>> THIS IS SOMETHING THAT WE’RE
CERTAINLY KEEPING AN EYE ON.
WE HAVE ALWAYS BEEN VERY CLEAR
THAT WHEN IT COMES TO SOCIAL
MEDIA PLATFORMS, IT IS THEIR
RESPONSIBILITY TO MAKE SURE THAT
WHEN IT COMES TO MISINFORMATION,
WHEN IT COMES TO THE HATE THAT
WE’RE SEEING, THAT A THEY TAKE
ACTION, THAT THEY CONTINUE TO
TAKE ACTION.
AGAIN, WE’RE ALL KEEPING A CLOSE
EYE ON THIS.
WE ARE ALL MONITORING WHAT’S
CURRENTLY OCCURRING.
MARIA: WELL, THATS WAS WHITE
HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY KARINE
JEAN-PIERRE YESTERDAY WITH MORE
PROPAGANDA, SAYING THE BIDEN
ADMINISTRATION IS TRACKING
SO-CALLED MISINFORMATION ON
TWITTER.
ELON MUSK CLAIMING APPLE HAS
THREATENED TO PULL TWITTER FROM
THE APP STORE.
JOINING US RIGHT NOW IS THE
FORMER DEMOCRAT MAYOR OF MIAMI
BEACH, PHILIP LEVINE.
GOOD TO SEE YOU.
THANKS VERY MUCH FOR BEING HERE.
WE HAVEN’T HEARD FROM APPLE,
ASIDE FROM A FEW TWEETS BACK AND
A FORTH FROM TIM COOK AND ELON
MUSK.
YOUR THOUGHTS ON WHETHER OR NOT
APPLE IS GOING TO PULL TWITTER
AND WHY IT WOULD DO SO.
>> WELL, I THINK THAT WOULD BE
PRETTY CHALLENGING IF THEY DID
THAT.
LET’S THINK ABOUT IT.
TWITTER IS A BIG PART OF OUR
SOCIETY.
EVERYBODY USES TWITTER.
THE NEWS MEDIA CONSTANTLY.
I MEAN, THE ISSUE COMES DOWN TO
TWITTER’S’ ADVERTISERS.
THEY’RE NOT GOING TO REGULATE TO
SOME EXTENT TO MAKE SURE WE
DON’T HAVE THE HATE SPEECH ON
BOARD THE PLATFORM, I BELIEVE
THAT APPLE WILL BE THE FIRST OF
MANY ORGANIZATIONS THAT
UNFORTUNATELY WOULD DROP
TWITTER.
I THINK WE’RE HOPING THAT MAYBE
TWITTER COMES TO ITS SENSES,
SAVES THEIR ADVERTISING AND AT
THE SAME TIME PROVIDES A CLEAN,
FREE ENVIRONMENT, AN ENVIRONMENT
THAT DOESN’T ALLOW FOR THE HATE
SPEECH.
MARIA: LOOK, I KNOW WE’VE BEEN
HEARING THIS PROPAGANDA OUT OF
THE WHITE HOUSE NOW FOR SEVERAL MONTHS WHEN THEY TRY TO DO A
MONTHS WHEN THEY TRY TO DO A
DISINFORMATION GOREDISINFORMATIO
WHAT SPECIFIC MISINFORMATION IS
THE WHITE HOUSE REFERRING TO
HERE.
>> I THINK WHAT THEY’RE
REFERRING TO, THIS IS MY GUESS,
IT COMES TO TRUE HATE SPEECH,
WHETHER IT’S ANTI-SEMITISM OR
RACISM OR ALLOWING ORGANIZATIONS
OR PEOPLE THAT ARE TRYING TO HE
CREATE SOME TYPE OF TREMENDOUS
CHALLENGES FOR US AND THE
PEOPLE.
I THINK THAT THAT’S SOMETHING
WHICH THEY HAVE TO LOOK OUT FOR.
WE’VE SEEN IT BEFORE AND WE HOPE
WE DON’T SEE IT AGAIN BUT I
THINK TWITTER -- IT COMES DOWN
TO DOLLARS AND CENTS, IT COMES
DOWN TO ADVERTISING.
IF YOUR ADVERTISERS ARE GOING TO
STAY AWAY, THEY BETTER HOPE THAT
TWITTER IS ABLE TO MAKE SURE
THEY CAN MAKE MONEY IN RESIDUAL
SUBSCRIPTION REVENUE WHICH WHO
KNOWS.
MARIA: WELL, I MEAN, I GUESS
WHAT BOTHERS ME ABOUT THIS WHOLE
STORY IS MUCH OF THE
MISINFORMATION IS COMING OUT OF
THE WHITE HOUSE.
YOU KNOW, THE BORDER IS SECURE.
NO, IT’S NOT.
YOU KNOW, TWO QUARTERS OF
CONTRACTION IS NOT A RECESSION.
YES, IT IS.
YOU KNOW, VACCINE MANDATE IS NOT
UNCONSTITUTIONAL.
NO, IT IS UNCONSTITUTIONAL.
SAME WITH FORGIVING STUDENT LOAN
DEBT.
ALL OF THESE THINGS, THERE’S A
TENTATIVE DEAL FOR THE RAIL
COMPANIES.
NO, THERE WASN’T.
FOUR UNIONS REJECTED IT.
ALL OF THIS MISINFORMATION
COMING OUT OF THE WHITE HOUSE
AND YET THEY’RE TALKING ABOUT
TWITTER AS IF THERE’S
MISINFORMATION THERE.
SO THEY JUST PAINT A NARRATIVE
THEY WANT THE PUBLIC TO BELIEVE
WHEN IN FACT IT’S NOT ACTUALLY
TRUE.
