By Janet Ekstract
ISTANBUL- In a recent interview on TED talks, Elon Musk waxed philosophical about the type of Twitter he wants to see after acquiring the social media giant for a whopping $44 billion. If only Musk’s words were backed up by reality. For those who remain obsessed with selfies, this author reminds you that there are more important things in the world to be concerned about such as freedom of speech.
What’s ironic is that the new online dissident Arab newspaper Al Estiklal (The Independence), created in February 2022 was suspended from Twitter on World Press Day on May 3 this week, with no explanation and no warning. That is a definite ‘Aha Moment’ as Oprah would say. The $64,000 question becomes will Twitter stay out of politics? Will the political leanings of other countries influence Twitter’s purported goal of “inclusivity.”? Taking things a step further, what about America’s ‘new cozy’ with Saudi Arabia and the UAE who are notorious for quashing dissent and dissidents at any price.
Touche! Two weeks after the paper’s launch, first Saudia Arabia then the UAE blocked the paper’s website, according to an article from TRT World. Not surprising, given both countries histories with opposition to their regimes where any minor criticism is seen as an affront to their kingdoms. Take a deep breath here and look at what’s really going on: Twitter is American-owned and now America is in a new, cozier relationship with both Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates leaders. Since the three countries are bedfellows, perhaps American-owned Twitter fears criticism from the Arab world since the leaders of both countries detest even the mildest dissent.
The bottom line: America should never sell out Twitter on the premise of being ‘politically correct.’ One must ask if Elon Musk will remain committed to his public pronouncements about inclusivity and new digital checks and balances on the platform. If the experience of Al Estiklal is any measure of the inclusivity Musk referred to, then Musk helming Twitter is getting off to a very bad start and an even worse precedent. It might be worth noting that the bulk of Musk’s Tesla production is in China where his company produces 50,000 electric cars a month which could potentially reach a capacity of 600,000 electric cars produced there annually. In addition, Tesla is planning a second factory in an undisclosed location in China. Why does this matter? Because China shuts down dissent as well. Wouldn’t this appear to be a conflict of interest? As long as China sticks to its Weibo, there shouldn’t be a problem, right?
Elon Musk knows better and if he is authentic about wanting a truly inclusive Twitter then he needs to keep politics out of this media platform. The only problem with that, is that it’s incredibly hard to do in a world where what your global buddies think of you, counts more than you can know. But if America does not respect its own Constitution with the promise of free speech, then Twitter could end up either an unwitting mouthpiece for authoritarianism or a mealy-mouthed version of the truth.
Here’s the kicker: Elon Musk in his remarks on that recent TED talk interview, shared that “I’ve always been obsessed with finding the truth.” If that’s actually true then Musk has a lot of work to do to prove he can put his money where his mouth is. Well, just saying.
