Hundreds of subreddits are considering banning all links to X
Hundreds of subreddits are considering banning all links to X
Dozens of big subreddits have already banned all Twitter links, and posts about potential bans are some of the most popular on the site.
Summary
Hundreds of subreddits are debating banning links to X.com (formerly Twitter) following Elon Musk’s Nazi salute at a Trump rally.
Dozens of subreddit moderators have already implemented bans, while others are holding votes among their communities.
The bans span political, regional, and topical subreddits, including r/NewJersey, r/londonOntario, and r/christianity, with some highlighting Musk’s gesture alongside neo-Nazi imagery.
This move reflects growing backlash against Musk and his platform over perceived alignment with extremist symbolism.
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Boycotting Twitter is a good idea for many reasons. However this kind of blanket link ban will lead to more informational segregation quickly. This has already happened in many ways since the beginning of the war on Ukraine. Linking to Telegram or any Russian website is no longer allowed in many forums, e. g. Reddit. That has made finding original sources and verifying information much more difficult.
Take links to videos for example. Reddit is full of videos copied from YouTube, Telegram, TikTok, etc. without attributing the original source. The World Wide Web was supposed to link information together into a network, where you can follow up on origins snd details. Nowadays it has turned into a series of copy & paste silos, enabling the most extreme echo chambers.
I think segregation is the long term plan.
Divide and conquer.
Knowledge is power; Wikipedia is next on the hit list.
I doubt there’s a plan behind this.
Social media wasn’t the primary driver behind the Arab spring. The economic issues were the trigger. People couldn’t afford to buy food. Lack of food will topple any government. Media control only gets one so far.
On the Internet the dominant websites can change quickly. Being banned from Twitter enabled Trump‘s Truth Social. Buying Twitter gave Elon Musk a giant soap box. However new soapboxes are constructed all the time and some succeed.
The changes in attitudes towards social media websites, caused in this instance by Elon Musk are a great way for those in power to suppress another Arab Spring type event in the future.
The change in attitude is the consequence, not the cause. The best way for those in power to suppress another Arab Spring type event is a change in ownership of a massively influential social media platform where the richest man can take over completely to censor and control the narrative and oh, whoops... that already happened.
First they banned in person socializing/communication, next will be internet communication/socializing
First they banned in person socializing/communication
They did?
Banned is a bit of hyperbole. But it's clear as day that most of the third places have evaporated over the years. You can blame some of it on economics, but there are prominent right wingers who have talked about changing the language so average Americans from different political systems aren't able to have a civil conversations anymore, and the need to shut down third places that serve as a melting pot for ideas.
When I was a child, I distinctly remember many occasions where family or friends would meet and discuss policy... not politicians, actual policy in a civil way. Now those discussions don't happen, try to talk to a Conservative and see how long you can talk about policy before they bring up Trump, Pelosi or some other figure head.