Twitter Journalist Suspensions
Dear Colleagues, I’m sure all will agree that the mass censorship of, I think now 11 journalists from major news organisations today by Elon Musk is incredibly disturbing. I am wondering how one deletes all one’s tweets? Anyone know? I’m considering doing this but leaving my account as a placeholder, so I am not leaving that data there, and removing myself at this point from the platform. I was hoping not to do this, given that I network in Twitter for my research on propaganda and develop contacts. But this obviously crosses such a line. People need to push back somehow not just move to mastodon , but I’m honestly not sure how. I’m trying to process the implications and wondered other’s thoughts on this latest development. Thanks, Emma -- Dr Emma L Briant Owner: Maven of Persuasion LLC Fellow at Central European University's Center for Media, Data and Society Associate at University of Cambridge, Center for Financial Reporting & Accountability Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/emmalbriant Website: www.emma-briant.co.uk Author of: *Propaganda and Counter-Terrorism: Strategies for Global Change *from Manchester University Press Co-Author of: *Bad News for Refugees* with Prof. Greg Philo and Dr. Pauline Donald from Pluto Press. Sign up for my Newsletter <http://emma-briant.co.uk/sign-up-for-important-updates/>! Follow me on Twitter @emmalbriant "I thought yesterday was the first day of the rest of my life but it turns out today is." - Steve Martin
For those of us building tools to study the impact of Twitter on politics, it was always a rocky ride watching bad actors skirt the best efforts to regulate them. Now that a single bad actor is the sole regulator of the Twitter architecture, we are in a scary place with the former head of Trust & Safety literally in hiding because of Elon's creepy QAnon style doxxing attack. An argument I put in a short animated video in 2016 about Lawrence Lessig and his brilliant book from 1999 remains relevant to the debate, but we may need to add a fifth regulator: the reckless American oligarch monarchist. Elon Musk now controls the Twitter architecture in ways that evolve dangerously daily and thumbs his nose at markets, norms, and what Lessig called east coast code; the law. The fifth regulator is power. Raw, almost unlimited, power to take over where Trump left off, making Twitter a weapon. For what end, only one man knows. https://vimeo.com/129423037 On Thu, Dec 15, 2022 at 10:56 PM Dr. Emma Briant via Air-L < air-l@listserv.aoir.org> wrote:
Dear Colleagues,
I’m sure all will agree that the mass censorship of, I think now 11 journalists from major news organisations today by Elon Musk is incredibly disturbing. I am wondering how one deletes all one’s tweets? Anyone know? I’m considering doing this but leaving my account as a placeholder, so I am not leaving that data there, and removing myself at this point from the platform. I was hoping not to do this, given that I network in Twitter for my research on propaganda and develop contacts. But this obviously crosses such a line. People need to push back somehow not just move to mastodon , but I’m honestly not sure how. I’m trying to process the implications and wondered other’s thoughts on this latest development.
Thanks, Emma -- Dr Emma L Briant
Owner: Maven of Persuasion LLC Fellow at Central European University's Center for Media, Data and Society Associate at University of Cambridge, Center for Financial Reporting & Accountability Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/emmalbriant Website: www.emma-briant.co.uk
Author of: *Propaganda and Counter-Terrorism: Strategies for Global Change *from Manchester University Press Co-Author of: *Bad News for Refugees* with Prof. Greg Philo and Dr. Pauline Donald from Pluto Press. Sign up for my Newsletter <http://emma-briant.co.uk/sign-up-for-important-updates/>! Follow me on Twitter @emmalbriant
"I thought yesterday was the first day of the rest of my life but it turns out today is." - Steve Martin _______________________________________________ The Air-L@listserv.aoir.org mailing list is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org
Join the Association of Internet Researchers: http://www.aoir.org/
-- Dr. Stuart W. Shulman Founder and CEO, Texifter Editor Emeritus, *Journal of Information Technology & Politics*
I agree with you completely… but what do we doooo? On Fri, 16 Dec 2022 at 05:25, Shulman, Stu <stu@texifter.com> wrote:
For those of us building tools to study the impact of Twitter on politics, it was always a rocky ride watching bad actors skirt the best efforts to regulate them. Now that a single bad actor is the sole regulator of the Twitter architecture, we are in a scary place with the former head of Trust & Safety literally in hiding because of Elon's creepy QAnon style doxxing attack. An argument I put in a short animated video in 2016 about Lawrence Lessig and his brilliant book from 1999 remains relevant to the debate, but we may need to add a fifth regulator: the reckless American oligarch monarchist. Elon Musk now controls the Twitter architecture in ways that evolve dangerously daily and thumbs his nose at markets, norms, and what Lessig called east coast code; the law. The fifth regulator is power. Raw, almost unlimited, power to take over where Trump left off, making Twitter a weapon. For what end, only one man knows.
On Thu, Dec 15, 2022 at 10:56 PM Dr. Emma Briant via Air-L < air-l@listserv.aoir.org> wrote:
Dear Colleagues,
I’m sure all will agree that the mass censorship of, I think now 11 journalists from major news organisations today by Elon Musk is incredibly disturbing. I am wondering how one deletes all one’s tweets? Anyone know? I’m considering doing this but leaving my account as a placeholder, so I am not leaving that data there, and removing myself at this point from the platform. I was hoping not to do this, given that I network in Twitter for my research on propaganda and develop contacts. But this obviously crosses such a line. People need to push back somehow not just move to mastodon , but I’m honestly not sure how. I’m trying to process the implications and wondered other’s thoughts on this latest development.
Thanks, Emma -- Dr Emma L Briant
Owner: Maven of Persuasion LLC Fellow at Central European University's Center for Media, Data and Society Associate at University of Cambridge, Center for Financial Reporting & Accountability Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/emmalbriant Website: www.emma-briant.co.uk
Author of: *Propaganda and Counter-Terrorism: Strategies for Global Change *from Manchester University Press Co-Author of: *Bad News for Refugees* with Prof. Greg Philo and Dr. Pauline Donald from Pluto Press. Sign up for my Newsletter <http://emma-briant.co.uk/sign-up-for-important-updates/>! Follow me on Twitter @emmalbriant
"I thought yesterday was the first day of the rest of my life but it turns out today is." - Steve Martin _______________________________________________ The Air-L@listserv.aoir.org mailing list is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org
Join the Association of Internet Researchers: http://www.aoir.org/
-- Dr. Stuart W. Shulman Founder and CEO, Texifter Editor Emeritus, *Journal of Information Technology & Politics*
-- Dr Emma L Briant
Owner: Maven of Persuasion LLC Fellow at Central European University's Center for Media, Data and Society Associate at University of Cambridge, Center for Financial Reporting & Accountability Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/emmalbriant Website: www.emma-briant.co.uk Author of: *Propaganda and Counter-Terrorism: Strategies for Global Change *from Manchester University Press Co-Author of: *Bad News for Refugees* with Prof. Greg Philo and Dr. Pauline Donald from Pluto Press. Sign up for my Newsletter <http://emma-briant.co.uk/sign-up-for-important-updates/>! Follow me on Twitter @emmalbriant "I thought yesterday was the first day of the rest of my life but it turns out today is." - Steve Martin
Fight back, resist, and ask yourself this: What Would Howard Zinn do? Emma, the answer may be to read "A Peoples' History of the United States" then do what people have always done: protest, strategize, speak up, check your fears at the door, and put everything into bending the arc of history toward justice and away from white supremacists and other historical bigots of all varieties. No professor had a bigger impact on me, which is why I cannot remain silent in the face of simmering retrenchment of the minority rule thesis. Everything about this moment calls for collective action on and off the Internet. On Fri, Dec 16, 2022 at 5:48 AM Dr. Emma Briant <teflpolsoc@gmail.com> wrote:
I agree with you completely… but what do we doooo?
