11/ Musk is a textbook example of the schmucks who believe that any problem can be solved with more tech, lower costs, more automation, better code, more “hardcore” engineers & the right investors — as if Twitter’s challenges are simply *business* challenges. But they are not.
12/ Musk utterly failed to understand that Twitter’s hardest challenges are not about more revenue & fewer rules. They are *human* challenges, about power, speech, competition, fairness, diversity, wealth, poverty, war, peace, safety, inclusion, equity, and privacy.
13/ A wiser person would understand that… - a global platform like this cannot deepen and reify the worst excesses and inequalities of capitalism, privilege, and power; - nor carry water for bad actors; - nor incentivize and monetize the ugliest, most cruel human behaviors.
14/ Furthermore, ownership of a platform like this cannot be online therapy and acting-out to soothe the grievances of insecure, immature, thin-skinned billionaires (yes, note the plural) who desperately want & need to be liked (because they are psychologically damaged).
15/ Like Donald Trump, Rupert Murdoch, and too many other wealthy & powerful men, Elon Musk is a toxic mix of narcissism, insecurity, sexism, and a particularly cruel form of unkindness that seems especially gleeful about punching down on those with less power.
16/ It would be bad enough if Musk’s immaturity and lack of self-control simply made him an insufferable asshole. But Musk is an insufferable asshole with a global media platform that he has re-made in furtherance of pernicious values. That’s why I cannot be here any longer.
17/ This isn’t a story about “free speech” v. “censorship.” It’s a story about who gets to wield the power of speech — & a cautionary tale of how massive private wealth enables an immature man[child] to selectively elevate those who reject democracy’s bedrock value: Equality.
18/ Musk has clearly signaled whose messages he believes deserve his personal support and amplification: -Right-wing stooges for Putin; -Antisemites spouting “replacement theory;” -Racists who question Black professional skills; -Anti-LGBTQ trolls The list goes on.
19/ If Musk were to edit George Orwell’s “Animal Farm,” he might say: “All voices are equal, but some voices are more equal than others.”
20/ I cannot sign off without also feeling sadness for the company that Twitter used to be, and which Musk destroyed. The bird was not “freed” — Musk killed it. History will show this to be true. I see no way this empty husk of a once-great platform for news will survive.
21/ I can also say w/ confidence that my fellow Tweeps were some of the smartest, most thoughtful, earnest, and humane professional colleagues that I’ve ever had the pleasure of working with. 🫡 And there is a silver lining: Many have carried those qualities to new employers.
22/ I continue to participate in the ongoing public dialogue about democracy, elections, voting, tech, security and information integrity. I’m now at: linkedIn.com/in/eddie1perez Contact me for professional opportunities. Also: eddie1perez.bsky.social [email protected]
@eddie1perez hello @threadreaderapp pls unroll
You might have liked your colleagues but THREE gave you a LinkedIn endorsements. That speaks to how much they didn't love you. I, for one, know that your gloating about all of those censorship loving little tweeps being at other authoritarian left, fascist loving media orgs is a THREAT more than a statement about their 'soft landing.' Freedom will always somehow break out. It's good to be rid of freedom hates like yourself, but BECAUSE @elonmusk is who he is, there are lots more on this platform...free speech, you know. Now, don't let the door hit you, censoring Fascist.
I don’t know how you can sleep at night knowing you were pushing a fraud on Twitter users by serving as an organ of US security state to monitor muzzle and punish those considered “subversive” but many of whom, we now know, were only right to early about “lab leaks” and vax injuries. Old Twitter was a fraud
@eddie1perez They were a-ok with censorship, so they're not all that, dear comrade.
@eddie1perez “Many have carried those qualities to new employers.” Terrifying
@eddie1perez If you happily have moved on, why are you writing a never-ending rant-thread on Twitter. Why not just move on and start over somewhere else? You could start you own social media and call it LiesPolitical.