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Ah, there's a name from long past (MES). But I must disagree with you on calling MES a "troll". I very much dislike the way the word "troll" is used to mean both 1) liar who says phony things to provoke outrage and 2) sincere person who loudly says contrarian things. It's functionally the old slam on activists of "You're just seeking attention!". My impression is that MES deeply believed in what they said, even though it was far outside the norm.

Now, I hate to defend Musk, but let's be fair - there's been, not screaming, but rocket-blast level, outrage from the chattering class about how Apple should BAN Twitter, "get" him, etc. etc. It's a direct reply to the query "If you say billionaires should control speech when they're on your side, what happens when it's controlled by a billionaire opposed to your side?". Simple answer: "We'll try to get the billionaires on our side to defeat the opponent". Practically, I would not fault Musk for making a mistake and wrongly but honestly thinking some of the endless noise reflects reality (especially if someone at Apple got, let's say, a bit overzealous). Yeah, he shouldn't, but it's an understandable human error. Of the many things he's done, the Apple kerfuffle is perhaps the least "troll" (by any definition other than "noisy").

But why do you think the "modern media is incapable of recognising when it's being trolled", versus engaging in mutual attention antics? I'd say many recognize exactly what's going on, and enthusiastically participate from their side. But exhorting individual virtuous action will not change this, as the incentives don't reward individual virtue.

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