In this issue:
I am now caught up.
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.
Not-so-free speech:
The automated [Twitter] account [tracking Elon Musk’s private jet] was run by Jack Sweeney, a student at the University of Central Florida. Using public data from plane transponders that log longitude, latitude and altitude, Mr. Sweeney, in 2020, created an algorithm that calculates the whereabouts of a private jet belonging to Mr. Musk.
“Well it appears @ElonJet is suspended,” Mr. Sweeney said in a tweet on his personal account.
Mr. Sweeney on Wednesday shared a screenshot of his account with a message saying it was permanently suspended.
Mr. Musk, the chief executive of Tesla Inc. and a self-proclaimed free-speech absolutist, had previously said he wouldn’t suspend the account.[2]
Jack Sweeney runs a few private jet tracking accounts on Twitter; of these, only the one tracking Elon Musk’s was suspended.[3]
Jody Serrano, “Elon Is Thinking of Changing His Twitter Blue Sales Pitch for iPhone Users to ‘Pay $11,’” Twitter, December 8, 2022, https://gizmodo.com/elon-musk-twitter-iphone-apple-app-store-price-11-1849869146
Sarah Wright, “SF Investigators Found Beds at Twitter HQ. Here’s What Happens Next,” San Francisco Standard, December 8, 2022, https://sfstandard.com/business/sf-investigators-found-beds-at-twitter-hq-heres-what-happens-next/
Laura Forman, “Twitter’s Advertising Truth Hurts,” Wall Street Journal, December 11, 2022, https://www.wsj.com/articles/twitters-advertising-truth-hurts-11670706720
Hey look what they found in the "Twitter Files"
— Keith Olbermann (@KeithOlbermann) December 11, 2022
Keith Olbermann, “Hey look what they found in the ‘Twitter Files&rsquo,;” Twitter, December 11, 2022, https://twitter.com/KeithOlbermann/status/1601983506070081536
My pronouns are Prosecute/Fauci
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 11, 2022
Elon Musk, “My pronouns are Prosecute/Fauci,” Twitter, December 11, 2022, https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1601894132573605888
Charlie Warzel, “Elon Musk Is a Far-Right Activist,” Atlantic, December 11, 2022, https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2022/12/elon-musk-twitter-far-right-activist/672436/
Joseph Menn, “Elon Musk uses QAnon tactic in criticizing former Twitter safety chief,” Washington Post, December 12, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/12/12/musk-child-porn-qanon/
Stephen Wilmot, “Half-Price Tesla Stock Is Still No Bargain,” Wall Street Journal, December 12, 2022, https://www.wsj.com/articles/half-price-tesla-stock-is-still-no-bargain-11670851513
Cat Zakrzewski, Joseph Menn, and Naomi Nix, “Twitter dissolves Trust and Safety Council,” Washington Post, December 12, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/12/12/musk-twitter-harass-yoel-roth/
Zoë Schiffer and Casey Newton, “Twitter’s risky plan to save its ads business,” Platformer, December 13, 2022, https://www.platformer.news/p/twitters-risky-plan-to-save-its-ads
Steve Burgess, “Please Advise! Is Elon Musk Really That Vile?” Tyee, December 14, 2022, https://thetyee.ca/Opinion/2022/12/14/Please-Advise-Elon-Musk-Really-Vile/
Joseph De Avila, “Twitter Suspends Account That Tracked Elon Musk’s Private Jet,” Wall Street Journal, December 14, 2022, https://www.wsj.com/articles/twitter-suspends-account-that-tracked-elon-musks-private-jet-11671036887
Abortion
Fig. 2. Sign at demonstration in front of the U.S. Supreme Court, May 3, 2022. Janni Rye, via Wikimedia Commons, Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication.
Caroline Kitchener, “Antiabortion movement seeks to jail people for ‘trafficking’ illegal pills,” Washington Post, December 14, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/12/14/abortion-pills-bans-dobbs-roe/
- [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]Joseph De Avila, “Twitter Suspends Account That Tracked Elon Musk’s Private Jet,” Wall Street Journal, December 14, 2022, https://www.wsj.com/articles/twitter-suspends-account-that-tracked-elon-musks-private-jet-11671036887↩
- [3]Joseph De Avila, “Twitter Suspends Account That Tracked Elon Musk’s Private Jet,” Wall Street Journal, December 14, 2022, https://www.wsj.com/articles/twitter-suspends-account-that-tracked-elon-musks-private-jet-11671036887↩