Social Media

Instagram Influencer Guilty In $8 Million Bitcoin Scam

From the Justice Department: Earlier today, Jebara Igbara, also known as “Jay Mazini,” pleaded guilty in federal court in Brooklyn to a three count information charging him with wire fraud, wire fraud conspiracy and money laundering. As set forth in the information, up until March 2021, Igbara maintained a popular Instagram account under the name “Jay Mazini,” where he would …

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Tumblr Allows “Naked Human Form” (But Not Porn)

Motherboard reports: Nudity is back on Tumblr—but only the not-horny kind. In a company announcement on Tuesday, Tumblr staff wrote: “We now welcome a broader range of expression, creativity, and art on Tumblr, including content depicting the human form (yes, that includes the naked human form).” Notably, explicit content, such as sex acts or “content with an overt focus on …

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Musk: Banned Users Won’t Return Until After Midterms

The Daily Beast reports: Elon Musk vowed early Wednesday that Twitter would not allow any banned accounts back on the site for weeks, meaning that Donald Trump and others will not return to the platform ahead of the midterm elections on Nov. 8. Musk, who completed his $44 billion takeover of Twitter last week, said he is building a content …

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Musk Condemns Twitter’s “Lords And Peasants” Blue Check System, Offers To Sell Verification For $8/Month

CNN Business reports: After facing criticism for his plan to charge Twitter users $19.99 a month to get or keep a verified account, Elon Musk has a counteroffer. Musk on Tuesday said he planned to charge $8 a month for Twitter’s subscription service, called “Twitter Blue,” with the promise to let anyone pay to receive a coveted blue check mark …

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Musk Haggles With Stephen King On Verification Cost

Yahoo News reports: Bestselling writer King tweeted on Monday he would be “gone like Enron” if Twitter made him pay $20 to keep his blue checkmark. He added, “Fuck that, they should pay me.” In response to King’s tweet, Musk said: “We need to pay the bills somehow! Twitter cannot rely entirely on advertisers.” The billionaire made a suggestion to …

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Trump FCC Commissioner Calls For Banning TikTok

Axios reports: The Council on Foreign Investment in the U.S. (CFIUS) should take action to ban TikTok, Brendan Carr, one of five commissioners at the Federal Communications Commission, told Axios in an interview. It’s the strongest language Carr has used to date to urge action on TikTok. With more than 200 million downloads in the U.S. alone, the popular app …

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Twitter Limits Content Moderation Ahead Of Election

Bloomberg News reports: Twitter Inc., the social network being overhauled by new owner Elon Musk, has frozen some employee access to internal tools used for content moderation and other policy enforcement, curbing the staff’s ability to clamp down on misinformation ahead of a major US election. Most people who work in Twitter’s Trust and Safety organization are currently unable to …

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Musk Wants To Resurrect Video Snippet Platform Vine

Axios reports: Elon Musk has instructed Twitter engineers to work on a Vine reboot that could be ready by year end, multiple sources tell Axios. Twitter shuttered the looping-video app in 2016 after acquiring it four years earlier, leaving loyal Vine fans dismayed. Twitter reportedly tried to sell Vine shortly after. Twitter engineers already have been assigned to look at …

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Musk Axes Twitter Board, Makes Himself “Sole Director”

The Independent reports: Elon Musk has dissolved Twitter’s board and made himself the “sole director” of the company. All previous members of the board have been removed from that role, leaving only Mr Musk as a director, according to a new filing. The action was taken on Thursday as part of Mr Musk’s $44 billion purchase of the company, according …

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Murphy Wants Probe Into Saudi Stake In Twitter Deal

Axios reports: Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) on Monday called for a congressional investigation into the national security implications of a company partially owned by Saudi Arabia maintaining its stake in Twitter following Elon Musk’s $44 billion acquisition of the platform. Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, founder and chairman of the Kingdom Holding Company, said the company would continue its ownership of …

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New “Anti-Censorship” Twitter Execs Plot Huge Layoffs