On Fri, 16 Dec 2022 at 05:25, Shulman, Stu <stu@texifter.com> wrote:
For those of us building tools to study the impact of Twitter on politics, it was always a rocky ride watching bad actors skirt the best efforts to regulate them. Now that a single bad actor is the sole regulator of the Twitter architecture, we are in a scary place with the former head of Trust & Safety literally in hiding because of Elon's creepy QAnon style doxxing attack. An argument I put in a short animated video in 2016 about Lawrence Lessig and his brilliant book from 1999 remains relevant to the debate, but we may need to add a fifth regulator: the reckless American oligarch monarchist. Elon Musk now controls the Twitter architecture in ways that evolve dangerously daily and thumbs his nose at markets, norms, and what Lessig called east coast code; the law. The fifth regulator is power. Raw, almost unlimited, power to take over where Trump left off, making Twitter a weapon. For what end, only one man knows.
On Thu, Dec 15, 2022 at 10:56 PM Dr. Emma Briant via Air-L < air-l@listserv.aoir.org> wrote:
Dear Colleagues,
I’m sure all will agree that the mass censorship of, I think now 11 journalists from major news organisations today by Elon Musk is incredibly disturbing. I am wondering how one deletes all one’s tweets? Anyone know? I’m considering doing this but leaving my account as a placeholder, so I am not leaving that data there, and removing myself at this point from the platform. I was hoping not to do this, given that I network in Twitter for my research on propaganda and develop contacts. But this obviously crosses such a line. People need to push back somehow not just move to mastodon , but I’m honestly not sure how. I’m trying to process the implications and wondered other’s thoughts on this latest development.
Thanks, Emma -- Dr Emma L Briant
Owner: Maven of Persuasion LLC Fellow at Central European University's Center for Media, Data and Society Associate at University of Cambridge, Center for Financial Reporting & Accountability Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/emmalbriant Website: www.emma-briant.co.uk
Author of: *Propaganda and Counter-Terrorism: Strategies for Global Change *from Manchester University Press Co-Author of: *Bad News for Refugees* with Prof. Greg Philo and Dr. Pauline Donald from Pluto Press. Sign up for my Newsletter <http://emma-briant.co.uk/sign-up-for-important-updates/>! Follow me on Twitter @emmalbriant
"I thought yesterday was the first day of the rest of my life but it turns out today is." - Steve Martin _______________________________________________ The Air-L@listserv.aoir.org mailing list is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org
Join the Association of Internet Researchers: http://www.aoir.org/
-- Dr. Stuart W. Shulman Founder and CEO, Texifter Editor Emeritus, *Journal of Information Technology & Politics*
-- Dr Emma L Briant
Owner: Maven of Persuasion LLC Fellow at Central European University's Center for Media, Data and Society Associate at University of Cambridge, Center for Financial Reporting & Accountability Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/emmalbriant Website: www.emma-briant.co.uk
Author of: *Propaganda and Counter-Terrorism: Strategies for Global Change *from Manchester University Press Co-Author of: *Bad News for Refugees* with Prof. Greg Philo and Dr. Pauline Donald from Pluto Press. Sign up for my Newsletter <http://emma-briant.co.uk/sign-up-for-important-updates/>! Follow me on Twitter @emmalbriant
"I thought yesterday was the first day of the rest of my life but it turns out today is." - Steve Martin
-- Dr. Stuart W. Shulman Founder and CEO, Texifter Editor Emeritus, *Journal of Information Technology & Politics*
I agree about organizing off the Internet too… I don’t actually think that this infrastructure has as much potential for resistance as some want to hope. This has been part of the problem, trying to raise a voice in an online environment where you are always at a disadvantage. ‘The resistance’ are poorly organised right now and as ever too dependent on powerful funders. On Fri, 16 Dec 2022 at 05:59, Shulman, Stu <stu@texifter.com> wrote:
Fight back, resist, and ask yourself this: What Would Howard Zinn do? Emma, the answer may be to read "A Peoples' History of the United States" then do what people have always done: protest, strategize, speak up, check your fears at the door, and put everything into bending the arc of history toward justice and away from white supremacists and other historical bigots of all varieties. No professor had a bigger impact on me, which is why I cannot remain silent in the face of simmering retrenchment of the minority rule thesis. Everything about this moment calls for collective action on and off the Internet.
On Fri, Dec 16, 2022 at 5:48 AM Dr. Emma Briant <teflpolsoc@gmail.com> wrote:
I agree with you completely… but what do we doooo?
On Fri, 16 Dec 2022 at 05:25, Shulman, Stu <stu@texifter.com> wrote:
For those of us building tools to study the impact of Twitter on politics, it was always a rocky ride watching bad actors skirt the best efforts to regulate them. Now that a single bad actor is the sole regulator of the Twitter architecture, we are in a scary place with the former head of Trust & Safety literally in hiding because of Elon's creepy QAnon style doxxing attack. An argument I put in a short animated video in 2016 about Lawrence Lessig and his brilliant book from 1999 remains relevant to the debate, but we may need to add a fifth regulator: the reckless American oligarch monarchist. Elon Musk now controls the Twitter architecture in ways that evolve dangerously daily and thumbs his nose at markets, norms, and what Lessig called east coast code; the law. The fifth regulator is power. Raw, almost unlimited, power to take over where Trump left off, making Twitter a weapon. For what end, only one man knows.