>> WELL, I THINK THAT’S THE BIG
CHALLENGE AND CLEARLY IT GETS
INTO MY THING ABOUT FLORIDA.
FLORIDA CLEARLY REJECTED A LOT
OF THESE THINGS AND AS I SAID
BEFORE, SO GOES FLORIDA, SO
GOESES THE NATION AND WE SAW
THAT.
SO USING FLORIDA AS LITMUS TEST
IS A WAY TO UNDERSTAND MAYBE I
BELIEVE WHERE THE FUTURE OF THE
NATION IS GOING AND WE NEED THAT
DEBATE.
WE NEED IT TO BE CLEAN.
WE NEED IT TO BE FORTH RIGHT.
WE NEED IT TO BE ABOVE BOARD.
THAT’S THE MOST IMPORTANT THING.
HOPEFULLY TWITTER PROVIDES THAT
TYPE OF PLATFORM.
MARIA: DAGEN.
DAGEN: MARIA, I WANTED TO RAISE
ONE ISSUE WITH YOU IN PARTICULAR
ABOUT APPLE.
AND SO APPLE IS UPSET ABOUT
FREEDOM OF SPEECH AS ADVOCATED
BY ELON MUSK AND TWITTER BUT
THEY’RE NOT UPSET ABOUT THE
COMMUNIST PARTY CRACKING DOWN ON
THE FREEDOM OF SPEECH AND
EXPRESSION OF PROTESTERS IN THAT
COMMUNIST NATION IN CHINA.
I JUST WANT TO NOTE THAT APPLE
TWO WEEKS AGO STARTED LIMITING
THE USE OF THE AIR DROP WIRELESS
SHARING FUNCTION ON DEVICES IN
CHINA, RIGHT AFTER REPORTS BEGAN
SURFACING THAT PROTESTERS HAD
USED THE POPULAR FEATURE TO
SPREAD MESSAGES CRITICAL OF THE
COMMUNIST GOVERNMENT IN CHINA.
SO WHO DOES APPLE STAND FOR?
WHAT DOES APPLE STAND FOR?
IS IT FOR FREE SPEECH?
IS IT FOR THE VALUES THE COMPANY
WHERE APPLE WAS -- THE COUNTRY
WHERE APPLE WAS BORN?
OR ARE THEY STANDING UP FOR,
AGAIN, THE SUPPRESSION OF THE
PEOPLE OF CHINA AND THEIR
ABILITY TO PROTEST?
AGAIN, THAT’S WHERE THESE
DEVICES ARE MADE.
I THINK THAT APPLE OUGHT TO --
TIM COOK ET AL AT THAT
COMPANY, THEY OUGHT TO PUMP
THEIR BRAKES AND THINK ABOUT THE
MESSAGE THEY’RE SENDING TO
CUSTOMERS HERE IN THE UNITED
STATES AND THAT’S STRAIGHT FROM
SOMEBODY WHO JUST A RANDOM
PERSON I WAS TALKING TO WHO
HAPPENED TO BE DRIVING A TESLA
THIS MORNING.
MARIA: WELL, I MEAN, I SAID
THIS YESTERDAY AND, YOU KNOW, WE
SHOULD TALK ABOUT THIS AND PUT A
SPOTLIGHT ON IT.
THERE WERE ENABLERS OF NAZI
GERMANY IN THE 1930s AS WELL.
THERE HAVE BEEN ENABLERS IN
CORPORATE AMERICA OF EXPANDING
AND FUNDING THE EXPANSION OF THE
CHINESE COMMUNIST PARTY.
AND SO WHAT DO YOU DO ABOUT
THAT, WHEN YOU SEE THIS PLACE IN
THE WORLD THAT APPARENTLY
CORPORATE AMERICA SEES AS A
GROWTH STORY FOR THEIR
BUSINESSES AND YET IT’S A BAD
ACTOR ON THE GLOBAL STAGE.
DAGEN: INDEED.
BUT THEY NEED TO RE--
PARTICULARLY APPLE NEEDS TO
SERIOUSLY THINK ABOUT WHAT ITS
VALUES ARE AND ESPECIALLY IF
IT’S REALLY GOING TO MOVE TO
TAKE TWITTER OFF THE APP STORE.
I THINK THAT THAT IS -- ANDS
THERE’S A BATTLE BREWING BETWEEN
MUSK AND COOK, BUT AGAIN, ARE
YOU REALLY STANDING UP FOR THE
COMMUNIST PARTY OF CHINA AND THE
SUPPRESSION OF PROTEST IN THAT
NATION?
THAT’S THE WAY IT LOOKS.
MARIA: THAT’S A REALLY GOOD
POINT.
IT’S A GREAT POINT AND THIS IS
THE TIME TO PUT A SPOTLIGHT ON
IT WHEN WE SEE THE PEOPLE
UPRISING.
PHILIP, ANY THOUGHTS ON THAT
BEFORE YOU GO?
FINAL WORD.
>> WELL, I GOT TO TELL YOU THAT
WE SAW THIS IN FLORIDA AND I
THINK FOR A COMPANY TO GET
INVOLVED IN POLITICS IT’S VERY
CHALLENGING.
LOOK WHAT HAPPENED WITH DISNEY
WORLD WITH GOVERNOR DESANS IS
THE.
I’M SURE IF DISNEY TO BRING THE
CLOCK BACK A LITTLE BIT THEY
WOULD PROBABLY DO THINGS A
LITTLE DIFFERENTLY AND WHO
KNOWS, MAYBE APPLE WILL FIND
THEMSELVES IN THE SAME
SITUATION.