Independent reporter Ken Klippenstein, formerly of The Intercept and now on Substack, has been permanently banned by Elon Musk’s X for publishing a post on Substack that linked to a dossier on Vice Presidential candidate J.D.
No one is “mad” at you. All my generation is concerned with is fair, objective reporting. Give us News that doesn’t have a personal bias attached to it. We will listen then and vote based on valid representation and reporting on real policy, not people.
Social media is the wild wild west of free speech. I imagine if there were no Substack/Breaking Points, Ken would have had to swallow this one and we wouldn't know any better about the whole episode. Luckily, Substack as the exception exposed the on-going (and mind-fucked) consensus shared by a handful of elites that they know what's good for us better than we do.
Let's stay vigilant because right now, other than some reporters on Substack, I don't know who else I would trust.
Thank you for asking this, Johan. It's exactly what I was popping in here to ask myself. Honestly, I'm very concerned that Substack won't have much choice but to submit to the will of the governments of the west. It would be helpful to understand how Substack plans to maintain its policy under such enormous pressure.
Of course it's political. I understand your thoughts with X and Elon ... how did you feel about the hundreds of Twitter accounts blocked under Jack? Curious did you report on that or speak out in concern?
Musk wasn't pressured, he's the person leading suppression of free speech. He owns the damn platform for goodness sake, he's banded thousands of people since he took ownership of X. Musk does this of his own volition. He does it openly, boldly, entirely of his own whims.
If Trump wins, he's promised Musk a job in his government.
How is it so difficult to join the dots from A to B.
In my day, we call it like it is. I have no doubt, this is politically motivated. We also used to say, all is fair in love and war. I’ve seen so much negativity about Trump on all social media in many titled sites and have not seen any bans for that by anyone, not even X. So why is this particular post about Vance being banned? Trump negativity would be banned as well. It is illogical to me. I think we are missing a component here.
Are your serious?! you all would have never published it if Iran had done it to harris ! give me a break! he is a free and unbias or fair press ! There is only fox news network and fox business. no one should post any link given to them from a enemy of America which Iran is! and thats a national security issue. thats why he got suspended from X. Im writing an article on this I will tag you in the link.
Was this info harmful to Vance? (Aside from private/personal info, which they addressed here). Is it becuz it came from Iran? Is it did/mis/malinformation? I don't get it....
You never ever take any info from an enemy of America and Iran is an enemy of America. Did the make changes on the informatyion to make it real? Do you know that, no one knows that. Second of all the minuet you click that link Iran got your personal info. Iran is monitoring the link and every piece of disinformation they sent out. and not only that Pres Trump has death threats from Iran so yea it is dangerous to vance.
There is no proof the hack was Iran. Only our government saying it might have been. If they were altered in anyway the Trump campaign would have pointed it out already. If your worried about foreign country having all our information than your screwed, China has everything on us because they own a good portion of Microsoft that every financial institution in the US uses, all our smart phones are made in China as well and have access to all that information. the 2nd larger investor in X is the Saudi government, the Saudi government is behind 9/11! They have access to everything you do on X. I’m not happy about any of this and all our house/ senate have to do is pass a simple bill to outlaw online tracking of US citizen.. but they won’t because they care more about donations for their next election than protecting the people.
I skimmed it, it was kinda interesting but not damaging. No nude photos of him with a prostitute smoking crack. BTW-property ownership in the US is public information.
I believe he would have. The way to tell if someone actually believes in free speech is to reverse the names and ask yourself if you would still agree.
we are not rying to silcence biden or harriss. harris and biden are trying to silence Pres Trump and his supporters. so dont throw stones in glass houses.
The aspect of social media that silences people is the algorithm! If I would have posted the same document to X, it wouldn’t have been taken down because the algorithm doesn’t think I’m important enough. In my opinion there is no free speech on social media because the algorithm decides what people want and doesn’t allow anyone else to be heard. The entire “modern town square” is complete BS, a town square would allow anyone who wants to speak their turn and the same number of people would hear each person’s speech, it wouldn’t put ear plugs in for some speeches and blast out the speakers on another person.
I am going to try to post this on X. Have you figured out that is actually the symbol CHI? Elon has some serious issues because he’s from South Africa.
A lot to unpack there, but I’m left with a couple impressions.
I’m not remotely concerned over Trump’s campaign being hacked. Every campaign should expect that, and defend accordingly. If they fail, in this case in such a basic way, due to their ineptness, they deserve what they get I suppose.
The media’s role is the part that I am more conflicted over. It’s fine to say that efforts and disclosures like this are not determinative, a point it is hard to really know empirically, but which can be argued endlessly. What we do know is that the disclosure is unequal. It disadvantages one campaign and puts them potentially on the back foot at a crucial moment. I don’t even have crocodile tears for Trump, but to me, this is not about him. Rather, it’s about how we as journalists conduct ourselves. How we become participants in the campaign rather than observers in the strictest sense. Trump uses the media all the time to tie up Harris’ campaign in bogus dead ends. And the mainstream dutifully play along because . . ratings. A lot more to be said on that.
