Business

Study: Twitter Allows Hate Speech By Paid Blue Checks

The Hill reports: Twitter has been overwhelmingly not removing hate speech posted on the platform from verified Twitter Blue accounts, according to a report from a nonprofit that opposes the spread of hate and disinformation online. The Center for Countering Digital Hate said on Thursday that its researchers collected tweets promoting hatred from 100 Twitter Blue accounts and reported them …

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REPORT: Twitter Now Worth One-Third What Musk Paid

Yahoo Finance reports: Twitter is now worth just one-third of what Elon Musk paid for the social-media platform, according to Fidelity, which recently marked down the value of its equity stake in the company. Musk has acknowledged he overpaid for Twitter, which he bought for $44 billion, including $33.5 billion in equity. More recently, he said Twitter is worth less …

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The Cult Melts Down As Chick-Fil-A Hires Diversity VP

The Birmingham News reports: Is Chick-fil-A going woke? That’s the reaction on social media now that the popular restaurant has reports on its web site that Erick McReynolds is the VP of diversity, equity and inclusion. “Chick-fil-A restaurants have long been recognized as a place where people know they will be treated well. Modeling care for others starts in the …

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REPORT: Queen In Talks To Sell Catalog For Record $1B

American Songwriter reports: As Queen marks the 50th anniversary of their eponymous debut, the band is reportedly in talks to sell their catalog of music for an estimated $1.1 billion. The band is reportedly in the early stages, which could include everything from their 1973 self-titled debut through their 1995 album, Made in Heaven— Queen’s 15th and final album following …

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UK Commission Advises PM To Apologize After Report Details Decades Of Electroshock Torture Of Gay Troops

Bloomberg News reports: Prime Minister Rishi Sunak should apologize for the UK’s treatment of gay and trans veterans, according to a government-commissioned review that details a “culture of homophobia” that pervaded the British military for decades. The study — slated for publication in the first half of June and seen by Bloomberg — details accounts of electric-shock conversion therapy, intrusive …

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North Face Shrugs At Haters: We Stand By LGBTQ Pride

Ad Age reports: The North Face does not plan to bow to boycott pressure it is facing in the wake of an LGBTQ+ campaign. After the outdoors brand released its new Pride month collection this week, and included a video featuring drag queen Pattie Gonia, some consumers complained on social media. But The North Face responded with a message of …

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LGBTQ Groups To Target: Defend Us, Stand Up To Hate

Just in via press release: Recent pushback against businesses such as Anheuser-Busch and Target, blatantly organized by extremist groups, serves as a wake up call for all businesses that support the LGBTQ+ community. We’ve seen this extremist playbook of attacks before. Their goal is clear: to prevent LGBTQ+ inclusion and representation, silence our allies and make our community invisible. These …

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Target Pulls Some Pride Items After MAGA Violence

The Associated Press reports: Target is removing certain items from its stores and making other changes to its LGBTQ merchandise nationwide ahead of Pride month, after an intense backlash from some customers including violent confrontations with its workers. “Since introducing this year’s collection, we’ve experienced threats impacting our team members’ sense of safety and well-being while at work,” Target said …

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DeSantis Files Demand For New Judge In Disney Case

Florida Politics reports: Gov. Ron DeSantis is fighting to get a new judge on the bench for a case stemming from Disney’s federal lawsuit against the Governor. DeSantis filed a motion to disqualify Chief U.S. District Judge Mark Walker, arguing “the Court’s impartiality in this matter might reasonably be questioned.” Walker, whose office declined to comment Friday, has previously ruled …

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Musk Demands AP Retract Story On False Election Posts

The Associated Press reports: In an interview this week, Twitter owner Elon Musk said users making false claims of stolen elections “will be corrected” on the platform. Prompted by a CNBC reporter for extra assurance that would happen, Musk responded, “Oh yeah, 100%.” Yet many such claims have thrived on Twitter in the week since former President Donald Trump spent …

