Bill Gates warns that Elon Musk's free-speech plans could make Twitter worse

[midian182]

What just happened? They may both be billionaires, but Elon Musk and Bill Gates are not the best of friends. The latest spat between the two relates to the former's acquisition of Twitter, which the ex-Microsoft boss has warned could make the platform "worse."

As reported by CNBC, Gates was speaking at the Wall Street Journal's CEO Summit Wednesday about Musk's takeover of Twitter. Much of what he said related to the Tesla boss' claims that he would reduce moderation on the platform and embrace the principles of free speech.

But Gates questioned Musk's plan and his ultimate goal for Twitter. "How does he feel about something [on Twitter] that says 'vaccines kill people' or that 'Bill Gates is tracking people?'" Gates asked. "What are his goals for what it ends up being? Does that match this idea of less extreme falsehoods spreading so quickly [and] weird conspiracy theories? Does he share that goal or not?"

My conversations with Gates have been underwhelming tbh

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 18, 2020

Musk has talked about his desire to make Twitter a bastion of free speech by taking a more relaxed approach to moderating tweets, though it looks like the EU will have something to say about turning the site into a free-for-all. He also wants to get rid of the platform's bot problem and open-source Twitter's algorithm.

Gates did have some praise for Musk, though. He called his time at the head of Tesla and SpaceX "mind-blowing" and said he did a good job of putting together great teams of engineers at those companies.

"I kind of doubt that will happen this time [at Twitter], but we should have an open mind and never underestimate Elon," Gates added.

Twitter will always be free for casual users, but maybe a slight cost for commercial/government users

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 3, 2022

Musk has also talked about his ideas for increasing Twitter's profitability, including charging for embedding tweets and making businesses and governments pay to use the service.

Musk confirmed last month that he had confronted Gates about shorting Tesla stock, which he followed with a Tweet mocking Gates' appearance. It marked the latest clash between the pair, following public disagreements over Covid-19, colonizing Mars, and cryptocurrencies.

Permalink to story.

https://www.techspot.com/news/94474-bill-gates-warns-elon-musk-free-speech-plans.html

 

[Theinsanegamer]

The only way free speech makes things worse is if you benefit from controlling the narrative, Mr. Gates. like if you dont want people talking about all the farmland you have been buying, or the horrendous actions of the company much of your wealth is still connected to.

 

[Sausagemeat]

Please, just stop publishing what Bill Gates says. He’s never really done anything that great.

 

[Achaios]

"We should not have Free Speech on twitter b/c ppl might say things I don't agree with or God Forbid, unban Donald Trump".

 

[Ohnooze]

I'm sure he does feel that way after Elon posted "in case you need to lose a boner fast" with a pic of Gates....it was funny as hell actually.

But why would anyone care about what Bill Gates thinks about anything?

 

[Dimitriid]

"Can make it worst" Implies there's even a chance it won't immediately turn into a Nazi hellhole like 4chan. We have *already* seen this play out multiple times and those other twitter clones had a lot less notoriety than Twitter so Elon's Twitter either immediately becomes another storm squadron and he doesn't cares, or he does care and he spends another 45 billion in AI solutions or manual moderation to try and somehow avoid that without betraying his initial freezed peach discourse.

I think he will go for the first option: Just let it burn while he moves on to other stuff and not care one bit about the right wing terrorist factory left in his failed bid.

 

[emmzo]

Rich guys quarells are only about money, influence, control, but lately, people are buying into "Evil Gates and/or a bunch of bad people versus brave Musk, the champion of freedom". I swear, so much political publicly, I think Musk will run for president soon.
Edit: I`ve been corrected he can`t do that, but the fact is I still think the subject it`s heavily politicized, when in fact, it`s strictly about money.

 

[Ohnooze]

"Can make it worst" Implies there's even a chance it won't immediately turn into a Nazi hellhole like 4chan.
I think he will go for the first option: Just let it burn while he moves on to other stuff and not care one bit about the right wing terrorist factory left in his failed bid.

Well that didn't take long.
Of course we had to go straight to Nazis and right wing terrorist.

Nothing like someone wanting to control what others are allowed to say and at the same time calling them Nazis and terrorist.

You know your view is really extreme and isn't the least bit logical. There will still be limits just as there are now. The only thing that will change really will be that the leftist can't control the narrative by silencing other opinions. For example you won't be able to ban someone for posting stories about Hunter Biden's laptop. Or heaven forbid someone not buy into the idea of there being unlimited genders and not be banned for it. If that is your idea of Nazis and terrorist then I guess you're right.

 

[dangh]

The only way free speech makes things worse is if you benefit from controlling the narrative, Mr. Gates. like if you dont want people talking about all the farmland you have been buying, or the horrendous actions of the company much of your wealth is still connected to.

"Freedom of speech and expression, therefore, may not be recognized as being absolute, and common limitations or boundaries to freedom of speech relate to libel, slander, obscenity, pornography, sedition, incitement, fighting words, classified information, copyright violation, trade secrets, food labeling, non-disclosure agreements, the right to privacy, dignity, the right to be forgotten, public security, and perjury"

For those in Twitter I still would add a 'missinformation' note to influencers' posts which trying to spread false information - if Biden wants to tweet 'earth is flat' there should be note 'It has been proven otherwise' or similar.

