Social Media & Big Tech news and discussions

[caltrek]

...and the beat goes on...

In a Major Reversal, Elon Musk is Not Joining Twitter Board
by Manish Singh
April 10, 2022

https://techcrunch.com/2022/04/10/elon- ... awal-says/

Extract:

(TechCrunch) Musk also asked his followers if Twitter should convert its San Francisco headquarters into a homeless shelter, prompting a discussion that saw participation from a wide-range of industry figures, including Amazon and Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos. The weekend tweets from Musk — who identified his investment in Twitter as “passive,” and according to the timeline shared by Agrawal, had already decided to not join Twitter’s board — however, seemed to suggest that he is actively thinking about Twitter and leading conversations about the major steps the firm should undertake.

“We announced on Tuesday that Elon would be appointed to the Board contingent on a background check and formal acceptance. Elon’s appointment to the board was to become officially effective 4/9, but Elon shared that same morning that he will no longer be joining the board,” Agrawal said in a tweet Sunday night.

“We have and will always value input from our shareholders whether they are on our Board or not. Elon is our biggest shareholder and we will remain open to his input.”

In what appears to be his official comment on the development, the world’s richest man offered a single-letter statement in a since-deleted tweet... an emoji whose popular interpretations include “surprised,” “shocked,” and “yikes,” according to Urban Dictionary.

Joining Twitter’s board would have required Musk to cap his overall ownership of the social network at a maximum of 14.9% while he remained on the board and 90 days after the departure, according to terms of the agreement Twitter disclosed. In the regulatory filing (PDF), Twitter said it planned to appoint Musk to its board for a term that ends in 2024

[caltrek]

Russian State Media Atil Posting to TikTok a Month After the App Blocked New Content
by Taylor Hatmaker
April 12, 2022

https://techcrunch.com/2022/04/12/tikto ... ropaganda/

Introduction:

(TechCrunch) TikTok issued an update Tuesday on its efforts to stem the flow of misinformation about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, but the company doesn’t appear to be effectively implementing its existing policies around the war.

The social network cut off new content originating in Russia in early March in response to a harsh new law in the country criminalizing “fake news” about the invasion, an offense now punishable with lengthy prison sentences. But even with all new content in Russia ostensibly suspended on TikTok, some prominent Russian state media accounts are filling the information gap.

“… Our highest priority is the safety of our employees and our users, and in light of Russia’s new ‘fake news’ law, we have no choice but to suspend livestreaming and new content to our video service in Russia while we review the safety implications of this law,” the company wrote in a blog post on March 6. TikTok confirmed to TechCrunch that the pause on Russian content from last month remains in place.

TikTok says that it has now added labels to identify content from 49 Russian state-controlled media accounts. Those labels appear as unobtrusive semi-translucent gray boxes at the bottom of the screen and are not visible from account pages on the mobile app. But in spite of carrying labels that identify them as “Russia state-controlled media,” some of those accounts continue to post ample new content.

Russian domestic news agency RIA Novosti still shares a daily mix of war and current events content in spite of TikTok restrictions in the country. In recent days, that includes a video accusing the Ukrainian military of denying treatment to a wounded civilian in the besieged city of Mariupol and another implying that Ukraine was to blame for the horrors discovered after Russia withdrew from the Kyiv suburb of Bucha.

[caltrek]

Billionaires Eye Parallel Media Universe
by Dan Primack and Sara Fischer
April 15, 2022

https://www.axios.com/elon-musk-twitter ... 2adb4.html

Introduction:

(Axios) Elon Musk doesn't seem to have much of a vision for how to actually run Twitter, if his takeover bid succeeds. He's not alone.

Why it matters: A small group of tech moguls believe America is in the midst of what they call a "free speech" crisis, and they're investing time and money to change the terms of public discourse. But so far, they've made more headlines than progress.

Driving the news: Just hours after announcing his bid, Musk took the stage at the TED conference in Vancouver, Canada, to explain his takeover rationale. In doing so, he gave Twitter's board of directors ample reason to reject his bid.

• Instead of delivering a distinct plan for Twitter's future, Musk gave meandering and sometimes contradictory answers about how he would address Twitter's content moderation challenges.

