This will set my inbox on fire - blog article written by Ted Prodromou


A few weeks ago, I wrote about Elon Musk's leadership style. 

I said I would never want to work for someone who is a micro-manager/dictator. 

Before he took over Twitter, he called the employees stupid. 

He leads by creating chaos and intimidation. 

I don't thrive in chaos. 

I didn't call Musk stupid. 

I simply stated my opinion that I would never work for someone like him. 

Boy did that set some of you off. 

You accused me of hating Elon Musk. 

You accused me of spreading misinformation. 

You accused me of inhibiting free speech. 

Wow! 

In case you missed it, here's my controversial post 

I've been watching Twitter for the past few weeks. 

I still post my articles on Twitter, but I haven't been interacting with anyone or any content. 

Here's Twitter's official rules. 

https://help.twitter.com/en/rules-and-policies/twitter-rules 

Here's the official hateful content policy 

https://help.twitter.com/en/rules-and-policies/hateful-conduct-policy 

Recently, Musk tweeted that hateful posts will not be deleted from Twitter, but they wouldn't be promoted by the Twitter algorithm. 

My Twitter feed is now full of hate, misinformation, and dangerous rhetoric. 

I see posts from people and topics I never followed. 

I see posts from Marjorie Taylor Greene claiming "I got to tell you something, if Steve Bannon and I had organized that, we would have won. Not to mention, it would’ve been armed." 

Does this mean next time extremists attack our capital, they will be better prepared to kill more people and "win" and they will be led by members of Congress? 

I see Elon Musk spreading misinformation about ex-Twitter employee Yoel Roth. 

The threats of violence against Roth have escalated to the point that Roth has evacuated his house and gone into hiding. 

To me, this is not free speech. 

There are limits to what we can say. 

The Supreme Court ruled in the past there are limits. 

Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. observed: “The question in every case is whether the words used are used in such circumstances and are of such a nature as to create a clear and present danger that they will bring about the substantive evils that Congress has a right to prevent.” 

There are four such areas that the Court has been explicit about. First, false statements of fact that are said with a "sufficiently culpable mental state" can be subject to civil or criminal liability. Second, knowingly making a false statement of fact can sometimes be punished. Libel and slander laws fall under this category. Third, negligently false statements of fact may lead to civil liability in some instances. Lastly, some implicit statements of fact—those that have a "false factual connotation"—can also fall under this exception. 

That's my opinion (and the Supreme Court's) and I stand by it. 

I don't need more hate and misinformation in my life, so I tried to deactivate my account the other day. 

When I click on DEACTIVATE, I get an error message. 

I tried to DEACTIVATE every day this week and the error message remains. 

Is this how Musk will keep the number of Twitter members from declining? 

About the author 

Ted Prodromou

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I'm the #1 best-selling author of Ultimate Guide to LinkedIn for Business and Ultimate Guide to Twitter for Business. People call me America's Leading LinkedIn Coach.

I'm the founder of Search Marketing Simplified, LLC, a full service online marketing agency. The SMS team designs and implements advanced LinkedIn and social media lead-generation strategies for small to medium-sized businesses. SMS will set up and manage your marketing funnels using organic, social and paid traffic.

Did you know I've been working with the internet since 1991, long before Al Gore invented it?

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