EU Takes Action against Elon Musk's X over Disinformation | BBC News

Dec 18, 2023 | The European Union has formally announced it suspects X, previously known as Twitter, of breaching its rules in areas including countering illegal content and disinformation. Digital commissioner Thierry Breton set out the alleged infringements in a post on the social media platform. He said X, which is owned by Elon Musk, was also suspected of breaching its obligations on transparency. X said it was "co-operating with the regulatory process".

Elon Musk to File ‘Thermonuclear Lawsuit’ as Advertisers Desert X

THE GUARDIAN: Social media firm boss says he will sue media watchdog that said ads were being placed alongside antisemitic content

Elon Musk said he would file a lawsuit ‘against Media Matters and ALL those who colluded in this fraudulent attack on our company’. Photograph: Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images
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 antisemitic content, including that praising Adolf Hitler and the Nazis.

It led to a number of big names in technology and media announcing they would be withdrawing their advertising. It also included Warner Brothers, Paramount and Disney.

“The split second court opens on Monday, X Corp will be filing a thermonuclear lawsuit against Media Matters and ALL those who colluded in this fraudulent attack on our company,” Musk said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter. » | Harry Taylor | Saturday, November 18, 2023

White House Condemns Elon Musk for 'Antisemitic' Post | DW News

Nov 17, 2023 | The war in the Middle East has opened the flood gates of disinformation and false claims on social media. And much of the criticism has been directed at the platform X, formerly known as Twitter, owned by the controversial billionaire Elon Musk.

Since aquiring Twitter a year ago, Musk has allowed conspiracy theories and hate speech to thrive. And that's having consequences.

Today, the EU Commission announced it was stopping all advertising on X. It has already launched an investigation into hate speech on the social media site. Also today, the White House condemned Elon Musk for what it called "the abhorrent promotion" of anti-Semitism. That was in reaction to a tweet posted by Musk endorsing a conspiracy theory that Jewish communities push "hatred against Whites".

The White House invoked the 2018 mass shooting at Pittsburg synagogue posting this: "It is unacceptable to repeat the hideous lie behind the most fatal act of antisemitism in American history at any time, let alone one month after the deadliest day for the Jewish people since the Holocaust.



THE NEW YORK TIMES:

Advertisers Flee X as Outcry Over Musk’s Endorsement of Antisemitic Post Grows: Disney, Apple, Paramount and Lionsgate halted marketing on X, formerly Twitter, as Elon Musk faced a furor over antisemitic abuse on his social media platform. »

How Twitter/X Has Changed a Year since Elon Musk’s Takeover - BBC News

Oct 27, 2023

Related.

Elon Musk calls Humza Yousaf a ‘blatant racist’ over ‘whites fill all top roles in Scotland’ speech: World’s richest man makes accusation after Twitter post claims First Minister ‘hates almost 100 per cent of the country’ »

Backlash after Elon Musk labels Scottish first minister Humza Yousaf racist: Musk was reacting to a clip of Scotland’s first ethnic minority first minister listing senior public posts held by white people »

A Rough First Year for 'Chief Twit' Elon Musk | #shorts

Musk’s year of dysfunction.

'Elon Musk Tried to Intimidate Me into Silence.' Former Twitter Exec Speaks Out

Sep 29, 2023 | Twitter’s former Head of Trust and Safety Yoel Roth resigned just weeks after Elon Musk took over the platform, citing his disagreements with its new policies. Soon after, Musk attacked Roth online and led his army of internet trolls in a smear campaign that spread like wildfire. Yoel Roth joins Mehdi to talk about that experience and discuss the future of the platform now known as X.

Twitter ‘Unfit’ for Banking over Alleged Complicity in Saudi Rights Abuses

THE GUARDIAN: Lawyers for family say Saudi government took brother’s data in breach and ‘arrested, tortured, and imprisoned’ him and others

Areej al-Sadhan (left) and Abdulrahman at Notre Dame de Namur University in Belmont, California, on 4 May 2013. The family has not seen Abdulrahman since 2021. Photograph: AP
The company formerly known as Twitter is “unfit” to hold banking licenses because of its alleged “intentional complicity” with human rights violations in Saudi Arabia and treatment of users’ personal data, according to an open letter sent to federal and state banking regulators that was signed by a law firm representing a Saudi victim’s family.

