Two days ago someone on Twitter posed the question: “ What is the first thing you think when you see a pickup truck with a confederate flag on it?” Someone else responded with the answer “racist redneck” (or it might have been “redneck racist” — as explained below, I am not able to check). I then responded, trying to put a finer point on it, “yes, racist, overt or covert. And maybe a redneck.” In the “absolute free speech” universe of Twitter, that seems exceedingly calm and restrained: a confirmation that I, like someone else, would have a first thought that anybody in this day and age that flew or displayed a confederate flag was probably a racist, whether they knew it or acknowledged it, but might not be a stereotypical “redneck”, since we have learned that racism goes way beyond “redneck” stereotypes.
And with that, I moved on, probably doing a bit more doom scrolling or looking for updated stories on Ukraine, after which I moved on to other things.
Then, later that night (or maybe the next morning, after all, I’m visiting my daughter and her family and doing a lot of things OTHER than wading through Twitter-swamp) I decided to log back on to Twitter to see if per chance the judge in the Krazy Kari Courthouse drama had rendered his decision. And lo and behold — I discovered that my twitter account had been locked — ostensibly for 12 hours, because I violated Twitter rules by posting hateful speech and promoting hate. Now, I COULD appeal this decision, but if I did, then I would not be able to log on to Twitter until the PTB (Powers That Be) ruled on my appeal. BUT — if I withdrew my tweet, then I’d be let back on to scroll but not comment or recommend for next 12 hours, before being reinstated.
So — since I don’t think I promoted hate but rather commented on where I thought hate might be found, I opted to appeal, if for no other reason than to see just what kind of reasoned response I’d get from the social medial site that has invited TFG back on and still seems to allow various actual racists and misogynists to continue to post.
It will be interesting. In the meantime, it has forced me to spend more time on Post.news, beefing up my “following” list and learning on that site that in fact the AZ judge had ruled against Krazy Kari, not just on the two issues left open, but on each and every element involved in those two issues. Reading that ruling was a much more useful and enjoyable use of my time than however it would have been spent on the dying bluebird site.
When I get my feedback from the Musk Rat, I’ll be sure to share.
And may the rest of your 25th day of December bring more joy into your life. :-)