Is X.com's Downfall Since Musks Takeover Proof That Platforms Need Regulation?

[What Am I]

27 minutes ago, Consept said:

There's a lot of things he's done to give himself an unfair advantage in terms of attention. His tweets are promoted more than anyone else - "The engineers fixed “the problem” by tweaking the code to automatically “greenlight” all of Musk’s tweets. “The algorithm now artificially boosted Musk’s tweets by a factor of 1,000,” reported The Verge, “a constant score that ensured his tweets rank higher than anyone else’s in the feed.”" https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/elon-musk-x-twitter-donald-trump-b2586440.html#:~:text=The engineers fixed “the problem,anyone else's in the feed.”

So his voice is amplified artificially 1000x more than anyone else. It wouldn't surprise if Trumps and others likes are too but I'm speculating. He's also made it so that even if you block him, you'll still see his tweets, you just can't engage with them. So literally if you're on X there's no way that you wouldn't see his tweets. 

Now this may make sense if he was just giving technical updates for users or news about X as it may important for users to know. But he's not he's tweeting out, in some cases, very far right misinformation, or just inflammatory posts like the one saying the UK is on the brink of civil war, during a time of unrest. Imagine now if there was a civil war, would he have played a part in pushing it that way?

Also he's not trying to hide this, it's all in plain sight, so no it's not a conspiracy or anecdotal it's literally what's happening. 

But do we have anything beyond the owner of the platform having his own tweets amplified? I'll readily admit that it tips the scales inappropriately, especially considering the typical content of his tweets. But that alone is simply not enough for the severity of claims being made. We're putting quite a lot of weight into the idea of being forced to briefly view Elon Musk's tweets as you scroll through the application.

Perhaps I can be convinced that the human mind is too malleable and must be spared Musk's personal opinions, but I'd be much more concerned if we had something akin to major left-leaning figures being shadow banned or outright banned entirely. Something that creates a true echo chamber, where only one side's propaganda is allowed. I'm just not seeing it, but maybe I'm not looking at it in the right way.

[Buck Edwards]

2 minutes ago, What Am I said:

But do we have anything beyond the owner of the platform having his own tweets amplified?

Doesn't that make it propagandist and biased already? 

[Leo Gura]

4 minutes ago, What Am I said:

I'd be much more concerned if we had something akin to major left-leaning figures being shadow banned or outright banned entirely.

We have exactly that.

You just aren't following the news.

Edited October 16 by Leo Gura

[What Am I]

3 minutes ago, Buck Edwards said:

Doesn't that make it propagandist and biased already? 

It certainly doesn't help Musk's case, and it works against his stated goal of neutrality. But there's levels and nuance to these things. His self-tweet promotion pushes the platform away from the ideal, but I wouldn't consider it the gravest of sins that puts it in-line with a propaganda machine ala China and Russia.

[What Am I]

3 minutes ago, Leo Gura said:

We have exactly that.

You just aren't following the news.

That could be the case, and if so, I do retract my statements.

[Buck Edwards]

3 minutes ago, What Am I said:

It certainly doesn't help Musk's case, and it works against his stated goal of neutrality. But there's levels and nuance to these things. His self-tweet promotion pushes the platform away from the ideal, but I wouldn't consider it the gravest of sins that puts it in-line with a propaganda machine ala China and Russia.

What if it devolves into "ala China/Russia" the way Trump administration devolved into January 6 attack on democracy. You want people to wait till then? 

Edited October 16 by Buck Edwards

[What Am I]

10 minutes ago, Buck Edwards said:

What if it devolves into "ala China/Russia" the way Trump administration devolved into January 6 attack on democracy. You want people to wait till then? 

Like was mentioned earlier, it'd basically become another version of Truth Social. I'm guessing its reach would minimize and the userbase would shrink so as to become inconsequential, unless we're suggesting the left would hang around and continue tweeting despite extreme unfair treatment.

But I don't know, we're dealing with some seriously difficult questions to which I definitely don't have the answers. And I'm probably speaking out of school since I'm not fully informed in some of these areas. If you were to ask what I really think might be a solution, it'd be that all humans should become aware of and work towards spiritual enlightenment so as to perceive their intuitive felt oneness at all times. I believe that as long as we're all functioning like broken machines, chaos is inevitable.

[Consept]

13 minutes ago, What Am I said:

Perhaps I can be convinced that the human mind is too malleable and must be spared Musk's personal opinions, but I'd be much more concerned if we had something akin to major left-leaning figures being shadow banned or outright banned entirely. Something that creates a true echo chamber, where only one side's propaganda is allowed. I'm just not seeing it, but maybe I'm not looking at it in the right way

It's more you're not looking for this information, you just have an opinion. Tbh I actually think it's bad enough that an owner of a tech platform has his extremely partisan views amplified and yes people's minds can be influenced, that's the whole reason he over paid for twitter, otherwise he wouldn't bought. But I will give you the easily searchable examples of left leaning accounts being shadow banned- 

Steven Monacelli, a journalist at the Texas Observer 

 Ken Klippenstein, a national security correspondent for The Intercept 

 Alan MacLeod, a reporter for MintPress News 

 Rob Rousseau, a left-leaning podcaster 

 @liamnissan, a comedic commentator who criticized Musk 

 @zei_squirrel, a left-leaning commentator who has criticized Musk 

 https://newrepublic.com/post/177936/twitter-suspends-accounts-journalists-critical-elon-musk

Also Shadowbanning of a Tesla fan

A Tesla fan claimed that X shadowbanned his posts after he complained about a defective Cybertruck. https://futurism.com/tesla-fan-shadowban-cybertruck

Story about him shadow banning critics - https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.dailydot.com/debug/elon-musk-shadowban/%3famp

He's also reinstated some extreme right accounts like Tate, Ye, Majorie Taylor Greene, babylonia bee, projrct veritas etc. He's promoted and retweeted accounts like libs of tiktok who dox people they disagree with on the left. 

