![\"Elon](\"http:\/\/www.tomgrimshaw.com\/tomsblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Elon_Musk_Smiling-300x150.jpg\")
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I\u2019m writing this column because, maybe, now that folks are starting to face the fact that the whole \u201cfree-speech Twitter\u201d thing was an elaborate con, or a trap, or a PSYOP, maybe, now, they can knock off the \u201cElon is our savior!\u201d crap and try to pay attention to what is actually happening.<\/p>\n
X CEO, explaining how the new censorship system works. And here\u2019s my favorite Yaccarino quote:<\/p>\n
\u201cSince acquisition, we have built brand-safety and content-moderation tools that have never before existed at this company. And we\u2019ve introduced a new policy to [address?] your specific point about hate speech, called \u201cFreedom of speech, not reach.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
What she\u2019s talking about is the future of Internet censorship. Not the ham-fisted government-initiated censorship that people tend to think of when they think about censorship. Corporate censorship. \u201cFree-market\u201d censorship. What she\u2019s talking about is the virtually imperceptible moment-by-moment manipulation of social-media content, search engine results, \u201creference\u201d platforms like Wikipedia, everything most people see on the Internet. The corp-speak term is \u201cvisibility filtering.\u201d<\/p>\n
From now on, instead of being suspended or deplatformed \u2014 which is bad PR, and only draws more attention to the deplatformed party \u2014 dissident voices will be \u201cdeamplified.\u201d We will be \u201cfree\u201d to post whatever we like, but we will be talking to no one, in a digital void, which most people won\u2019t even know exists. \u201cRed\/blue\u201d culture-war mud-slinging content, and other such harmless entertainment that keeps the masses infuriated and at each other\u2019s throats, will of course be allowed, and will be \u201camplified\u201d and \u201cmonetized.\u201d But any serious form of political dissent or deviation from official narratives will be labelled \u201chate speech,\u201d \u201cdisinformation,\u201d \u201cmalinformation,\u201d or simply \u201cunhealthy.\u201d Corporations like X, Meta, Alphabet, and Tencent will decide what is \u201chealthy.\u201d They will do so with algorithms, but not only with algorithms.<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s\u00a0Linda Yaccarino again<\/a>, talking to CNBC this time \u2026<\/p>\n
\u201c\u2026 X is committed to encouraging healthy behavior \u2026 99.9% of all impressions are healthy \u2026\u00a0and we have an extraordinary team of people who are overseeing, hands on keyboards, monitoring, all day, every day<\/strong><\/em>, to make sure that that 99.9% of impressions remain at that number.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
I don\u2019t know how much clearer she could make it. A team. Of people. Monitoring everything. Moment by moment. Every day. Not some badly-written algorithm. Not some secret cabal of mutinous Wokesters sabotaging Elon\u2019s vision. Not the FBI. Not the CIA. Not the WEF. Not the Rothschilds. Just Twitter. Just X.<\/p>\n
This isn\u2019t one of my \u201cconspiracy theories.\u201d There is absolutely nothing secret about it. It\u2019s all explained\u00a0right here<\/a>, and\u00a0here<\/a>, and\u00a0here<\/a>, and\u00a0here<\/a>, on the Twitter Safety blog.<\/p>\n