What Really Happened When Elon Musk Joined That Twitter Space

This Twitter Thread is by Judd Legum @JuddLegum (source: 12-16-2022). Legum is a writer and journalist.

1. ABOUT LAST NIGHT I participated in a Twitter space hosted by @katienotopoulos w/a lot of journalists

When I joined @jason, one of Musk's apparatchiks, was badgering @drewharwell, a suspended reporter, and Jack Sweeney, the guy behind the accounts that tracked jets

🧵

2. Jason was making the point that everyone was upset about the suspension, but we need to focus on the real point: IF YOU POSTED SOMEONE'S REAL TIME LOCATION AND SOMEONE DIED WOULD YOU FEEL BAD?

Drew made the point that this was a dumb question

3. Jason kept on asking it over and over again.

I think he thought this was a great way of redirecting the conversation and making Musk seem reasonable.

IS THIS THE KIND OF SOCIETY WE WANT TO LIVE IN? WHERE PEOPLE ARE PUT IN DANGER FROM BEING UNDER CONSTANT SURVEILLANCE?

4. I finally had enough. @katienotopoulos invited me to be a speaker so I interrupted

My point was: THE ENTIRE PREMISE OF THE QUESTION WAS A LIE.

The suspended journalists had not reported on Musk's real-time location!

They covered the fact that he suspended Sweeny's accounts

5. I said the bigger question is whether WE WANT TO LIVE IN A SOCIETY WHERE POWERFUL PEOPLE ARE ALLOWED TO LIE AGAIN AND AGAIN WITH IMPUNITY AND THEN USE THESE LIES TO JUSTIFY OTHERWISE INDEFENSIBLE ACTIONS

6. My other point was we can say we are concerned about the impact of social media use on people's safety BUT THIS IS NOT AN ISSUE LIMITED TO PRIVATE JETS. MUSK HIMSELF WAS PUTTING PEOPLE AT RISK BY MAKING WILD ACCUSATIONS, INCLUDING THAT THEY WERE PEDOPHILES

7. I didn't realize it but, in the middle of my rant, Musk himself entered the room

8. Once I realized this, I shut up so Katie and Drew could ask him questions. Musk basically ignored the questions and kept repeating, "no doxxing" and "no special rules for journalists"

When Drew pressed him, he quickly bolted.

He does not like to be challenged or questioned.

9. Shortly after Musk left, THE SPACE WAS SHUT DOWN.

In fact, ALL SPACES WERE SHUT DOWN.

They weren't fully restored until tonight.

10. What was missing from @Jason's defense of Musk, and Musk's own position is CONTEXT.

Musk says he's for free speech but when people are saying things he doesn't like, he tries to shut them up.

We saw this a few weeks ago with the Musk parody accounts

11. Comedy was legal on Twitter until people started making fun of him. Then @DavidSacks another Musk buddy redefined parody as "fraud" and insisted Musk was doing us all a favor.

BUT IT GOES MUCH DEEPER THAN THIS.

12. You need to fully understand Musk's LONG history of saying he is for free speech but harshly cracking down on anyone who dares to criticize him.

13. In China, Tesla reportedly sought to leverage the power of China's authoritarian regime to silence critics.

Tesla reportedly "asked Beijing to use its censorship powers to block" critical posts

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2021-07-05/tesla-s-fall-from-grace-in-china-shows-perils-of-betting-on-beijing

14. A free press is central to free speech.

But after reporter Linette Lopez wrote critical stories about Tesla Musk accusing Lopez of conspiring with short sellers to trade on insider information, which is a crime

Musk had no proof but an army of minions to harass Lopez

15. The right to talk about joining a union is a key part of free speech rights for workers.

Musk, however, has sought to aggressively discourage unionization at Tesla. In a 2018 tweet, Musk threatened to rescind employee stock options at Tesla if workers decided to join a union

16. The Tesla NDA instructed employees that "they were not allowed to speak w/media w/o explicit written permission." But it did not say that labor law "protects employees when they speak with the media about working conditions [and[ labor disputes"

17. In 2018, pseudo-anonymous investor, Montana Skeptic, wrote extensively about Tesla stock

But in July 2018, Montana Skeptic shut down his Twitter account and stopped writing about Tesla. Why? Musk allegedly found out the identity of Montana Skeptic and alerted their employer

18. So yes, let's talk about free speech and let's talk about safety. But Twitter is a platform that is used by hundreds of millions of people.

THE SITE'S RULES SHOULD NOT BE DRIVEN BY THE QUIXOTIC INTERESTS OF ONE BILLIONAIRE

HE BOUGHT IT, BUT HE ALSO NEEDS USERS TO BUY IN

19. And Musk and his minions should stop gaslighting people about Musk being a champion of free speech.

He is not.

He is wealthy, and he bought the site.

That's it.

20. Everyone's safety is important. And it should go without saying but the people whose personal safety is most at risk on this site are not billionaires who can afford private jets and private security.

21. If this is my last thread on this site you can always find me here:

22. If you think I’m exaggerating, these tweets are a good summary of @jason’s argument in the Twitter Space

Note: a car is not a plane and no one did this

23. UPDATE

24. Musk is concerned about privacy and safety

25. UPDATE: Katie, who hosted the space, is banned from starting any spaces now, apparently

26. More reporting from Gizmodo that Musk’s entire justification for the suspension of journalists is BS

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