Social Media

Ars Technica reports: Elon Musk and X Corp. were sued yesterday by four former Twitter executives who say they were cheated out of more than $128 million in severance when Musk bought the social network and fired them. Former Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal, former CFO Ned Segal, former Chief Legal Officer Vijaya Gadde, and former General Counsel Sean Edgett filed …

The Daily Mail reports: Meta’s Facebook, Threads, Messenger and Instagram are down worldwide, leaving thousands of users unable to access the social media platforms. The issues appeared around 10:20am ET and are impacting both social media sites’ apps and website. Rather than showing a skeleton version of the site, Facebook will automatically kick you out. An error message saying that …

Florida Politics reports: The Senate has passed a replacement bill regulating social media use by minors. After a 30-5 vote, the measure now heads back to the House. Days after Gov. Ron DeSantis vetoed legislation barring anyone under age 16 from most social media platforms, lawmakers brought new language to the floor giving more say to parents. Sen. Erin Grall, …

Politico Europe reports: Elon Musk’s X, formerly known as Twitter, may face tough new restrictions under the European Union’s new digital antitrust rulebook, the European Commission said after the company told regulators they could come under the scope of the rules. X, TikTok-owner Bytedance and travel website group Booking told the Commission on Friday that they run digital services that …

Florida Politics reports: Language for a new social media bill with provisions for parental consent has been filed in the Senate. The move came after Gov. Ron DeSantis vetoed an all-out ban on those under 16 using most social media platforms. Sen. Erin Grall, a Fort Pierce Republican, filed an amendment with new language negotiated with the House, Senate and …

The Washington Post reports: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) vetoed what would have been one of the nation’s most restrictive bans against children using social media on Friday, drawing a line in the debate over kids’ online safety over concerns the bill did not allow parents to supervise teens’ activity. But unlike laws in Utah and Arkansas blocking kids under …

The New York Times reports: The Supreme Court seemed troubled on Monday by a Florida law that prohibits social media companies from disfavoring conservative speakers, at least to the extent that it bars major platforms like Facebook and YouTube from making editorial judgments. But several justices indicated that the sprawling law may be constitutional as applied to other sites like …

Vox reports: In mid-2021, about a year before he began his longstanding feud with the biggest employer in his state, Florida’s Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis signed legislation attempting to seize control of content moderation at major social media platforms such as YouTube, Facebook, or Twitter (now called X by Elon Musk). A few months later, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, also …

Florida Politics reports: Florida’s Republican-led Legislature passed a sweeping bill Thursday in Tallahassee that would ban all kids under 16 from using social media — even with a parent’s permission — and would require everyone else in the Sunshine State to prove they are adults to continue using their online accounts. The Senate voted 23-14 to pass the bill, a …

Florida Politics reports: The Senate continues to adjust a controversial ban on social media for Floridians under age 16. But legislation (HB 1) ready for a vote in the Senate still doesn’t allow parents final say whether kids can log into platforms. Sen. Erin Grall, a Fort Pierce Republican, said the state needs to treat access to addictive platforms the …

Sky News reports: X has suspended the account of Alexei’s Navalny’s widow. It is unclear why the social network, formerly Twitter, has suspended Yulia Navalnaya’s account. Earlier today on X, Ms Navalnaya urged the Kremlin to “give back Alexei’s body and let him be buried with dignity”. She also said she “did not care how the killer’s press secretary comments …

Reuters reports: A group of 18 Republican lawmakers has urged President Joe Biden to deactivate his campaign’s TikTok account citing national security concerns. The lawmakers in a letter seen by Reuters said Biden was “ignoring TikTok’s well-established national security risks. How can the federal government warn Americans about the risks of this app if the Commander in Chief uses it, …

Politico reports: Donald Trump may be finally headed for Wall Street. The Securities and Exchange Commission has signed off on one of the last outstanding hurdles to a more than two-year-old planned merger to take the former president’s media venture public, according to the companies behind the deal, Trump Media & Technology Group and Digital World Acquisition Corp. Now, pending …

Ars Technica reports: A watchdog group’s investigation found that terrorist group Hezbollah and other US-sanctioned entities have accounts with paid checkmarks on X, the Elon Musk-owned social network that still resides at the twitter.com domain. The Tech Transparency Project (TTP), a nonprofit that is critical of Big Tech companies, said in a report today that “X, the platform formerly known …

Florida Politics reports: Florida’s Governor is again throwing cold water on a legislative proposal to ban youth social media use because he doesn’t know if the “expansion beyond the current federal law” would hold up in court. “I think that I’m not going to be supporting if I don’t think it’s going to be something that’s going to pass legal …

CNBC reports: President Joe Biden’s reelection campaign launched an official TikTok account Sunday evening. The account is noteworthy because TikTok is currently banned on most U.S. government-issued devices. The TikTok account, with the handle ”@bidenhq,” debuted Sunday during Lunar New Year celebrations in China and Super Bowl 58 in the U.S. In late 2022, Biden signed legislation that barred most …

Reuters reports: A federal judge ordered Elon Musk to testify again in the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s probe of his $44 billion takeover of Twitter, giving the regulator and the billionaire a week to agree on a date and location for the interview. Judge Laurel Beeler’s order, issued on Saturday night, formalized a tentative ruling she made in December …

Variety reports: In a blog post Friday, Instagram, the popular photo and video app owned by Meta, said it will no longer “proactively recommend” political content from accounts that users do not already follow. The same policy applies to Threads, the Twitter-copycat app launched last summer under the Instagram brand. “We want Instagram and Threads to be a great experience …

Florida Politics reports: Legislation that passed the Florida House and is now moving through the Senate that would ban Floridians under the age of 16 from having social media accounts is drawing doubts from Florida’s senior Senator. Marco Rubio said he thinks courts would strike it down. His “only concern about it would be that social media is not a …

Florida Politics reports: Legislation barring most children in Florida from social media advanced in the Florida Senate. But it still contains no exceptions for children logging on with parental consent, something Gov. Ron DeSantis has questioned. Sen. Erin Grall, a Fort Pierce Republican, said Big Tech’s current practices pose too great a threat against children to ignore. “If we as …