• He said Twitter should use human judgment to evaluate free speech — while also saying Twitter shouldn't regulate users' speech, except to follow the laws of the countries it operates in.

• He said he wants Twitter to hold on to as many current shareholders as possible once it goes private. Later he asserted: "I don't care about the economics" that would be paramount to many of those shareholders.

Conclusion:

• ...controlling a major social media platform takes more than money: It requires deep commitment to product and attention to legal and societal expectations around content moderation. So far, few billionaires have cracked that code as well as Silicon Valley titans.

[Time_Traveller]

Twitter Adopts 'Poison Pill' Defense Against Musk's Takeover Bid

April 15, 2022

Twitter is fighting Elon Musk's attempt to take over the company

On Friday, the social media company said it's adopting a limited-duration shareholders rights plan, a tactic known as the "poison pill" defense that's used by companies to fend off takeover attempts like the one facing Twitter. Poison pills make it difficult for a potential buyer to acquire a majority of a company's shares by making more of them available.

"The Rights Plan will reduce the likelihood that any entity, person or group gains control of Twitter through open market accumulation without paying all shareholders an appropriate control premium or without providing the Board sufficient time to make informed judgments and take actions that are in the best interests of shareholders," Twitter said in a press release.

The expected move marks Twitter's first step in fighting Musk's offer to buy the company for $54.20 per share, a proposal that was made public on Thursday. His offer values Twitter at more that $40 billion. He already owns more than 9% of the company.

https://www.cnet.com/news/social-media/ ... VmKUFkrrng

[Time_Traveller]

Elon Musk reportedly seeking debt funding for Twitter bid

20 Apr, 2022

Elon Musk looked to be hunting for funding for his $43bn bid to take over the social network Twitter, it emerged on Wednesday afternoon.

According to the New York Times, Morgan Stanley had been sounding out banks and other possible investors to secure financing for Musk’s deal.

Morgan Stanley was previously reported to be working with Musk on the Twitter bid.

The NYT said the billionaire Tesla chief was currently looking at debt financing, rather than equity funding.

https://www.sharecast.com/news/internat ... 14048.html

[weatheriscool]

Elon Musk secures US$46.5B for Twitter takeover bid
By Staff Reuters
Posted April 21, 2022 10:06 am
Updated April 21, 2022 11:45 am
https://globalnews.ca/news/8774846/elon ... r-twitter/

Elon Musk on Thursday said he has lined up US$46.5 billion in debt and equity financing to buy social network company Twitter Inc. and is considering taking his offer directly to shareholders, a filing with U.S. regulators showed.

Musk himself has committed to put up US$33.5 billion, which will include US$21 billion of equity and US$12.5 billion of margin loans against some of his Tesla Inc. shares to finance the transaction. Musk is the chief executive officer of automotive company Tesla.

Musk, the world’s richest person according to a tally by Forbes, on April 14 presented a “best and final” cash offer of US$43 billion to Twitter’s board of directors.

Read more: Elon Musk vows $0 salary for Twitter’s board after ‘poison pill’ adopted

Musk, Twitter’s second-largest shareholder with a 9.1 per cent stake, has said that he could make big changes at the micro-blogging company, where he has a following of more than 80 million users.

Go Musk. Bring freedom of speech and spread of ideas. Closing off discussion is a major mistake and a recipe for failure.

[wjfox]

Go Musk. Bring freedom of speech and spread of ideas. Closing off discussion is a major mistake and a recipe for failure.

You keep advocating this complete free for all, both here and in other threads. So what would you do about hate speech? And/or online bullying?

Or the spreading of disinformation? Especially when it's so harmful, in some cases it literally leads to people dying.

Don't facts matter? Do you honestly believe 100% of speech should be allowed?

[wjfox]

Great move by Twitter.

Climate change denial is one of the very greatest evils in the world today.

-----

Twitter bans ads that contradict science on climate change

yesterday

Twitter says it will no longer allow advertisers on its site who deny the scientific consensus on climate change, echoing a policy already in place at Google.

“Ads shouldn’t detract from important conversations about the climate crisis,” the company said in a statement outlining its new policy Friday.

