🧵 I wrote ab the “is Signal secure?” manufactroversy on X. The Guardian wanted an explainer on why Elon & Jack were “concerned” about Signal. The answer, though, has nothing to do w/Signal’s product. It was part of an extended fight over whether woke NPR should be defunded & the CEO fired. Why? Because the CEO of NPR is on the board of Signal; by the Transitive Property of Bad People, Signal is thus compromised.
@Noupside reading earlier today, but didn’t know the author was on mastodon. That’s convenient, because I genuinely wanted to say what an excellent text it was!
It would be novel and quaint at this point for a culture war skirmish to NOT devolve into some insane conspiracy theory. Arguing ab left-leaning bias & calls to “Defund NPR” have happened for years. Now, we get stuff like “actually the CEO is a deep state color revolutionary ushering in regime change in America” — pure innuendo presented as if it’s a serious argument. And it gets reach because influencers with massive followings boost it.
I wrote a book about this. It’s out in 3 weeks (preorders help!). I don’t think there’s a point in playing whack-a-mole trying to refute specific innuendo. The goalposts move; the target can rarely convince true believers. People who are familiar w/the immediate issue - in this case the relative security of Signal and Telegram - should speak up to clarify for bystanders, but explaining HOW smears work is key bc the playbook repeats.
Add comment