Social Media

CNN Business reports: Twitter said it will no longer enforce its longstanding Covid misinformation policy, yet another sign of how Elon Musk plans to transform the social media company he bought a month ago. In 2020, Twitter developed an extensive set of rules that sought to prohibit “harmful misinformation” about the virus and its vaccines. Between January 2020 and September …

The New York Post reports: Twitter CEO Elon Musk posted a photo of his “bedside table” on Monday featuring a few odd decorations – including a pair of non-firing guns, a Buddhist amulet and a multiple cans of Diet Coke. The billionaire’s photo included a non-firing replica of George Washington’s flintlock pistol, lying in a wooden box whose open lid …

The Washington Post reports: Twitter’s radically reduced anti-propaganda team grappled on Sunday with a flood of nuisance content in China that researchers said was aimed at reducing the flow of news about stunning widespread protests against coronavirus restrictions. Numerous Chinese-language accounts, some dormant for months or years, came to life early Sunday and started spamming the service with links to …

NPR reports: Half of Twitter’s top 100 advertisers appear to no longer be advertising on the website. A report from Media Matters for America states that these 50 advertisers have spent almost $2 billion on Twitter ads since 2020 and more than $750 million just in 2022. Seven additional advertisers have slowed their advertising to almost nothing, according to the …

Reuters reports: Twitter Inc is planning to roll out its verified service next Friday with different colored checks for individuals, companies and governments, after a botched initial launch led to a surge in users impersonating celebrities and brands on the platform. Chief Executive Elon Musk on Friday allotted colors for the categories – gold for companies, grey for governments and …

The Hill reports: Elon Musk on Thursday said “a general amnesty” for suspended Twitter users will begin next week after he posted a poll over whether the platform should take action to restore affected accounts. “Should Twitter offer a general amnesty to suspended accounts, provided that they have not broken the law or engaged in egregious spam?” Musk asked in …

The Insider reports: Elon Musk fired several dozen Twitter employees overnight on Wednesday, most of whom were engineers, two people familiar with the company’s actions told Insider. The firings came as a surprise inside Twitter, the people said. Musk said in an all-hands meeting earlier this week that there would be no more layoffs at the company. The employees fired …

The New York Times reports: Before Elon Musk bought Twitter last month, the company’s executives had racked up hundreds of thousands of dollars in travel invoices that the social media service planned to pay. But once Mr. Musk took over the company, he refused to reimburse travel vendors for those bills, current and former Twitter employees said. Mr. Musk’s staff …

The Independent reports: Elon Musk has appeared to mock anti-racism initiatives by Twitter’s own staff, as well a Black Lives Matter more broadly. Mr Musk appeared to laugh at T-shirts that had been made by Twitter’s internal business group for Black employees. He then criticised Black Lives Matter protestors. He said that the shirts stemmed from the protests in Ferguson, …

The Washington Post reports: Dozens of top Twitter advertisers, including 14 of the top 50, have stopped advertising in the few weeks since Musk’s chaotic acquisition of the social media company, according to The Post’s analysis of data from Pathmatics, which offers brand analysis on digital marketing trends. Ads for blue-chip brands including Jeep and Mars candy, whose corporate parents …

The Verge reports: Elon Musk told Twitter employees on Monday that the company won’t relaunch its paid verification subscription, Twitter Blue, until “we’re confident about significant impersonations not happening,” according to a recording of his remarks obtained by The Verge. Musk said last week that his $8 per month Blue subscription would be made available again on November 29th. But …

Mediaite reports: Elon Musk restored Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s (R-GA) non-congressional Twitter account on Monday. Greene celebrated the news. Greene’s non-congressional account was permanently suspended in January due to allegedly spreading disinformation about Covid-19. “We permanently suspended the account you referenced (@mtgreenee) for repeated violations of our COVID-19 misinformation policy,” a Twitter spokesperson told New York Times reporter Davey Alba …

TechCrunch reports: Facebook is notifying users that it will remove four information fields from profiles starting next month. These fields include religious views, political views, addresses and the “Interested in” field, which indicates a user’s sexual orientation. The change will go into effect on December 1. A spokesperson for the company told TechCrunch in an email that the reason behind …

The New York Daily News reports: Elon Musk is taunting former President Donald Trump with a crude, sexually charged Jesus meme to suggest he’s struggling to keep away from Twitter. The world’s richest man shared the religious meme with his 118 million users on Sunday in response to Trump saying he had “no reason” to return to Twitter after new …

Semafor reports: Trump has been working on a merger deal between the platform, which is privately owned by Trump Media & Technology Group, and Digital World Acquisition Corp., a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) that would take Trump’s business public, making it accountable to investors. Since Trump is a core part of Truth Social’s value, rejoining Twitter could create some …

The Guardian reports: Elon Musk has announced the reinstatement of Donald Trump’s Twitter account after users on the social media platform voted by a slim majority to lift a ban on the former US president. Trump’s account was suspended in 2021 after the 6 January Capitol riot for violating Twitter guidelines and the risk of “further incitement of violence”. Musk, …

TMZ reports: CBS has started what could be a devastating ripple effect on Twitter, hitting the pause button, indefinitely, on posting new tweets amid uncertainty under Elon Musk’s stewardship. The network’s news division, CBS News, announced Friday it’d be suspending all Twitter activity from its official profiles as it continues to monitor things. CBS News says it’s doing this out …

The Daily Beast reports: Twitter czar Elon Musk sparked fresh controversy late Friday with a poll shared on the social media platform asking users whether or not they’d like to “reinstate former President Trump.” The post, which came amid fresh chaos at the company after Musk’s $44 billion takeover just three weeks ago, seemed likely to inflame concerns about disinformation …

The Daily Beast reports: Elon Musk received blowback from right-wing activists on Friday after responding “no” to a user urging the new Twitter chief to reinstate conspiracy theorist Alex Jones. Almost immediately, right-wingers and members of the far-right called out Musk—who fashions himself a free-speech warrior. “Elon’s free speech claim quickly shown to be bullshit lol,” right-wing YouTuber Tim Pool …

Axios reports: Elon Musk on Friday announced Twitter would deemphasize “hate” or “negative” tweets and that it’s reinstated some accounts that had been suspended both before and after Musk acquired the company. Musk originally said he wouldn’t make any new content moderation decisions until a new “content moderation council” with “diverse views” convenes. To date, Musk has not publicly disclosed …