November 1: Today's Take
Goodbye Twitter?, Brazil President Speaks, Russia Breaks Promise
Elon Musk fired the entire board of directors at Twitter. On Thursday he fired his chief content monitor leaving himself unchecked and no advisors. Long-time users in the political middle and on the left have been leaving the platform since Musk took the helm less than six days ago. Some on the right returned to Twitter or joined because Musk promised to reinstate banned accounts.
Many long-time users deleted their accounts when the $44 billion deal took the company private. Others announced their departure after the incidents of racist Tweets and those spreading misinformation, one involving Musk himself, went viral over the weekend. Musk deleted the Tweet without retraction or explanation. Racism, while despicable, can be easily identified and called out, not so with misinformation. Just look at the consequences of Ye’s (Kanye West) decision to exercise his freedom to express antisemitic ideas. Misinformation requires time and research busy people do not have.
Many believe Musk may charge a monthly subscription fee of $19.99 for verified accounts which are currently free. Such action might weed out many nonprofits and influential poorer owners of accounts by making them indistinguishable leaving their voices to drown in a sea of bots meant to deceive. The latest rumor says the new fee of $8 and also would apply to Twitter Blue which currently charges $4.99 per month for increased features, larger media uploads and free access to publications.
Forcing verified accounts to pay diminishes valid public discourse which Musk claims was his motive for buying the company. “Blue-checked” accounts maintained by more affluent users could simply refuse to pay for the check and let the check become a way to distinguish those who support Musk’s views. Until it becomes a reality those with verified accounts can delay that decision.
No one in this brief time can prove Musk deliberately plans to use Twitter to spread misinformation. Time will tell, but Twitter is now a private company and Musk can run it as he pleases.
Will influential figures with large Twitter followings stay at least until the election next week to correct misinformation and call out the racism of those willing to expose themselves publicly? Will they ignore bots that might be used to help Tweets go viral? Will Twitter die or become another Truth Social-echo chamber Musk claims to abhor?
•Will the Second Largest Democracy in the Americas Copy the Largest Democracy in the Americas?
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro lost his bid for re-election but spoke today for the first time since losing the election on Sunday. He did not concede but did authorize an appointee to announce the transition of power, while the Washington Post reported that the former President of the United States conflicted with the New President about the transition of the Pentagon as late as December 18, more than a month after the election.
Bolsonaro’s supporters have blocked the streets for a second day to protest the election results. The President speech lasted less than three minutes and he referred to the protesters as “current popular movements” expressing “a sense of injustice of the how the electoral process unfolded.” Bolsonaro did mention the word peace in his brief speech. Was that word ever used by the former U. S. President? Today a judge ordered police in Brazil to clear the blocked streets.
Brazil lived under military dictatorship from 1964 until 1985. Will the military try to justify division as an excuse to re-imposing its power? Is a January 6 violent insurrection in store for Brazil? Will Brazil end up like the United States where two years later their country remains sharply divided over a lost election a former President refuses to acknowledge? Could the United States end up like Brazil but slide into dictatorship making authoritarianism legal as Germany did under Hitler?
•Russia Reneges on Grain Shipments – Cites War Putin Started as Excuse
Despite an agreement with the United Nations this past July, Russia said it will not follow through on its commitment to let Ukrainian ships carry grain through the Black Sea. Russia is using the excuse of the actions of Ukraine resulting from the war he started in February to avoid fulfilling his promise in July.
Russia illegally annexed Crimea in 2014 and canceled an agreement it made with Ukraine that allowed the Russian Black Sea Fleet to maintain a base in the city of Sevastopol on the Crimean Peninsula in exchange for supplying Ukraine with natural gas. The Black Sea is critical economically to both Russia and Ukraine. Russia broke this agreement when it illegally annexed Crimea 2014. Since it’s invasion in February, Russia has destroyed 40 percent of Ukraine’s energy infrastructure. Obviously Russia is not supplying the natural gas Ukraine it promised in 2010.
Internationally Crimea is recognized as part of Ukraine by all but a few countries. The July agreement brokered by the UN and Turkey to allow Ukraine grain shipments in the Black Sea included no agreement to end to the war nor the surrender of Crimea to Russia by Ukraine.
If Russia uses the consequences of its illegal invasion of Ukraine as an excuse to break agreements why would Zelensky or any other leader agree to negotiate with Putin?
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