The allegations by lawyers representing Areej al-Sadhan, whose brother Abdulrahman was one of thousands of Saudis whose confidential personal information was obtained by Saudi agents posing as Twitter employees in 2014-15, comes as Twitter Payments LLC, a subsidiary of X (the company formerly known as Twitter), is in the process of applying for money-transmitter licenses across the US. » | Stephanie Kirchgaessner in Washington | Friday, September 8, 2023

Twitter Accused of Helping Saudi Arabia Commit Human Rights Abuses

THE GUARDIAN: Lawsuit says network discloses user data at request of Saudi authorities at much higher rate than for US, UK and Canada

The social media company formerly known as Twitter has been accused in a revised civil US lawsuit of helping Saudi Arabia commit grave human rights abuses against its users, including by disclosing confidential user data at the request of Saudi authorities at a much higher rate than it has for the US, UK, or Canada.

The lawsuit was brought last May against X, as Twitter is now known, by Areej al-Sadhan, the sister of a Saudi aid worker who was forcibly disappeared and then later sentenced to 20 years in jail.

It centers on the events surrounding the infiltration of the California company by three Saudi agents, two who were posing as Twitter employees in 2014 and 2015, which ultimately led to the arrest of al-Sadhan’s brother, Abdulrahman, and the exposure of the identity of thousands of anonymous Twitter users, some of whom were later reportedly detained and tortured as part of the government’s crackdown on dissent.

Lawyers for Al-Sadhan updated their claim last week to include new allegations about how Twitter, under the leadership of then-chief executive Jack Dorsey, willfully ignored or had knowledge of the Saudi government’s campaign to ferret out critics but – because of financial considerations and efforts to keep close ties to the Saudi government, a top investor in the company – provided assistance to the kingdom. » | Stephanie Kirchgaessner in Washington | Monday, September 4, 2023

MORE SAUDI NEWS here.

Saudi Man Sentenced to Death for Tweets in Harshest Verdict Yet for Online Critics

NPR: DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — A retired teacher in Saudi Arabia was recently sentenced to death for his tweets criticizing the country's leadership to his handful of followers, according to rights advocates and his family.

The sentencing of Mohammad Alghamdi, who is in his mid-50s, is the latest in an escalating crackdown on social media users in Saudi Arabia. While others are serving prison terms ranging from 20 to 45 years for their tweets and online criticism of the government, Alghamdi appears to be the first person to be sentenced to death based solely on his posts on X, formerly called Twitter, and YouTube activity.

The wide-scale targeting of critics has unfolded as Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman pushes sensitive reforms that have overhauled life and loosened restrictions for many in the country. These sweeping reforms, like allowing women to drive, ending strict gender segregation rules in public and opening the country to entertainment and tourism, have coincided with a similarly sweeping crush of dissent.

Alghamdi, a father of seven living in Mecca, had gained just 10 followers between the two anonymous accounts he ran on X. According to Human Rights Watch, he used the social media site to rail against alleged government corruption, but was mostly resharing posts by more popular government critics. » | Aya Batrawy | Thursday, August 31, 2023

'Slowly Running Out of Money': Elon Musk’s Big Plans for 'X'

Jul 26, 2023 | Elon Musk makes the risky move to rebrand Twitter to “X” and turn it into the new ‘everything’ app. It comes as a new report reveals hundreds of companies hold trademark rights to the new name. NBC’s Jake Ward breaks it all down.

Related articles here.

Why Has Elon Musk Replaced Twitter’s Blue Bird with an ‘X’?

Jul 25, 2023 | Elon Musk and Twitter Chief Executive Officer Linda Yaccarino have unveiled a new logo for the social media platform, featuring a white 'X' on a black background. Technology journalist Chris Stokel-Walker explains.

Sorry to have to tell you, Elon, but you’ve just had a brain fart! You’ve gone and killed off the dickie bird that laid the golden egg! – © Mark Alexander

Related links here.

Elon Musk Reveals the New Twitter Logo X

Screenshot from Linda Yaccarino’s tweet printed in this Guardian article.
THE GUARDIAN: Minimalist art deco ‘X’ billed as part of social media platform’s rebrand

Elon Musk has revealed a new logo for Twitter, choosing a “minimalist art deco” X as part of a rebrand of the platform.

