Business

Video Game Maker To Pay $530M In Privacy Settlement

CNBC reports: Epic Games, the developer and publisher of the video game Fortnite, will pay $520 million in fines to settle with the FTC over violations of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). The FTC had alleged that Epic paired children and teens “with strangers,” exposed them to “dangerous and psychologically traumatizing issues,” and failed to introduce adequate parental …

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Russian Oligarch Dies After “Falling Down Stairs”

Yahoo News reports: Russian real estate tycoon Dmitry Zelenov passed away earlier this month after tumbling down a flight of stairs while visiting friends in the French Riviera, according to a local outlet and an independent Russian outlet. The 50-year-old was the former owner of Russian developer Don-Stroy, which constructed the 61-story Triumph Palace Tower in Moscow, one of the …

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Musk Claims He’ll Step Down As Twitter CEO After Poll

The Washington Post reports: An unofficial poll that Elon Musk commissioned said he should step down from the helm of the social network, a referendum that Musk promised to follow after broad criticism of his stewardship of the company. The poll closed early Monday morning after twelve hours of voting, with 57.5% of more than 17 million responses calling Musk …

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Twitter Bans Users From Linking To Other Platforms

NBC News reports: Twitter will no longer allow users to promote their accounts on at least seven other major social media sites, including Facebook, Instagram and Truth Social, the platform announced Sunday. The new policy comes after many users began posting links to their accounts on other sites following Elon Musk’s takeover as CEO of Twitter and the platform’s subsequent …

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Musk Attends World Cup Final With Kushner And Saudis

Fox Sports reports: Elon Musk, the Tesla and Twitter CEO, appeared in Qatar on Sunday just ahead of the World Cup final before Argentina and France. Qatari TV broadcaster beIN Sports caught Musk entering Lusail Stadium to see whether Lionel Messi will be able to wrap up his first World Cup title or Kylian Mbappe capture his second World Cup …

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Musk Suspends Reporter Who ID’d LibsOfTikTok Owner

The Daily Beast reports: Washington Post reporter Taylor Lorenz was suspended from Twitter late Saturday, the latest prominent journalist to get the boot. Lorenz was apparently suspended for “violating the Twitter rules,” though it wasn’t immediately clear which one. Shortly before the ban, Lorenz had tweeted directly at Musk seeking comment for a story. “When I went to log in …

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Gab CEO: Twitter Was Better Before Musk Took Over

From antisemitic Christian nationalist Andrew Torba: Elon Musk is in over his head when it comes to free speech. Musk is quickly learning that in order to run a free speech platform you need two things: thick skin and a fanatical commitment to free speech, even when being pro free speech is bad for business, and even when being pro …

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Musk Restores Twitter Accounts Of Suspended Journos

Reuters reports: Elon Musk reinstated the Twitter accounts of several journalists that were suspended for a day over a controversy on publishing public data about the billionaire’s plane. The reinstatements came after the unprecedented suspensions evoked stinging criticism from government officials, advocacy groups and journalism organizations from several parts of the globe on Friday, with some saying the microblogging platform …

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REPORT: Musk Team Seeking New Investors For Twitter

Semafor reports: The managing director of Elon Musk’s family office is seeking new equity investors for Twitter as users revolt, advertisers flee, and debt payments loom, according to people familiar with the fundraising effort. Musk’s money manager, Jared Birchall, reached out to potential investors this week, offering shares of Twitter at the same price, $54.20, that Musk paid to take …

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Twitter Kills Audio Feature After Musk Rants At Journos

Gizmodo reports: Twitter Spaces, the audio feature that allows people to participate in group chats using the social media platform, has been disabled and it’s not clear whether it will ever return. The move comes after Elon Musk joined a group chat hosted by BuzzFeed reporter Katie Notopoulos on Thursday night, where the Twitter CEO spoke incoherently about his new …

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Walmart: Drone Deliveries Now Available To Millions

Via press release from Walmart: As of Dec. 15, 2022, Walmart drone delivery is available in select markets in Texas, Arizona and Florida. Many customers in the Tampa, Orlando, Phoenix and Dallas areas can take advantage of same-day delivery via drone. We continue to expand our delivery operations to help customers get the items they need when they need them, …

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German Official Dedicates Win Against Twitter To Fauci

The Associated Press reports: A German official who won a defamation case against Twitter this week dedicated his legal victory to Dr. Anthony Fauci, the top U.S. infectious disease expert targeted by the microblogging site’s new owner, Elon Musk. A Frankfurt regional court ruled Wednesday that Twitter has to remove false or defamatory tweets about Michael Blume, who is the …

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Musk Suspends Prominent Journalists For Dissing Him

The Washington Post reports: Twitter suspended the accounts of more than half a dozen journalists from CNN, the New York Times, The Washington Post and other outlets Thursday evening, as company owner Elon Musk accused the reporters of posting “basically assassination coordinates” for him and his family. Musk tweeted late Thursday that the suspensions would last a week, although several …

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Twitter Axes Account Of Social Media Rival Mastodon

CNET reports: The Twitter account encouraging people to join rival social network Mastodon has been suspended, the latest in a string of accounts suspended this week. The usual feed for @JoinMastodon was replaced Thursday with a message the account had been suspended for violating Twitter rules. It wasn’t immediately clear which rules the account broke. Neither Twitter nor Mastodon representatives …

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Musk Vows “Legal Action” Against Jet Tracker Account

Mediaite reports: Elon Musk tweeted that “legal action is being taken” against 20-year-old Jack Sweeney, who ran the now-banned Twitter account that tracked Musk’s private jet. Presumably, Musk plans to sue him. Since taking over Twitter, the billionaire has pledged to make the platform safe for “free speech.” On Wednesday, Twitter changed its terms of service to prohibit flight-tracking on …

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Elon Musk Sells Another $3.58 Billion In Tesla Stock

Fortune reports: Elon Musk, who lost his No. 1 spot on Bloomberg’s ranking of the world’s richest people this week, unloaded Tesla Inc. stock for the fourth time this year. Tesla’s chief executive officer sold almost 22 million shares of the electric-car maker for $3.58 billion, a filing showed late Wednesday in the US. The transactions happened between Dec. 12 and Dec. …

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Twitter Bans Account That Tracked Musk’s Private Jet

Axios reports: Twitter has clipped the wings of the account that actively tracked Elon Musk’s private jet, the owner of the account said Wednesday. The suspension raises questions about Musk’s commitment to free speech on Twitter. Musk said in early November that his “commitment to free speech” included the account following his plane. Florida college student Jack Sweeney, the owner …

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Texas Records Show Musk Didn’t Vote In The Midterms

The Daily Beast reports: Elon Musk, who implored his army of Twitter followers to vote Republican in the 2022 midterms, did not vote in the election, state records show. “Based on our records, we do not have any indication that Mr. Musk participated in the November 2022 Election in Cameron County,” the county’s election administrator told The Daily Beast. The …

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NYT: Twitter No Longer Paying Rent For Its Offices

The New York Times reports: Over the past two weeks, Elon Musk has shaken up Twitter’s legal department, disbanded a council that advised the social media company on safety issues and is continuing to take drastic steps to cut costs. Mr. Musk appears to be gearing up for legal battles at Twitter. He and his team have revamped Twitter’s legal …

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Sears Spinoff Files Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Protection

CNN Business reports: Sears Hometown Stores Inc., a franchise-owned unit of Sears, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Sears spun off Sears Hometown in 2012 to give the parent company a much-needed infusion of cash. The average Sears Hometown store is only 8,000 to 10,000 square feet, a fraction of the size of the average full Sears, which is …

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