Breitbart Tech Editor Milo Yiannopoulos joined Business Insider UK Tech Editor James Cook to discuss why the end of Twitter is nigh, among various other subjects.
“What is allowed on Twitter and not allowed on Twitter determines not only what stories get covered, but how they’re covered too” claimed Milo on the topic of Twitter’s influence.
“Now what I try to look for is the exceptions and the inconsistencies, and patterns… Twitter removed a photo that I posted after the truck attack in Nice, of the young girl under the metal sheets over the bodies. That was on the front cover of the Times, but when I tweeted it, it was unacceptable. Why? Maybe it has something to do with the caption”.
The caption, which Milo posted alongside the picture before his permanent suspension from Twitter, warned the US about the Islamization of the West.
“Other than you banned from Twitter, we’ve also had Azealia Banks, the rapper. Why was Azealia Banks banned from Twitter?” asked Cook.
“The only thing I would observe about her is she posted offensive, I suppose, and edgy things…” replied Milo.
“She posted homophobic and racist rants and was immediately banned” interrupted Cook.
“No, see she’s done that for years. Why was she banned when she was banned? You know what happened before?” Milo asked.
“She endorsed Donald Trump… She’s been doing this for years. Why did she get banned? Because she endorsed Donald Trump. Two weeks later she was gone”.
“Twitter has an abuse problem, which has been acknowledged in the past, and banning users like you and Azealia Banks will solve that” replied Cook.
“Saying it ‘has been acknowledged in the past’ presents as a sort of fait accompli, and I don’t agree with this, and this is an analysis which is shared by Twitter executives and journalists, your analysis, but is not shared by some of Twitter’s investors” objected Milo.
“Which Twitter investors don’t share that?” asked Cook.
“Well you know the kind of people I pick up the phone to, and because you know that I’m not at liberty to drop names. If they want to go to the press, and some of them by the way will be soon, they’re entitled to do so, but I can tell you on the record that I have spoken to at least two people who are seriously considering large-scale shorting of the stock” Milo added.
“This is the sign that people who care about this sort of stuff don’t buy into the harassment. The accepted line among journalists, and Twitter staff, and many senior Twitter staff, is that Twitter’s growth problems stem from so-called ‘abuse and harassment’. I take a completely different analysis. I think the problem with Twitter is that they’re clamping down, and punishing, and now starting to step up bans on almost all of the interesting people. Twitter is nothing without its content. You don’t go there [for the product] because the product is terrible. The product is counter-intuitive, it doesn’t pick up users, I think you will probably agree with me on this. It’s not intuitive like Facebook. Ordinary people who log into Twitter just don’t understand how it works, which is why they have to shovel these recommended users at you so that you at least have something to interact with.”
“If you want to be a punk these days you have to be a conservative” Milo declared. “I think that liberals have got such a narrow band of acceptable thought and speech, and if you do want to be dissident and mischievous, damn right you’ve gotta be a Republican these days. Yes you have to be a conservative, because if you want to say something that annoys the establishment, well you’ve only got one direction to go… The establishment is left-wing now.”
The interview, which was broadcast in real-time by Business Insider UK, was watched by professional boxer Manny Pacquiao, who commented “What’s up everyone… Yes I’m watching”.
Charlie Nash is a reporter for Breitbart Tech. You can follow him on Twitter @MrNashington or like his page at Facebook.