Bonum Certa Men Certa

Social Control Media: Naming the Author Who Smeared Wikileaks (Using a Past Identity) is 'Hateful Conduct' (Updatedx3)

Locked by Twitter



Summary: Twitter continues to demonstrate intolerance towards free speech; it's not possible to point out that a particular person used to publish under a different name

THIS I could not believe! Though I didn't think it was a joke, either.



The above tweet gave me trouble some minutes ago. The tweet is very, very old. Hundreds of thousands of tweets ago.

My question is this: how are people supposed to know about the prior publications if the name changed? The past publications are very much relevant to this. Because this person used to support Wikileaks and then opportunistically started to attack Wikileaks (to promote MuckRock).

Is pointing out the connection between the two (same person) "hateful"?

What is this, a joke?

"Is pointing out the connection between the two (same person) "hateful"?"I did not even mention gender at all (only names, both factually associated with the same person).

Journalists covering Wikileaks have lately been claiming that Twitter was hiding their tweets from followers, especially those that concern Wikileaks.

The above smacks of some sort of "right to be forgotten" (RtbF) thing, where one can change name and then flag as hateful any mention of past writings. As if it's not legal to link one's current actions to past writings.

This, I think, should be scandalous! How is it a policy violation to merely point it out?

"This is a very serious threat to free speech."I will ask my online friends who are trans if this is considered -- in their eyes -- sufficient grounds for such an action because, assuming it has something to do with LGBT rights, this paints their cause in a bad light -- one detrimental to journalism.

Imagine Wikileaks referring to Chelsea Manning as "formerly Bradley Manning" (as it has sometimes done, e.g. when linking to old articles that say "Bradley") and then getting banned from Twitter for it.

This is a very serious threat to free speech. This is why I took this screenshot. This is the first time Twitter does this kind of thing to me.

"I don't even know who reported this to Twitter. A slippery slope for sure."If someone called George changes his name to John or Jane becomes Shiela, does that too make it "hateful"?

There's not enough clarity in the Twitter message to say why it was deemed "hateful". It's very vague, very opaque.

Anyway, a few clicks later, the tweet was deleted (by them, by Twitter) and they let me back into my account with over 750,000 tweets in it.

What next? Will somebody else try to flag something and reach three strikes? Based on this sort of threshold for "hate", how many other tweets can be flagged "offensive" or whatnot? I don't even know who reported this to Twitter. A slippery slope for sure. Online lynch mobs trying to 'cancel' people or de-platforming them isn't a new thing; did I get a target on my behind? Cherry-picking things I typed in a hurry several years ago?

Unlocked by Twitter



Update: WOW! They've just done that again. Similar thing. Here we go:

Locked again



Update #2: And now Techrights is under DDOS attack. Curious timing.

Update #3: I have also just discovered, 6 hours late, that at the same time Twitter suspended the Tux Machines account, which is totally unrelated, citing "suspicious activity" (very vague) and requiring a phone number and long recovery process to get the account back. This happened around the very same hour as the above process. It's not likely that the overlap is a coincidence. In a decade of Twitter this never happened to Tux Machines. Is there a coordinated attempt to suppress speech?

Recent Techrights' Posts

Representing and Speaking for Animals
If I ever choose to take this matter to tribunal with animals-centric NGOs on my side, it'll get some press coverage for sure
Slopwatch: Fake Articles About "Linux", Slop Images in VentureBeat, Linux Foundation Spam Made With LLM Slop and Slop Images
The only relief or upside - if any exists - is that the pace of slop was down a bit this week
 
Financiers and Sponsors of the Slop Hype (Pyramid Scheme Waiting to End, Bubble That Will Inevitably Implode)
It's also burning the planet
Slopwatch: Fake Articles About "Linux", Google Helps Ponzi Schemes and Slopfarms in Google News
Slopfarms are a real pain
Gemini Links 29/08/2025: Retiring at 62 and URL Filtering HTTP(S) Proxy on Qubes OS
Links for the day
Links 29/08/2025: Lisa Cook Sues Convicted Felon and Backdoor Mandate in UK Resisted
Links for the day
Links 29/08/2025: Arti 1.5.0, War on Public Health (CDC), and Slop 'Bros' Made to Pay for Their Mass Plagiarism
Links for the day
No, 4Chan is Not Fighting for You by Lawyering Up Against Ofcom (UK)
Don't mistake proto-fascists for people who "fight for you". They don't.
Downlplaying the Impact of "UEFI 9/11" is a Losing Strategy
we won't publish much whilst on holiday
In Many Places in the World Vista 11 "Market Share" is Going Down, Not Up
In some countries Windows is already down to third place or lower
More Microsoft-Connected Layoffs, at Least Third Time This Month! (Also Another Death on Campus)
Microsoft as a "gaming" company is where studios, projects, games, and even developers come to die
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, August 28, 2025
IRC logs for Thursday, August 28, 2025
Gemini Links 29/08/2025: Poems, Games, and Java 25 Performance
Links for the day
Links 28/08/2025: Greenland 'Interferences' by US and Skinnerboxes to Get Banned in Korean Schools
Links for the day
Richard Stallman (RMS) Talk in Ethereum Cypherpunk Congress Will be Remote
This past week RMS received lots of accolades online
The Register MS (Run by Microsoft Operatives): Free Software is Putin, Hence Evil and Dangerous
The current editor in chief is an American Microsofter, the previous one went to work for Google (US)
Links 28/08/2025: Chatbots Distorting/Fabricating History and Also Driving Suicide
Links for the day
Gemini Links 28/08/2025: Back in Japan and Why "Hacker News" Sucks
Links for the day
A Much-Needed Wake-up Call to Users of Wordpress.com, Blogspot, Substack and All Those Other Outsourced (and Centralised) Platforms
There are several lessons in there
The UEFI 9/11 - Part II - Campaign of Censorship and Defamation Against Critics
In dictatorships, humour serves an important role. It's tragic.
Open Source Initiative (OSI) Resists Software Freedom, Even by Attacking Its Own
The OSI is compromised
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, August 27, 2025
IRC logs for Wednesday, August 27, 2025
Slopwatch: linuxsecurity.com, Slopfarms in Google News, and More
Some readers of ours end up sending us links that are from slopfarms, not realising those are slopfarms
Gemini Links 27/08/2025: Katrina Memories and Google Versus Software Freedom
Links for the day
Links 27/08/2025: Police Against Media Freedom in the UK, Energy-Hungry Countries Targeted by China
Links for the day
Microsoft Windows Fell to All-Time Lows in Egypt This Summer, Vista 11 Adoption Decreases While GNU/Linux Increases
Vista 11 is going down rather than up
Links 27/08/2025: Microsoft Demoralises Staff With Slop Demands, Leaving Mastodon Explained
Links for the day
12 Hours Ago The Register MS Published a Fake (Paid-for) Article, But This One for a Change Did Not Promote a Ponzi Scheme
There are also Free software alternatives, but they don't pay The Register MS for "synthetic" so-called 'journalism'
More People Need to Call Out and Put a Stop to Serial Sloppers
Unless slopfarms are stopped, people will read and share Microsoft propaganda made by chatbots
Gemini Links 27/08/2025: Headphones and Tartarus
Links for the day
Morale at Microsoft is Terrible (Proprietary Plagiarism Machines Have No Future, LLM Slop is a Bubble)
The slop sceptics/critics are going to have lots of "told you so" moments
GNOME "governance issues, staff reduction, etc." amidst Albanian whistleblowing and women trafficking
Notice the connection to Software Freedom Conservancy (SFC) and GNOME
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, August 26, 2025
IRC logs for Tuesday, August 26, 2025