical advisors and and overwhelming scientific advice on a pandemic, and caused hundreds of thousands of additional death, should be tried and potentially guilty of every one of those deaths