On Thu, Dec 15, 2022 at 10:56 PM Dr. Emma Briant via Air-L < air-l@listserv.aoir.org> wrote:
Dear Colleagues,
I’m sure all will agree that the mass censorship of, I think now 11 journalists from major news organisations today by Elon Musk is incredibly disturbing. I am wondering how one deletes all one’s tweets? Anyone know? I’m considering doing this but leaving my account as a placeholder, so I am not leaving that data there, and removing myself at this point from the platform. I was hoping not to do this, given that I network in Twitter for my research on propaganda and develop contacts. But this obviously crosses such a line. People need to push back somehow not just move to mastodon , but I’m honestly not sure how. I’m trying to process the implications and wondered other’s thoughts on this latest development.
Thanks, Emma -- Dr Emma L Briant
Owner: Maven of Persuasion LLC Fellow at Central European University's Center for Media, Data and Society Associate at University of Cambridge, Center for Financial Reporting & Accountability Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/emmalbriant Website: www.emma-briant.co.uk
Author of: *Propaganda and Counter-Terrorism: Strategies for Global Change *from Manchester University Press Co-Author of: *Bad News for Refugees* with Prof. Greg Philo and Dr. Pauline Donald from Pluto Press. Sign up for my Newsletter <http://emma-briant.co.uk/sign-up-for-important-updates/>! Follow me on Twitter @emmalbriant
"I thought yesterday was the first day of the rest of my life but it turns out today is." - Steve Martin _______________________________________________ The Air-L@listserv.aoir.org mailing list is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org
Join the Association of Internet Researchers: http://www.aoir.org/
-- Dr. Stuart W. Shulman Founder and CEO, Texifter Editor Emeritus, *Journal of Information Technology & Politics*
-- Dr Emma L Briant
Owner: Maven of Persuasion LLC Fellow at Central European University's Center for Media, Data and Society Associate at University of Cambridge, Center for Financial Reporting & Accountability Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/emmalbriant Website: www.emma-briant.co.uk
Author of: *Propaganda and Counter-Terrorism: Strategies for Global Change *from Manchester University Press Co-Author of: *Bad News for Refugees* with Prof. Greg Philo and Dr. Pauline Donald from Pluto Press. Sign up for my Newsletter <http://emma-briant.co.uk/sign-up-for-important-updates/>! Follow me on Twitter @emmalbriant
"I thought yesterday was the first day of the rest of my life but it turns out today is." - Steve Martin
-- Dr. Stuart W. Shulman Founder and CEO, Texifter Editor Emeritus, *Journal of Information Technology & Politics*
-- Dr Emma L Briant
Owner: Maven of Persuasion LLC Fellow at Central European University's Center for Media, Data and Society Associate at University of Cambridge, Center for Financial Reporting & Accountability Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/emmalbriant Website: www.emma-briant.co.uk Author of: *Propaganda and Counter-Terrorism: Strategies for Global Change *from Manchester University Press Co-Author of: *Bad News for Refugees* with Prof. Greg Philo and Dr. Pauline Donald from Pluto Press. Sign up for my Newsletter <http://emma-briant.co.uk/sign-up-for-important-updates/>! Follow me on Twitter @emmalbriant "I thought yesterday was the first day of the rest of my life but it turns out today is." - Steve Martin
In addition to the 11 journalists being booted from Twitter, a related development: Twitter is blocking links to Mastodon and other fediverse sites. This morning, I attempted to post a link to my Mastodon profile (https://scholar.social/@robertwgehl). It was blocked due to it being "harmful content." In addition, Twitter has suspended @joinmastodon, the main Mastodon developers' account. Perhaps this is an old fashioned capitalist attempt to crush the competition? Or maybe not. As a test, I tried posting a link to the far-right site Gab.com, a social media site which harbors self-identified Nazis and was the social media of the Pittsburgh synagogue shooter. Gab styles itself as a free speech absolutist alternative to Twitter. The Gab.com link was allowed. - Rob On 2022-12-15 22:47, Dr. Emma Briant via Air-L wrote:
Dear Colleagues,
I’m sure all will agree that the mass censorship of, I think now 11 journalists from major news organisations today by Elon Musk is incredibly disturbing. I am wondering how one deletes all one’s tweets? Anyone know? I’m considering doing this but leaving my account as a placeholder, so I am not leaving that data there, and removing myself at this point from the platform. I was hoping not to do this, given that I network in Twitter for my research on propaganda and develop contacts. But this obviously crosses such a line. People need to push back somehow not just move to mastodon , but I’m honestly not sure how. I’m trying to process the implications and wondered other’s thoughts on this latest development.
Thanks, Emma
This is chilling, Rob. Also interesting that he would bother. An indication of how much Musk feels threatened by the migration of Twitter users to Mastodon? Or (more likely) simply staking his claim as a warrior in a culture war? Thanks for sharing. Vivian -----Original Message----- From: Air-L <air-l-bounces@listserv.aoir.org> On Behalf Of Robert W Gehl via Air-L Sent: Saturday, 17 December 2022 12:30 AM To: air-l@listserv.aoir.org Subject: Re: [Air-L] Twitter Journalist Suspensions In addition to the 11 journalists being booted from Twitter, a related development: Twitter is blocking links to Mastodon and other fediverse sites. This morning, I attempted to post a link to my Mastodon profile (https://aus01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fscholar.so...). It was blocked due to it being "harmful content." In addition, Twitter has suspended @joinmastodon, the main Mastodon developers' account. Perhaps this is an old fashioned capitalist attempt to crush the competition? Or maybe not. As a test, I tried posting a link to the far-right site Gab.com, a social media site which harbors self-identified Nazis and was the social media of the Pittsburgh synagogue shooter. Gab styles itself as a free speech absolutist alternative to Twitter. The Gab.com link was allowed. - Rob On 2022-12-15 22:47, Dr. Emma Briant via Air-L wrote:
Dear Colleagues,
I'm sure all will agree that the mass censorship of, I think now 11 journalists from major news organisations today by Elon Musk is incredibly disturbing. I am wondering how one deletes all one's tweets? Anyone know? I'm considering doing this but leaving my account as a placeholder, so I am not leaving that data there, and removing myself at this point from the platform. I was hoping not to do this, given that I network in Twitter for my research on propaganda and develop contacts. But this obviously crosses such a line. People need to push back somehow not just move to mastodon , but I'm honestly not sure how. I'm trying to process the implications and wondered other's thoughts on this latest development.
Thanks, Emma
The Air-L@listserv.aoir.org mailing list is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers https://aus01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Faoir.org%2F... Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: https://aus01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Flistserv.ao... Join the Association of Internet Researchers: https://aus01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.aoir.or... Important Notice: The contents of this email are intended solely for the named addressee and are confidential; any unauthorised use, reproduction or storage of the contents is expressly prohibited. If you have received this email in error, please delete it and any attachments immediately and advise the sender by return email or telephone. Deakin University does not warrant that this email and any attachments are error or virus free.