If the shoe were on the other foot here, Harris’ campaign would be tied up responding to questions about Walz for a week that they cannot get back. News does affect campaigns and even outcomes. Swift Boat Veterans for “Truth” was verifiably false, but they had an effect, which is why the leader of that campaign is now working for Trump. You can say you have contextualized the information in terms of sourcing, but it still is part of an organized effort rather than a chance disclosure or unforced error. In that sense, it is hard to mitigate the fact that you are serving a purpose that is selectively informing the public.
Sometimes, even knowing this, there is a duty to inform. I’m not sure this rises to that level. The Pentagon Papers, sure. This, I’m not convinced.
Musk is just an unmitigated turd and narcissist. Anyone that criticizes government for waste and extolls the “efficiency” of private enterprise should be forced to write a term paper on Musk’s X fiasco. He makes the Air Force’s toilet seat debacle look downright frugal.
X was wrong in this instance. If they boast free speech then it should be more akin to SubStack. And after the article was edited to remove what they banned it for, the ban rightfully should be removed in order for X to be a valid site claiming free speech.
I’m STILL trying to figure out what I did to get kicked off and I am trying to get back on there. Afraid to find out what happened and I really don’t feel like going round and round with a billionaire over the 1st Amendment. I think I’ll just get back on Truth Social and see where I go from there because it’s getting nuts and I need to get back to focusing on blogging and writing and not being bullied into silence. I truly DON’T have time for this anymore.
No one is “mad” at you. All my generation is concerned with is fair, objective reporting. Give us News that doesn’t have a personal bias attached to it. We will listen then and vote based on valid representation and reporting on real policy, not people.
Thank you for hosting this and maintaining your content policy.
Reporter Matt Taibbi showed the US government is relentless in its pursuit to control content on social media platforms.
Substack must be receiving pressures to suppress content or skirt guidelines to do so.
1) what are these pressures?
2) how is Substack responding?
3) what is substack's policy on shadow-banning or content suppression?
4) are there large donors/subscribers on substack? what is the policy on disclosing high-sum foreign donors/subscribers?
In a context of little public trust in institutions, it is an imperative to address these questions.
thank you again.
Social media is the wild wild west of free speech. I imagine if there were no Substack/Breaking Points, Ken would have had to swallow this one and we wouldn't know any better about the whole episode. Luckily, Substack as the exception exposed the on-going (and mind-fucked) consensus shared by a handful of elites that they know what's good for us better than we do.
Let's stay vigilant because right now, other than some reporters on Substack, I don't know who else I would trust.
Thank you for asking this, Johan. It's exactly what I was popping in here to ask myself. Honestly, I'm very concerned that Substack won't have much choice but to submit to the will of the governments of the west. It would be helpful to understand how Substack plans to maintain its policy under such enormous pressure.
Thank you for bringing this interview to Substack. It is highly intriguing.
Of course it's political. I understand your thoughts with X and Elon ... how did you feel about the hundreds of Twitter accounts blocked under Jack? Curious did you report on that or speak out in concern?
GREAT question!!
He got banned for doxing.
Musk wasn't pressured, he's the person leading suppression of free speech. He owns the damn platform for goodness sake, he's banded thousands of people since he took ownership of X. Musk does this of his own volition. He does it openly, boldly, entirely of his own whims.
If Trump wins, he's promised Musk a job in his government.
How is it so difficult to join the dots from A to B.
In my day, we call it like it is. I have no doubt, this is politically motivated. We also used to say, all is fair in love and war. I’ve seen so much negativity about Trump on all social media in many titled sites and have not seen any bans for that by anyone, not even X. So why is this particular post about Vance being banned? Trump negativity would be banned as well. It is illogical to me. I think we are missing a component here.
Give it a rest already ! He was flat out wrong for doing it ! No one should have that info ! and he knew he got it from iran !
Why was he wrong to publish the material?
Keen to hear your views and whether they would have been any different if the material was taken from the Harris campaign?
Are your serious?! you all would have never published it if Iran had done it to harris ! give me a break! he is a free and unbias or fair press ! There is only fox news network and fox business. no one should post any link given to them from a enemy of America which Iran is! and thats a national security issue. thats why he got suspended from X. Im writing an article on this I will tag you in the link.
I just simply can't keep up!
Was this info harmful to Vance? (Aside from private/personal info, which they addressed here). Is it becuz it came from Iran? Is it did/mis/malinformation? I don't get it....
You never ever take any info from an enemy of America and Iran is an enemy of America. Did the make changes on the informatyion to make it real? Do you know that, no one knows that. Second of all the minuet you click that link Iran got your personal info. Iran is monitoring the link and every piece of disinformation they sent out. and not only that Pres Trump has death threats from Iran so yea it is dangerous to vance.