As for Gates - I dont really care. He and Musks and other rich people makes decissions on another level and all of them pushing their own agendas. There is no 'good' or 'bad' there... and really, Gates is _free_ to say whatever he wants (except quoted sentence above )

 

[okie11]

I'm really curious how twitter could possibly get any worse than it already is. I left over 5 years ago and it was already a flaming cesspool of trolls and celebrities, sometimes they were both at the same time (Chrissy Teigen anyone) Even with Musk buying it I've left for good and stay as far away from all social media sites as they've all become the same.

 

[lna2000]

"How does he feel about something [on Twitter] that says 'vaccines kill people' or that 'Bill Gates is tracking people?'" Gates asked.

What's da matter Billy, you afraid the truth will get out and the citizens will come after you with pitchforks?

 

[fps4ever]

I'm really curious how twitter could possibly get any worse than it already is. I left over 5 years ago and it was already a flaming cesspool of trolls and celebrities, sometimes they were both at the same time (Chrissy Teigen anyone) Even with Musk buying it I've left for good and stay as far away from all social media sites as they've all become the same.

I agree with you 100%. The problem is its only leftist/liberal trolls, crazies and celebrities. Anything middle to far right leaning is immediately bann'd or censored. Might as well open it up and let it die a flaming death.

 

[wiyosaya]

Persohally, I don't know why anyone listens to either of these guys. They both have exhibited extreme stupidity, IMO, at various points in their lives. Luckily for them, they have big back accounts to shield their butts from bruising when they fall on their a$ses.

With these two news items, I happen to be in rare agreement with Gates. Musky doesn't know Jack about what free speech really is.

Item 1 - My Pillow Guy was banned again within 3-hours after having his account restored on Tweeter. https://economictimes.indiatimes.co...ollowing-ban-in-2021/articleshow/91265838.cms I am sure this is devastating for conservaturds.

Item 2 - Musky proposes charging Governments and Businesses to use Tweeter https://www.euronews.com/next/2022/...for-businesses-and-governments-after-takeover as if this is going to change the plethora of dis-information gushing from Tweeter.

IMO, though the two are different people with different views, both Billy Boy and Musky are equally clueless and each seem to think that the way to solve a problem is by throwing money at it and expecting a solution to sprout like mushrooms from

 

[QuantumPhysics]

November is coming. Liberals are TERRIFIED.

 

[RudyBob]

Another angry old fat white man

 

[wiyosaya]

IMO, Musky is promising to put lipstick on a

Bird-eating Tarantula.

https://www.thepetsavvy.com/goliath-bird-eater-tarantula-theraphosa-blondi/

 

[seeprime]

Rich guys quarells are only about money, influence, control, but lately, people are buying into "Evil Gates and/or a bunch of bad people versus brave Musk, the champion of freedom". I swear, so much political publicly, I think Musk will run for president soon.

Musk was born in South Africa. That disqualifies him from being US President.

 

[wiyosaya]

Musk was born in South Africa. That disqualifies him from being US President.

Praise the US constitution.

 

[Dd663]

Musk was born in South Africa. That disqualifies him from being US President.

Pity. I would have voted for him for the lulz. Or maybe even unironically.

 

[emmzo]

Musk was born in South Africa. That disqualifies him from being US President.

I stand corrected. Maybe a governor then?

 

[George Keech]

When I see Techspot comments on this whole twitter thing, one thing always comes straight to mind.

What is each persons definition of "liberal" here are the 2 from Google.

1.Willing to respect or accept behaviour or opinions different from one's own; open to new ideas
2.Relating to or denoting a political and social philosophy that promotes individual rights, civil liberties, democracy, and free enterprise

None of these sound like bad things, so makes me think people need to be clearer.

 

[Bl00dyMinded]

November is coming. Liberals are TERRIFIED.

Finally, something posted I agree with.

 

[wiyosaya]

When I see Techspot comments on this whole twitter thing, one thing always comes straight to mind.

What is each persons definition of "liberal" here are the 2 from Google.

1.Willing to respect or accept behaviour or opinions different from one's own; open to new ideas
2.Relating to or denoting a political and social philosophy that promotes individual rights, civil liberties, democracy, and free enterprise

None of these sound like bad things, so makes me think people need to be clearer.

I agree. To me, it denotes ignorance of what they are railing against and has become a catchphrase meant to demonize anyone they disagree with. I'm not innocent as I use the term conservaturd - but mostly that is my sending my best wishes back to them.

 

[waclark]

claims that he would reduce moderation on the platform

I don't think Musk has promised to reduce "moderation" on the platform. I think he's talking about reducing the, seemingly, biased moderation that prevents open discussion of difficult subjects.

As for vaccines killing people, I guess Gates missed the recent study from Israel showing a higher incidence of myocarditis in young people. Now, that study didn't say it was killing people, but Gates wants to shut down any discussion of the risk of vaccines, when clearly there are risks. That is the sort of "disinformation" we want to fight against. Gates wants a one-sided narrative, ie "Vaccines are perfectly safe", when there is much more we need to study about them. PS - I'm vaccinated but I'm still interested in hearing from all sides.

 

[wiyosaya]

November is coming. Liberals are TERRIFIED.

Of what? The boogeyman under my bed or hiding in my closet?

I think conservatives have more to be afraid of - women.

But we all know how you advocate for autocrats like Putie - and if such does manage to find power in the US, I can imagine how you will be pining for the good old days of the republic (re: Londo Mollari) - except you'll be arrested when you post anything that even implies as much of a dislike of what you advocated for.

Careful what you wish for - you just might get it.