This discussion questions the biggest topic that came up during our class, the Twitter Buyout by Elon Musk.
In my opinion, the buyout of Twitter by Elon Musk is both possibly monumental and catastrophic. This buyout will determine how the Internet goes from this point forward in America. the private business such as Twitter Facebook Instagram and such, are responsible for moderating and keeping any form of logistical hate speech off their platform too not fall into any legal trouble. But when such a power can simply be paid out to thwart any type of censorship, the only thing that can commandeer that is government intervention. not only that, but we also live in a cyber society. Where cyberattacks are a very common tool to disrupt businesses. The more that Twitter becomes a target, the more likely a cyber-attack may be, Either internationally or within our own country.
the only way that this could be govern is through modifications of net neutrality. At least government wise. controversially, speech only has power when you give it power. If everybody suddenly stopped caring about Twitter and moved on to the next thing, such as what the Internet can possibly be, this whole potential issue is irrelevant. I don't think that will happen but the thought that can give power just by giving something attention is astonishing.
Regarding who is enforcing any policies or laws, let's look at NATO. Who exactly governs international law? Laws typically handled and enforce by a higher power. But who collectively will enforce any international laws if no nation decides to abide by them? This is exactly what will happen with Twitter. Yes, you can sue anything. But as the background information provided states, such attempts would be futile. So, the only one who is left to govern is Twitter themselves. And if they are a free speech platform, how will they govern themselves? Can't they govern themselves? Twitter culture is the most toxic culture I've ever seen on the Internet. I can only see this getting worse only time will tell how this plays out and how it will affect how we use the Internet going forward.
Meaghan Blue, a class pier, added her take on this. “Something gains power especially this Twitter purchase because we have put that out there, we talk about it, post about it, making it a big deal when in reality does it really matter who owns Twitter? The rules may change a bit but that doesn't mean it is now some free reign that we can do and post whatever, there are still laws that govern speech. The amount of traction that Musk has been given has only fueled him more to keep making these huge purchases, not because he necessarily wants to but because he has the money and wants his name to be the hot topic and that is exactly what we have given him.”
Additionally, Colleague Jaylon Robert resonated with the NATO approach. “t makes me wonder when will be the time that Twitter cannot be checked? And who or what other platform would follow in their footsteps overstepping their boundaries? The problem is rooted in a multitude of things, but one of my biggest assumptions is that our courts and branches do not have enough people who can morally and ethically discern within this world of social connection and technology. Yes, decision to keep Twitter in place could be made, but would it hold firm for future reference?”