If you want a reminder of who’s running Twitter now, Elon provided a few this week.
Yesterday, former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey published his first-ever article on newsletter platform Revue, which Twitter bought last January, outlining his response to the recent “Twitter Files” leaks that Elon worked with select journalists to uncover has worked on Twitter’s previous moderation actions and how they relate specifically to conservative users.
Dorsey offered a carefully worded defense of his former colleagues amid questions about their activities, while also reiterating a decentralized model for social platform moderation, which he thinks might be a better way to limit prejudice. misinterpretation and damage.
Which will not work for several reasons. But Dorsey remains unshakably optimistic as ever, applying philosophy over substance to seek a new way forward in hopes of shedding the missteps of yesteryear.
I’m not sure which part upset Elon the most. Maybe this line:
“The current attacks on my former colleagues could be dangerous and solve nothing.”
Either way, something seems to have gotten him, because today, less than 24 hours after Dorsey posted his article, Twitter emailed all Revue users notifying them that the platform will be shutting down next month.
According to the review:
“As of January 18, 2023, access to your Revue account will no longer be possible. On this date, Revue will shut down and all data will be erased. This was a difficult decision as we know Revue has a passionate user base made up of people just like you.”
Again, Twitter acquired Revue just last year to enable new forms of revenue generation for developers as part of its broader push to include more monetization tools. But clearly it’s not part of Musk’s “Twitter 2.0” plan — or maybe Elon wasn’t aware of this Twitter-owned revue until he saw Jack’s post yesterday.
I mean this happened with other elements:
The other consideration is that this is just a coincidence that Twitter was going to shut down Revue anyway and Dorsey happened to post the day before that announcement.
On the other hand, Twitter also today shut down a Twitter profile that had been tracking Musk’s private flights, which he had vowed he wouldn’t do, even using it as an example of his commitment to free speech.
My commitment to free speech extends even to not suspending the account after my plane, even though it poses a direct personal security risk
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 7, 2022
It appears that the definition of “freedom of speech” varies from Elon’s perspective, with reports that Musk has also urged staff to prioritize the removal of fraudulent tweets bearing his image, along with some suggestions he has given staff said to remove videos of him being booed at a Dave Chapelle show earlier this week (this appears to be a rumor as the original video is still online).
Musk himself has also started spouting COVID conspiracy theories and sharing transphobic perspectives. Neither is illegal, which was Musk’s stated threshold for what’s acceptable on the app. But a user with over 120 million followers posting COVID conspiracies would definitely have come under scrutiny in the past.
At the same time, however, Musk has ruled out restoring the account of suspended broadcaster Alex Jones due to his personal take on child safety.
In essence, what we’re seeing with “Twitter 2.0” is that the platform is now being held to Elon Musk’s rules on “freedom of speech” and all that entails. Which seems more flexible than the same under the previous Twitter administration, but much more aligned to his personal perspective than the law or other established parameters.
Again if you Wanting a reminder of who’s in charge, Elon made it clear what might hint at the future direction of the app – and interestingly, Dorsey warns of exactly that in his essay.
According to Revue, users can download their subscriber list, past newsletter issues, and analysis by following these instructions.
