The claim
A correspondent for the Tagesschau does not want to see specific users of the Twitter news service “beaten back into their holes” as “conspiratorial rats”.
Our conclusion
Yes, a comment on tagesschau.de really wrote about “racist or conspiratorial rats” who are “allowed to crawl out of their holes”.
But Twitter would only remain relevant if these rats were “beaten back into their holes”. The article still exists, the passage has since been changed. The Tagesschau apologized for the choice of words on its website and on Twitter.
Social media and many traditional media outlets are outraged by the choice of words in a comment that appeared on tagesschau.de. Correspondent Nils Dampz from the ARD studio Los Angeles speaks in Seven Days of Destruction [ current and original version ] about the chaos of the takeover of Twitter by the eccentric billionaire Elon Musk:
The first week after the takeover could hardly have been worse for Twitter. And yet – things could get much worse. Preventing this ultimately falls to the users themselves.
Introduction to the comment by Nils Dampz
Dampz is worried about what it could mean that verified accounts - those with the blue checkmarks - will be available for purchase in the future. This “could make it even more difficult to distinguish between what is credible information and what is not.” Musk's “marketplace of debate” would allow “racist or conspiratorial rats to crawl out of their holes.” But Twitter could only remain relevant [for journalists, for the rapid exchange of information] “if these very rats – to stay with the marketplace image – are beaten back into their holes.”
Criticism and apology from the Tagesschau
The choice of words was rightly criticized very heavily. But right-wing sites and commentators are also exploiting the incident: freedom of speech would only be available to the left-wing opinion dictates, people talk about “defend the beginnings!” in “little Gobbelchen”, compares the ARD Tagesschau with the Black Channel of GDR television.
The text still exists, but now in a modified version . The Tagesschau apologized for the original wording on Twitter and also in the text:
Marketplace of debate
What is the marketplace of debate that Elon Musk is talking about? The CEO of Tesla and SpaceX has repeatedly described himself as a “champion of free expression” and criticized “excessive moderation” on online platforms. In his statement accompanying the purchase of Twitter, he said that "free expression is the foundation of a functioning democracy, and Twitter is the digital marketplace where issues important to the future of humanity are debated."
In his opinion, social networks should not remove comments that are offensive but still legal. “If it’s a gray area, let the tweet exist,” he is here . However, Twitter currently prohibits harassment, abuse, and posts that intend to cause physical harm to someone. The platform also has other guidelines, such as: B. a ban on misinformation related to COVID-19.
However, Musk's move also raises concerns : relaxed Twitter rules could mean a free pass for those who like to harass, troll or abuse the platform to attack people. Misinformation, including lies, can be spread affecting elections, health and public safety. The fears that Donald “You are fake news” Trump could return to Twitter before the midterms are at least gone .
Marketplace of ideas
Back to the concept of the marketplace. The British philosopher and economist John Stuart Mill spoke about a “marketplace of ideas” in “On Liberty” in 1859, in which he understood freedom of speech to be analogous to the economic concept of the free market. “Truth” emerges naturally from the competition of ideas in a free, transparent public discourse. Mill's concept is so important because it became a cornerstone of the understanding of free speech in the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
The marketplace of ideas is still a commonly used metaphor that is often quoted today. If you do an effort on Google and search for “marketplace of ideas” and “rats,” two types of results stand out: First, not only humans behave rationally , but even rats:
Rational decisions do not have to be conscious decisions. Rats are at least as rational as humans if one defines rationality as achieving one's own goals (survival and reproduction, in the case of rats) at the lowest cost.
And there are limits to freedom of speech, namely when people are compared vermin
The only option we are concerned with here is (4), as nothing else would fall under hate speech legislation.
Therefore, Waldron divides (4) into four new statements, each providing an example of how X might express the disapproval described in (4): (4a) must be given the same attention and respect.
(4b)
(4c)
(4d)
And if I can now philosophize based on what I found, the following occurs to me: Nils Dampz has somehow managed to do the balancing act between the two things:
- People often (un)consciously behave in such a way that their actions serve to achieve their own goals without sufficiently taking the needs of others into account. And that can be toxic in a free “market of ideas.”
- Dampz himself has massively overstepped the boundaries by simultaneously dehumanizing as rats and marking as legitimate targets to “beat back into holes” those who could shamelessly exploit free expression on Twitter for racism and hate speech
CONCLUSION
Yes, the guest author Nils Dampz, LA correspondent for the Tagesschau, wrote about “conspiratorial rats” and “beaten back into their holes” on tagesschau.de. His more than unfortunate and rightly criticized formulation was about the fact that on Twitter under the new boss Musk it could again be allowed to interpret freedom of expression as freedom of hate speech. The Tagesschau apologized on Twitter and also in the text for the original wording.
More on the topic: Elon Musk is alienating more and more Twitter users
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Notes:
1) This content reflects the current state of affairs at the time of publication. The reproduction of individual images, screenshots, embeds or video sequences serves to discuss the topic. 2) Individual contributions were created through the use of machine assistance and were carefully checked by the Mimikama editorial team before publication. ( Reason )

