Social Media

X Loses SCOTUS Appeal On Surveillance Disclosures

Reuters reports: The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday rejected a request by Elon Musk’s X Corp to consider whether the social media company, formerly called Twitter, can publicly disclose how often federal law enforcement seeks information about users for national security investigations. The justices declined to hear X’s appeal of a lower court’s ruling holding that the FBI’s restrictions on …

Read More »

Florida GOP Bill Would Ban Minors From Social Media

Florida Politics reports: Legislation filed late Friday would prohibit minors in Florida from having social media accounts. Fiona McFarland, a Sarasota Republican, filed the legislation (HB 1). Of note, the designation of HB 1 is normally held for priority legislation for House leadership. As written, the bill would require tech companies to enact reasonable age verification methods, prevent anyone under …

Read More »

Mutual Fund Values X At 29% Of Musk’s Purchase Price

Axios reports: Fidelity has again marked down the value of its shares in X Holdings, which the mutual fund giant helped Elon Musk buy for $44 billion when the company was known as Twitter. Fidelity believes that X is worth 71.5% less than at the time of purchase, according to a new disclosure that runs through the end of November …

Read More »

Facebook Suspends LibsOfTikTok For Hateful Content

Mediaite reports: The right-wing social media account Libs of TikTok was suspended from Facebook on Saturday evening for reportedly violating the platform’s community standards. The account, which was launched in April 2020, is known for posting anti-LGBTQ content and opposing progressive activism. Libs of TikTok has amassed a large following on social media with over 2.7 million followers on X …

Read More »

Musk Loses Suit Against CA Content Moderation Law

Reuters reports: Elon Musk’s X on Thursday failed to block a California state law that requires social media companies to publicly disclose how they moderate certain content on their platforms. X, formerly known as Twitter, in September sued California to undo the content moderation law, saying the law violated its free speech rights under the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment and …

Read More »

Judge: Twitter Stiffed Employees On Millions In Bonuses

Reuters reports: Twitter violated contracts by failing to pay millions of dollars in bonuses that the social media company, now called X Corp, had promised its employees, a federal judge ruled on Friday. Mark Schobinger, who was Twitter’s senior director of compensation before leaving Elon Musk’s company in May, sued Twitter in June, claiming breach of contract. Schobinger’s suit alleged …

Read More »

“Rioter Central” Platform Parler To Relaunch In 2024

NBC News reports: Parler, one of the Trump-era social media apps that featured little content moderation and became popular among conservatives, has been sold again and is planning for a relaunch early next year ahead of the 2024 presidential election, its new owners said Monday. The app, known for its use by participants in the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection, will …

Read More »

EU Investigates X Over Hate Speech And Fake News

The Guardian reports: The social media platform X, formerly Twitter, is being investigated for allegedly breaking EU law on disinformation, illegal content and transparency, the European Commission has announced. The decision to launch formal infringement proceedings against the company, owned by the US billionaire Elon Musk, comes weeks after X was asked to provide evidence of compliance with new laws …

Read More »

Media Matters Sues Texas AG For “Unlawful Retaliation”

NBC News reports: Media Matters for America sued Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in federal court late Monday, alleging that Paxton violated the First Amendment last month and chilled its work when he opened an investigation into the organization over its reporting into Elon Musk’s X app. Media Matters, a progressive watchdog group, said Paxton’s investigation was unlawful retaliation designed …

Read More »

Sandy Hook Parent Labels Elon Musk A “Sociopath”

TMZ reports: Elon Musk’s decision to welcome conspiracy theorist Alex Jones back on X is especially upsetting to the parent of a Sandy Hook school shooting victim, who now has some strong words for the billionaire. David Wheeler, whose son, Benjamin, was one of the first graders murdered at the elementary school in 2012, tells TMZ … Elon’s call to …

Read More »

