Thread by @dilanesper

I really think that Elon Musk is basically the least important thing going on right now, but since everyone is talking about him: I think Musk's takeover lays bare a problem with a very smug "private actors" argument that gets repeated in the #cancelculture debates. 1/

Here's how it usually comes up. Someone will point out that Twitter, or PayPal, or Cloudfare, or Amazon refusing to do business with someone who is ideologically disfavored is a threat to the value of free speech. 2/

And immediately some smug lefty will intone "free speech only applies to the government", like either (1) this thought never occurred to us before or (2) the only threats to free speech in history came from government actors. 3/

I have pointed out in the past that lefties didn't used to believe this. Back before the Left controlled cultural institutions, they used to be keenly aware of a wide variety of threats from private actors, from McCarthyism to pressure campaigns to take TV shows off the air. 4/

And I also would point out that the leftist theorists I read in college and law school, including feminists, Marxists, critical race theorists, and others, would absolutely vomit at the notion of a hard public-private distinction. That's a conservative notion. 5/

Here's my point. A lot of people have not merely opposed proposals to subject content moderation decisions of tech companies to any scrutiny (which is a totally defensible position), but heaped scorn on anyone who suggested it, calling it some right wing plot. 6/

Well guess what? Someone with rightist sympathies is now in charge of Twitter, and he may make different moderation decisions, decisions that might be disliked by folks on the Left. And he's SUPER-powerful, because he controls the most influential media platform. 7/

I suspect all the folks who have been so arrogant about trashing anyone who expressed concern about tech companies and free speech are suddenly going to be a little more quiet on this issue. They figured their guys would be in charge for a long time to come. End/