
Image source: Twitter @MaryMargOlohan screenshot
MSNBC host Ari Melber was slapped with a brutal lesson in self-awareness on Monday after expressing fear that Elon Musk's acquisition of Twitter would result in election manipulation.
Melber, speaking on his show "The Beat With Ari Melber," complained that Musk could exploit Twitter to manipulate democracy.
"If you own all of Twitter or Facebook or what have you, you don't have to explain yourself. You don't even have to be transparent," Melber said.
"You could secretly ban one party's candidate or all of its candidates, all of its nominees. Or you could just secretly turn down the reach of their stuff, and turn up the reach of something else and the rest of us might not even find out until after the election," he added.
\u201cYou could secretly ban one party\u2019s candidate\u2026secretly turn down the reach of their stuff and turn up the reach of something else and the rest of us might not even find out about it until AFTER the election.\u201dpic.twitter.com/yPMbtSN2wx— Mary Margaret Olohan (@Mary Margaret Olohan) 1650942168
Melber's concerns immediately drew fierce backlash because Twitter already engages in "content moderation" practices that seemingly do exactly what Melber is concerned about.
A prime example is the bombshell New York Post story about the Hunter Biden laptop. Twitter intentionally suppressed the story over "lack of authoritative reporting on the origins of the materials included in the article." But as it turned out, the story was 100% true. Twitter also purged tens of thousands of accounts after the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol, for example.
Here is how people responded to Melber's commentary:
For what it's worth, Musk has not announced any changes to Twitter. In fact, he has repeatedly affirmed his commitment to free speech and his desire to improve Twitter for everyone.