Uber and the Fourth Estate

I wrote this post in 2014, more than 9 years ago. It may be very out of date, partially or totally incorrect. I may even no longer agree with this, or might approach things differently if I wrote this post today. I rarely edit posts after writing them, but if I have there'll be a note at the bottom about what I changed and why. If something in this post is actively harmful or dangerous please get in touch and I'll fix it.

Context: Uber Executive Suggests Digging Up Dirt On Journalists, The moment I learned just how far Uber will go to silence journalists and attack women.

An old adage: “never pick a fight with someone who buys ink by the barrel”. Ignoring it, Uber shows they’re not just evil - they’re stupid.
— jacob is on mastodon: @[email protected] (@jacobian) November 18, 2014

An old adage: “never pick a fight with someone who buys ink by the barrel”. Ignoring it, Uber shows they’re not just evil - they’re stupid.

— @jacobian

It’s more than an old adage, though: in targeting journos, Uber shows its utter contempt for even the concept of accountability.
— jacob is on mastodon: @[email protected] (@jacobian) November 18, 2014

It’s more than an old adage, though: in targeting journos, Uber shows its utter contempt for even the concept of accountability.

— @jacobian

The idea of the Fourth Estate is to provide accountability where the law fails. Uber believes themselves immune to all accountability.
— jacob is on mastodon: @[email protected] (@jacobian) November 19, 2014

The idea of the Fourth Estate is to provide accountability where the law fails. Uber believes themselves immune to all accountability.

— @jacobian

Reply from a now-deleted account¹:

.@jacobian Uber seems to believe themselves immune to the law in the first place. It follows that they want to find a loophole in the press.

This person deleted their account in late 2022, after Elon Musk bought Twitter. ↩︎