Hi, I wouldn't over-analyze Musk, he seems purely reactive and playing whack-a-mole with Twitter rules and users. To return to Emma's question, I think we need a plan or even a strategy as AoIRists. I think this is the smartest (and almost always most cordial) place for people to discuss key issues like this. A David to Musk's Goliath of Twitter, but not without power. So what do we do? Do we quietly quit? Do we more proactively set up or join an existing platform (Mastodon is great in many ways, but it's not the same)? Do we make some sort of statement about how this shows a need for a fundamentally different approach to regulating internet platforms? At the core of this is what we expect from social media. Despite a somewhat chirpy exterior, I'm old-fashioned and grumpy. I never get/got much from Twitter -- I get a lot more from this list. Yes, Twitter could connect me and expose me to new things and people -- as well as show me breaking news and information in a new way -- but think of all the vile experiences and comments we've had (particularly as women) on Twitter. Was it worth it? Looking back, it was never really a public commons. When good things happened due to Twitter (BLM etc.) it was more a bug than a feature in some ways. How do we, as scholars and humans, leverage the affordances of existing online technology, not only to support our academic endeavors but (if I read most of this group correctly) to advance the values of humanity and technology in a positive direction? OK, that's a lot and many of us are grading. But Emma's question of "what to do" is really the question we need to answer ... Sarah Sarah Oates Pronoun: she/her Professor and Senior Scholar Philip Merrill College of Journalism Distinguished Scholar-Teacher University of Maryland College Park, MD 20742 Email: soates@umd.edu Phone: 301 455 2332 www.media-politics.com Twitter: @media_politics On Fri, Dec 16, 2022 at 9:10 AM Vivian Gerrand via Air-L < air-l@listserv.aoir.org> wrote:
This is chilling, Rob.
Also interesting that he would bother. An indication of how much Musk feels threatened by the migration of Twitter users to Mastodon? Or (more likely) simply staking his claim as a warrior in a culture war?
Thanks for sharing.
Vivian
-----Original Message----- From: Air-L <air-l-bounces@listserv.aoir.org> On Behalf Of Robert W Gehl via Air-L Sent: Saturday, 17 December 2022 12:30 AM To: air-l@listserv.aoir.org Subject: Re: [Air-L] Twitter Journalist Suspensions
In addition to the 11 journalists being booted from Twitter, a related development: Twitter is blocking links to Mastodon and other fediverse sites. This morning, I attempted to post a link to my Mastodon profile ( https://aus01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fscholar.so...). It was blocked due to it being "harmful content."
In addition, Twitter has suspended @joinmastodon, the main Mastodon developers' account.
Perhaps this is an old fashioned capitalist attempt to crush the competition?
Or maybe not. As a test, I tried posting a link to the far-right site Gab.com, a social media site which harbors self-identified Nazis and was the social media of the Pittsburgh synagogue shooter. Gab styles itself as a free speech absolutist alternative to Twitter.
The Gab.com link was allowed.
- Rob
On 2022-12-15 22:47, Dr. Emma Briant via Air-L wrote:
Dear Colleagues,
I'm sure all will agree that the mass censorship of, I think now 11 journalists from major news organisations today by Elon Musk is incredibly disturbing. I am wondering how one deletes all one's tweets? Anyone know? I'm considering doing this but leaving my account as a placeholder, so I am not leaving that data there, and removing myself at this point from the platform. I was hoping not to do this, given that I network in Twitter for my research on propaganda and develop contacts. But this obviously crosses such a line. People need to push back somehow not just move to mastodon , but I'm honestly not sure how. I'm trying to process the implications and wondered other's thoughts on this latest development.
Thanks, Emma
The Air-L@listserv.aoir.org mailing list is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers https://aus01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Faoir.org%2F... Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: https://aus01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Flistserv.ao...
Join the Association of Internet Researchers:
https://aus01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.aoir.or...
Important Notice: The contents of this email are intended solely for the named addressee and are confidential; any unauthorised use, reproduction or storage of the contents is expressly prohibited. If you have received this email in error, please delete it and any attachments immediately and advise the sender by return email or telephone.
Deakin University does not warrant that this email and any attachments are error or virus free. _______________________________________________ The Air-L@listserv.aoir.org mailing list is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org
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Thank you for your response Sarah. I love your suggestion of a statement. I definitely think we need to do something collectively that is more than just slink off, in the circumstances, at least a public statement. I do value the melting pot that Twitter is, with all its problems, I don’t want to be in a silo without people I disagree with. But that social media experience still needs to be a safe and fair experience that enables everyone to participate. Emma On Fri, 16 Dec 2022 at 09:31, Sarah Ann Oates via Air-L < air-l@listserv.aoir.org> wrote:
Hi,
I wouldn't over-analyze Musk, he seems purely reactive and playing whack-a-mole with Twitter rules and users.
To return to Emma's question, I think we need a plan or even a strategy as AoIRists. I think this is the smartest (and almost always most cordial) place for people to discuss key issues like this. A David to Musk's Goliath of Twitter, but not without power.
So what do we do? Do we quietly quit? Do we more proactively set up or join an existing platform (Mastodon is great in many ways, but it's not the same)? Do we make some sort of statement about how this shows a need for a fundamentally different approach to regulating internet platforms?
At the core of this is what we expect from social media. Despite a somewhat chirpy exterior, I'm old-fashioned and grumpy. I never get/got much from Twitter -- I get a lot more from this list. Yes, Twitter could connect me and expose me to new things and people -- as well as show me breaking news and information in a new way -- but think of all the vile experiences and comments we've had (particularly as women) on Twitter. Was it worth it? Looking back, it was never really a public commons. When good things happened due to Twitter (BLM etc.) it was more a bug than a feature in some ways.
How do we, as scholars and humans, leverage the affordances of existing online technology, not only to support our academic endeavors but (if I read most of this group correctly) to advance the values of humanity and technology in a positive direction?
OK, that's a lot and many of us are grading. But Emma's question of "what to do" is really the question we need to answer ...
Sarah
Sarah Oates Pronoun: she/her
Professor and Senior Scholar Philip Merrill College of Journalism Distinguished Scholar-Teacher University of Maryland College Park, MD 20742 Email: soates@umd.edu Phone: 301 455 2332 www.media-politics.com Twitter: @media_politics
On Fri, Dec 16, 2022 at 9:10 AM Vivian Gerrand via Air-L < air-l@listserv.aoir.org> wrote:
This is chilling, Rob.
Also interesting that he would bother. An indication of how much Musk feels threatened by the migration of Twitter users to Mastodon? Or (more likely) simply staking his claim as a warrior in a culture war?
