From: tsm@fastmail.ca   
      
   On Feb 18, 2026 at 10:34:49 AM EST, "Noah Sombrero"  wrote:   
      
   > On Wed, 18 Feb 2026 15:07:27 +0000, Julian    
   > wrote:   
   >   
   >> Twitter — or X if you must — is essential for bypassing traditional   
   >> institutions   
   >>   
   >>   
   >> At the time of writing, the British Government is apparently preparing   
   >> legislation that many expect will lead to Twitter, formally known as   
   >> “X”, being blocked. Officially this is because the platform’s in-built   
   >> AI language model allows users to manipulate images of third parties so   
   >> it appears that they are wearing nothing but lingerie. Yet critics,   
   >> including the US government,  regard it as a thinly-disguised attempt to   
   >> censor a primary forum of opposition. Either way, millions of people   
   >> across the country are now faced with the horrifying — and, for many,   
   >> unprecedented — prospect of actually having to do their jobs in order to   
   >> stave off boredom.   
      
      
      
   >   
   > Stave off boredom.  There is something to that.  Naked people always   
   > were a tititlation.   
      
   everything will be abused (or used) in some way if given enough freedom. I use   
   X to (once in a while) read what people I am interested in say what they have   
   to say. And I've never seen a naked person on X. Maybe because I'm not   
   interested in seeing a naked person on X.   
      
   >   
   > But you think x has some other use.  It is a primary forum of   
   > opposition.  Which would be good if only such opposition could be   
   > true.  But a toxic mix of naked people and lies?  What possible use is   
   > that, other than rescuing people from boredom?   
   >   
   >> For the large majority of the population however, the idea of banning   
   >> the social media site is a complete non-issue. Supposedly, around 40 per   
   >> cent of British adults access the platform monthly, but this figure   
   >> seems implausibly high. Most prefer one or more of either Facebook,   
   >> Instagram or TikTok. Since it was acquired by Elon Musk in 2022, Twitter   
   >> must have seemed to those who don’t use it to have been nothing but   
   >> trouble. Those still relying on the BBC or the papers for their news   
   >> have been drip-fed continuous stories about “misinformation” and online   
   >> abuse.   
   >>   
   >> What the broadcasters and the newspapers won’t tell their viewers and   
   >> readers, however, is that their reporters, producers, editors and   
   >> directors positively live on the site...   
   >>   
   >>   
   >> https://thecritic.co.uk/why-twitter-matters/   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)