So "X" - nothing to see here. Elon's in control - Part XXX **Threadbans in OP**

Remembering that story from a few weeks ago about Twitter supposedly contemplating making the sharing of personal data the default? I wonder if there was any truth in that, and thus if those behind it have seen Facebook's wrist slap by the EU about this very issue?

"Not provoking Musk" is the language you'd use about an obstreperous and temperamental toddler, not the CEO of one of the largest social media platforms on the globe. And it's somewhat nonsensical to have made loud noises about wanting Twitter to be a bastion of Free Speech - then turn around and "oh but don't take the píss out of me". Parking the question of private enterprise making its own rules, it's patently absurd & pathetic a man in his 50s, richer than anyone could ever achieve, is that insecure he seemingly intervenes to stop people saying mean things about him. Or posting bad portraits. It's akin to Xi Jinping & Winnie the Pooh; funny how powerful men can have the most brittle egos.

As to ownership: concerns have been that Musk's MO so far has been to simply shutter important moderation outlets, while unbanning noted toxic figures. While those arbitrary firings across the company have caused everything from court cases to technical issues. Pre-Musk, Twitter had never quite shaken the reputation as being an outlet that promotes or tolerates bullying, harassment and various degrees of prejudice. Nor is that isolated to Twitter: Big Tech has repeatedly had a problem, where it wants to be integrated into our lives - but shirks responsibility to deal with the inevitable toxicity that comes from allowing direct access to each other. So closing departments that were Lip Service towards that gatekeeping is a ... well it's a bold choice.

Which, again, is all well and good if you want to be a Free Speech Absolutist and just let rip - but it immediately falls flat on its face when the owner decides he's the exception here. Either make Twitter a Black Box, or don't. If you don't, then define the parameters of bad behaviour. Of course, the rubber has met the road and advertisers bristled at Twitter descending into 8chan adjacent chaos; and so we have this ongoing infinite loop where a company that had a fairly defined set of parameters already, now seems to be flying by the seat of its pants - and that ain't sustainable for a company in deep, deep debt thanks to the takeover. Getting it back to a dollars & cents issue.

If you can show me where on the Terms of Service it says "don't insult Elon Musk", I'll defer to the rules being "clear"; but it sends bad messaging to the userbase, and commercial interests thereof, when the CEO can't offer consistent brand communication about what behaviour is acceptable. Nor am I sure why you say "nothing has changed" when clearly, things have changed, not least in aforementioned issues of harassment. There have been changes in perssonel, changes in policy and moderation.

I doubt people would care about Musk's fragile sense of self if the company's approach to harassment had at least stayed put - or indeed, improved upon what had been routinely criticised in the past. Instead. everyone else has to deal with potential harassment under the banner of "free speech", with potentially reduced courses of action available - but Musk gets shielded 'cos he's the boss? You don't have to agree with the man's politics to see that's some laughable double standards at work. And yeah, you say His House, His Rules - sure, lol okay: but with the debt Twitter has accumulated, Musk may wish to think carefully on that turning Twitter into 8chan. At some stage he'll want to make some money once he puts down his smartphone.

Either way. It's irrelevant if I like the rules or not: I don't have a Twitter account so this doesn't effect me either way; no running into doors apply here. Simply offering context about why there's broad frustration about this mercurial, helicopter management approach.

You don't see Mark Zuckerberg intervening when someone posts a mocking meme on Facebook. Though to be fair, Zuckerberg hasn't quite mastered the concept of human emotions yet.