Tag Archives: social media

Musk Vows “Thermonuclear Lawsuit Against Media Matters And ALL Who Colluded In Attack” On Twitter

The Guardian reports: Elon Musk has said he will be filing a “thermonuclear lawsuit” against Media Matters and others, after major US companies paused their adverts on his social media site over concerns about antisemitism. The media watchdog Media Matters said earlier this week that it found corporate advertisements by IBM, Apple, Oracle and Comcast’s Xfinity were being placed alongside …

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IBM Drops Twitter After Its Ads Appear In Nazi Threads

Reuters reports: IBM on Thursday said it had immediately suspended all advertising on Elon Musk-owned X after a report found its ads were placed next to content promoting Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party. The report comes a day after Musk endorsed an antisemitic post on X that falsely claimed members of the Jewish community were stoking hatred against white …

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Nikki Haley Vows To Force Verification Of Social Media Accounts: Put Everyone’s Real Name To Their Words

“Anti-Semitism was always bubbling underneath the surface, but now we’re seeing this massive exaggeration of it, but no one is talking about why. The truth is, if you look at social media, the misinformation and the dramatic sides of social media are instigating this. Why? Because it’s being pushed by Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea. “It is why when …

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100+ Fake News Studies Canceled Due To X Changes

Reuters reports: Social media researchers have canceled, suspended or changed more than 100 studies about X, formerly Twitter, as a result of actions taken by Elon Musk that limit access to the social media platform, nearly a dozen interviews and a survey of planned projects show. Musk’s restrictions on critical methods of gathering data on the global platform have suppressed …

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Musk Seeks To Block SEC Subpoena In Twitter Probe

Ars Technica reports: Elon Musk’s attempt to avoid testifying in a Twitter stock-purchase investigation continued yesterday with Musk asking a court to block a subpoena issued by the Securities and Exchange Commission. Musk’s filing in US District Court for the Northern District of California claimed the SEC is “harassing” him, exceeding its authority to investigate, and making “overly burdensome” demands …

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X Begins Selling Defunct Usernames For Up To $50K

Forbes reports: X appears to have begun ramping up efforts to sell disused user handles, kicking off a program previously signaled by billionaire owner Elon Musk. A team within the company, known as the @Handle Team, has begun work on a handle marketplace for the purchase of account names left unused by the people who originally registered them. In at …

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PragerU Makes $1 Million Anti-Trans Ad Buy On X

NBC News reports: The Prager University Foundation, a conservative advocacy group, purchased a “takeover” ad on X on Thursday as part of a larger $1 million marketing campaign to promote its polarizing film “Detrans: The Dangers of Gender-Affirming Care.” The 21-minute film focuses on two people who have detransitioned, meaning they previously identified as transgender and later decided they were …

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Elon Musk: X Will Add “Fully-Fledged” Dating Feature

The New York Daily News reports: Elon Musk plans to add a dating element to the struggling social media platform he purchased as Twitter one year ago, then rebranded into X in July. The billionaire told employees during a Thursday video call celebrating the anniversary that he plans to add the “fully fledged” coupling component in 2024, according to Insider, …

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X Formally Valued At Less Than Half What Musk Paid

The Verge reports: Everyone knew that Twitter wasn’t worth $44 billion when Elon Musk bought it a year ago. Now, we know what Musk himself thinks the company is worth today: $19 billion. On Monday, employees at X were awarded equity in the company at a valuation of $19 billion, or $45 per share, according to internal documents seen by …

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Musk: Next Year X Users “Won’t Need A Bank Account”

The Verge reports: Elon Musk wants X to be the center of your financial world, handling anything in your life that deals with money. He expects those features to launch by the end of 2024, he told X employees during an all-hands call on Thursday, saying that people will be surprised with “just how powerful it is.” “When I say …

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Supreme Court Temporarily Allows Biden Admin To Continue Requesting Action On Social Media Disinfo

The Washington Post reports: The Supreme Court on Friday temporarily allowed the Biden administration to continue its efforts to get social media companies to remove posts from their platforms that the government says are misleading. The administration had asked the justices to put on hold a lower-court ruling that found top officials likely violated the First Amendment by improperly pressuring …

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Twitter/X Removes Gold Verification Badge For NYT

The Washington Post reports: The social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, has removed the gold “verified” badge from the New York Times’ account amid ongoing complaints about the news organization from X owner Elon Musk. The badge was the only symbol distinguishing the Times’ 55-million-follower account from impostors amid two major global conflicts in Israel and Ukraine. X …

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Team Biden Passes Team Trump In Truth Social Follows

Axios reports: President Biden’s campaign has surpassed former President Trump’s in followers on Truth Social. The Biden campaign pithily announced it was joining his likely 2024 presidential race competitor on Trump’s Twitter-like platform, as they both vie to appear extremely online. “The U.S. presidential campaign is playing out in real time on Truth Social,” Truth Social said in an email …

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Twitter/X To Test $1 Annual Subscription For New Users

Reuters reports: Social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, said on Tuesday it will test a new subscription model under which it will charge $1 annual fee for basic features. The new subscription termed as “Not A Bot” will charge users for likes, reposts or quoting other accounts’ posts, and bookmarking posts on the web version of the platform. …

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Biden Campaign Joins Truth Social: “Converts Welcome”

The Hill reports: The Biden campaign Monday joined Truth Social, the platform founded by former President Trump, pushing its message on a platform largely dominated by the former president and his followers. “Well. Let’s see how this goes. Converts welcome!” the campaign wrote in its first post on the platform under the handle @BidenHQ. The campaign followed up with another …

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Truth Social Merger Deal Appears To Have Fallen Apart

Reuters reports: Digital World Acquisition Corp, the SPAC that plans to merge with former U.S. President Donald Trump’s media and technology company, said this week it would return to investors $533 million raised for the deal, after some have already backtracked on $467 million of commitments. The development means the end of the so-called private investment in public equity (PIPE) …

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Twitter Rolls Out Unmarked Ads That Can’t Be Blocked

Mashable reports: X, the Elon Musk-owned platform formerly known as Twitter, has begun serving its users with a weird new ad format and it’s one of the company’s least transparent products yet. The rollout of these ads also provides the public with a hint regarding just how much the company is struggling to attract advertisers. These new X ads don’t …

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SEC Sues Musk To Compel Testimony On Buying Twitter

Reuters reports: Billionaire Elon Musk is under investigation by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission over his 2022 purchase of social media giant Twitter, according to a Thursday court filing in which the agency sought to compel Musk to provide testimony. The investigation concerns whether Musk broke federal securities laws in connection with his 2022 purchases of stock in Twitter, …

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Twitter Removes Headlines From Linked News Articles

The Guardian reports: X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, has stopped showing headlines for links posted on the site, after site owner Elon Musk said it would make posts look better. Links posted on Twitter now appear as the image included in the article, as well as text in the left-hand corner of the image noting the domain of …

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Reuters: Banks Might “Take Back The Keys” To Twitter

Reuters reports: X is still worth something, but not for the people running it. Boss Linda Yaccarino is set to present her plans for the social network formerly known as Twitter to bankers holding nearly $13 billion of its debt, the Financial Times reported. Looming over talks is the likelihood that X’s value is substantially less than even that figure. …

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