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DeSantis: “Zero” Chance I’ll Back Down In Disney Fight

The Hill reports: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) said Friday there is “zero” chance he will back down from his dispute with Disney, even as some fellow Republicans urge caution. “[Disney] can do whatever they want,” DeSantis said during a stop at a diner in Manchester, N.H. “I know people try to chirp and say this or that, but the …

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Democrats Press Automakers To Include AM Radios

The Hill reports: Lawmakers say the future of AM radio is in jeopardy after companies including Ford and Tesla announced some of their new models will no longer include AM receivers. “If Elon Musk has enough money to buy Twitter and send rockets to space, he can certainly afford to include AM radio in his Teslas,” Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) …

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DeSantis: Disney Pulled Plug Due To “Financial Straits”

“Disney announced the possibility of a Lake Nona campus nearly two years ago. Nothing ever came of the project, and the state was unsure whether it would come to fruition. Given the company’s financial straits, falling market cap and declining stock price, it is unsurprising that they would restructure their business operations and cancel unsuccessful ventures.” – DeSantis spox Jeremy …

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Disney Pulls Plug On Billion-Dollar Orlando Project

The New York Times reports: In March, Disney called Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida “anti-business” for his scorched-earth attempt to tighten oversight of the company’s theme park resort near Orlando. Last month, when Disney sued the governor and his allies for what it called “a targeted campaign of government retaliation,” the company made clear that $17 billion in planned investment …

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Hyundai, Kia To Pay $200M In Thefts Class Action Suit

Reuters reports: Hyundai Motor and Kia Corp agreed to a consumer class-action lawsuit settlement worth more than $200 million over rampant car thefts of the Korean automakers’ vehicles, lawyers for the owners said on Thursday. In February, the Korean automakers said they would offer software upgrades to 8.3 million U.S. vehicles without anti-theft immobilizers to help curb increasing car thefts …

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Musk Attacks ADL After Criticism For Attacking Soros

The Times Of Israel reports: Hours after tweeting that George Soros “hates humanity,” drawing rebuke from Israel’s Foreign Ministry and many others, Elon Musk bashed the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), appearing to draw praise from a series of white supremacist accounts on Twitter, which he owns. On Tuesday afternoon, Musk tweeted: “ADL should just drop the ‘A,’” meaning that the group, …

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Musk: I Don’t Care If My Assholery Scares Away Buyers

CNBC reports: Elon Musk told CNBC’s David Faber on Tuesday that he doesn’t care if his inflammatory tweets scare away potential Tesla buyers or Twitter advertisers. “I’ll say what I want, and if the consequence of that is losing money, so be it,” said Musk, who owns Twitter. Musk has for years tweeted controversial items, including conspiracy theories and comments …

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Disney: New Florida Law Nullifies DeSantis’s Lawsuit

The New York Times reports: Florida legislation that was designed to hamstring Disney could end up helping the company, at least in relation to a lawsuit in state court over development at Walt Disney World near Orlando. On Tuesday, Disney filed a motion to dismiss the state court case. As a matter of legal maneuvering, the filing was routine: Disney …

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Musk Loses Federal Appeal About His Tesla Tweets

Courthouse News reports: Tesla CEO Elon Musk failed to overturn corporate monitoring of some of his tweets imposed by the SEC. In a 7-page ruling made public Monday, a three-judge panel for the Second Circuit found no reason to terminate oversight to which Musk had voluntarily agreed. The Securities and Exchange Commission mandated oversight of Musk’s social media posts concerning …

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Vice Media Files For Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Protection

Reuters reports: Vice Media Group, popular for websites such as Vice and Motherboard, filed for bankruptcy protection on Monday to engineer its sale to a group of lenders, capping years of financial difficulties and top-executive departures. Vice said that the lender consortium, which includes Fortress Investment Group, Soros Fund Management and Monroe Capital, will provide about $225 million in the …

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