This is an occasion when I misjudged when to hit ‘publish.’ COVID-19 Pandemic and supply chain sections have been added, and David Frum’s tweet[1] and a Reuters story[2] have been added to the Twitter section since this was originally published.
Gilead
Fig. 1. “Elon Musk shared a video of his entrance on his Twitter account.” Photograph attributed to Elon Musk, October 26, 2022, via the New York Post,[3] fair use.
There is a new blog post entitled, “Elon Musk embraces Donald Trump’s playbook.”
David Frum[4] is a little unfair because of course Apple’s app store charges would amount to $2.40 multiplied a whole bunch of times, once for each Twitter Blue subscription, every month. And from what I can see, this is, in fact, a point of vulnerability: Both Apple and Google are being investigated and sued for anti-competitive behavior on their app stores.[5] But as to getting kicked off the app store?
The Apple App Store, Google Play, and even smaller players like the Amazon Appstore, have language intended to protect users from discrimination, bullying, harassment, and other kinds of objectionable content. As Twitter veers more in the direction of freewheeling right-wing social apps like Truth Social and Parler, the company could be on a collision course with those app stores’ gatekeepers.[6]
If I’m picking between Apple and Elon Musk? Apple, hands down.
Reuters, “Twitter CEO Musk says user signups at all-time high, touts features of ‘everything app,’” November 27, 2022, https://www.reuters.com/technology/twitter-ceo-musk-says-user-signups-all-time-high-touts-features-everything-app-2022-11-27/
Philip Bump, “Hey, Elon Musk? Twitter polls are not the ‘voice of the people,’” Washington Post, November 28, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/11/28/hey-elon-musk-twitter-polls-are-not-voice-people/
It’s apparently pro free speech when Elon Musk charges you $8 for access to his platform, but anti free speech if Apple charges him $2 for access to theirs. #Logic
— David Frum (@davidfrum) November 28, 2022
David Frum, “It’s apparently pro free speech when Elon Musk charges you $8 for access to his platform, but anti free speech if Apple charges him $2 for access to theirs,” Twitter, November 28, 2022, https://twitter.com/davidfrum/status/1597332772687085569
Sarah E. Needleman and Tim Higgins, “Elon Musk Claims Apple Is Threatening to Remove Twitter From App Store,” Wall Street Journal, November 28, 2022, https://www.wsj.com/articles/elon-musk-attacks-apple-tim-cook-over-advertising-and-censorship-11669662024
Reuters, “Twitter rolls back COVID misinformation policy,” November 29, 2022, https://www.reuters.com/technology/twitter-rolls-back-covid-misinformation-policy-2022-11-29/
Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh
Infrastructure
Fig. 1. Post-collapse scene at the Fern Hollow Bridge, photograph by National Transportation Safety Board, January 29, 2022, via Wikimedia Commons, public domain.
Terryaun Bell, “You’ve probably been stuck in traffic during Allegheny County’s construction boom. This is only the beginning,” Public Source, November 29, 2022, https://www.publicsource.org/construction-traffic-pittsburgh-allegheny-county-workforce-jobs-infrastructure-investment/
COVID-19 Pandemic
Fig. 1. Photograph by author, November 8, 2022.
Helen Davidson and Verna Yu, “Clashes in Shanghai as protests over zero-Covid policy grip China,” Guardian, November 27, 2022, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/nov/28/clashes-in-shanghai-as-protests-over-zero-covid-policy-grip-china
Crawford Kilian, “China Is in Serious Trouble,” Tyee, November 28, 2022, https://thetyee.ca/Analysis/2022/11/28/China-Serious-Trouble/
Devi Sridhar, “China’s Covid crisis demands terrible choices. The world will suffer if this goes wrong,” Guardian, November 28, 2022, https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/nov/28/china-abandon-zero-covid-protests-mass-vaccination
Reuters, “Twitter rolls back COVID misinformation policy,” November 29, 2022, https://www.reuters.com/technology/twitter-rolls-back-covid-misinformation-policy-2022-11-29/
Supply chain
Fig. 1. Graphic by Julia Joshpe, undated, for the University of Rochester,[7] fair use.
Helen Davidson and Verna Yu, “Clashes in Shanghai as protests over zero-Covid policy grip China,” Guardian, November 27, 2022, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/nov/28/clashes-in-shanghai-as-protests-over-zero-covid-policy-grip-china
Crawford Kilian, “China Is in Serious Trouble,” Tyee, November 28, 2022, https://thetyee.ca/Analysis/2022/11/28/China-Serious-Trouble/
Devi Sridhar, “China’s Covid crisis demands terrible choices. The world will suffer if this goes wrong,” Guardian, November 28, 2022, https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/nov/28/china-abandon-zero-covid-protests-mass-vaccination
- [1]David Frum, “It’s apparently pro free speech when Elon Musk charges you $8 for access to his platform, but anti free speech if Apple charges him $2 for access to theirs,” Twitter, November 28, 2022, https://twitter.com/davidfrum/status/1597332772687085569↩
- [2]Reuters, “Twitter rolls back COVID misinformation policy,” November 29, 2022, https://www.reuters.com/technology/twitter-rolls-back-covid-misinformation-policy-2022-11-29/↩
- [3]Thomas Barrabi, “Elon Musk barges into Twitter HQ as deal nears: ‘Let that sink in,’” New York Post, October 26, 2022, https://nypost.com/2022/10/26/elon-musk-barges-into-twitter-headquarters-as-deal-nears/↩
- [4]David Frum, “It’s apparently pro free speech when Elon Musk charges you $8 for access to his platform, but anti free speech if Apple charges him $2 for access to theirs,” Twitter, November 28, 2022, https://twitter.com/davidfrum/status/1597332772687085569↩
- [5]Sarah E. Needleman and Tim Higgins, “Elon Musk Claims Apple Is Threatening to Remove Twitter From App Store,” Wall Street Journal, November 28, 2022, https://www.wsj.com/articles/elon-musk-attacks-apple-tim-cook-over-advertising-and-censorship-11669662024↩
- [6]Clint Rainey, “Why Apple and Google could be the biggest threats to Elon Musk’s anything-goes version of Twitter,” Fast Company, November 21, 2022, https://www.fastcompany.com/90815181/why-apple-and-google-could-be-the-biggest-threat-to-elon-musks-anything-goes-version-of-twitter↩
- [7]Peter Iglinski, “Expect another year of supply chain issues,” University of Rochester, June 27, 2022 https://www.rochester.edu/newscenter/what-is-supply-chain-issues-explained-525302/↩