Social Media & Big Tech news and discussions

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caltrek
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...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
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caltrek
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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.
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caltrek
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Re: Social Media & Big Tech news and discussions

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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.
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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
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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
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weatheriscool
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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.
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Re: Social Media & Big Tech news and discussions

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weatheriscool wrote: Thu Apr 21, 2022 5:09 pm
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?
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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
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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.
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weatheriscool
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Re: Social Media & Big Tech news and discussions

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wjfox wrote: Sun Apr 24, 2022 7:45 am
weatheriscool wrote: Thu Apr 21, 2022 5:09 pm
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.
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