Elon Musk hasn’t even been the king of Twitter for a week and already he’s accomplished so much. Not that most of those accomplishments have been positive. Soon as the eccentric Tesla honcho took over, racial slurs and anti-Semitism spiked. He’s shared misinformation about the attack on Paul Pelosi, while responding to Hillary Clinton. And then there’s the mishegoss over charging for blue checkmarks. Now, mere days into his tenure, he’s pissed off a key Internet troll.
Perhaps you remember the one known as “Catturd2.” They’re one of those conspiracy theorists Trump loved to retweet before he was permanently banned. They have such fans as Marjorie Taylor Greene and Lauren Boebert. And they were one of many on the far right who were stoked that Musk, purporting to be a free speech absolutist, was allegedly going to clean up Twitter (i.e., invite back all the banned Nazis). But so far, Catturd2 is unimpressed.
I admit when I’m wrong and I was 100% wrong about @elonmusk changing Twitter.
The new Twitter moderation council is just a bunch of far left fanatic groups who were never targeted here.
No average Joes, no real Conservatives, no one to represent the PEOPLE ACTUALLY TARGETED!
— Catturd
(@catturd2) November 2, 2022
“I admit when I’m wrong and I was 100% wrong about @elonmusk changing Twitter,” Catturd2 wrote. They were particularly nonplussed that Musk didn’t automatically un-ban a bunch of controversial figures, starting a council to look into the matter instead. “The new Twitter moderation council is just a bunch of far left fanatic groups who were never targeted here. No average Joes, no real Conservatives, no one to represent the PEOPLE ACTUALLY TARGETED!”
Catturd2 also changed their Twitter bio to “Chief Turd,” a reference to Musk’s new bio, which used to read, simply, “Chief Twit” (but which is now “Twitter Complaint Hotline Operator,” har har).
Perhaps Musk thought that transforming Twitter would be easy. He’s the wealthiest person on the planet, surely he can do anything. Alas, what he may have done is inherited a money pit. Summon back controversial banned figures, and he may drive away advertisers — the bulk of the service’s cashflow. Not summon back controversial banned figures, and he enrages the right, who will accuse him (as they already have) of kowtowing to lefty snowflakes. But at least The Juice hasn’t turned on him.
(Via The Daily Beast)