The Twitter owner indicated the design would be altered, tweeting that it “probably changes later, certainly will be refined.” Twitter’s CEO, Linda Yaccarino, confirmed the choice on Monday by tweeting the design and writing: “X is here! Let’s do this.”

Musk had appealed to his 149 million followers for design ideas and appears to have chosen a logo that he had flagged on Sunday via a flickering video pinned to the top of his Twitter feed.

The “X” logo has long been an obsession of Musk’s and is his name for an “everything app” that he has pledged to launch at some point – with Twitter the likely vehicle. Shortly before buying Twitter in October, Musk described the social media platform as “an accelerant to creating X, the everything app.” » | Dan Milmo, Global technology editor | Monday, July 24, 2023

Related article.

Rebranding Twitter: the shaky history of corporate makeovers: From Abrdn to BP’s ‘beyond petroleum’ and the Royal Mail switch to Consignia – customer backlashes can bite »

Twitter remplace le logo historique de l'oiseau bleu par un «X» : Conformément à ce qu’avait annoncé Elon Musk, le célèbre oiseau bleu a été remplacé par la lettre X, en référence à X Corp, nouveau nom officiel de la plateforme. »

The tweet is no more! Henceforward, tweets are to be called “x’s”! »

Twitter: Elon Musk Says He Wants to Change Company’s Bird Logo

THE GUARDIAN: Social media billionaire says if a good enough logo is ‘posted tonight, we’ll make (it) go live worldwide tomorrow’

Elon Musk and the Twitter logo. The billionaire say he is looking to change the social media company’s bird logo. Photograph: Dado Ruvić/Reuters
Elon Musk has said he is looking to change Twitter’s logo, tweeting: “And soon we shall bid adieu to the Twitter brand and, gradually, all the birds”.

In a post on the site in the early hours of Sunday, the social media platform’s billionaire owner added: “If a good enough X logo is posted tonight, we’ll make (it) go live worldwide tomorrow.” » | Reuters | Sunday, July 23, 2023

The bird logo is surely what tweeting is all about! Take away the bird and you take away the tweet. Birds twitter; people on Twitter tweet! What has Elon Musk been smoking? IMHO, he would be strongly advised to keep the bird as Twitter’s logo. – © Mark Alexander

Elon Musk change le logo historique de Twitter : Le célèbre oiseau bleu devrait être remplacé par la lettre X, en référence à X Corp, nouveau nom officiel de la plateforme. »

Twitter Advertising Revenue Halves since Elon Musk Takeover – BBC News

Jul 17, 2023 | Twitter has lost almost half of its advertising revenue since it was bought by Elon Musk last year, its owner has revealed. Musk said the company had not seen the increase in sales it had expected in June, but added that July was a "bit more promising". The tech billionaire bought the social media platform for $44bn (£33.6bn) in October 2022. Rival app Threads now has 150 million users, according to some estimates.

What Impact Will Threads Have on Twitter and Social Media? | Inside Story

Jul 8, 2023 | An alternative to Twitter is launched by Meta Threads. It hopes Threads will profit from unpopular changes made to the platform under Elon Musk's ownership. So, is it just a clone - or is it a revolution in social media? And what does it mean for users around the world?

Presenter: Adrian Finighan

Guests:

Elaine Burke, Science and Technology journalist, host of For Tech's Sake podcast.

Sherilyn Naidoo, Lawyer and Policy Adviser to Big Tech Accountability Team, Amnesty International.

Sarah Kreps, Founder and Director of the Technology Policy Institute at Cornell University, and Author of 'Social Media's International Relations'


Threads Takes on Twitter: How Meta did what no other Twitter competitor could. »

Tucker Carlson Peddles Conspiracy Theories on Twitter Debut from Barn

THE GUARDIAN: Ex-Fox News host backs Russia and insults Ukraine’s Zelenskiy in 10-minute monologue greeted with widespread derision

Tucker Carlson was fired by Fox News shortly after it reached a $787.5m settlement with Dominion Voting Systems over its broadcast of election lies. Photograph: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Tucker Carlson’s debut on Twitter was greeted with widespread derision, as the former Fox News host backed Russia in its war with Ukraine, abused the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, invoked conspiracy theories about 9/11 and Jeffrey Epstein and mused on the existence or otherwise of extraterrestrial life.