Thanks for sharing.
Vivian
-----Original Message----- From: Air-L <air-l-bounces@listserv.aoir.org> On Behalf Of Robert W Gehl via Air-L Sent: Saturday, 17 December 2022 12:30 AM To: air-l@listserv.aoir.org Subject: Re: [Air-L] Twitter Journalist Suspensions
In addition to the 11 journalists being booted from Twitter, a related development: Twitter is blocking links to Mastodon and other fediverse sites. This morning, I attempted to post a link to my Mastodon profile (
https://aus01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fscholar.so... ).
It was blocked due to it being "harmful content."
In addition, Twitter has suspended @joinmastodon, the main Mastodon developers' account.
Perhaps this is an old fashioned capitalist attempt to crush the competition?
Or maybe not. As a test, I tried posting a link to the far-right site Gab.com, a social media site which harbors self-identified Nazis and was the social media of the Pittsburgh synagogue shooter. Gab styles itself as a free speech absolutist alternative to Twitter.
The Gab.com link was allowed.
- Rob
On 2022-12-15 22:47, Dr. Emma Briant via Air-L wrote:
Dear Colleagues,
I'm sure all will agree that the mass censorship of, I think now 11 journalists from major news organisations today by Elon Musk is incredibly disturbing. I am wondering how one deletes all one's tweets? Anyone know? I'm considering doing this but leaving my account as a placeholder, so I am not leaving that data there, and removing myself at this point from the platform. I was hoping not to do this, given that I network in Twitter for my research on propaganda and develop contacts. But this obviously crosses such a line. People need to push back somehow not just move to mastodon , but I'm honestly not sure how. I'm trying to process the implications and wondered other's thoughts on this latest development.
Thanks, Emma
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-- Dr Emma L Briant Owner: Maven of Persuasion LLC Fellow at Central European University's Center for Media, Data and Society Associate at University of Cambridge, Center for Financial Reporting & Accountability Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/emmalbriant Website: www.emma-briant.co.uk Author of: *Propaganda and Counter-Terrorism: Strategies for Global Change *from Manchester University Press Co-Author of: *Bad News for Refugees* with Prof. Greg Philo and Dr. Pauline Donald from Pluto Press. Sign up for my Newsletter <http://emma-briant.co.uk/sign-up-for-important-updates/>! Follow me on Twitter @emmalbriant "I thought yesterday was the first day of the rest of my life but it turns out today is." - Steve Martin
The purported rationale is that a (big) Mastodon instance now hosts ElonJet. https://ohai.social/@elonjet@mastodon.social The issue of linking to potentially harmful or illegal content is a genuine one for moderation policy (e.g., Wikipedia linking to critical/stalker forums) and the law (e.g., search engines linking to pirate websites). But the thinness of this rationale is belied by the fact that ElonJet also exists on FB, and Musk hasn't banned all FB links. This excuse is as fragile as Musk's ego -- who threatened Cooley LLP that he'd yank Tesla's business if they didn't fire a recent hire who had *merely* worked at the SEC. —Joseph On 12/16/22 08:58, Vivian Gerrand via Air-L wrote:
Also interesting that he would bother. An indication of how much Musk feels threatened by the migration of Twitter users to Mastodon? Or (more likely) simply staking his claim as a warrior in a culture war?
I wanted to add that it's not just accounts of individuals/individual journalists that are getting banned. The anti-capitalist news site /It's Going Down/ has also had its account suspended. —S On 12/16/22 9:31 AM, Joseph Reagle via Air-L wrote:
The purported rationale is that a (big) Mastodon instance now hosts ElonJet.
https://ohai.social/@elonjet@mastodon.social
The issue of linking to potentially harmful or illegal content is a genuine one for moderation policy (e.g., Wikipedia linking to critical/stalker forums) and the law (e.g., search engines linking to pirate websites). But the thinness of this rationale is belied by the fact that ElonJet also exists on FB, and Musk hasn't banned all FB links. This excuse is as fragile as Musk's ego -- who threatened Cooley LLP that he'd yank Tesla's business if they didn't fire a recent hire who had *merely* worked at the SEC.
—Joseph
On 12/16/22 08:58, Vivian Gerrand via Air-L wrote:
Also interesting that he would bother. An indication of how much Musk feels threatened by the migration of Twitter users to Mastodon? Or (more likely) simply staking his claim as a warrior in a culture war?
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I was interviewed about Elon Musk and Twitter last night right before this news began breaking https://open.spotify.com/episode/0HjJCgiEQuT1TVYGXmEgIg?si=852d798e687149bf -- PL It's Real Life <https://vocal.media/fiction/it-s-real-life> -- free, new alternate history short story about The Beatles & WFUV, now being made into a radio play On Fri, Dec 16, 2022 at 2:13 PM Samuel DiBella via Air-L < air-l@listserv.aoir.org> wrote:
I wanted to add that it's not just accounts of individuals/individual journalists that are getting banned. The anti-capitalist news site /It's Going Down/ has also had its account suspended.
—S
On 12/16/22 9:31 AM, Joseph Reagle via Air-L wrote:
The purported rationale is that a (big) Mastodon instance now hosts ElonJet.
https://ohai.social/@elonjet@mastodon.social
The issue of linking to potentially harmful or illegal content is a genuine one for moderation policy (e.g., Wikipedia linking to critical/stalker forums) and the law (e.g., search engines linking to pirate websites). But the thinness of this rationale is belied by the fact that ElonJet also exists on FB, and Musk hasn't banned all FB links. This excuse is as fragile as Musk's ego -- who threatened Cooley LLP that he'd yank Tesla's business if they didn't fire a recent hire who had *merely* worked at the SEC.
—Joseph
On 12/16/22 08:58, Vivian Gerrand via Air-L wrote:
Also interesting that he would bother. An indication of how much Musk feels threatened by the migration of Twitter users to Mastodon? Or (more likely) simply staking his claim as a warrior in a culture war?
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I’ve never been interested in the twitter and free speech framing. If you want free speech, go to Gab. You can say whatever you want there. The value of twitter for me has always been reverse surveillance—the ability to crowd source expose messed up, real time racist brutality and/or political corruption and/or elite corruption. Basic watchdogging. If twitter doesn’t do that anymore then fine. A new platform will arise. Mastodon seems good for community but it hasn’t shown me how it can watchdog like twitter has.
