Happy Nice Mall

The Internet as we know it is the act of constantly choosing some conversations over others.

Google and Microsoft decide which search results appear first and which are embedded in Page 400. Twitter and Facebook often choose whether you come across photos from your cousin’s engagement party or tweets from your elected representative. Apple says yes or no to every app available in its store. Even not letting spam flood your inbox is a choice to set aside some sort of conversation.

These decisions are choices about who to say what, where and to whom, and are an inevitable and sometimes welcome part of the websites and apps we spend our days on.

In a New York Times column today, knotted questions He’s behind Elon Musk’s far-reaching plan as the next owner of Twitter: He wants to make it a place where unlimited ideas can often circulate freely, as long as they don’t break the law.

Follow-up questions for Musk: What if speech breaks the law? Germany or Turkey but not in the United States? When will Twitter and governments happen? disagree on how to interpret the laws of expression, Including the First Amendment? Pornography is legal in the United States. Now it’s not allowed on Twitter, but will it be Musk’s property? How about Chinese propaganda? undermines accusations of human rights abuses and distorts people’s views?

Social media company executives have learned that defending freedom of expression is not simple in a complex world where one person’s right to self-expression can silence another or sow chaos, and where one person’s or government’s definition of freedom of speech crosses borders for another.

“Unlimited freedom of speech does not mean that it is a more literal version of freedom of speech. “It means you build an island like in Lord of the Flies and let the kids go crazy,” said Kate Klonick, a law professor at St. John’s University. “A well-organized and predictable speaking environment is best for free speech.”

Musk hasn’t officially taken over Twitter, and it’s too soon to know how he might change the policing balance on the site. Most social media companies, including former President Donald J. Trump’s Truth Social, are pretty much all right and exist in a wide range of expressions among tough nannies. Musk may have considered giving Twitter more leeway, especially when it comes to political expressions protected under US law.

Musk also suggested that he could accelerate some of the goals Twitter has set for itself, including eliminating more accounts tweeting malicious automated posts and providing greater transparency into the software formulas the site uses to regulate what we see there. These ideas are more geared towards effectively restricting freedom of expression in the interests of users.

My colleague Kate Conger said Monday during a Twitter Spaces chat that some Twitter employees were excited (and others were not) about Musk giving them a clean slate in the endless turmoil of the 16-year-old company, including the issue of freedom of speech. Some technology managers and US politicians I believe Musk will be a spark to give the conversation more breathing room.

Musk will soon have a chance to take a fresh look at Twitter, including questions about what kinds of conversations to prioritize and how the company can fulfill a request. potential that always seems unattainable. Twitter is influential worldwide, but has about a tenth of Facebook users and generates much less annual revenue than the Bed Bath & Beyond retail chain.

We all benefit when Twitter and other important worldwide communication and persuasion tools work effectively to better understand our world and open our minds. How to get there is the hard part.

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