retirement – Techdirt (original) (raw)

Devin Nunes Retires From Congress To Spend More Time Banning Satirical Cows From Trump's New Social Network

from the we-have-to-do-content-moderation? dept

In a bit of a Monday afternoon surprise, Rep. Devin Nunes has announced that he’s retiring from Congress this month to become the CEO of Trump’s new media company, Trump Media & Technology Group — a company which apparently now has tons of money in the bank (even if from sketchy sources) but also is facing a newly revealed SEC investigation that might require someone who actually understands this stuff, rather than a very thin-skinned politician who sues people who criticize him.

Note to Devin: you can’t sue the SEC for defamation.

There’s all sorts of speculation about why Nunes would do this now. He’s actually a pretty powerful Congressional representative, and in line to be in charge of some very powerful committees if, as is widely expected, the Republicans retake control over the House next year. But, he might also see the writing on the wall. Earlier in his career he was winning elections by a pretty wide margin, but the last two elections have actually been pretty tight. And, with California going through its redistricting process, he may have realized there was a high likelihood he’d lose next time around. Also, we know that watchdog groups have asked for an investigation into some of Nunes’ activities.

And, then, of course, there are all the many, many frivolous lawsuits he’s filed over the last few years, with the first one remaining the most notable and the most ridiculous: suing a satirical cow that made fun of Devin Nunes online. The fact that he’d sue a satirist for making fun of him does not suggest someone who believes very strongly in free speech.

So it should be extra interesting to see just how Devin Nunes handles content moderation questions for Truth Social now that he’s in charge. Will he allow @DevinCow to have an account there? Or will he prove himself to be a hypocrite — complaining about “censorship” on other sites, but actively engaging in the same (or more selective and biased) moderation on his own site? The press release from TMTG with quotes from Nunes reads as quite laughable when you realize he’s suing satirical accounts on Twitter that made fun of him:

Congressman Devin Nunes added, ?The time has come to reopen the Internet and allow for the free flow of ideas and expression without censorship. The United States of America made the dream of the Internet a reality and it will be an American company that restores the dream. I?m humbled and honored President Trump has asked me to lead the mission and the world class team that will deliver on this promise.?

For someone who is literally suing a bunch of reporters and critics, the claim of allowing for “the free flow of ideas and expression without censorship” doesn’t just ring hollow, it rings of being a total hypocrite.

Either way, as we’ve seen with every wannabe Trumpist social media site promising to “bring back” free speech, it doesn’t take long for them to realize that content moderation is not about “censorship,” it is simply necessary to run a modern website.

How long will it take Nunes to recognize this simple fact? And will it happen before or after Trump fires him and stabs him in the back?

Filed Under: 1st amendment, congress, content moderation, defamation, devin nunes, donald trump, free speech, nunes cow, retirement, social media
Companies: tmtg, truth social

DailyDirt: Playing Games With Your Brain

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

Who wouldn’t want to improve their brain function simply by playing some games or doing some brain training exercises? (If doing homework or reading counts as a brain training exercise, though, there are plenty of students who don’t seem to want to better their brains.) Brain games are getting popular (have you seen any Lumosity ads recently?), and there are already plenty of educational software programs for skills like learning foreign languages. Some of these brain games claim to help you maintain your cognitive skills as you get older, and there’s even some evidence that these claims could be true. Here are just a few examples of brain games that could help keep us all mentally fit for decades to come.

If you’d like to read more awesome and interesting stuff, check out this unrelated (but not entirely random!) Techdirt post via StumbleUpon.

Filed Under: brain, cognitive abilities, education, elderly, games, memory, multitasking, neuroracer, retirement, training, video games
Companies: lumosity