Behavior
Yesterday, Yishan Wong's (the ex Reddit CEO) long Twitter thread was popular in my network. I learned it from a newsletter (only Korean), and I thought it was an essence or at least the most crucial factor of social network affairs nowadays.
I think if Elon takes over Twitter, he is in for a world of pain. He has no idea.
— Yishan (@yishan) April 15, 2022
"It is not TOPICS that are censored. It is BEHAVIOR."
If we assume Twitter as a tool, a bulletin board, a plaza, imposing free speech and no censorship might be the best solution; and open debates will lead to the best answer.
He said that it was "naive."
"Debate" is a vague term, and what a social network observes that causes them to "censor" something is masses of people engaging in "debate" - that is to say: abusive volumes of activity violating spam and harrassment rules, sometimes prompting off-site real-world harm.
— Yishan (@yishan) April 15, 2022
I always love a simple solution (who else?). The allure of a simple answer, deus ex machina, is always so tempting. And when something looks awful, we might think the simple solution - as if only you know - is the answer: free speech, the invisible hands, free market, etc. We become a believer, a zealot, the smartest one, and throw Molotovs. When the world is burning, people are devastating others and even themselves; how can laissez-faire be the best solution? - while the platform merely recites the free speech mantra while hiding behind Section 230.
Mr. Musk said that Twitter needed to become private "to go through the changes that need to be made" for democracy. But I think we know it and call it "autocracy."