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1 year ago

Rules changes at Twitter
By Terry A. Hurlbut
In Part Two of the Twitter Files sub-sequence, The Suspension of Donald Trump, Michael Shellenberger discusses Twitter’s rules change. Twitter had to change its rules to excuse (it could never justify) suspending or banning the Donald Trump account. When they did that, Twitter management compromised Twitter’s value as a historical archive. Only Elon Musk’s reinstatement of the Trump account and other accounts has repaired this fault. Furthermore, when rules can change on the fly, justice is no longer an issue of rules, but one of personalities. This is the real meaning of the legal phrase “arbitrary and capricious.” That one fact made Twitter the “crime scene” Elon Musk called it yesterday.
https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1601667312930590721
How the rules changed
In 2018, doubtless in response to the Trump Derangement Syndrome that plagued Twitter even then, the Twitter Policy Team dropped this thread:
https://twitter.com/Policy/status/949399580721983490
https://twitter.com/Policy/status/949399583842619392
https://twitter.com/Policy/status/949399586053021697
This offended some of Twitters most “Trump deranged” accountholders, one of whom articulated one of the earliest Cancel Culture rationales. Almost five years later, someone has observed, correctly, that Twitter changed for the worse after the Trump suspension.
https://twitter.com/svarncapital/status/1601726986367311872
Bear this thread in mind when digesting Michael Shellenberger’s thread, which we can call The Twitter Files, Part Four. This began to drop at 3:28 p.m. PST.
https://twitter.com/ShellenbergerMD/status/1601720754126528512
https://twitter.com/ShellenbergerMD/status/1601721477690449920
https://twitter.com/ShellenbergerMD/status/1601722214507638784
https://twitter.com/ShellenbergerMD/status/1601725472202596352
https://twitter.com/ShellenbergerMD/status/1601727103501627392
https://twitter.com/ShellenbergerMD/status/1601730927583186944
https://twitter.com/ShellenbergerMD/status/1601732795977433088
https://twitter.com/ShellenbergerMD/status/1601736307125862400
https://twitter.com/ShellenbergerMD/status/1601738653805387779
https://twitter.com/ShellenbergerMD/status/1601745746423750656
https://twitter.com/ShellenbergerMD/status/1601749506764046337
https://twitter.com/ShellenbergerMD/status/1601754845056159745
https://twitter.com/ShellenbergerMD/status/1601762869359808512
https://twitter.com/ShellenbergerMD/status/1601766851050352641
https://twitter.com/ShellenbergerMD/status/1601771783421509632
https://twitter.com/ShellenbergerMD/status/1601773946109501441
https://twitter.com/ShellenbergerMD/status/1601775748297023488
https://twitter.com/ShellenbergerMD/status/1601777521241968640
https://twitter.com/ShellenbergerMD/status/1601777938491670528
https://twitter.com/ShellenbergerMD/status/1601778264581627904
Reaction and analysis
As Mr. Shellenberger was posting the thread, outraged users weighed in immediately. One said of the “junior member” who warned of the implications, “Give that man a promotion!”
https://twitter.com/Cat932168591/status/1601738979078176768
Many other users seconded that recommendation. Another observed that at least one person understood the meaning of the United States Constitution.
https://twitter.com/lavern_spicer/status/1601738900258816000
This attorney for the Center for American Liberty left several tweets in outraged reaction at various points in the thread. He closed with this:
https://twitter.com/EricSell/status/1601779146526715904
To be sure, a few users held forth that Trump incited the Jaunary 6 “riots,” he was a dangerous man, etc., etc. But most did not.
This thread, even more than the earlier one, shows that Twitter deliberately changed its own rules. We see here an organization changing rules hour by hour. Matt Taibbi hinted two days ago that the final result was a discarding of rules – and rule by executive fiat.
To those who insist that “it’s a private company”: first, that’s not true. Twitter became a State actor, and we know who gave Twitter its marching orders. Second, any platform ruling by fiat is no less tyrannical than is a civil authoritarian. To paraphrase Thomas Jefferson: a chief moderator whose character is thus marked by every act that might define a tyrant, does not deserve the business or custom of free users.
Link to:
The article:
https://cnav.news/2022/12/11/editorial/talk/rules-changes-twitter/