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,[1] fair use.
It seems a little incongruous that Kanye West’s Twitter account has been suspended again,[2] almost as if West is being offered as a sacrificial lamb to appease those (advertisers[3]) who criticize Elon Musk for encouraging hate speech on Twitter.[4] I’m just spitballing here in a context that is now deeply into Musk’s hubris[5] and far beyond any sense whatsoever, but perhaps Musk, who has said he would support Ron DeSantis in 2024,[6] really doesn’t like the idea of West running for president in 2024 (with Donald Trump furiously spurning West’s offer of a vice presidential slot on the ticket)?[7] After all, isn’t it kind of important that our white supremacists[8] actually be white?
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
Sheila Dang and Katie Paul, “Twitter not safer under Elon Musk, says former head of trust and safety,” Reuters, November 29, 2022, https://www.reuters.com/technology/twitter-not-safer-under-elon-musk-says-former-head-trust-safety-conference-2022-11-29/
Robert Mackey and Micah Lee, “Left-Wing Voices Are Silenced on Twitter as Far-Right Trolls Advise Elon Musk,” Intercept, November 29, 2022, https://theintercept.com/2022/11/29/elon-musk-twitter-andy-ngo-antifascist/
Reuters, “Twitter rolls back COVID misinformation policy,” November 29, 2022, https://www.reuters.com/technology/twitter-rolls-back-covid-misinformation-policy-2022-11-29/
Naomi Nix, “Twitter needs Apple more than Apple needs Twitter,” Washington Post, November 30, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/11/30/apple-musk-tim-cook/
Patience Haggin, “Twitter Offers Advertisers Generous Incentives After Many Marketers Left Platform,” Wall Street Journal, December 1, 2022, https://www.wsj.com/articles/twitter-offers-advertisers-generous-incentives-after-many-marketers-left-platform-11669922354
Newley Purnell, “Kanye West Suspended From Twitter After Swastika Tweet,” Wall Street Journal, December 2, 2022, https://www.wsj.com/articles/musks-twitter-suspends-kanye-wests-account-after-swastika-tweet-11669971389
Gilead
White Christian nationalism (Trumpism)
Fig. 1. A Ku Klux Klan meeting in Gainesville, Florida, Dec. 31, 1922, via Wikimedia Commons, public domain.
Azi Paybarah, “Rapper Ye draws fresh denunciation for Hitler praise in Alex Jones interview,” Washington Post, December 2, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/12/01/kanye-west-alex-jones-hilter-interview/
- [1]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/↩
- [2]Newley Purnell, “Kanye West Suspended From Twitter After Swastika Tweet,” Wall Street Journal, December 2, 2022, https://www.wsj.com/articles/musks-twitter-suspends-kanye-wests-account-after-swastika-tweet-11669971389↩
- [3]Patience Haggin, “Twitter Offers Advertisers Generous Incentives After Many Marketers Left Platform,” Wall Street Journal, December 1, 2022, https://www.wsj.com/articles/twitter-offers-advertisers-generous-incentives-after-many-marketers-left-platform-11669922354; Sarah E. Needleman and Alexa Corse, “Elon Musk Says Twitter Has Had Massive Revenue Drop as Layoffs Begin,” Wall Street Journal, November 4, 2022, https://www.wsj.com/articles/elon-musk-says-twitter-has-had-massive-revenue-drop-11667573127; Naomi Nix and Jeremy B. Merrill, “Advertisers are dropping Twitter. Musk can’t afford to lose any more,” Washington Post, November 22, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/11/22/twitter-advertiser-exodus-musk/; Faiz Siddiqui, Naomi Nix, and Will Oremus, “Advertisers fleeing, workers in fear: Welcome to Elon Musk’s Twitter,” Washington Post, November 4, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/11/04/twitter-layoffs-musk/; Suzanne Vranica and Patience Haggin, “Ad Giants Advise Brands to Pause Spending on Elon Musk’s Twitter,” Wall Street Journal, November 1, 2022, https://www.wsj.com/articles/ad-giants-advise-brands-to-pause-spending-on-elon-musks-twitter-11667333021; Suzanne Vranica and Patience Haggin, “General Mills, Audi and Pfizer Join Growing List of Companies Pausing Twitter Ads,” Wall Street Journal, November 3, 2022, https://www.wsj.com/articles/general-mills-audi-and-pfizer-join-growing-list-of-companies-pausing-twitter-ads-11667507765; Suzanne Vranica and Patience Haggin, “Twitter’s Advertising Exodus Accelerates, Despite Outreach From Elon Musk,” Wall Street Journal, November 12, 2022, https://www.wsj.com/articles/twitters-advertising-exodus-accelerates-despite-outreach-from-elon-musk-11668262920↩
- [4]Sheila Dang and Katie Paul, “Twitter not safer under Elon Musk, says former head of trust and safety,” Reuters, November 29, 2022, https://www.reuters.com/technology/twitter-not-safer-under-elon-musk-says-former-head-trust-safety-conference-2022-11-29/; Ron Kampeas, “Welcome to the new Twitter: Kanye West returns with ‘shalom’ and Elon Musk trolls the ADL,” Jewish Telegraphic Agency, November 20, 2022, https://www.jta.org/2022/11/20/united-states/welcome-to-the-new-twitter-kanye-west-is-back-and-elon-musk-trolls-the-adl; Robert Mackey and Micah Lee, “Left-Wing Voices Are Silenced on Twitter as Far-Right Trolls Advise Elon Musk,” Intercept, November 29, 2022, https://theintercept.com/2022/11/29/elon-musk-twitter-andy-ngo-antifascist/; Joseph Menn et al., “Twitter’s content moderation head quits as departures alarm the FTC,” Washington Post, November 10, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/11/10/twitter-security-resignations/; Liz Moyer, “Elon Musk Reinstates Trump on Twitter. Trump Shrugs,” Barron’s, November 20, 2022, https://www.barrons.com/articles/elon-musk-reinstates-trump-on-twitter-trump-shrugs-51668964354; 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; Vlad Savov, “Musk Welcomes Ye Back to Twitter After Inviting Trump’s Return,” Bloomberg, November 20, 2022, https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-11-21/musk-welcomes-ye-back-to-twitter-after-inviting-trump-s-return; Faiz Siddiqui, Drew Harwell and Isaac Arnsdorf , “Elon Musk restores Trump’s Twitter account,” Washington Post, November 19, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/11/19/trump-musk-twitter/↩
- [5]David Benfell, “Elon Musk’s Achilles’ heel,” Not Housebroken, November 22, 2022, https://disunitedstates.org/2022/07/10/elon-musks-achilles-heel/↩
- [6]Ruby Cramer, “Elon Musk says he would support Ron DeSantis in 2024,” Washington Post, November 26, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/11/26/elon-musk-ron-desantis-election/↩
- [7]Zach Schonfeld, “Kanye West says he asked Trump to be his 2024 running mate,” Hill, November 25, 2022, https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/3749908-kanye-west-says-he-asked-trump-to-be-his-2024-running-mate/↩
- [8]Azi Paybarah, “Rapper Ye draws fresh denunciation for Hitler praise in Alex Jones interview,” Washington Post, December 2, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/12/01/kanye-west-alex-jones-hilter-interview/↩