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Comment by Barrin92 | Hacker News Reader

I don't think there's a lot of democracy in having some gazillionaire buy a social media platform and then interfere in the politics of other sovereign nations/continents.

As a EU citizen I hope we get rid of Twitter at some point and build a sovereign communications infrastructure and domestic firms abiding by our local laws, because that is what a democracy is about.

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But that’s happening everywhere on every social platform isn’t it? The very act of going along with censorship requests interferes with the politics of a nation by silencing opposition.

Not any more, most social media platforms nowadays seem to be capable of enforcing local laws. The act of following lawful takedown requests isn't political, it's literally just enforcing the law of the land, the bare minimum any foreign company has to do if it wants to do business anywhere.

There's obviously also no reason to assume this has anything to do with any opposition, Twitter can't even make sure anything that's posted on that site is even posted by people, let alone citizens of their respective jurisdictions.

Having Elon Musk on the one side and bots from a basement in Moscow on the other set your country's conversation is many things but certainly not democratic.

You seem to envision a world in which one would have to physically travel outside the borders of your nation in order to hear what people outside the nation think. Do you also propose that foreign printed media be banned in your nation? What if a foreigner writes a letter to a citizen in your nation and attaches a clipping of a magazine article that criticizes your government? Should the letter be confiscated? Should all mail be opened and censored by your government? How would that be any different than life was in Soviet Russia and East Germany? Do you really propose regressing to that, now in the 21st century, after all the oppressive atrocities perpetrated in the 20th?

I don't, what kind of strawman is that? What I propose is that foreigners play by the same rules domestic citizens do, no more no less. When in Rome do as the Romans do is what I propose, so as long as foreign outlets abide by the laws and rules of the country they want to do business in they should be able to freely publish. But when they think that they don't need to do that because they're convinced the American first amendment somehow applies in Brazil or the European Union and that American businessmen get to make the rules instead of national governments then you show them where the door is, that is all.

“Interfere in the politics of other sovereign nations/continents”?

Europeans are choosing to use X. Nobody is forcing them.

And it seem odd to blame someone in another country for voicing their opinion.

It certainly isn’t Musks statement that causing social unrest. It just threw a twig on an already burning fire cause by government policy.

It's "only" the richest man in the world fanning the flames globally of his favourite wedge issues (which for some reason are all far right memes), great.

So you’re upset that people read Elon’s tweets?

“Fanning the flames”? You mean sharing his opinion?

Would it be ok if he wasn’t rich?

I don’t understand your point

> So you’re upset that people read Elon’s tweets?

Not really upset other people read them. Disappointed he doesn't have more constructive things to say to the people that do listen to him though.

> “Fanning the flames”? You mean sharing his opinion?

He can share his opinion, but there are ways do it that don't involve riling people up.

> Would it be ok if he wasn’t rich?

Yes, money is power. No one cares about me posting here, if it was Musk it would be (sadly) global news.

> I don’t understand your point

Musk is helping start the fire, he should be more responsible in his position of power.

That’s when you realize that rich people are just normal people with money.

There is no moral code that say they must act like rich people.

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