Musk to sue ADL for £22 billion for ‘trying to kill’ X with false anti-semitism claims
In a series of tweets, Musk says he will sue the Anti-Defamation League for $22 billion, which he says is 60% in lost revenue, as a result of the organisation putting pressure on advertisers to stop using the platform with claims that Musk and X is anti-semitic.
To be super clear, I’m pro free speech, but against anti-Semitism of any kind. Since the acquisition, The @ADL has been trying to kill this platform by falsely accusing it & me of being anti-Semitic. Our US advertising revenue is still down 60%, primarily due to pressure on advertisers by @ADL (that’s what advertisers tell us), so they almost succeeded in killing X/Twitter! If this continues, we will have no choice but to file a defamation suit against, ironically, the “Anti-Defamation” League. If they lose the defamation suit, we will insist that they drop the the “anti” part of their name, since obviously …
Musk later explains:
Advertisers avoid controversy, so all that is needed for ADL to crush our US & European ad revenue is to make unfounded accusations. They have much less power in Asia, so our ad revenue there is still strong. This “controversy” causes advertisers to “pause”, but that pause is permanent until ADL gives the green light, which they will not do without us agreeing to secretly suspend or shadowban any account they don’t like. That is the relationship they’ve had with X/Twitter for many years. Presumably, they have that with all western search or social media orgs.
Our US advertising revenue is still down 60%, primarily due to pressure on advertisers by @ADL (that’s what advertisers tell us), so they almost succeeded in killing X/Twitter!
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 4, 2023
When told about a $10.5 million defamation fine awarded against ADL, Musk says that the organisation would be potentially liable for half of X’s revenue:
Interesting. In our case, they would potentially be on the hook for destroying half the value of the company, so roughly $22 billion.
Interesting.
In our case, they would potentially be on the hook for destroying half the value of the company, so roughly $22 billion.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 4, 2023
Tesla accused of inflating in-dash range projections
Tesla faces accusations of hyping the range of its EVs, raising consumer expectations beyond what the cars can actually deliver – a practice that apparently started about ten years ago for marketing purposes. Three experts say Tesla EVs often fail to achieve their advertised range estimates and their own equipment’s projections. The company allegedly rigged its range-estimating software by writing algorithms for the range meter that would display optimistic projections for the distance the vehicle could cover on a single charge. When the battery fell below 50%, the algorithm would show drivers more realistic projections for their remaining driving range. The vehicles were designed with a “safety buffer” to prevent drivers from getting stranded as their predicted range started declining more quickly, allowing about 15 miles of additional range after the dash readout showed an empty battery. The directive to give customers optimistic range estimates apparently came from Musk himself, who “wanted to show good range numbers when fully charged.”
Tesla accused of stifling range complaints
Tesla faces accusations of creating a “Diversion Team” in Las Vegas to suppress thousands of driving range complaints from its customers. With its service centers flooded with appointments, Tesla instructed some of its employees to stop customers complaining about poor driving range from bringing in their EVs for service. Many of the customers had expected better range based on the company’s advertised estimates and the projections displayed by the cars’ in-dash range meters. Apparently, thousands of customers were told nothing was wrong with their car, even with no diagnostics. Tesla managers told “Diversion Team” employees that they were saving the company about $1,000 for every canceled appointment. Inside the Nevada team’s office, some employees celebrated canceling service appointments by putting their phones on mute and striking a metal xylophone, triggering applause from coworkers who sometimes stood on desks. The team often closed hundreds of cases a week and staffers were tracked on their average number of diverted appointments per day.
Cuban: Twitter algorithms designed to help Musk
Cuban accuses Musk of rigging Twitter algorithms to promote his own tweets. He says that because Twitter’s “For You” timeline, which is the first thing users see on the app, ranks tweets by the amount of interaction by a user’s followers, that it make’s Musk’s posts more influential, as he has the most followers, and the most interactions on the app. Cuban still has 8.8 million followers, but worries the algorithm change will affect how he promotes his online pharmacy, Cost Plus Drugs.
I figured I was/am on some Twitter s— list that doesn’t show me to new or existing users as a possible follow. I thought maybe, by paying the annual contract, that would change. It didn’t…It stands to reason that the person with the greatest number of followers will have the greatest influence on the most number of For You timelines. And For You candidates include, as stated above , tweets that people you follow engage with. So who @elonmusk engages with on Twitter has an ENORMOUS impact on what an indeterminable number of people see in their For You Timelines
Oops, I left out possibly the most obvious and important influence to For You timelines.
