In the new episode of our weekly podcast Lever Time: In light of Elon Musk’s Twitter flippantly banning journalists last week, David Sirota chats with Producer Frank and Jordan Uhl about the broader implications. Is this just another culture war sideshow, or is it the most forward-facing example of what happens when oligarchs control the public discourse (1:50)?

Then, David is joined by Evan Greer, the director of the digital rights advocacy group Fight For The Future, who helps unpack the significance of Twitter’s implosion. Unlike other social media websites, Twitter is both a news source and a town square, which makes Elon’s unilateral control of the company all the more concerning. They also dig into the practicalities of content moderation and why freedom of expression is so crucial in the digital age (21:02).

A rough transcript of this episode is available here.

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BONUS: On Lever Time Premium, our extended weekly podcast for supporting subscribers, Producer Frank and Andrew Perez discuss the “One Thing” that’s been most on their mind recently. This week, Andrew lays out his opinions on the danger of censoring journalists online, and Frank discusses the negative effects of consumerism during the holiday season.

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