The Washington Post reports: Members of billionaire Elon Musk’s inner circle huddled with Twitter’s remaining senior executives throughout the weekend, conducting detailed discussions regarding the site’s approach to content moderation, as well as plans to lay off 25 percent of the workforce to start. Longtime Musk associates David Sacks [photo] and Jason Calacanis appeared in a company directory over the …

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Twitter To Begin Charging Verified Users $20/Month

The Verge reports: Now that he owns Twitter, Elon Musk has given employees their first ultimatum: Meet his deadline to introduce paid verification on Twitter or pack up and leave. The directive is to change Twitter Blue, the company’s optional, $4.99 a month subscription that unlocks additional features, into a more expensive subscription that also verifies users, according to people …

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Ron DeSantis Thrilled That “Elites” No Longer Control Twitter After Its Acquisition By The World’s Richest Man

Florida Politics reports: Gov. Ron DeSantis acknowledges that new Twitter owner Elon Musk is no “super-conservative,” but loves the “conniption” the billionaire’s acquisition is causing. DeSantis delighted in the Musk acquisition during a campaign “pit stop” in Franklin County, saying that the left knows Musk is “going to open it up” in the wake of his $44 billion purchase of …

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Extremists Organize Flood Of Antisemitic Tweets

The New York Times reports: The A.D.L. said the antisemitic tweet campaign was hatched on 4chan, the fringe message board that is loosely moderated and where hate speech has thrived. On Thursday, an anonymous 4chan user posted instructions for sharing antisemitic content on Twitter after Mr. Musk’s takeover was made official. The post was circulated on Telegram, the chat app …

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GM Suspends Twitter Advertising After Musk Takeover

CNBC reports: General Motors is suspending its advertising on Twitter following Elon Musk’s takeover of the social media platform, the company told CNBC on Friday. The Detroit automaker, a rival to Musk’s Tesla, said it is “pausing” advertising as it evaluates Twitter’s new direction. “We are engaging with Twitter to understand the direction of the platform under their new ownership. …

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Twitter Sees Wave Of Racist Slurs And Nazi Memes

The Washington Post reports: An emboldened cast of anonymous trolls spewed racist slurs and Nazi memes onto Twitter in the hours after billionaire industrialist Elon Musk took over the social network Thursday, raising fears of how his pledge of unrestricted free speech could fuel a new wave of online hate. “Elon now controls twitter. Unleash the racial slurs. K—S AND …

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Twitter Lifts Kanye West’s Suspension For Antisemitism

Axios reports: Ye, the rapper formerly known as Kanye West, regained control of his Twitter account Friday after it was suspended following antisemitic remarks he made on several social media accounts. Earlier this month, Ye threatened on Twitter to “go death con 3 on JEWISH PEOPLE.” West later told Piers Morgan he was “absolutely not” sorry for his comments. His …

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Cultists Fall For Claim Trump Will Return To Twitter

The Daily Beast reports: Shortly after news broke that Elon Musk had taken over Twitter and purged executives from the company, a bogus Donald Trump press release began circulating on the platform. Truth Social CEO and former Rep. Devin Nunes responded to the fake graphic, which hailed the deal and promised a Trump return to Twitter, by writing on Truth …

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Musk Takes Over Twitter, Fires Top Execs Including CEO

The Guardian reports: Elon Musk has completed his $44bn takeover of Twitter, taking control of the company and reportedly firing several top executives, including the chief executive, Parag Agrawal. The world’s richest man tweeted “the bird is freed”, in a reference to Twitter’s corporate logo. Shortly after taking the helm of Twitter, Musk reportedly ousted several senior figures, including Agrawal; …

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Musk: I Won’t Let Twitter Be “Free-For-All Hellscape”

Yahoo News reports: Elon Musk has said he is buying Twitter to “help humanity” and create a “common digital town square” in a message ahead of the expected completion of his takeover of the site on Friday. In a statement uploaded to Twitter aimed at the platform’s advertisers, Mr Musk said he was acquiring the platform because he believed it …

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