A senior leader of the Taliban.praised Twitter in response to the launch of Threads. Far right groups also thrive while many high profile accounts become increasingly quiet.The advertisers must be thrilled to bits.
In a ringing endorsement Anas Haqqani, a senior leader in the Taliban, heaped praise on Twitter. He is quoted as saying, “The first privilege is the freedom of speech”. He went on to say “The second privilege is the public nature & credibility of Twitter. Twitter doesn’t have an intolerant policy like Meta. Other platforms cannot replace it”.
This seems to have been timed as a response to the launch of Meta’s Threads that went live last week. The Meta moderation policy has clearly stated that it “is not a place to support or praise terrorism, organized crime, or hate groups.”
Other groups enjoying an outlet on Twitter include the UK far right group Britain First, Libs of TikTok (a far right group notable for attacks on LGBTQ accounts), Andrew Tate (known misogynist), Babylon Bee (attempts humour/satire aimed at anything not far right) and many others.
In the meantime high profile Twitter accounts such as Justin Bieber, Rihanna, Katy Perry, Cristiano Ronaldo, Lady Gaga, Ellen DeGeneres and many more have been significantly less active over the past year. Some haven’t posted for over a year.
If you are looking for a positive Twitter-like social media experience try Mastodon.