Comment by AgentME
5 years ago
One angle I don't see discussed: I wonder if Trump commits to more risky/bombastic/divisive plans as president because he feels confident that he can directly frame them and control the narrative by using his audience on Twitter, and he feels emboldened by how immediately Twitter is able to deliver the reactions. If there's a chance this is true, I can especially understand Twitter wanting to have no part in this. It would be fucked up to force anyone like Twitter to be the ones working to support this if they didn't want to be the ones doing it and associated with it.
Twitter should have suspended the account of a repeated rule breaker a long time ago.
If I threatened to shoot the president, I would be in jail already, not to mention my twitter account would be suspended.
https://twitter.com/search?q=%22shoot%20trump%22&src=typed_q...
https://twitter.com/swoIIens/status/1266247882652278785 https://twitter.com/uwork4me247/status/1265065191311638529 https://twitter.com/SweeetTeeeaaa/status/1263924178048241665 https://youtu.be/E4i3bAtEuJE?t=184
The first direct link you posted is a RT if someone saying that their friend was arrested for exactly this. https://twitter.com/swoIIens/status/1266247882652278785
It sounds like you’re confirming OPs point, not refuting it.
Hit the "report tweet" button, just like people have been doing to Trump's tweets.
This is a wrong way to prove your point because we don't know how many tweets and accounts were actually taking down for threatening violence.
Twitter's stock price had far too much to gain to lose the traffic he brought. They are complicit in the current state of affairs.
I don't disagree; I think my point is just another reason on top of that.
I've said in the past that if Twitter had a "dislike" button in addition to the "like" button and only showed the cumulative score (like reddit or HN), Trump would've gotten much less gratification from Twitter due to lower net "likes" and would've given up Twitter entirely, which would almost certainly have altered his behavior.
Large scale botnets would likely be employed.
Trump playbook: 1)cause problem 2)throw a fit, bluster, and lie to get his base riled up 3)gain minor concession from opponent and/or back down 5)claim victory
It's way too late for that, though. I left twitter more than five years ago (can't remember the exact date) when it became clear it had became a gathering place for ordinary fascism and you could not have a reasonable discussion without having extremists harassing you. And this started long before Trump's election (in France, we have a name for that : the fachosphere).
I'm willing to give it an other chance if they implement proper moderation (because in the end, I love talking with people very different than me, especially if they are of different political views, provided they're willing to discuss and don't just want to harm opponents), but I'm afraid the harm is done, and everyone is radicalized, now.