To be honest you'd have to be pretty blind not to see this stuff happening. Basically everything the right complains about the left doing is being done 10x. 

Question now is, is this enough evidence for you? 

 

[Buck Edwards]

3 minutes ago, What Am I said:

it'd basically become another version of Truth Social. I'm guessing its reach would minimize and the userbase would shrink so as to become inconsequential,

And what are you basing this off of? 

[Thought Art]

20 minutes ago, What Am I said:

That could be the case, and if so, I do retract my statements.

Elon Musks idea of free speech was “what Elon agrees with”

[Yimpa]

1 minute ago, Thought Art said:

Elon Musks idea of free speech was “what Elon agrees with”

Same with Meta Zuckerberg

https://apnews.com/article/meta-platforms-mark-zuckerberg-biden-facebook-covid19-463ac6e125b0d004b16c7943633673fc

 

Meta censors info, yet gets defensive when it is asked to censor info.

[What Am I]

3 minutes ago, Consept said:

Question now is, is this enough evidence for you?

If this is all true, then yeah, I'm seeing some issues that I wasn't previously aware of. If nothing else, I'm more conscious now than at the beginning of this thread of the possibility that the platform isn't the free speech haven it was advertised as. It's unfortunate that the human mind itself seems to be the weakest variable in all these equations. Maybe we're too weak to live up to our ideals.

[What Am I]

7 minutes ago, Buck Edwards said:

And what are you basing this off of? 

Just a guess really, based on the idea that if it were to devolve into right-wing propaganda that's constantly forced on all users despite their own inclinations, anyone who's not on the right would eventually abandon it.

[What Am I]

8 minutes ago, Thought Art said:

Elon Musks idea of free speech was “what Elon agrees with”

This may unfortunately be more true than I wish it was.

[Buck Edwards]

2 minutes ago, What Am I said:

Just a guess really, based on the idea that if it were to devolve into right-wing propaganda that's constantly forced on all users despite their own inclinations, anyone who's not on the right would eventually abandon it.

Well it's just a guess. My guess is that it could turn into a cult of right wing radical echo chamber leading to something big like the January 6 incident. And Musk wouldn't even take responsibility for it as usual. 

[What Am I]

2 minutes ago, Buck Edwards said:

Well it's just a guess. My guess is that it could turn into a cult of right wing radical echo chamber leading to something big like the January 6 incident. And Musk wouldn't even take responsibility for it as usual. 

It's possible, but I wonder if it'd go bankrupt and shut down before it got to that point. We are still talking about a business here, and one that's privately owned.

[Buck Edwards]

This X thing reminds me of gab if anyone remembers it. I used to be on it until a terrorist attack happened and I left that terrible radicallized place. 

I remember being right wing radicalized in those days and I still get emails from them. 

It's such insane rubbish, it gave me a lifetime of guilt and it shows how easy right wing radicalization is. 

The FBI got involved and it was temporarily suspended. 

 

Edited October 16 by Buck Edwards

[Alex_R]

Musk doesnt care about it, X its just a mkt funnel to Tesla products

[Joshe]

@What Am I Go create multiple accounts on X and don't follow anyone or tell it your interests, let us know what you see. You'll see Elon telling you democracy is at risk if you don't vote for Trump and you can earn $47 bucks if you go to his link and refer a friend to vote. I just signed up with X a few months back just to see what it was like, and Elon Musk was all over the feed. 

To be fair though, I saw much right wing propaganda and promotion when I created a new Google account and went to Youtube. The algorithms expect a male in my area to be interested in that stuff. But the difference between Youtube and X's algorithms is that Musk is tweaking his to serve him however he sees fit, whereas Google's is designed to get as much engagement as possible to increase ad revenue. They aren't intentionally trying to propagandize people like Musk is. 

It's public record that Thiel and Musk LOVE the idea of "memes" and "mimetic theory". Why? Why would the richest men in the world be interested in such things? 

Meme: units of cultural information—such as ideas, beliefs, practices, or symbols—that spread from person to person through imitation, similar to how genes propagate biological traits. 

Is it because they want to enrich humanity or enrich themselves?

Obviously, themselves, and this is why Musk bought Twitter.

If you have the resources (vehicles to distribute memes) and knowledge of memetic theory, you can apply it like this:

• Influence Public Opinion: Shape societal beliefs by spreading desirable or strategic memes that drive public discourse.
• Amplify Divisions: Use memes to heighten tribalism and polarize groups, making them easier to control or manipulate.
• Create Social Movements: Spark or steer social movements by seeding viral ideas that align with specific political or economic agendas.
• Control Desires: Guide consumer behavior or political preferences by manipulating what people desire through imitative processes.
• Deflect Criticism: Distract from personal or business issues by flooding the discourse with memes that shift focus elsewhere.
• Rally Support: Build loyal followings by embedding identity-forming memes that create strong in-group cohesion.
• Scapegoating: Use memes to direct collective frustration or anger toward specific targets, reducing conflict toward powerholders.
• Manufacture Consent: Shape societal norms and legitimize authority by making certain ideas appear self-evident or widely accepted through imitation.

 

Edited October 16 by Joshe

[What Am I]

@Joshe interesting, thanks for the added info. I'm guessing the propaganda is a lot more apparent when its ideology is of the polar opposite to your own. Strange that we've ended up in a place where right-wing propaganda is well-propagated, considering the right doesn't necessarily have their hands on that many levers of power in the West.