“What tweets did the people I follow recently engage with “
It stands to reason that the person with the greatest number of followers will have the greatest influence on the most number…
— Mark Cuban (@mcuban) May 19, 2023
Bannon: Musk is a ‘stone cold liar’ with ‘paymasters in Beijing’
Bannon accuses Musk of lying about his support for journalistic freedom after Musk said he believes in elevating “citizen journalism”, during a keynote discussion at the MMA Possible Conference in Miami.
I think it’s very important to elevate citizen journalism. It’s very important to hear the voice of the people. The actual voice of the people, not the filtered voice of people, and let the people choose the narrative, and let the people determine the truth and not five editors-in-chief of major publications.
Bannon:
Elon Musk is a stone cold liar, His paymasters in Beijing have given him strict orders to suppress the leading ‘SuperHawk’ Anti-CCP Voices…Elon Musk is a running dog for The [Chinese Communist Party] totally and completely compromised by their financial ownership of Tesla Shanghai…
It is not clear which individuals Bannon believes Musk suppressed, nor is the specific incident he referred to.
Trans advocates criticise Twitter policy change
Trans advocates criticise Elon Musk for quietly removing a Twitter policy designed to protect transgender people from harassment. The policy previously forbade users of the social media network from deliberately “misgendering” (referring to someone using pronouns that do not reflect their gender identity) or “deadnaming” (calling a transgender person by the name they were given at birth, rather than the name and gender they now identify with) trans users. An archived version of Twitter’s policy indicates that the rule was scrubbed on April 8 without announcement. GLAAD president Sarah Kate Ellis:
Twitter’s decision to covertly roll back its longtime policy is the latest example of just how unsafe the company is for users and advertisers alike.
Trans rights group Human Rights Campaign:
This policy change makes Twitter more unsafe for trans and non-binary users and paves the way for outright discrimination. Twitter has an obligation to protect people on the platform, not expose them to hate and vitriol.
This policy change makes Twitter more unsafe for trans and non-binary users and paves the way for outright discrimination.
Twitter has an obligation to protect people on the platform, not expose them to hate and vitriol. https://t.co/0nFvxLjBIQ
— Human Rights Campaign (@HRC) April 18, 2023
Musk: Apple is threatening Twitter’s presence on the App Store
After Musk publishes a poll, asking if Apple should publish all censorship actions it has taken that affect its customers…
Apple should publish all censorship actions it has taken that affect its customers
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 28, 2022
…a Twitter user asks if Apple is threatening Twitter’s presence in the App Store or otherwise making moderation demands? Musk:
Yes
Yes
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 28, 2022
Musk then directly tweets that Apple has threatened to withhold Twitter from its App store:
Apple has also threatened to withhold Twitter from its App Store, but won’t tell us why
Apple has also threatened to withhold Twitter from its App Store, but won’t tell us why
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 28, 2022
When a Twitter user points out that 97.5% of Apple’s political donations were to the Democratic Party, Musk replies:
Wow, they don’t sound biased at all!
Nurmagomedov claims McGregor-Alvarez was fixed
Nurmagomedov claims McGregor’s fight against Alvarez was fixed.
100 per cent I think [my UFC 209 fight with Tony Ferguson] is a real fight. I don’t care about him [McGregor], you guys know his Uncle Dana give him a gift. He jumped over all contenders and he fought for the title. I do not understand this fight [McGregor vs. Alvarez], he catch him a few times and he falls down—to me this is a fake fight…I no understand this fight you know—UFC give him this fight like seven, six weeks before the fight. He [McGregor] catches him a few times and he [Alvarez] falls down. I do not understand—a lot of people have a lot of questions about this fight.
Pena: Rousey threatened to sue sparring partners ‘for a million dollars’
Pena says Rousey threatened to sue her sparring partners if any of them leaked information about her training methods, and also has a clause blocking her partners from hitting her during the training sessions.