There was no indication that the change would affect what users post on the social media site, which along with Facebook has been targeted by groups seeking to promote misleading claims about climate change.

The announcement coinciding with Earth Day came hours before the European Union agreed upon a deal requiring big tech companies to vet their sites more closely for hate speech, disinformation and other harmful content.

https://apnews.com/article/climate-tech ... fff101ad4a

[Time_Traveller]

Twitter set to accept Elon Musk’s $43 billion buyout offer: report

April 25, 2022

Twitter is reportedly on the verge of accepting Elon Musk’s $43 billion bid to take the social network private, according to a report.

Twitter may announce it has accepted Musk’s offer later on Monday once its board has met to recommend the transaction to Twitter shareholders, sources told Reuters. The talks are fluid and the deal could still fall apart, the sources added.

The Monday report by Reuters sent shares of Twitter soaring by more than 5% in premarket trading on Monday.

Twitter was unable to secure a so-called “go-shop” provision from Musk which would have allowed it to solicit other bids from potential buyers after the deal was signed, according to the report.

https://nypost.com/2022/04/25/twitter-s ... er-report/

In otherwords, this opens the door to the far-right with the likes of the return of Trump as president in the mid-terms etc.

[weatheriscool]

Go Musk. Bring freedom of speech and spread of ideas. Closing off discussion is a major mistake and a recipe for failure.

You keep advocating this complete free for all, both here and in other threads. So what would you do about hate speech? And/or online bullying?

Or the spreading of disinformation? Especially when it's so harmful, in some cases it literally leads to people dying.

Don't facts matter? Do you honestly believe 100% of speech should be allowed?

I think bullying should be moderated of course, maybe not to the extent it is today of course because I believe people should be able to take a few blows here and there as that is just the way a sane and well developed adult should be able to handle. A different opinion or view point shouldn't trigger people into a pool of piss as that isn't a sign of sanity! Death threats and threats of violence should of course warrant a time out or even a banning.

I think the moderation team should be of both view both points or at least be open minded enough to understand that people are going to disagree and believe that debate is healthy. I don't think kids should be taught to be gay or to cut their reproduction organ off and that should be perfectly fine to believe in, but it will get you banned off twitter or facebook if you explain why you feel this whys...45% of trans people kill themselves, live a far harder life and only make up less then 1% of the population. This isn't something for our kids and is probably going to cause a lot of mental problem in the future generation but doing so is bannable. I find this idiotic as they're banning people that belong on the right side of things. I feel we have good arguments that should be considered and it is bad for our democracy to ban us for such. Another is crime....How is banning discussion of such helping society? All it is doing is making things worst and letting criminals do what ever they wish to do and that means more dead innocent people. Yep, lets ban someone for a opinion that might save lives and make things safer to walk down the street. What is wrong with cracking down on criminals that rob stores, mug people and cause harm on society? It is the height of suicide to think this is ok. But it'll get you banned if you argue such on twitter. I did.

The problem with the concept of misinformation is we live in a world where in the world of politics, what can I say, "one guys trash is another guys treasure". Well, that is kind of how it works sometimes. One side can't be banning well reasoned and evidenced based opinions unless it is completely unfounded and found to be destructive or harmful to the population. If you can really prove that this misinformation comes from russia or china then I'd say ban it! If it comes from some American that disagrees then don't ban it.

[weatheriscool]

Elon Musk acquires Twitter for roughly $44 billion
Source: Washington Post

Elon Musk acquired Twitter for $44 billion on Monday, the company announced, giving the world’s richest person command of one of its most influential social media sites — which serves as a platform for political leaders, a sounding board for experts across industries, and an information hub for millions of everyday users.

Under the terms of the deal, Twitter will become a private company and shareholders will receive $54.20 per share, the company said in a press release. Ownership of Twitter gives Musk power over hugely consequential societal and political issues, perhaps most significantly the ban on former president Donald Trump that the website enacted in response to the Jan. 6 riots.