Musk Hosts X Panel With Alex Jones, Other Extremists

The Huffington Post reports: Just hours after reinstating his X account, Elon Musk joined Alex Jones for a deeply questionable conversation on X Spaces on Sunday. The tech billionaire and InfoWars host were joined by Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, internet influencer and suspected human trafficker Andrew Tate, and an ensemble of other conservative personalities for a 3-hour audio stream, …

Read More »

Musk Appeals To Supreme Court In Tesla Tweets Case

Ars Technica reports: Elon Musk yesterday appealed to the Supreme Court in a last-ditch effort to terminate his settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Musk has claimed he was coerced into the deal with the SEC and that it violates his free speech rights, but the settlement has been upheld by every court that’s reviewed it so far. In …

Read More »

Elon Musk Reinstates Alex Jones’ Twitter Account

The Huffington Post reports: Elon Musk has restored the X account of conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, pointing to a poll on the social media platform formerly known as Twitter that came out in favor of the Infowars host who repeatedly called the 2012 Sandy Hook school shooting a hoax. It poses new uncertainty for advertisers, who have fled X over …

Read More »

Ex-Twitter Exec’s Lawsuit: I Was Fired For Objecting To Musk Ending Sharing Our Info With Law Enforcement

Reuters reports: A former executive at Twitter Inc, now called X Corp, has filed a lawsuit claiming he was fired after Elon Musk acquired the company for objecting to budget cuts that would prevent the company from complying with a U.S. government settlement over its security practices. Alan Rosa, who was Twitter’s global head of information security, filed the lawsuit …

Read More »

YouTuber Gets Six Months For Deliberate Plane Crash

Los Angeles’s ABC affiliate reports: An extreme sports athlete from Santa Barbara County was sentenced to six months in federal prison on Monday for intentionally crashing a small plane for a YouTube stunt and then destroying the wreckage. In November 2021, authorities say Trevor Jacob, 30, took off from the Lompoc City Airport in his single-engine Taylorcraft BL-65 on a …

Read More »

Experts Say X Posts Fueled Far-Right Riots In Dublin

CBS News reports: Elon Musk’s social media platform X has fueled far-right disinformation in Ireland and played a key role in riots last month in the country’s capital Dublin, experts tell CBS News. The violent clashes erupted on Nov. 23 between about 200 civilians and riot police in central Dublin as demonstrators vented rage after a stabbing incident that left …

Read More »

X Advertisers To Elon Musk: We Will Indeed F*ck Off

The New York Times reports: Advertisers said on Thursday that they did not plan to reopen their wallets anytime soon with X, the social media company formerly known as Twitter, after its owner, Elon Musk, insulted brands using an expletive and told them not to spend on the platform. At least half a dozen marketing agencies said the brands they …

Read More »

Federal Judge Blocks Montana’s Ban On Using TikTok

Reuters reports: A U.S. judge late on Thursday blocked Montana’s first-of-its kind state ban on the use of short-video sharing app TikTok from taking effect on Jan. 1, saying it violated the free speech rights of users. U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy issued a preliminary injunction to block the ban on the Chinese-owned app, saying the state ban “violates the …

Read More »

Elon Musk To Advertisers: “Go F*ck Yourself” [VIDEO]

Deadline reports: Elon Musk made plain his view of the widespread advertiser withdrawal this month from X, formerly Twitter. “Don’t advertise,” he advised any marketer with misgivings. “Somebody’s going to try to blackmail me with advertising?! Blackmail me with money? Go f–k yourself. Go. F–k. Yourself. Is that clear? I hope it is.” The remarks came at the beginning of …

Read More »

Trump Judge Recuses From Musk’s Media Matters Suit

The Hill reports: The judge presiding over tech billionaire Elon Musk’s lawsuit against Media Matters for America has recused himself from the case, according to court documents. In a notice filed with the court on Tuesday, Judge Mark Pittman of the U.S. District Court in Northern Texas wrote that he was recusing himself from the case and requested the clerk …

Read More »