cross-posted from: https://poliverso.org/objects/0477a01e-4267-e55d-042f-69d193263777
Can Twitter X control journalists and politicians? The shocking revelation from Musk’s Italian trustee gives pause for thought
The story of Andrea #Stroppa who, as a shareholder of X, boasts of being able to read its private messages, is told by @claudiagiulia
The journalist noticed Stroppa’s “gaffe” during a “space” live broadcast and reported it to the Italian Data Protection AuthorityIt’s Saturday, March 22, 2025. I’m getting ready to head out and take one last look at Twitter. At the top of the screen, I spot a Spaces session featuring Andrea Stroppa, a key figure in Elon Musk’s orbit, with a prominent role in Europe, especially Italy. I hesitate, but then I notice some journalists I admire - people I’ve connected with on the platform - among the listeners. Curiosity wins out, and I join. Nicola Porro is interviewing Stroppa: they’re talking about Twitter X, Musk, and Tesla. Then my connection drops, I have to leave, and I close the app. The next day, I return to the audio: it’s still there, recorded on the platform, now heard by thousands. I pick up where I left off. At the 32-minute mark, Stroppa says something that stops me cold. I rewind and listen again. I can’t believe it. In a fleeting moment - maybe a lapse - he drops a bombshell: thanks to his role as a shareholder, he can uncover the identity of any user on X, specifically mentioning anonymous accounts that criticize him. It’s a stark claim, impossible to brush off.
A revelation everyone ignores
I’m not familiar with the Italian politicians and their rank in government but it seems normal that a government could collaborate with a platform like X to deanonamize users.
X can track its users. Why anyone thinks they have “privacy” on an app like that is beyond me. The threat to democracy is real but it comes from Xs power to boost/censor to control the narrative which the writer does touch on.
Yeah, but as government officials. Not as shareholders. Like through a warrant or whatever official process Italy uses.
Can I buy a few shares and get the same access? That would be insane.
Aside from the fact that it’s not true: politicians as such should not be put in a position to deanonymize anything, except through the intervention of the judiciary. Furthermore, this is not the case either: Andrea Stoppa is Elon Musk’s Italian lobbyist and has already distinguished himself a couple of times for having threatened Italian politics if it does not enter into agreements with Starlink
Stroppa claims that he can read direct messages as a shareholder. If this is true, it is not only true for Italy but for the entire world
Yeah dude, that’s the whole reason he bought it. He now gets to control what gets discussed.
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