There’s no denying that Twitter has become a cesspool since Musk bought it and people are Xiting in droves, either voluntarily or involuntarily. Several comrades have had their accounts suspended and Dr Julia Grace Paterson, founder of EveryDoctor, was being hounded off the platform by trolls but I think she’s sticking around for a bit longer. I subscribe to her Substack and already had a good idea what she was suffering, it’s why she limits her posts to paid subscribers. The reality was brought home to me when reading responses to the her announcement that she was quitting Twitter/X – they were truly vile and a couple were directed at me for defending her. I will continue to share her blogs as much as I can but recommend a paid subscription if you can afford one, or you can request free access by emailing her. I’ll provide a link below.

Here’s a quote from an article by Heidi Cuba in Byline Times Supplement and there’s a link below; it also requires a paid subscription to be read in full but the part that’s free should be sufficient to give you the idea.

Musk has called himself a free speech absolutist, but he has consistently sued his critics and used the power of his platform to spread hate speech.

It appears that the wealthiest imbecile on the planet doesn’t care about money, he already has more than he knows what to do with. He’s reportedly suing companies for withdrawing their advertising because of his pro-Israel stance while simultaneously telling them to “go fuck themselves”. He hobnobs with the likes of Donald Trump and Binyamin Netanyahu, such a triumvirate of deranged individuals would be difficult to imagine if we weren’t confronted with the reality!

What “freedom of speech” means to Musk is that he can say whatever he likes and so can we – it’s a different matter if we say something he doesn’t like. He has his own version of English which is utterly incomprehensible to me.

“From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” does not imply, either linguistically or logically, a genocide of Jews. It means precisely what it says, neither more nor less.

Jonathan Cook makes the point that Musk is a pioneer of monetising “free speech”

Independent journalists, including myself, have been some of the chief beneficiaries of Musk’s X. But I don’t for a minute make the mistake of thinking Musk is really in favour of my free speech – or anyone else’s – compared to his own.

Having invested in a blue tick myself I don’t think it has bought me an audience anymore than it bought Jonathan one, here’s Jonathan blog: First, Elon Musk made us pay for ‘free speech’. Now he decides who’s allowed it https://open.substack.com/pub/jonathancook/p/first-elon-musk-made-us-pay-for-free?utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email

I had barely started writing this when I saw this screenshot posted by a friend and comrade, the real Paula Peters, who is a well known activist for people with disabilities. She’s far more active than I am, I don’t have the same disabilities, but I’ll do whatever I can to support her – including donating to a fundraiser to buy her a new mobility scooter!

I really can’t understand why people come on Twitter to say such vile things. Some people, including a human rights barrister, are calling for Twitter/X to be banned in the UK. The don’t see the irony of using a platform to silence everyone who uses it, including themselves, whereas Musk allows free speech to everyone he agrees with. A number of people, including myself, are blocking Musk’s personal account. Not that he cares, it’s just a hobby for him.

We can use other platforms but the established ones are no better. I recently re-activated my Facebook account but it was soon suspended for “unusual activity” and I didn’t bother to go through the rigmarole of getting it restored. Paula and I have both set up accounts on Mastodon but it hasn’t been very satisfactory.

My following on Twitter/X has fluctuated wildly since my account was hacked – in retrospect I consider it a compliment that someone should consider it sufficiently influential to be worth hacking. I do have some high profile followers, including four members of the House of Lords. Prem Sikka has said that my account is worth following. Why on earth would I abandon all my followers here and start again from scratch?

One way to ensure we stay in touch is for you to subscribe to this blog, it costs nothing and you’ll be notified whenever I publish a new one.

Dr Julia Grace Patterson shttps://substack.com/@jujuliagrace?r=jitam&utm_medium=ios&utm_source=profile

Unmusked: Free Speech Gangsterism https://www.bylinesupplement.com/p/unmusked-free-speech-gangsterism?r=jitam&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web