X under Musk rejoins pro-censorship advertisers' alliance
By ethanh // 2024-07-11
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After previously leaving the Global Alliance for Responsible Media (GARM), apparently just for show after Elon Musk took the social media platform private, X (formerly Twitter) is rejoining the pro-censorship advertisers' alliance. A World Economic Forum (WEF) affiliate, GARM is about as bad as it gets when it comes to online censorship. Musk talked a big game about changing X after assuming control of the platform, but once again his contrarian actions speak louder than his empty words. One of the main ways that GARM accomplishes its censorship goals is through "brand safety." This means that any "brand" identified as violating the speech code will be demonetized, a process so infringing to the First Amendment that the U.S. Congress saw the need to scrutinize it last year. "GARM is one of those outfits whose roots are very entangled (comes in handy when somebody tries to probe your activities, though) – and the chronology is not insignificant either: formed in 2019 as a World Federation of Advertisers (WFA) initiative, partnered with the Association of National Advertisers (ANA)," writes Didi Rankovic for Reclaim the Net. "Then came another 'partnership' – that with WEF (World Economic Forum), specifically, its Shaping the Future of Media, Entertainment, and Sport project – a 'flagship' one." (Related: Remember earlier this year when Musk went "full Zionist" after an appearance at Auschwitz?)

X under Musk is no different than any other Big Money social media platform

As parts of its probe, a congressional committee subpoenaed both the World Federation of Advertisers (WFA) and GARM to obtain records showing whether or not these groups "coordinated efforts to demonetize and censor disfavored speech online." Headed up at the time by committee chairman Jim Jordan, the probe sought to determine if WFA and GARM are guilty of violating U.S. antitrust laws. As far as we can tell, not much has happened with all that in the interim. What we do know is that X's rejoining with GARM is likely an attempt to make the platform profitable by recreating its advertising methods. "Those who were hoping for a 'free speech absolutism' on a platform like this might be disappointed," Rankovic writes. While Congress may (or may not) investigate the matter further in the future, it appears as though some kind of compromise was reached to allow X to censor and still draw in a profit. In other words, what Musk wants, Musk almost always seems to get. Not only is X rejoining GARM, the platform says it is "excited" and "proud" to do so. The company's "Safety" (@Safety) account posted to X that the decision to rejoin GARM hinges upon "the safety of our global town square." Musk apparently believes that his platform is where the world gathers to live, and that GARM is needed to ensure everyone's "safety." Other members of GARM include YouTube, which is owned by Google, and Chanel. GARM is a "big money" operation, in other words, and Musk is definitely part of the big money club. "If you're surprised by the Muskrat's actions, then you're just downright stupid," one of our readers wrote about Musk's constant duplicitous behavior, which is always for his own personal benefit. "X, or Twitter, has always been a trap with the Muskrat only disguising this truth." An X account named "Sandy" (@RightGlockMom) pointed out that the account of "Alex Rosen" (@IFightForKids) was recently suspended for no apparent reason. Rosen's account was dedicated to "relentlessly expos[ing] adults who harm children," according to Sandy. "If X is going to 'partner' in ANY way with the WEF, I'm really gonna have to rethink spending my pennies here," wrote another. "Worst news ever." "'Responsible media' sounds authoritarian," wrote another about X Safety's crafty use of words to try to disguise its censorship tactics under Musk. The latest news about X and other social media giants can be found at Censorship.news. Sources for this article include: ReclaimTheNet.org NaturalNews.com
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