[Air-L] Twitter Journalist Suspensions

Fri Dec 16 06:37:03 PST 2022

Thank you for your response Sarah. I love your suggestion of a statement. I
definitely think we need to do something collectively that is more than
just slink off, in the circumstances, at least a public statement. I do
value the melting pot that Twitter is, with all its problems, I don’t want
to be in a silo without people I disagree with. But that social media
experience still needs to be a safe and fair experience that enables
everyone to participate.
Emma

On Fri, 16 Dec 2022 at 09:31, Sarah Ann Oates via Air-L <
air-l at listserv.aoir.org> wrote:

> Hi,
>
> I wouldn't over-analyze Musk, he seems purely reactive and playing
> whack-a-mole with Twitter rules and users.
>
> To return to Emma's question, I think we need a plan or even a strategy as
> AoIRists. I think this is the smartest (and almost always most cordial)
> place for people to discuss key issues like this. A David to Musk's Goliath
> of Twitter, but not without power.
>
> So what do we do? Do we quietly quit? Do we more proactively set up or join
> an existing platform (Mastodon is great in many ways, but it's not the
> same)? Do we make some sort of statement about how this shows a need for a
> fundamentally different approach to regulating internet platforms?
>
> At the core of this is what we expect from social media. Despite a somewhat
> chirpy exterior, I'm old-fashioned and grumpy. I never get/got much from
> Twitter -- I get a lot more from this list. Yes, Twitter could connect me
> and expose me to new things and people -- as well as show me breaking news
> and information in a new way -- but think of all the vile experiences and
> comments we've had (particularly as women) on Twitter. Was it worth it?
> Looking back, it was never really a public commons. When good things
> happened due to Twitter (BLM etc.) it was more a bug than a feature in some
> ways.
>
> How do we, as scholars and humans, leverage the affordances of existing
> online technology, not only to support our academic endeavors but (if I
> read most of this group correctly) to advance the values of humanity and
> technology in a positive direction?
>
> OK, that's a lot and many of us are grading. But Emma's question of "what
> to do" is really the question we need to answer ...
>
> Sarah
>
>
> Sarah Oates
> Pronoun: she/her
>
> Professor and Senior Scholar
> Philip Merrill College of Journalism
> Distinguished Scholar-Teacher
> University of Maryland
> College Park, MD 20742
> Email: soates at umd.edu
> Phone: 301 455 2332
> www.media-politics.com
> Twitter: @media_politics
>
>
>
>
>
>
> On Fri, Dec 16, 2022 at 9:10 AM Vivian Gerrand via Air-L <
> air-l at listserv.aoir.org> wrote:
>
> > This is chilling, Rob.
> >
> > Also interesting that he would bother. An indication of how much Musk
> > feels threatened by the migration of Twitter users to Mastodon? Or (more
> > likely) simply staking his claim as a warrior in a culture war?
> >
> > Thanks for sharing.
> >
> > Vivian
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Air-L <air-l-bounces at listserv.aoir.org> On Behalf Of Robert W Gehl
> > via Air-L
> > Sent: Saturday, 17 December 2022 12:30 AM
> > To: air-l at listserv.aoir.org
> > Subject: Re: [Air-L] Twitter Journalist Suspensions
> >
> > In addition to the 11 journalists being booted from Twitter, a related
> > development: Twitter is blocking links to Mastodon and other fediverse
> > sites. This morning, I attempted to post a link to my Mastodon profile (
> >
> https://aus01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fscholar.social%2F%40robertwgehl&data=05%7C01%7Cvivian.gerrand%40deakin.edu.au%7C4575f88485b24b37ddfc08dadf6c8950%7Cd02378ec168846d585401c28b5f470f6%7C0%7C0%7C638067954504695876%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=AR4inHa82YQoATcMJOcOwX%2FyBJ%2FOSbRCFTqr07HFedo%3D&reserved=0
> ).
> > It was blocked due to it being "harmful content."
> >
> > In addition, Twitter has suspended @joinmastodon, the main Mastodon
> > developers' account.
> >
> > Perhaps this is an old fashioned capitalist attempt to crush the
> > competition?
> >
> > Or maybe not. As a test, I tried posting a link to the far-right site
> > Gab.com, a social media site which harbors self-identified Nazis and was
> > the social media of the Pittsburgh synagogue shooter. Gab styles itself
> as
> > a free speech absolutist alternative to Twitter.
> >
> > The Gab.com link was allowed.
> >
> > - Rob
> >
> > On 2022-12-15 22:47, Dr. Emma Briant via Air-L wrote:
> > > Dear Colleagues,
> > >
> > > I'm sure all will agree that the mass censorship of, I think now 11
> > > journalists from major news organisations today by Elon Musk is
> > > incredibly disturbing. I am wondering how one deletes all one's tweets?
> > Anyone know?
> > > I'm considering doing this but leaving my account as a placeholder, so
> > > I am not leaving that data there, and removing myself at this point
> > > from the platform. I was hoping not to do this, given that I network
> > > in Twitter for my research on propaganda and develop contacts. But
> > > this obviously crosses such a line. People need to push back somehow
> > > not just move to mastodon , but I'm honestly not sure how. I'm trying
> > > to process the implications and wondered other's thoughts on this
> latest
> > development.
> > >
> > > Thanks,
> > > Emma
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-- 
Dr Emma L Briant

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