[cbeach]

I've tried to explain the issues with the UK government's stance on digital privacy to my friends. The responses I get:

* I have nothing to hide, I don't care

* Oh come on, our government doesn't care what I'm up to

* The UK will never be totalitarian. I'm not scared of the government

* The UK civil service is incompetent and could never pull this off (fair point, although I worry about the safety of my personal data in the hands of such people)

Let's not forget we had a hard-left (Corbyn) socialist regime come close to power, whose cabinet members called for "direct action" against political opponents, just a few years ago.

https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/watch-john-mcdonnell-s-c...

I don't think people realise how quickly things could go wrong with these surveillance mechanisms in place, and spiteful, authoritarian politicians taking power.

[zfg]

> and spiteful, authoritarian politicians taking power.

Or spiteful, authoritarian non-politicians taking power, spreading misinformation, and censoring free speech:

https://www.techdirt.com/2025/02/03/musk-shows-us-what-actua...

[cbeach]

Musk is a libertarian not an authoritarian.

His job is to reduce the size and power of government.

Authoritarians don’t do that. Libertarians do that. Two opposite ends of the spectrum.

“Misinformation” is a very subjective word, so I’m afraid you and I will have to agree to disagree that Musk is spreading misinformation.

Don’t believe everything you read about Musk in the mainstream media. Don’t forget that the media have a vested interest in denigrating Musk, because he’s their most significant competitor, and while X exists, and we’re able to hear directly from influential people, the legacy media is powerless to control the narrative.

[zfg]

> Musk is a libertarian not an authoritarian.

What, your claim is that libertarians suppress speech? Explain why Musk is censoring speech on Twitter.

Musk is authoritarian by nature. He always has been.

> “Misinformation” is a very subjective word

It isn't. It's lies, falsehoods, and untruths. Here are some of the lies Musk has spread:

- Lies about Paul Pelosi: https://edition.cnn.com/2022/10/30/business/musk-tweet-pelos...

- Lies about the recent LA fires: https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2025/01/10/elon-mu...

- Lies about USAID: https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20250202-musk-brands-u...

- Lies about how good he is at video games: https://english.elpais.com/technology/2025-01-24/elon-musk-a...

And so on and so on. He never stops lying. He can't help himself. There's something wrong with him.

> Don’t forget that the media have a vested interest in denigrating Musk, because he’s their most significant competitor, and while X exists, and we’re able to hear directly from influential people, the legacy media is powerless to control the narrative.

This kind of conspiratorial thinking won't get you anywhere.

Carl Sagan worried this would happen to you (https://www.openculture.com/2025/02/carl-sagan-predicts-the-...). Sagan said, "I have a foreboding of an America in my children’s or grandchildren’s time — when the United States is a service and information economy; when nearly all the manufacturing industries have slipped away to other countries; when awesome technological powers are in the hands of a very few, and no one representing the public interest can even grasp the issues; when the people have lost the ability to set their own agendas or knowledgeably question those in authority; when, clutching our crystals and nervously consulting our horoscopes, our critical faculties in decline, unable to distinguish between what feels good and what’s true, we slide, almost without noticing, back into superstition and darkness"

And, sure enough, it has.

[cbeach]

Quoting opinion pieces in rags like the Washington Post (owned by Musk's bitter personal rival Jeff Bezos) is not the way for us to come to a consensus on what is true (or not) about Musk.

[zfg]

That doesn't explain why Musk is suppressing speech on X. Why is Musk suppressing free speech on X?

Many outlets have reported on Musk's LA fires lies. Pick the one you like. Here are some:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/johnhyatt/2025/01/29/musks-x-pl...

https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2025/01/los-angeles-fire...

https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/los-angele...

https://www.mediaite.com/news/elon-musk-deletes-tweet-agreei...

https://www.wired.com/story/maga-blaming-dei-california-wild...

Alex Jones loved getting the endorsement from Musk.

[cbeach]

We've been here before.

In 2023 there were terrible wildfires in Greece. The media immediately jumped on it and claimed climate change was responsible. Anyone who questioned the narrative was a "climate change denier" or "conspiracy theorist"

Then, later on, we discovered there had been 79 arrests for arson. Obviously, the media barely covered this. Only on free speech platforms like X was the truth revealed, and now, it is also documented on Wikipedia:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2023_Greece_wildfires

Today's "conspiracy theory" often turns out to be tomorrow's fact - so don't be so quick to judge Musk. He probably knows more about the wildfires than you do, given he runs a large network of hundreds of millions of users.

[computerthings]

Claiming "disinformation is subjective" and then cherry picking something to avoid all of it isn't even a credible attempt. Consensus isn't the objective, forwarding arguments that hold water is. You haven't disputed a mentioned single fact, so I take it you know they're indeed facts.

[oigursh]

Chilling.