“Free speech is the bedrock of a functioning democracy, and Twitter is the digital town square where matters vital to the future of humanity are debated,” Musk said in the release. “I also want to make Twitter better than ever by enhancing the product with new features, making the algorithms open source to increase trust, defeating the spam bots, and authenticating all humans. Twitter has tremendous potential – I look forward to working with the company and the community of users to unlock it.”

The company’s board of directors met with Musk on Sunday, and negotiations extended into the early hours of Monday, according to a person familiar with the negotiations, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the discussions. The two sides were focused on determining whether Musk had the financing to complete the acquisition, and did not spend much time discussing Musks’s strategy for the future of the social network, the person said.

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/technolo ... musk-deal/

[Yuli Ban]

As Starspawn0 mentioned, there are certainly worse people who could have bought Twitter.

[wjfox]

When billionaires talk about freedom, watch your wallets

Robert Reich
Apr 25

Elon Musk struck a deal today to buy Twitter for roughly $44 billion, in a victory by the world’s richest man. Twitter agreed to sell itself to Musk for $54.20 a share, a 38 percent premium over the company’s share price this month before he revealed he was the firm’s single largest shareholder. Twitter’s founder and top managers had offered Musk a seat on the board but he didn't take it because he'd have to be responsible to all other shareholders. Now, he doesn’t have to be accountable to anyone.

[...]

When billionaires like Elon Musk justify their motives by using “freedom,” beware. They actually seek freedom from accountability. They want to use their vast fortunes to do whatever they please — unconstrained by laws or regulations, shareholders, even consumers.

[...]

"Free speech" is another freedom that turns on wealth. As a practical matter, your ability to be heard turns on the size of the megaphone you can buy. If you’re extremely rich you can purchase the Washington Post or own Fox News. If you’re the wealthiest person in the world you can buy one of the biggest megaphones in the world called Twitter — and then decide who can use it, what its algorithms are going to be, and how it either invites or filters out big lies.

Musk said last week that he doesn’t care about the economics of the deal and is pursuing it because it is "extremely important to the future of civilization." Fine, but who anointed Musk to decide the future of civilization?

Read more: https://robertreich.substack.com/p/when ... ut-freedom

[caltrek]

What Elon Musk Says He Wants to Change About Twitter
by Julian Shapiro
April 25, 2022

https://www.axios.com/elon-musk-twitter ... 8530f.html

Introduction:

(Axios) Here's a look at everything Musk said he wants to change about Twitter:

An edit button

Long-form tweets
…
• He commented on a long Twitter thread in April 2022: "My most immediate takeaway from this novella of a thread is that Twitter is *way* overdue for long form tweets!"

Spam bots and authentication
…
• He wrote...that Twitter would "authenticate all real humans" under his ownership.

Open-source algorithm
…
Be smart: An open-source algorithm would make publicly available the calculus which determines what appears on a person's Twitter feed.

Content moderation

Musk has …said at the TED2022 conference he thinks Twitter should not regulate content beyond what is required by the laws of the countries it operates in.

The Verge has a nice point by point discussion of these proposed changes: https://www.theverge.com/2022/4/26/2304 ... pen-source

Specifically, in regards to "open source" algoriths:

(The Verge) Musk has described making the algorithm “open source,” but he hasn’t outlined specific plans to follow the requirements of an open source license, so he could mean it in a more informal sense. He could also be describing something that works within Twitter’s central product or through the separate but Twitter-funded open source Bluesky project — which would have different implications for Twitter’s core app.

Transparency is generally welcome, and Twitter’s former CEO Jack Dorsey has also suggested letting users pick between different recommendation systems. That said, many web platforms (including Google and Reddit) don’t disclose precisely how their systems work because that would give spammers and other bad actors a guidebook for gaming the system. Twitter’s algorithm also won’t explain how any given tweet was prioritized unless Twitter releases a huge amount of supplementary data, nor would it necessarily illuminate the rationale behind any human moderation that intersects with it. And it would be incredibly vulnerable to people who want to make bad-faith claims by taking pieces of it out of context, willfully misinterpreting them or sowing conspiracy theories about them.

