Aardvark Daily

Please visit the sponsor!

Elon Musk bans me

Elon Musk likes to pat himself on the back; quite frequently.

When he accidentally talked himself into a corner a few years ago and ended up having to purchase Twitter (now X), he proudly proclaimed that it would be a platform for free speech.

He regularly rallies aginst the leaders of the free world and their attempts to regulate X and other forms of social media.

If you believe everything Musk says, X is a place where people can (within the scope of prevailing laws) voice their opinions and exchange ideas without fear of censorship or censure.

Well I'm here to say that this utopia is just another of Musk's snake-oil promises.

How do I know?

Well it seems that my X account has been suspendended for breaking X's rules.

Which rules did I break?

Absolutely no idea and they don't say.

File an appeal?

Why not... so I did and I got this response a few seconds later:

Am I worried?

Of course not. The only reason I used X was because a few other people were avid users and wanted to keep me in the loop of their discussions.

So what could have prompted X to suspend my account?

Well strangely enough, yesterday I posed a very simple question. I asked what would happen to SpaceX's stock price when people suddenly twigged to the fact that being able to support 1,000 launches a year of the Starship might result in the effects of supply and demand.

I mean, what on earth are we doing that would create any kind of demand for three Starship launches per day and if there wasn't that demand then the value of SpaceX, which has been hyped on the basis of having all this capacity available, would surely tumble.

That post seemed to trigger the Musk fanboys because whereas most of my posts to X usually got a dozen or so views, this one was headed towards 100,000 views within a few hours. Almost all of the responses were, of course from idiots who honestly believe we'll be building entire cities on Mars within the next few years and that Musk is the second coming of Jesus.

Coincidence therefore that when I got up this morning, I found my account suspended for allegedly breaching the rules.

I checked the official X rules and I could find nothing that I'd infringed. I suspect the real rule I broke was the unwritten one "thou shalt not bring facts into any argument critical of Saint Elon".

Yes, that's right, there is plenty of stomach-churning content on X. You'll find videos of executions, violent deaths, politically extreme viewpoints and racially driven outbursts, many presumably in breach of the platform's rules. However, if you dare to raise a very valid point that invalidates some of Mr Musk's own claims -- well then you're for the chop.

Why have I not been told which "rule" I broke?

Well the "unwritten" rules can't be talked about can they?

Hey ho... that's life. I really don't care but it is nice that my skepticism in respect to yet another one of Elon's deceptions has been proven by what is effectively his own hand.

The myth that X is a platform for free speech now joins the long queue of proven frauds that Musk has conducted on a gullible public. The Hyperloop, putting man on Mars by 2024, mass production of the Tesla Roadster 2 by 2021, solar roof tiles, etc.

I really wonder what will become of Mr Musk when people finally wake up to the fact that he has become the ultimate confidence trickster -- sustained by the fact that he stands on the shoulders of giants in just a few small areas of his endeavours whilst so many of his promises ring hollow.

Do I really think that Elon Musk read my post, took offence and had me banned by his own decree?

Of course not. I dare say many of the fan boys complained and X's AI moderation system decided to cancel me because that's what it's been trained to do. Never the less, it does make a mockery of the "free speech" claims that Musk is trying to attribute to his platform.

Now to get on with some real work.

Carpe Diem folks!

Please visit the sponsor!

Here is a PERMANENT link to this column

Rank This Aardvark Page

Change Font