The CNN ‘journalist’ decries you and I having free speech, but one of his own is free to dispense hate.

Upon seeing so many in the media ecosystem coming out to loudly issue dire warnings about granting more freedom of expression to Twitter account holders, Brian Stelter has to join in. On the Monday edition of his CNN+ program (take my word, such a thing exists), he weighed in on the prospect of Elon Musk taking over Twitter, and what the foreboding future might hold if people were not so restricted on the social media platform.

This is the thing about Brian Stelter; he dependably and obliviously manages to display all the aspects of dysfunction in the press. He has taken on the task of being the cleanup crew for the journalism sector, but in the process, he manages to typify the root problems in the industry and goes on to routinely defy journalism standards. His ethical recidivism leads one to wonder how aware he is about his lapses; how much is covering up the negatives, and how much is him being truly blind to his contradictions?

A prime example of his eclipse-sized blind spot is how in 2021, he was decrying the way Chinese authorities clamped down on the news outlet Apple Daily. Calling the move a chilling effect on the news, and that it has a dark impact on the freedom of the press, was not shocking. However, these entreaties were countered by commentary from himself, and his ward – Boy Wonder Oliver Darcy – while both were simultaneously lobbying for cable outlets to take down the One America News Network from their channel packages.

The reality of varying sets of standards is not new, and it returned today as Stelter talked with Lauren Hirsch from the New York Times about Musk’s latest movements, and the Twitter Board of Directors working to derail his buyout attempt. Stelter was supportive of the blocking maneuver, starting his day crowing about how the stock dropped in the morning, but then after it rebounded by 2.5 percent, he decided to suspend comments on the stock price.

Here's @LaurenSHirsch with the latest state of play about Twitter. "I suspect the Twitter board is very nervous about having this look like they are dismissing Elon outright," so they're going through the motions… pic.twitter.com/azAt1CEXnN

— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) April 18, 2022

In the course of their talk, Hirsch mentioned how moderating users to this point has been good for Twitter’s business, and Brian saw the opportunity to make his point against the projections of Elon’s influence.

“People don’t play in the gutter,” proclaimed the host. “Most people don’t want to send their kids to play in the gutter!”

This is Stelter operating, like so many other ‘journalists’ in the press, with the firm belief that Musk is going to strip down any and all restrictions on content on the platform. It is like complaining about an action before a complainable action even happened. It is also, quite certainly, rooted in another journalist horror story – the belief that this could lead to a return of Donald Trump to the platform.

What is precious about this perpetual press pearl-clutching is that they pretend Twitter is not already a sociopathic sewer, and that much of that is a result of the imbalanced enforcement of the site’s terms of service. Stelter wants to paint a scenario of decorum being tossed off the penthouse office’s balcony, but what he is really saying is that he despises the idea of others having the freedom to operate like the elites, who are free from admonishment by the Twitter authorities.

One need only peer back one full day to find an example of the double standard Stelter pretends is not in place. On Sunday, a Mid-East journalist was found to have called for the removal of all Jews. It was not an oblique reference that could be interpreted as hateful; the man called on Allah to deliver the next Hitler to accomplish his goal.

Why does @miandawoodadv still have a Twitter account? He’s literally calling for genocide. Twitter seems to have a soft spot for anti-Semites. Also, how does Trump lose his Twitter account but Mian Dawood keep his? pic.twitter.com/auMPStIGaE

— Ian McKelvey (@ian_mckelvey) April 17, 2022

Consider the innocuous infractions we have seen that lead to accounts being suspended or permanently banned. This one calls for outright extermination of a race, but somehow this does not rise to the level of Twitter’s TOS violations. Dawood has deleted his tweet, and this was sufficient enough for the Twitter authorities who police their digital realm.

This shows what Stelter is actually saying in his lecture. He frets that if standards are loosened on Twitter, the place will turn into the garbage gutter – because everyone will be permitted to speak just like his fellow elite journalists.