Beyond that, Musk hasn’t described how he’d integrate any suggestions made by other developers or readers — which, again, would probably involve a lot of spammers — into Twitter’s algorithm. Maybe he could follow the path suggested by Dorsey and let people fork their own versions of Twitter’s recommendation system, turning it into an actual open source system? Maybe he could set up a Facebook Oversight Board-style committee that would approve suggested changes? We won’t know for a while.

[caltrek]

Elon Musk Has Reportedly Lined Up New Twitter CEO and Has Shared Ideas for Monetizing Tweets
by Aisha Malik
April 29, 2022

https://techcrunch.com/2022/04/29/elon- ... ng-tweets/

Introduction:

(TechCrunch) Elon Musk has lined up a new CEO for Twitter and told banks that agreed to help fund his $44 billion acquisition offer about his plans to monetize tweets, according to a new report from Reuters. A source told Reuters that Musk has decided on who he plans to appoint as the new chief executive of Twitter, but the source didn’t name the person. Twitter’s current CEO Parag Agrawal, who took the role after Jack Dorsey stepped down in November, is expected to remain as CEO until the deal is completed.

Reuters reports that Musk told Twitter chairman Bret Taylor that he does not have confidence in the company’s management, which is a sentiment that he also stated in SEC filings. Agrawal would be set for a significant compensation package if the deal closes and Musk brings in new management, as he would receive $38.7 million due to a clause in his contract, according to the company’s latest proxy filing.

Reuters reports that Musk told banks that he plans to develop more ways to make money from tweets. For example, he said that he plans to create a way to monetize tweets that go viral or include important information. He also suggested the idea of charging a fee when third-party websites quote or embed tweets from verified accounts.

The Washington Post reports that Musk also brought up the idea of paying influencers to create content for the platform, which is a business model that has proven to be successful for TikTok. Musk is also said to be interested in the idea of subscription services that the company could offer.

In deleted tweets from earlier this month, Musk suggested significant changes to Twitter Blue, which is the social media giant’s subscription service that is currently priced at $2.99 per month. Musk suggested cutting the price, adding a way to pay in dogecoin, and banning advertising. In another now-deleted tweet, Musk said he wants to move Twitter away from its dependence on advertising for much of its revenue.

[wjfox]

Twitter CEO faces employee anger over Musk attacks at company-wide meeting

Last Updated 43 min ago

Twitter Chief Executive Parag Agrawal sought to quell employee anger on Friday during a company-wide meeting where employees demanded answers to how managers planned to handle an anticipated mass exodus prompted by Elon Musk.

[...]

"I'm tired of hearing about shareholder value and fiduciary duty. What are your honest thoughts about the very high likelihood that many employees will not have jobs after the deal closes?" one Twitter employee asked Agrawal, in a question read aloud during the meeting.

[...]

Employees also told executives they feared Musk's erratic behavior could destabilize Twitter's business, and hurt it financially as the company prepares to address the advertising world in a presentation next week in New York City.

"Do we have a strategy in the near-term on how to handle advertisers pulling investment," one employee asked.

[...]

After the meeting, a Twitter employee told Reuters there was little trust in what executives had to say.

https://www.reuters.com/technology/twit ... 022-04-29/

[Time_Traveller]

Elon Musk Will Be Temporary Twitter CEO Once Deal Closes, Report Says

May 5, 2022

Elon Musk is expected to step into the position of temporary CEO for Twitter once his $44 billion deal to buy the social network is completed, reported CNBC's David Faber on Thursday, citing unnamed sources. He'll reportedly lead the company for a "few months."

While raising funds for his takeover bid, Musk told banks he has a new CEO lined up for Twitter, according to Reuters, which didn't report who would take on the role. Parag Agrawal, who took over from co-founder Jack Dorsey in November, is expected to stay as CEO until the sale is completed.

Twitter shareholders still need to approve the deal, which isn't expected to close for about six months.

https://www.cnet.com/news/social-media/ ... port-says/

[caltrek]

Elon Musk Thinks He Can Double Twitter’s Revenue Through Subscriptions Alone

by Emma Roth
May 7, 2022

https://www.theverge.com/2022/5/7/23061 ... tions-blue

Introduction:

(The Verge) Elon Musk — the world’s richest man and Twitter’s new owner — expects Twitter to earn almost $10 billion in revenue from subscriptions by 2028, a projection that doubles the $5 billion in total revenue the platform made last year, according to a report from The New York Times.