“Tucker Carlson’s lies cost Fox $800m,” said Anne Applebaum, a historian of authoritarianism, referring to the $787.5m settlement the network signed with Dominion Voting Systems over its broadcast of Donald Trump’s election lies, shortly before Carlson was fired.

“Now he is still lying, and Twitter will eventually pay the price too.”

At the end of Carlson’s first show, a 10-minute monologue in a barn, with a wide shot showing he was operating his own teleprompter, the host said he would bypass the mainstream media to tell viewers the truth, as Russians under communism once found ways to hear broadcasts from other countries. » | Martin Pengelly in New York | Wednesday, June 7, 2023

Elon Musk to Quit as Twitter CEO When Replacement Found - BBC News

Dec 21, 2022 | Twitter boss Elon Musk has said he will quit as chief executive of the company when he can find someone “foolish enough to take the job”. Mr Musk said he’d abide by the results of a poll he tweeted asking Twitter users whether he should resign - 57.5% of people voted “yes” to him quitting the role. The SpaceX and Tesla boss said he will still run the software and servers teams. Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook’s former chief operating officer, and Jared Kushner, US former presidential adviser and son-in-law of Donald Trump, are just some of the names mentioned as possible replacements.

Elon Musk: Twitter Users Vote in Favour of Boss Resigning

GETTY IMAGES
BBC: Twitter users have voted in favour of Elon Musk stepping down as the platform's chief executive after the billionaire ran a poll on his future.

A total of 57.5% voted "yes" after Mr Musk asked his 122 million followers whether he should stand down.

Mr Musk, who bought Twitter for $44bn (£36bn), said before the poll closed that he would abide by the result.

The technology tycoon, who also runs Tesla and Space X, has faced much criticism since taking over the site.

Mr Musk is yet to comment since the poll closed. Even if he were to resign as chief executive, he would remain as Twitter's owner. » | Michael Race & Zoe Kleinman, Business reporter & Technology editor, BBC News | Monday, December 19, 2022

Twitter’s Suspension of Journalists Sets ‘Dangerous Precedent’, UN Warns

THE GUARDIAN: Pressure grows on Elon Musk as EU says social media platform could face sanctions over suspensions

The United Nations is “very disturbed” by Twitter’s abrupt suspension of a group of US journalists, a spokesperson has said, warning that the move sets a “dangerous precedent” – as the EU said the social media platform could fall foul of forthcoming digital regulations.

Stéphane Dujarric said on Friday the UN was “very disturbed” by the barring of prominent tech reporters at news organisations including CNN, the Washington Post and the New York Times who have written about Musk and the tech company he owns.

Dujarric said media voices should not be silenced on a platform that professed to be a haven for freedom of speech. “The move sets a dangerous precedent at a time when journalists all over the world are facing censorship, physical threats and even worse,” he told reporters.

Germany’s government said press freedom must not be switched “on and off on a whim” and Downing Street also raised concerns over the suspensions. » | Dan Milmo, Rowena Mason and Alex Hern | Friday, December 16, 2022

LIRE CET ARTICLE SUR ELON MUSK EN FRANÇAIS :

Musk contre Musk : l’obsession du milliardaire pour Twitter fragilise ses succès industriels : L’image de Tesla s’est dégradée sous l’effet des multiples polémiques déclenchées par Elon Musk à la suite de son rachat du réseau social. L’action a perdu 60 % depuis le début de l’année, et les investisseurs défendent un recentrage sur le constructeur automobile. »

Twitter Locks Out Top Journalists Covering Elon Musk - BBC News

Dec 16, 2022 | Twitter accounts belonging to several prominent journalists covering the company's owner, Elon Musk, have been abruptly suspended. Reporters for the New York Times, CNN and the Washington Post are among those who found themselves locked out of their accounts on Thursday evening. A Twitter spokeswoman told tech website The Verge that the ban was related to the live sharing of location data. It comes after Mr Musk vowed to sue the owner of a profile that tracks his jet. A spokesman for the New York Times called the suspensions "questionable and unfortunate" and CNN added it was “concerning but not surprising".