Reminder that musk grew up a rich white boy in full apartheid South Africa and has remained a reactive, unthinking manchild over the years. He doesn't think white supremacy is either wrong or even unusual.
“Very well, he will be reinstated, provided he does not violate the law, and let him be crushed by the comments and Community Notes,” Musk said. “It is better to have anti whatever out in the open to be rebutted than grow simmering in the darkness.”
Looking at the state of public discourse and the rise of right wing extremists, I don't think bringing all the nazi's and other haters into the light of the internet has helped. That shit is definitely growing.
Handing them a platform is the exact opposite of “crushing” them. What does crushing them mean in the context of online discourse? That people don’t like what’s being said but absolutely nothing is done to stop the speaker from carrying on and continuing to speak? How are they “crushed”? I’m sure spanking them with downvotes will hurt their feelings?
The opportunity to crush them was taking their soapbox away. Giving it back to them is the exact opposite of that. Internet downvotes are absolutely meaningless.
I am in academia, and I hate how everyone in my field interacts there. Even my supervisor posts relatively important news there (new papers published or conferences etc).
I used to check it without logging in. But now I can't see a thread without logging in. From all the fields, I thought academia was the first to leave, but no. I tried the mastodon but it is still a ghost town..