On Dec 16, 2022, at 2:40 PM, Paul Levinson via Air-L <air-l@listserv.aoir.org> wrote:
I was interviewed about Elon Musk and Twitter last night right before this news began breaking https://open.spotify.com/episode/0HjJCgiEQuT1TVYGXmEgIg?si=852d798e687149bf
-- PL
It's Real Life <https://vocal.media/fiction/it-s-real-life> -- free, new alternate history short story about The Beatles & WFUV, now being made into a radio play
On Fri, Dec 16, 2022 at 2:13 PM Samuel DiBella via Air-L < air-l@listserv.aoir.org> wrote:
I wanted to add that it's not just accounts of individuals/individual journalists that are getting banned. The anti-capitalist news site /It's Going Down/ has also had its account suspended.
—S
On 12/16/22 9:31 AM, Joseph Reagle via Air-L wrote: The purported rationale is that a (big) Mastodon instance now hosts ElonJet.
https://ohai.social/@elonjet@mastodon.social
The issue of linking to potentially harmful or illegal content is a genuine one for moderation policy (e.g., Wikipedia linking to critical/stalker forums) and the law (e.g., search engines linking to pirate websites). But the thinness of this rationale is belied by the fact that ElonJet also exists on FB, and Musk hasn't banned all FB links. This excuse is as fragile as Musk's ego -- who threatened Cooley LLP that he'd yank Tesla's business if they didn't fire a recent hire who had *merely* worked at the SEC.
—Joseph
On 12/16/22 08:58, Vivian Gerrand via Air-L wrote:
Also interesting that he would bother. An indication of how much Musk feels threatened by the migration of Twitter users to Mastodon? Or (more likely) simply staking his claim as a warrior in a culture war?
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Worth noting that it’s not only journalists getting arbitrary actions from Twitter for criticising Musk. It’s also impacting academia. I am apparently shadowbanned https://twitter.com/emmalbriant/status/1604011822751059969?s=46&t=wwZHCFZGe6... and it’s not like I’ve shared any location tracking or anything like that. People are becoming cautious about what they can say and this will have a silencing effect. It’s worth abandoning any notion that one can raise one’s individual voice on the platform to criticise Twitter without response. It would need collective action of some kind as Sarah observed. Emma On Fri, 16 Dec 2022 at 14:13, Samuel DiBella via Air-L < air-l@listserv.aoir.org> wrote:
I wanted to add that it's not just accounts of individuals/individual journalists that are getting banned. The anti-capitalist news site /It's Going Down/ has also had its account suspended.
—S
On 12/16/22 9:31 AM, Joseph Reagle via Air-L wrote:
The purported rationale is that a (big) Mastodon instance now hosts ElonJet.
https://ohai.social/@elonjet@mastodon.social
The issue of linking to potentially harmful or illegal content is a genuine one for moderation policy (e.g., Wikipedia linking to critical/stalker forums) and the law (e.g., search engines linking to pirate websites). But the thinness of this rationale is belied by the fact that ElonJet also exists on FB, and Musk hasn't banned all FB links. This excuse is as fragile as Musk's ego -- who threatened Cooley LLP that he'd yank Tesla's business if they didn't fire a recent hire who had *merely* worked at the SEC.
—Joseph
On 12/16/22 08:58, Vivian Gerrand via Air-L wrote:
Also interesting that he would bother. An indication of how much Musk feels threatened by the migration of Twitter users to Mastodon? Or (more likely) simply staking his claim as a warrior in a culture war?
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-- Dr Emma L Briant Owner: Maven of Persuasion LLC Fellow at Central European University's Center for Media, Data and Society Associate at University of Cambridge, Center for Financial Reporting & Accountability Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/emmalbriant Website: www.emma-briant.co.uk Author of: *Propaganda and Counter-Terrorism: Strategies for Global Change *from Manchester University Press Co-Author of: *Bad News for Refugees* with Prof. Greg Philo and Dr. Pauline Donald from Pluto Press. Sign up for my Newsletter <http://emma-briant.co.uk/sign-up-for-important-updates/>! Follow me on Twitter @emmalbriant "I thought yesterday was the first day of the rest of my life but it turns out today is." - Steve Martin
On 12/16/2022 7:29 AM, Robert W Gehl via Air-L wrote:
In addition to the 11 journalists being booted from Twitter, a related development: Twitter is blocking links to Mastodon and other fediverse sites. This morning, I attempted to post a link to my Mastodon profile (https://scholar.social/@robertwgehl). It was blocked due to it being "harmful content."
1. After testing, this block doesn't appear comprehensive across all of Twitter. It's possible to add a Mastodon link as the name of one's Twitter account. 2. We only tested this with examples like "mastodon.social/@(Mastodon account name)." 3. A warning though, adding a link to any incarnation of Elonjet on other platforms might lead to Twitter account suspension given the currently established precedent. Fred -- Fred Fuchs - Founder, CEO, & Producer FireSabre Consulting LLC Content Services for Virtual Worlds
I just tried again, hoping the ban was lifted after negative coverage. No such luck: https://nextcloud.robertwgehl.org/index.php/s/pAB23rP4JkCKj7J That screenshot is 12.55 Eastern US time zone. For the record, Scholar.social doesn't host any "Elonjet" content and actually silences the instance that does. - Rob On 2022-12-16 12:50, Fred Fuchs wrote:
On 12/16/2022 7:29 AM, Robert W Gehl via Air-L wrote:
In addition to the 11 journalists being booted from Twitter, a related development: Twitter is blocking links to Mastodon and other fediverse sites. This morning, I attempted to post a link to my Mastodon profile (https://scholar.social/@robertwgehl). It was blocked due to it being "harmful content."
1. After testing, this block doesn't appear comprehensive across all of Twitter. It's possible to add a Mastodon link as the name of one's Twitter account.
2. We only tested this with examples like "mastodon.social/@(Mastodon account name)."
3. A warning though, adding a link to any incarnation of Elonjet on other platforms might lead to Twitter account suspension given the currently established precedent.
Fred -- Fred Fuchs - Founder, CEO, & Producer FireSabre Consulting LLC Content Services for Virtual Worlds
Hi all, I support Emma's direction and Sarah's framing of the question. "How do we, as scholars and humans, leverage the affordances of existing online technology, not only to support our academic endeavors but (if I read most of this group correctly) to advance the values of humanity and technology in a positive direction?" As to whether "the resistance is poorly organized right now" -- I'm not sure that's true? I think most academics avoid being involved with any substantive resistance beyond the performative and/or rhetorical. If AOIR was going to stake out a stance involving cooperation and collaboration with people doing real resistance then maybe we could contribute to something actually meaningful. There are dissenting voices in this group who bring different perspectives, so we'd have to figure out how to navigate those tensions in a manner beyond silencing. Every group that desires to impact society has to eventually figure out how to do this, sometimes people discover they can't stay and/or find their own new venues. I'm in favor of a 'big tent' because then we more closely approximate social dynamics in our 'micro' context. One thing that would be cool, in my view, is to create a conversation in Mastodon and perhaps a few other alternatives that proactively engages across instances, that intentionally aims to foster a pluralistic and plurilingual conversation that uses the diversity of perspectives to generate principles of interaction that could become templates for law-making and other institutional-scale processes to reshape society from the tail-end of industrialization and all that's come with it (most specifically, extreme injustice and extractive exploitation of planetary "resources") to a transformed economy motivated by and centered around mutual aid. Our in/actions feed hierarchy or equitability. Deciding where we want to lend our weight isn't going to get any easier, although it may continue to come into sharper and sharper focus. best regards, steph On Fri, Dec 16, 2022 at 1:10 PM Robert W Gehl via Air-L < air-l@listserv.aoir.org> wrote:
I just tried again, hoping the ban was lifted after negative coverage.