In a pitch deck viewed by the Times, Musk gave investors a taste of what to expect under his ownership. This reportedly includes driving up Twitter Blue subscribers to 69 million by 2025 and more than doubling that number to 159 million by 2028. Launched last year, Twitter Blue is the service’s $2.99 / month subscription that gives users access to an “undo tweet” button, app customization, ad-free articles, and other exclusive features. Musk expects a huge growth in total Twitter users as well, growing from the 217 million users reported last year to 600 million Twitter users in 2025 and, eventually, 931 million in 2028.

The pitch deck also outlines plans for an unnamed subscription service outside of Blue, called “X,” which Musk expects to bring in nine million subscribers in 2023 and 104 million by 2028. Earlier this week, Musk hinted at charging governments and corporations a “slight cost” to use Twitter. Whatever subscription “X” may be, revenue from it and Blue combined is supposed to hit the $10 billion mark by 2028, making up a large fraction of the $26.4 billion in total revenue Musk thinks the service will reach that same year.

According to the Times, Twitter is supposed to make up the rest of its total projected revenue with ads, something that Musk predicts Twitter will earn about $12 billion through by 2028. Twitter has been reliant on advertising as its primary stream of revenue in the past, but Musk, who said in a now-deleted tweet that Twitter should remove ads for paid subscribers, wants ads to make up just 45 percent of Twitter’s total revenue.
Musk’s pitch deck reportedly includes plans to rake in $15 million from some sort of payments business as well, which he expects to grow to $1.3 billion by 2028.

caltrek’s comment: As I have already indicated, I hate Twitter. I think after Musk gets through with it, I will hate it even more. I mean content providers will also have to pay a subscription? That is like paying somebody to be allowed to work. (Yes, I post a lot out of fun – but I am retired and living comfortably on a pension, social security, etc.).

No wonder Musk in now the richest man in America, if not the world.

[caltrek]

Judge Tosses Trump's Lawsuit Over His Lifetime Twitter Ban
by Taylor Hatmaker
May 6, 2022

https://techcrunch.com/2022/05/06/trump ... n-lawsuit/

Introduction:

(TechCrunch) A federal judge in California dismissed Donald Trump’s lawsuit against Twitter Friday, dimming at least one avenue the former president and prolific tweeter might have used to get back to his platform of choice.

Trump’s argument that the social media company and its then-chief executive Jack Dorsey violated his right to free speech failed to convince Judge James Donato of the Northern District of California, to put it lightly.

“Plaintiffs’ main claim is that defendants have ‘censor[ed]” plaintiffs’ Twitter accounts in violation of their right to free speech under the First Amendment to the United States Constitution,'” Donato wrote. “Plaintiffs are not starting from a position of strength.”

In tossing the suit as it stands, Donato pointed out the obvious: Twitter is a private company and is not bound by the First Amendment, which protects Americans from government efforts to limit speech. Essentially, Twitter can do whatever it wants when it comes to content moderation, just like any other online platform.

Donato shot down the connection Trump’s legal team tried to make between the U.S. government and Twitter, rejecting the assertion that the company was somehow acting on behalf of the federal government because Democratic lawmakers wanted Trump kicked off the platform.

[weatheriscool]

Elon Musk says he would reverse Twitter ban on Donald Trump
Source: Washington Post

SAN FRANCISCO — Elon Musk said he would reverse Twitter’s ban on former president Donald Trump.

Musk, the Tesla CEO who is soon to own Twitter, said it was a mistake for the website to ban the former president.

“I think it was a morally bad decision to be clear and foolish in the extreme,” he said at a Future of the Car event hosted by the Financial Times.

He added: "I do think it was not correct to ban Donald Trump. I think that was a mistake … It alienated a large part of the country and did not ultimately result in Donald Trump not having a voice.”

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/technolo ... k-twitter/

Good, it is anti-democratic to silence the opposition leader of the minority party of any democracy. That is what russia is doing.