FreeSpeech and Censorship: Thread

grarpamp grarpamp at gmail.com
Fri Apr 8 00:09:04 PDT 2022


NYT's Top Editor Orders Reporters To "Meaningfully Reduce" Twitter
Usage As Musk Joins Company's Board

https://www.businessinsider.com/new-york-times-issues-twitter-reset-for-reporters-2022-4
https://www.reuters.com/technology/elon-musks-arrival-stirs-fears-among-some-twitter-employees-2022-04-07/

How's this for interesting timing?

Just days after Elon Musk - a self-described "free speech absolutist"
- unveiled a 9.2% stake in Twitter and was rewarded with a seat on the
company's board, eliciting cheers from Republicans and conservatives
who have long seen their speech suppressed on the platform, the NYT's
executive editor has reportedly ordered the paper's army of reporters
(many of whom are among the platform's most closely followed
journalists) to reduce the amount of time they spend tweeting.

The order from the NYT comes as Musk has promised to make 'significant
improvements' to the platform. He had previously opined that the
Twitter algorithm should be open source. Conservatives have also used
the platform to lobby Musk to reinstate Trump's twitter account.

Citing an internal memo, Business Insider reports that NYT Executive
Editor Dean Baquet on Thursday ordered his staff to consider a Twitter
"reset", and that using the platform is now "purely optional" for its
journalists.

    "If you do choose to stay on, we encourage you to meaningfully
reduce how much time you're spending on the platform, tweeting or
scrolling, in relation to other parts of your job," he wrote.

He also claimed the NYT would step up efforts to support reporters who
find themselves on the receiving end of "harassment" on the platform
(following the viral interview with former NYT staffer Taylor Lorenz,
who wept during an interview with MSNBC while describing the targeted
harassment she has experienced on social media).

"This is an industry-wide scourge, but we are determined to take
action," he wrote.

Baquet also demanded that reporters and all NYT employees refrain from
attacking one another on the platform.

    Baquet also said that "tweets or subtweets that attack, criticize
or undermine the work of your colleagues are not allowed."

We can't help but notice how this last requirement follows an incident
at rival the Washington Post, where reporter Felicia Sonmez publicly
attacked her editors for barring her from covering issues related to
sexual assault (a lawsuit she filed against the paper was later thrown
out by a judge).

But left-wing journalists aren't the only ones who are clearly anxious
about Musk's plans for Twitter. Several Twitter employees have
anonymously complained to media outlets about their 'concerns' that
Musk might roll back policies governing 'harmful' and 'abusive'
content on the platform.


More information about the cypherpunks mailing list