this post was submitted on 24 Aug 2024
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Oh dear god you normally have to go pretty far into the dark web to see something like this.
Great work Elon, just amazing.
This is bordering on clickbait, because of course weapons are being sold in some form or fashion at most forums or marketplace in Yemen.
It's a country that has been wrecked by civil war and years of a genocidal air campaign by the Saudis, and now intermittent targeted strikes by American and British naval forces.
I would be shocked if most of those people aren't also selling those openly at their local Bazaar or market.
I... uh...
...ok.
So, if you go on Facebook, or Craiglist, and then privately buy or sell a firearm that is:
Fully Automatic
Does not meet required barrel length for its caliber
Is a fucking grenade or other explosive
Sold to or purchased from a person in a state you do not reside in
And/or
You do not also do the required paperwork (and usually a background check on the purchaser) to indicate to the government that you have sold/purchased a firearm, or at least keep a record of this for yourself...
...in almost every state in the US, you are now likely a felon, should your activities become noticed by law enforcement.
https://www.findlaw.com/consumer/consumer-transactions/private-gun-sale-laws-by-state.html
In fact, the ATF and FBI have quite often done honeypot operations in these kinds of groups.
Please tell me you can see the difference between exploiting the loopholes in a country with a highly complex array or firearms laws, and an open air bazaar in a foreign country with basically no gun laws.
Twitter/X, which is, last I checked, a US based and registered company, is now facilitating unregulated firearms sales to a potentially international audience, and again, it is facilitating arms transfers to or from persons and entities the US likely considers to be terrorists.
I do not have to have any political opinion regarding the Houthis to be able to tell you that this is yet another gigantic legal quagmire for Twitter/X.
Why are you assuming that there is a state of law and order to any degree, outside of maybe the capital..?
Are you aware that we're talking about Yemen...?
Notice that Wikipedia page for their civil war doesn't currently have an end date i.e. it's still active...
It's not like Twitter is providing up support for these transactions, I'm saying it's not surprising they exist on a public forum like Twitter for a country that's ravaged by a decade war and famine.
Just like how kids in the United States sell drugs on Twitter or Instagram.
So no, Twitter is not automatically liable just because people are abusing the platform. I'm not saying it can't get there, just that it's not that simple.
Regardless, I wasn't saying anything about the legality of it for Twitter.
I am not. I in fact said the opposite.
EDIT: Now that I'm quoting myself, that or should be an of, whoops.
At no point did I mention laws, or legal loopholes.
And I certainly never mentioned anything about the United States, or the legal liability of Twitter, except as in response to your comment.
I think you're confusing my acknowledgment of the daily reality of a country that is currently divided between 3 and 5 major and minor factions, all in various states of civil conflict, with being something else entirely.
I wasn't providing any opinion, or analysis, on the legality from Twitter's perspective. I certainly wasn't making any comparisons to laws in the United States and Yemen, or anything else that you've been talking about since your first comment.
I would make the "duh no shit this is clickbait" observation if the BBC ran yet another story about how kids are selling drugs on Snapchat or Instagram.
Are we pretending the Houthis are innocents now?
No, we're acknowledging that countries wrecked by civil war and intermittent famines going back a decade, aren't known for their ability to police domestic issues fairly, on time, or even at all. I'd be more interested to know what percent of the households are NOT armed.
For the record, I said nothing about any government, or political groups/militias. They're armed primarily by their proxy sponsor, I'm talking about retail arms sale to civilians, bandits, normies, and scared parents alike.
Unless you think IRCG is arming the Houthis via Twitter.
You are also aware that the Houthis have been and still are indiscriminately targeting civilian cargo ships of any nationality, yes?
Its not like all of these ships are going to or from Israel, or registered as Israeli or US vessels.
Its actually quite an oddity to see NATO, Indian Navy and PLAN vessels all doing anti-piracy missions in the same place and time.
I'm going to need you to actually quote which part of my comment you're responding to.
As far as I can tell, what you wrote has exactly nothing to do with anything that I said.
False. You mentioned the Saudi government, the UK government, and the US government. You just neglected to mention the Houthis who are engaged in attacking civilians in international waters. Which is the reason for the air strikes by the US/UK which you're denouncing.
The people in Yemen are humans, not animals. As humans they are responsible for their actions. Cut out this white man's burden nonsense. That narrative is older than all of us.
I didn't denounce anyone, even among the groups and actors I mentioned. I simply gave a very brief look at situation. You're mad that I didn't provide a complete and detailed analysis, which is irrelevant to my point about civilians bearing arms.
Not for nothing, but your politics are pretty clear, and if it was relevant at ALL to this subject, I'd happily engage. But it's not, so stop yelling into the wind to distract from the fact that your comments are clearly about your disdain of the Yemini people.
I feel sympathy the Yemenis having to live under brutal regimes. Especially for homosexual Yemenis who are literally crucified.
I think it's you that has no sympathy for Yemnis. You see Houthis hating the US and Israel and like that enough to look the other way about how horrible they are to the people of Yemen.
I can't tell if you're a troll, or actually insane. But I guess those don't have to be mutually exclusive.
Not sure if you're in denial or just ignorant.
https://www.amnesty.org.uk/press-releases/yemen-huthi-authorities-sentence-seven-stoning-and-two-crucifixion-homosexual-crimes
I'm having a hard time finding where I said that I wanted to live under Houthi rule, or when I denied their status as militant Islamists.
Can you please scroll up to my other comments and point those out for me? Thanks in advance.
Oh, and just a reminder to anyone who actually made it this far into this idiotic rabbit hole, my original comment was that it is entirely unsurprising that Yemeni civilians are buying arms to wherever they can, be it Twitter or a local marketplace, due to the past decade of conflict, years long aerial bombing campaign, and famine.
You commented on air strikes but omitted the reason for the air strikes. I've corrected your omission.
Also from the article:
Do you have any evidence to back up your claims that it's Yemeni civilians that are buying the weapons to protect themselves from the Houthis? The ambassador indicates the Houthis would shut down such activity.
What actual evidence do you have to support your claims?
Your reading comprehension is so absurdly bad, that I got to believe you're either trolling, insane, or on a lot of Adderall. I'm out lol.
Did you even read the article we're discussing before insulting me about my reading comprehension? Or even the summary?
You can't seem to grasp why it's odd for you want to discuss anyone other than the Houthis in a discussion under an article that's about the Houthis potentially using Twitter to buy weapons.
I guess it's my bad for assuming you read the article.
You mean the first three paragraphs describing a few ads on Twitter for weapons?
Followed by the BBC, quoting other British "NGO" organizations, trying to rally people to support additional actions against a group that Britain currently engaged in military actions against? Yes, I read that as well.
The article reads like two separate articles pasted together by a moron. The only connective tissue between the Twitter ads, and the Houthis, was that the weapons traders lived an area controlled by them. News flash, the Houthis control a majority of the country.
So again, in a country that has had an active civil war since 2014, it's not surprising that people are selling weapons anywhere and everywhere, online, and off.