Social Media

Meta To Settle Cambridge Analytica Suit For $725M

Reuters reports: Facebook owner Meta Platforms has agreed to pay $725 million to resolve a class-action lawsuit accusing the social media giant of allowing third parties, including Cambridge Analytica, to access users’ personal information. The proposed settlement would resolve a long-running lawsuit prompted by revelations in 2018 that Facebook had allowed Cambridge Analytica to access data of as many as …

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Musk: I’ll Resign When I Find A “Foolish” Successor

The New York Times reports: Elon Musk said on Tuesday that he would resign as Twitter’s chief executive when he found “someone foolish enough to take the job,” two days after he had asked his 122 million Twitter followers whether he should step down as the leader of the social media site and a majority of respondents answered yes. Mr. …

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CNBC: Twitter Is “Actively Searching” For New CEO

CNBC reports: Twitter owner and CEO Elon Musk is searching for a new CEO of the company, sources told CNBC’s David Faber. Musk, who acquired the company for $44 billion in October, has previously said his position as CEO would be temporary.  However, on Sunday, he wrote in a tweet that “there is no successor.” On Monday, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, …

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Musk: Only Those Who Pay The $8 Can Vote In My Polls

Elektrek reports: Elon Musk appears to be backing out from abiding by the results of a Twitter poll voting him out as head of the social media platform. Musk first responded “interesting” to a comment by Kim Dotcom suggesting that the “deep state” rigged the poll with bots. He then responded the same thing to a theory that the number …

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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 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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Fox Host: Musk Owns “Money-Losing Sewage Lagoon”

Mediaite reports: Fox Business host Dagen McDowell said Elon Musk spent $44 billion on a “money-losing sewage lagoon.” Appearing on The Five, McDowell also called the platform a “heap of crap” and said Musk is now liquidating Tesla stock in order to keep afloat. She said the banning of reporters is only newsworthy because the journalists get to be “the …

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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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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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Senate Votes To Ban TikTok From US Govt Devices

CNN Business reports: The Senate passed legislation Wednesday evening to ban TikTok from US government devices, in a move designed to limit perceived information-security risks stemming from the social media app. The vote by unanimous consent approved the bill authored by Republican Sen. Josh Hawley. The move marks lawmakers’ latest step against the short-form video app that has become popular …

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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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Eight “Influencers” Charged With $114M Stock Scheme

From the Justice Department: A federal grand jury in the Southern District of Texas returned an indictment that was unsealed yesterday charging eight men with conspiracy to commit securities fraud for a long-running, social media-based “pump and dump” scheme. According to court documents, Edward Constantinescu, aka Constantin, 38, of Montgomery, Texas; Perry “PJ” Matlock, 38, of The Woodlands, Texas; John …

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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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