There is no proof the hack was Iran. Only our government saying it might have been. If they were altered in anyway the Trump campaign would have pointed it out already. If your worried about foreign country having all our information than your screwed, China has everything on us because they own a good portion of Microsoft that every financial institution in the US uses, all our smart phones are made in China as well and have access to all that information. the 2nd larger investor in X is the Saudi government, the Saudi government is behind 9/11! They have access to everything you do on X. I’m not happy about any of this and all our house/ senate have to do is pass a simple bill to outlaw online tracking of US citizen.. but they won’t because they care more about donations for their next election than protecting the people.
LMAO get over yourself yes it was !
I skimmed it, it was kinda interesting but not damaging. No nude photos of him with a prostitute smoking crack. BTW-property ownership in the US is public information.
I believe he would have. The way to tell if someone actually believes in free speech is to reverse the names and ask yourself if you would still agree.
we are not rying to silcence biden or harriss. harris and biden are trying to silence Pres Trump and his supporters. so dont throw stones in glass houses.
The aspect of social media that silences people is the algorithm! If I would have posted the same document to X, it wouldn’t have been taken down because the algorithm doesn’t think I’m important enough. In my opinion there is no free speech on social media because the algorithm decides what people want and doesn’t allow anyone else to be heard. The entire “modern town square” is complete BS, a town square would allow anyone who wants to speak their turn and the same number of people would hear each person’s speech, it wouldn’t put ear plugs in for some speeches and blast out the speakers on another person.
you dont post anything from enemies of America! if you do, you are doing their bidding. And you stand with them. you reply was telling when it said
“algorithm doesn’t think I’m important enough.” Thats not how algorithims work. AND THIS ISNT ABOUT YOU !
Great. Please do.
Happy to continue the conversation there.
And your can read this one…. Hunter Biden Laptop and the US Presidential Election 2020
https://micheleaucoinschroeder.substack.com/p/hunter-biden-laptop-and-the-us-presidential
In the mean time you can read an article of mine reply to Richard Green…. Open Reply to Richard Green in regards to his Open Letter to RFK JR
https://micheleaucoinschroeder.substack.com/p/open-reply-to-richard-green-in-regards
I am going to try to post this on X. Have you figured out that is actually the symbol CHI? Elon has some serious issues because he’s from South Africa.
A lot to unpack there, but I’m left with a couple impressions.
I’m not remotely concerned over Trump’s campaign being hacked. Every campaign should expect that, and defend accordingly. If they fail, in this case in such a basic way, due to their ineptness, they deserve what they get I suppose.
The media’s role is the part that I am more conflicted over. It’s fine to say that efforts and disclosures like this are not determinative, a point it is hard to really know empirically, but which can be argued endlessly. What we do know is that the disclosure is unequal. It disadvantages one campaign and puts them potentially on the back foot at a crucial moment. I don’t even have crocodile tears for Trump, but to me, this is not about him. Rather, it’s about how we as journalists conduct ourselves. How we become participants in the campaign rather than observers in the strictest sense. Trump uses the media all the time to tie up Harris’ campaign in bogus dead ends. And the mainstream dutifully play along because . . ratings. A lot more to be said on that.
If the shoe were on the other foot here, Harris’ campaign would be tied up responding to questions about Walz for a week that they cannot get back. News does affect campaigns and even outcomes. Swift Boat Veterans for “Truth” was verifiably false, but they had an effect, which is why the leader of that campaign is now working for Trump. You can say you have contextualized the information in terms of sourcing, but it still is part of an organized effort rather than a chance disclosure or unforced error. In that sense, it is hard to mitigate the fact that you are serving a purpose that is selectively informing the public.
Sometimes, even knowing this, there is a duty to inform. I’m not sure this rises to that level. The Pentagon Papers, sure. This, I’m not convinced.
Musk is just an unmitigated turd and narcissist. Anyone that criticizes government for waste and extolls the “efficiency” of private enterprise should be forced to write a term paper on Musk’s X fiasco. He makes the Air Force’s toilet seat debacle look downright frugal.
Good video
Oh, lost me when he cited a Rand Corporation study (and ignores head of CIA unprecedented public statements directly stemming from those leaks).
X was wrong in this instance. If they boast free speech then it should be more akin to SubStack. And after the article was edited to remove what they banned it for, the ban rightfully should be removed in order for X to be a valid site claiming free speech.
I’m STILL trying to figure out what I did to get kicked off and I am trying to get back on there. Afraid to find out what happened and I really don’t feel like going round and round with a billionaire over the 1st Amendment. I think I’ll just get back on Truth Social and see where I go from there because it’s getting nuts and I need to get back to focusing on blogging and writing and not being bullied into silence. I truly DON’T have time for this anymore.
You should ask Elon how his friend Ghislaine Maxwell is doing! 😂
Are you still paying for a blue tick Hamish and will you continue doing so?