If you tweet, then you know about the verification thing. In case you don’t know, it’s a blue check mark that means you’re authentic, important, and probably smell really nice. It’s given to individuals, corporations, charities, etc, etc. I don’t have one, but I did instruct a cartoonist, who doesn’t have any national awards, on how to submit an application for it…and they gave him one, but apparently, awards from the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights organization and the Society from Professional Journalists while working for CNN isn’t prominent enough. Maybe I should do what the other cartoonist does and steal my ideas, trace photos instead of drawing caricatures, and steal other people’s artwork that I sign my name on. But I’m not bitter.
Anyway, a lot of people want these badges. I do. Now, Elon Musk, the new scary-face owner of Twitter is floating the idea of charging for the blue check mark. I’ve seen different reports from $4 to $8 to $10 a month to have the blue badge. Yeah, fuck that. I mean, does paying for it make you prominent? What if there’s a goon out there who doctors my cartoons and impersonates me? Can he be “verified” as me if he pays for it?
Trevor Noah has a thought on the blue badge thingy. He reasoned that charging people for blue check marks goes against Musk’s mission of bringing free speech and equality to Twitter. Noah said, “Why are you charging people? It doesn’t make sense to offer it as ‘equality’ and then put a price on it.”
Noah pointed out that it’s more about making money than providing “freedom,” and came up with a great idea for Ghost Face Twitterer. “If you ask me, if Elon Musk wants to make money from Twitter, what he should do (is), don’t charge people for blue checkmarks. Charge white people to say the N-word. Twitter will be the most profitable company in history. Racists will be taking out loans.”
This would probably work because according to a report, the use of the N-word spiked 500 percent in the 12 hours after Elon took over Twitter.
Musk tweeted that there will be “no major content decisions or account reinstatements” until the convening of a new “moderation council.” He promised the council would have “widely diverse viewpoints” but offered no other information about who would be on it, how its members would be selected, what authority it would have, or whether its views would be binding on the company.
So far since Elon took over, the racists are running amuck, amuck, amuck, amuck, as Sarah Sanderson would say. I also get the idea that this “moderation council” with “diverse viewpoints” will be made from Elon sycophants. It’ll be like when Putin holds elections in Ukraine territories he invaded, or like when Donald Trump appoints a “qualified” judge.
Musk sent a letter to advertisers promising that Twitter will be “warm and welcoming to all.” I’m not sure how welcoming it is if you’re being called the N-word, but he’s definitely made it warm and welcoming to Nazis and Qanon goobs who spread conspiracy theories. Hell, Elon himself even tweeted one of the many conspiracy theories about Nancy Pelosi’s husband.
Republicans, liars, racists, and lunatics (I know. Redundant) celebrated Elon’s takeover and claimed it was a win for freedom. But let me explain something to the idiots who have trouble understanding stuff: The Constitution guarantees you a right to free speech. You have the freedom to shout and say the N-word. You have the freedom to be a Republican United States senator and say ancestors to slaves are criminals. You have the freedom to be a Los Angeles council member and describe son of one of your colleagues as a “Parece changuito” or “like a monkey.” You have the freedom be a former “president” and call Mitch McConnell’s wife of Asian descent, “Coco Chow.” You have the freedom to hang antisemitic signs on overpasses in Jacksonville. But the Constitution does NOT guarantee you a right to tweet.
Update: This cartoon has me suspended on Facebook for the next six days. Oddly enough, it’s still on my page. FB suspended me for posting it on one of the fan pages I help manage.
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Visit Clay Jones’ website and email him at [email protected].