No such luck: https://nextcloud.robertwgehl.org/index.php/s/pAB23rP4JkCKj7J
That screenshot is 12.55 Eastern US time zone.
For the record, Scholar.social doesn't host any "Elonjet" content and actually silences the instance that does.
- Rob
On 2022-12-16 12:50, Fred Fuchs wrote:
On 12/16/2022 7:29 AM, Robert W Gehl via Air-L wrote:
In addition to the 11 journalists being booted from Twitter, a related development: Twitter is blocking links to Mastodon and other fediverse sites. This morning, I attempted to post a link to my Mastodon profile (https://scholar.social/@robertwgehl). It was blocked due to it being "harmful content."
1. After testing, this block doesn't appear comprehensive across all of Twitter. It's possible to add a Mastodon link as the name of one's Twitter account.
2. We only tested this with examples like "mastodon.social/@(Mastodon account name)."
3. A warning though, adding a link to any incarnation of Elonjet on other platforms might lead to Twitter account suspension given the currently established precedent.
Fred -- Fred Fuchs - Founder, CEO, & Producer FireSabre Consulting LLC Content Services for Virtual Worlds
_______________________________________________ The Air-L@listserv.aoir.org mailing list is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org
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TweetDelete.Net is your friend for this, and what I've recommended others to use to purge much of their Twitter footprint. I used it for years to delete all tweets after 2 weeks, but you can do them all in one fell swoop -- though you might need to pay $10 to do more than a handful at a time. It doesn't handle DMs or Favorites, though. (Mastodon has auto-delete as a built-in feature already, which is great, btw!) FWIW saying I'm leaving my Twitter account up just as a placeholder and to receive DMs from the (few) people I care about still residing on the platform. But I pretty much never check it and/or even glance at what's "trending" over there anymore. Despite the constant stream of outrage and controversy, I suspect silence and a lack of user 'engagement' on Twitter the platform will do more damage to the Chief Twit's snowflakey ego and Twitter's clickbait-driven financials as a form of #resistance than anything else. -- rick @rickf@indieweb.social On 15 Dec 2022, at 22:47, Dr. Emma Briant via Air-L wrote:
Dear Colleagues,
I’m sure all will agree that the mass censorship of, I think now 11 journalists from major news organisations today by Elon Musk is incredibly disturbing. I am wondering how one deletes all one’s tweets? Anyone know? I’m considering doing this but leaving my account as a placeholder, so I am not leaving that data there, and removing myself at this point from the platform. I was hoping not to do this, given that I network in Twitter for my research on propaganda and develop contacts. But this obviously crosses such a line. People need to push back somehow not just move to mastodon , but I’m honestly not sure how. I’m trying to process the implications and wondered other’s thoughts on this latest development.
Thanks, Emma -- Dr Emma L Briant
Owner: Maven of Persuasion LLC Fellow at Central European University's Center for Media, Data and Society Associate at University of Cambridge, Center for Financial Reporting & Accountability Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/emmalbriant Website: www.emma-briant.co.uk
Author of: *Propaganda and Counter-Terrorism: Strategies for Global Change *from Manchester University Press Co-Author of: *Bad News for Refugees* with Prof. Greg Philo and Dr. Pauline Donald from Pluto Press. Sign up for my Newsletter <http://emma-briant.co.uk/sign-up-for-important-updates/> ! Follow me on Twitter @emmalbriant
"I thought yesterday was the first day of the rest of my life but it turns out today is." - Steve Martin _______________________________________________ The Air-L@listserv.aoir.org mailing list is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org
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Btw... on the subject of 'what we do' and Twitter this insightful podcast with Emily Bell is excellent: https://www.cjr.org/podcast/the-tow-centers-emily-bell-musks-twitter-is-open... And... Thank you Rick... I am about 80-90% decided on making this decision. It's difficult because it's also one way I connect with people in networks I need to access *outside academia* for research. Emma On Fri, Dec 16, 2022 at 8:34 AM Richard Forno <rick@rickf.org> wrote:
TweetDelete.Net is your friend for this, and what I've recommended others to use to purge much of their Twitter footprint. I used it for years to delete all tweets after 2 weeks, but you can do them all in one fell swoop -- though you might need to pay $10 to do more than a handful at a time. It doesn't handle DMs or Favorites, though. (Mastodon has auto-delete as a built-in feature already, which is great, btw!)
FWIW saying I'm leaving my Twitter account up just as a placeholder and to receive DMs from the (few) people I care about still residing on the platform. But I pretty much never check it and/or even glance at what's "trending" over there anymore.
Despite the constant stream of outrage and controversy, I suspect silence and a lack of user 'engagement' on Twitter the platform will do more damage to the Chief Twit's snowflakey ego and Twitter's clickbait-driven financials as a form of #resistance than anything else.
-- rick @rickf@indieweb.social
On 15 Dec 2022, at 22:47, Dr. Emma Briant via Air-L wrote:
Dear Colleagues,
I’m sure all will agree that the mass censorship of, I think now 11 journalists from major news organisations today by Elon Musk is incredibly disturbing. I am wondering how one deletes all one’s tweets? Anyone know? I’m considering doing this but leaving my account as a placeholder, so I am not leaving that data there, and removing myself at this point from the platform. I was hoping not to do this, given that I network in Twitter for my research on propaganda and develop contacts. But this obviously crosses such a line. People need to push back somehow not just move to mastodon , but I’m honestly not sure how. I’m trying to process the implications and wondered other’s thoughts on this latest development.
