Spotlight — Elon, Twitter and the Gladiator Arena

<p>Since it’s looking more and more like Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, will probably soon have ownership of Twitter, we wanted to do a special episode about what this could mean for Twitter users and our global digital democracy as a whole.<br /><br />Twitter is a very complicated place. It is routinely blocked by governments who fear its power to organize citizen protests around the world. It’s also where outrage, fear and violence get amplified <i>by design</i>, warping users’ views of each other and our common, connected humanity.<br /><br />We’re at a fork in the road, and we know enough about humane design principles to do this better. So we thought we would do a little thought experiment: What if we applied everything we know about humane technology to Twitter, starting tomorrow? What would happen?<br /><br />This is the second part in a two-part conversation about Twitter that we’ve had on <a href="https://www.humanetech.com/podcast"><i>Your Undivided Attention</i></a> about Elon Musk’s bid for Twitter and what it could mean in the context of the need to go in a more humane direction.<br /><br /><strong>RECOMMENDED MEDIA </strong></p><p><a href="https://bookshop.org/p/books/on-liberty-john-stuart-mill-john-stuart-mill/8259918?ean=9781542500135&srsltid=AR5OiO2uwTjLgR1PaK24N27KDIpPDoQvmAhz62hP6_oWR9cr1cgyl7pnLPw"><i>On Liberty</i></a> by John Stuart Mill</p><p>Published in 1859, this philosophical essay applies Mill's ethical system of utilitarianism to society and state</p><p><a href="https://slate.com/technology/2022/09/elon-musk-text-messages-twitter-yes-men.html">Elon Musk Only Has “Yes” Men</a> by Jonathan L. Fischer</p><p>Reporting from Slate on the subject <br /><br /><a href="https://www.humanetech.com/course">Foundations of Humane Technology</a></p><p>The Center for Humane Technology's free online course for professionals shaping tomorrow's technology</p><p><strong>RECOMMENDED YUA EPISODES </strong><br /><br />A Bigger Picture on Elon and Twitter</p><p><a href="https://www.humanetech.com/podca