David Schwartz, the CTO of Ripple, criticised Elon Musk, over his advanced proposal to impose fees on new users of the X platform.
Amid tech titans, the proposal to address the significant problem of spam and false accounts has sparked a fervent debate. This group’s Prominent individuals include David Schwartz, CTO of Ripple Labs, Zach XBT, and Elon Musk himself.
Ripple’s CTO Critics Elon Musk’s Most Recent Action
Elon Musk defended the necessity of charging fees to new users in a post on X. Furthermore, he emphasizes the lack of distinct usernames and the widespread use of bots as major concerns. Musk wrote in a post on X, “Unfortunately, a small fee for new user write access is the only way to curb the relentless onslaught of bots.”
Furthermore, he emphasized the difficulties that are presented by counterfeit accounts. Further, Musk underscored the importance of implementing rigorous protocols to protect the user experience.
Still, Musk’s sentiments are not shared by all. Ripple Labs CTO David Schwartz further fueled the controversy by vehemently criticizing Musk’s position.
According to Schwartz, Musk compromised the foundational tenets of free expression on the platform for practicality. He declared, “Now, keeping some lawful speech off X just because it’s annoying is so important that you’re going to change the fundamental dynamics of the site to make it possible?!”
Furthermore, the CTO of Ripple underscored the differentiation between addressing automated bot activity and impeding lawful dialogue. Moreover, he denounced placing expediency above the principle of freedom of expression.
The condemnation by Ripple CTO Schwartz ignited a discourse concerning the essence of censorship and the criticality of safeguarding a wide range of perspectives.
Schwartz agreed with a user’s claim that silencing political speech is not the same as silencing machines, emphasizing the subjective character of censorship. Moreover, the CTO of Ripple posited that although objectionable discourse might diminish the caliber of the platform, it ought not to serve as justification for censorship.
ZachXBT Joins The Debate
When queried about possible resolutions to the current dilemma, Schwartz suggested a straightforward yet substantial remedy: exercising reflective thought before expressing one’s opinion. “The problem of people saying incredibly dumb things without thinking about them for even a second can be solved by people thinking for a few seconds before they speak.” stated Schwartz of Ripple.
Furthermore, ZachXBT, a Web3 investigator, expressed doubt concerning the effectiveness of said measures. Concerning the viability of Elon Musk’s suggested approach, he drew attention to the widespread occurrence of verified fraudulent accounts.
A screenshot of a bogus Wormhole account featuring a verified mark, which attempted to defraud users with fraudulent airdrop posts, was utilized by ZachXBT to substantiate his claim.
ZachXBT penned, “I wonder if I concur that this will produce the outcomes you anticipate. Scammers purchase hundreds of business-verified fake accounts weekly for tens of thousands of dollars.