Thanks, Emma -- Dr Emma L Briant
Owner: Maven of Persuasion LLC Fellow at Central European University's Center for Media, Data and Society Associate at University of Cambridge, Center for Financial Reporting & Accountability Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/emmalbriant Website: www.emma-briant.co.uk
Author of: *Propaganda and Counter-Terrorism: Strategies for Global Change *from Manchester University Press Co-Author of: *Bad News for Refugees* with Prof. Greg Philo and Dr. Pauline Donald from Pluto Press. Sign up for my Newsletter <http://emma-briant.co.uk/sign-up-for-important-updates/> ! Follow me on Twitter @emmalbriant
"I thought yesterday was the first day of the rest of my life but it turns out today is." - Steve Martin _______________________________________________ The Air-L@listserv.aoir.org mailing list is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org
Join the Association of Internet Researchers: http://www.aoir.org/
-- Dr Emma L Briant Owner: Maven of Persuasion LLC Fellow at Central European University's Center for Media, Data and Society Associate at University of Cambridge, Center for Financial Reporting & Accountability Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/emmalbriant Website: www.emma-briant.co.uk Author of: *Propaganda and Counter-Terrorism: Strategies for Global Change *from Manchester University Press Co-Author of: *Bad News for Refugees* with Prof. Greg Philo and Dr. Pauline Donald from Pluto Press. Sign up for my Newsletter <http://emma-briant.co.uk/sign-up-for-important-updates/>! Follow me on Twitter @emmalbriant "I thought yesterday was the first day of the rest of my life but it turns out today is." - Steve Martin
Dear Colleagues, Further to the discussion about take-downs of journalists by Twitter I just wanted to share some reporting I helped inform today, which examines differential tweetment (sorry) of pro-Russia/right wing journalists violating platform rules. https://www.newstatesman.com/quickfire/2022/12/twitter-double-standard-under... Best wishes and happy holidays, Emma On Thu, 15 Dec 2022 at 22:47, Dr. Emma Briant <teflpolsoc@gmail.com> wrote:
Dear Colleagues,
I’m sure all will agree that the mass censorship of, I think now 11 journalists from major news organisations today by Elon Musk is incredibly disturbing. I am wondering how one deletes all one’s tweets? Anyone know? I’m considering doing this but leaving my account as a placeholder, so I am not leaving that data there, and removing myself at this point from the platform. I was hoping not to do this, given that I network in Twitter for my research on propaganda and develop contacts. But this obviously crosses such a line. People need to push back somehow not just move to mastodon , but I’m honestly not sure how. I’m trying to process the implications and wondered other’s thoughts on this latest development.
Thanks, Emma -- Dr Emma L Briant
Owner: Maven of Persuasion LLC Fellow at Central European University's Center for Media, Data and Society Associate at University of Cambridge, Center for Financial Reporting & Accountability Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/emmalbriant Website: www.emma-briant.co.uk
Author of: *Propaganda and Counter-Terrorism: Strategies for Global Change *from Manchester University Press Co-Author of: *Bad News for Refugees* with Prof. Greg Philo and Dr. Pauline Donald from Pluto Press. Sign up for my Newsletter <http://emma-briant.co.uk/sign-up-for-important-updates/>! Follow me on Twitter @emmalbriant
"I thought yesterday was the first day of the rest of my life but it turns out today is." - Steve Martin
-- Dr Emma L Briant Owner: Maven of Persuasion LLC Fellow at Bard College, Human Rights Project Fellow at Central European University, Center for Media, Data and Society Associate at University of Cambridge, Center for Financial Reporting & Accountability Author of: *Propaganda and Counter-Terrorism: Strategies for Global Change *from Manchester University Press Co-Author of: *Bad News for Refugees* with Prof. Greg Philo and Dr. Pauline Donald from Pluto Press. Support my Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/emmalbriant Website: www.emma-briant.co.uk Sign up for my Newsletter <http://emma-briant.co.uk/sign-up-for-important-updates/>! Follow me on Mastodon @emmalbriant@mastodon.online Follow me on Twitter @emmalbriant "I thought yesterday was the first day of the rest of my life but it turns out today is." - Steve Martin
Thanks for posting a link that article -- very instructive, and not all surprising, -- PL It's Real Life <https://vocal.media/fiction/it-s-real-life> -- free, new alternate history short story about The Beatles & WFUV, now being made into a radio play On Thu, Dec 29, 2022 at 10:39 AM Dr. Emma Briant via Air-L < air-l@listserv.aoir.org> wrote:
Dear Colleagues, Further to the discussion about take-downs of journalists by Twitter I just wanted to share some reporting I helped inform today, which examines differential tweetment (sorry) of pro-Russia/right wing journalists violating platform rules.
https://www.newstatesman.com/quickfire/2022/12/twitter-double-standard-under... Best wishes and happy holidays, Emma
On Thu, 15 Dec 2022 at 22:47, Dr. Emma Briant <teflpolsoc@gmail.com> wrote:
Dear Colleagues,
I’m sure all will agree that the mass censorship of, I think now 11 journalists from major news organisations today by Elon Musk is incredibly disturbing. I am wondering how one deletes all one’s tweets? Anyone know? I’m considering doing this but leaving my account as a placeholder, so I am not leaving that data there, and removing myself at this point from the platform. I was hoping not to do this, given that I network in Twitter for my research on propaganda and develop contacts. But this obviously crosses such a line. People need to push back somehow not just move to mastodon , but I’m honestly not sure how. I’m trying to process the implications and wondered other’s thoughts on this latest development.
Thanks, Emma -- Dr Emma L Briant
Owner: Maven of Persuasion LLC Fellow at Central European University's Center for Media, Data and Society Associate at University of Cambridge, Center for Financial Reporting & Accountability Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/emmalbriant Website: www.emma-briant.co.uk
Author of: *Propaganda and Counter-Terrorism: Strategies for Global Change *from Manchester University Press Co-Author of: *Bad News for Refugees* with Prof. Greg Philo and Dr. Pauline Donald from Pluto Press. Sign up for my Newsletter <http://emma-briant.co.uk/sign-up-for-important-updates/>! Follow me on Twitter @emmalbriant
"I thought yesterday was the first day of the rest of my life but it turns out today is." - Steve Martin
-- Dr Emma L Briant
Owner: Maven of Persuasion LLC Fellow at Bard College, Human Rights Project Fellow at Central European University, Center for Media, Data and Society Associate at University of Cambridge, Center for Financial Reporting & Accountability
Author of: *Propaganda and Counter-Terrorism: Strategies for Global Change *from Manchester University Press Co-Author of: *Bad News for Refugees* with Prof. Greg Philo and Dr. Pauline Donald from Pluto Press.
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participants (12)
-
Dr. Emma Briant -
Fred Fuchs -
Joseph Reagle -
Paul Levinson -
Richard Forno -
Robert Tynes -
Robert W Gehl -
Samuel DiBella -
Sarah Ann Oates -
Shulman, Stu -
Steph Kent -
Vivian Gerrand