Elon Musk, the owner of X, criticized advertisers with expletives on Wednesday at The New York Times’s DealBook Summit.

    • tehcooles@programming.dev
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      11 months ago

      Legitimately curious because I’m OOTL: why would Saudi Arabia want to destroy Twitter? My (admittedly uninformed) instinct says it would be a waste of their large investment and control over a platform ripe with potential for them to control narratives over their shitty PR for human rights abuses and other shit. Would it just be to prevent negative coverage of their actions from spreading?

      Again, not arguing, just legitimately curious. I figured Twitter’s downfall would be really bad for them since they have sway over Musk and a vested interest in the platform.

      • S_204@lemm.ee
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        11 months ago

        Twitter was at the heart of the Arab Spring uprising a few years ago. Letting people under your control communicate with each other quickly and concisely does not work well for dictators. The Saudis are dictators who want to control the people under them.

        For them, 20 billion spent on some stupid revenge. Porn doesn’t really make an impact. On the bottom line.

      • BURN@lemmy.world
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        11 months ago

        Twitter was unparalleled in the reach it had. It has been used to organize protests, riots and overthrow governments. There still isn’t a viable alternative that can reach 80%+ of a population.

        Twitter was also used frequently to expose poor working conditions and other abuses of power, especially in middle eastern countries

        • Olhonestjim@lemmy.world
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          11 months ago

          But that’s not Tru Freedums! Tru Freedums is being able to say the n-word and be respected for it!

      • piecat@lemmy.world
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        11 months ago

        Twitter was the only mainstream social media that seemed to have any semblance of ethics.

        Musk is also a wild card, and adding to the instability of Western society is advantageous. It’s another direction we get pulled, another thing to be upset about, another distraction.

    • dangblingus@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      11 months ago

      Exactly what I was implying. If destroying the platform wasn’t the point, then they’d want to know why they’re not seeing a return on their investment. The public story is that it was an investment.

    • interceder270@lemmy.world
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      11 months ago

      I guess they failed. Twitter is still just as massive as it was before.

      Take a look at how many posts on lemmy and even mastodon are just screencaps of tweets.

      Ya’ll are addicted to that shit, lol.