Social Media

The Guardian reports: YouTube has suspended Russell Brand’s ability to earn money on the platform following allegations of rape and sexual assault in a massive hit to his finances. The video-sharing and social media site said it had suspended Brand’s channel from the YouTube partner programme after serious allegations against him, meaning his videos are no longer able to be …

Mediaite reports: Elon Musk, the CEO of Twitter/X, is floating an idea that he’s had before, but never mentioned publicly, to remedy the problem of social media bots: charging people to use social media. It’s not the first time Musk has proposed making people pay to use X, which has, according to multiple reports, descended into a chaotic haven for …

The Messenger reports: Apple execs are engaged in an ongoing internal debate over ads for the company’s products and services on X, formerly Twitter, as a result of antisemitic content on the platform, Apple boss Tim Cook said in a new interview with CBS News. Speaking with John Dickerson, Cook said continuing ads on the platform was “something that we …

The Intercept reports: After members of the United Auto Workers walked off the job at midnight, Twitter stripped the union of its account verification without notice, according to a UAW official. The account, as of publication time, lacked verification — but its blue check was restored shortly after the story began circulating widely. The move by Elon Musk followed the …

The Guardian reports: TikTok has been fined €345m (£296m) for breaking EU data law in its handling of children’s accounts, including failing to shield underage users’ content from public view. The Irish data watchdog, which regulates TikTok across the EU, said the Chinese-owned video app had committed multiple breaches of GDPR rules. It found TikTok had contravened GDPR by placing …

The Center On Countering Digital Hate reports: New research by CCDH shows that X (formerly Twitter) continues to host nearly 86% of a set of 300 hateful posts after a week since we reported them. As of September 7th 2023, tweets promoting and glorifying antisemitism, anti-Black racism, neo-Nazism, white supremacy and/or other racism were still up. CCDH also found dozens …

Semafor reports: X, Elon Musk’s social media platform formerly known as Twitter, appears to be attempting to limit its users’ access to The New York Times. Since late July, engagement on X posts linking to the New York Times has dropped dramatically. The drop in shares and other engagement on tweets with Times links is abrupt, and is not reflected …

Ars Technica reports: When Elon Musk bought Twitter in October 2022, a fairly ordinary tech company was transformed into a most unusual private corporation. Many strange things have happened at the Musk-owned social network, but this article will focus on just one puzzling aspect of Musk’s leadership: His apparent refusal to pay bills. Over two dozen lawsuits alleged that Twitter—which …

Mashable reports: Multiple users on X have recently reported advertisements showing up on their feed without any disclosure or labeling. The paid ads being served to users appear as organic posts (aka tweets) and show up like non-paid content, right in a user’s feed. Users have reported seeing these unlabeled ads in both the “For You” feed, which includes algorithmically …

Reuters reports: Elon Musk’s X Corp sued California on Friday, challenging the constitutionality of a state law establishing new transparency requirements for social media companies, including how they police disinformation, hate speech and extremism. X, the social media platform once called Twitter, said the law, known as Assembly Bill 587, violates its free speech rights under the U.S. Constitution’s First …

Bloomberg News reports: Elon Musk is blaming the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) for a slump in US advertising revenue on X Corp., the social media platform formerly known as Twitter. Ad sales are still down 60% “primarily due to pressure on advertisers” mounted by the ADL, Musk said in a series of posts Monday. The ADL has said that reports of …

The Associated Press reports: A federal judge on Thursday temporarily blocked Arkansas from enforcing a new law that would have required parental consent for minors to create new social media accounts, preventing the state from becoming the first to impose such a restriction. U.S. District Judge Timothy L. Brooks granted a preliminary injunction that NetChoice — a tech industry trade …

CBS News reports: Starting next month, X’s updated privacy policy will entitle it to collect some users’ biometric data and other personal information. Under the revised policy, which takes effect September 29, X (formerly known as Twitter) “may collect and use your biometric information for safety, security and identification purposes” so long as the user provides consent. The biometric data …

Bloomberg News reports: Users of X, the social network formerly known as Twitter, will be able to make video and audio calls through the platform without having to share their phone number, owner Elon Musk said in a post Thursday, in the latest expansion of services as he seeks to create an “everything app.” Musk wants X to become more …

CNN reports: X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, is hiring for its safety and elections teams ahead of the 2024 US presidential election and will again allow political ads for the first time since 2019. “We’re currently expanding our safety and elections teams to focus on combating manipulation, surfacing inauthentic accounts and closely monitoring the platform for emerging threats,” …

“The guy’s a man-child. This is a man-child. This is a deeply disturbed individual. The X thing — and I will break it down in shows to come — but that’s a whole Aleister Crowley. He’s been obsessed with turning these companies into the word X. He tried to do it with PayPal; he’s done it his whole life. That’s …

The Insider reports: Elon Musk confirmed on Monday night that he’d ordered work on removing news headlines from X posts, so links only display an article’s lead image. “This is coming from me directly,” Musk wrote on X, responding to an earlier Fortune report that broke the news. “Will greatly improve the esthetics,” he added. “It’s something Elon wants,” an …

The Associated Press reports: Google, Facebook, TikTok and other Big Tech companies operating in Europe are facing one of the most far-reaching efforts to clean up what people encounter online. The first phase of the European Union’s groundbreaking new digital rules will take effect this week. The Digital Services Act is part of a suite of tech-focused regulations crafted by …

The New Yorker reports: In 2018, the Times reported that members of the Tesla board had grown concerned about Musk’s use of the prescription sleep aid Ambien, which can cause hallucinations. The Wall Street Journal reported earlier this year that he uses ketamine, which has gained popularity both as a depression treatment and as a party drug, and several people …

The Wrap reports: On Friday, Elon Musk appeared to announce plans to remove the block feature from X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. A number of users responded, including conservative actor James Woods, who said he would likely leave the platform if the feature is taken away. Musk was quick to fire back at Woods’ claim and tweeted back, …