She’s not allowed to get hit in sparring. These girls have to sign these waivers to say that ‘We never hit Ronda, and we’ll never talk about this type of training ever and all this stuff, you know? She’s not really taking the toll in the fight camp of getting punched in the face legitimately so she doesn’t really know what that feels like. She’s a superstar and they don’t want to see her get any damage. So, it’s like whenever the girls would go hard on her, whenever they’d come forward and start banging it out on her, they’d tell them, ‘Hey. Knock it off. Stop it. Don’t hit her so hard and then sign this waiver and say that you were never here and that you never punched her. Don’t ever talk about how well you did in training and stuff like that because you have to sign this dotted line or else we’ll sue you for a million dollars.
Accuses UK of visa issuance delay
Yakovenko claims the UK is slowing down the visa-issuing process so as to prevent Russian embassy workers from obtaining visas. He suggests that this is indicative of the country’s broader anti-Russian sentiment.
The embassy is shrinking and if it continues the embassy will be reduced further. People cannot be replaced because the visas are not being issued. I hope this problem will be resolved under present government.
Claims McGregor threatened him with knife
Mousasi says that McGregor threatened him after his post-UFC 204 rant.
People liked it. I just spoke the truth. Sometimes you have to say stupid shit before people notice you. I got a private message from Conor McGregor. He was cursing at me, the little fu-k. He was threatening me. I said ‘What are you going to do with your 50 kilos?’ The fu-ker was threatening me with a knife. He knows I could beat his ass any day. I said some stuff that I didn’t mean. I said ‘People don’t know who the real fighter is or not.’ Of course, he’s a top fighter. English is not my first language and I just blurt stuff out sometimes. I thought it was funny that he was messaging me.
Accuses Russia of war crimes
President Hollande accuses Russia of war crimes in Syria, and says he wants to sue the country in International Criminal Court for their role in alleged war crimes over the Syrian city of Aleppo. Hollande also says he may not receive the Russian president who is scheduled to visit Paris, late this month, for a church opening ceremony.
I have asked myself that question: Is it useful? Is it necessary? Could we do something that pushes him as well and stop what they’re doing with the Syrian regime — that is to say the help they are providing to the Syrian regime, which sends bombs to the population of Aleppo? If I receive him, I would tell him that it is unacceptable, that it is bad even for the image of Russia. What I tell them, is that these populations are populations that are today victims of war crimes and those who commit those acts will have to pay for their responsibility in front of the International Criminal Court.
Facing fines, suspensions for water bottle fight
McGregor and Diaz are accused by Nevada State Athletic Commission of behavior “detrimental to a contest or exhibition of unarmed combat” due to their water bottle fight at the UFC Press Conference at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. By comparison, Daniel Cormier and Jon Jones were fined 10 percent of their purses after they got into a brawl in August 2014 in the MGM Grand. Jones paid $50,000 as well as doing community service; Cormier paid $9,000 and had to do community service for his part in the fight. As McGregor and Diaz made far more from their fight the potential penalty is higher. An announcement on the hearing date has not been released.
Diaz coach: UFC 202 scoring rigged for trilogy
Diaz’s boxing coach says he scored the last three rounds to Diaz, and accuses the judges of prioritising a third money-spinning fight over objective judging.
If Nate wasn’t injured, McGregor would’ve got stopped. If it went another 30 seconds, Nate would’ve tapped him out because Conor was ready to go anyway. [Nate] was in good shape before the second fight, but the knee set him back along with the rib. He couldn’t train for the last three weeks. Nate couldn’t back out because he’d be sidelined and they’d have gave someone else the chance like they did with Dos Anjos…You can’t win a round by running. He was just looking at the clock. I knew that they were going to give that second round to McGregor, and the fight itself because I figure they wanted a third fight. A company just bought it out – they want to make more money. A lot of people know that he didn’t win that fight.
Overeem: McGregor, Mayweather lying about pay
Overeem says both Mayweather and McGregor say they’re making as much as they say they are.
My answer to that, to Mayweather and to Conor, let me see some bank statements. You can talk, you can say it, you can put it out there in tweets, but let me see a bank statement that says UFC wired X amount of money, because it’s always going to be this way. People lie. It’s the 21st century. Social media is fake…I’m from Holland. In Holland, we like to dress up, we like to do our thing, we like to be cool. But we what we don’t like is to have stacks of cash on the table and the cars. To us, in our culture — and in that respect I’m very proud to be Dutch — that’s just attracting problems, attracting difficulty…I’ve always kind of followed my own path. I do what I think is right. That brings me happiness. If I’m going to do something because somebody else is doing it, I see that as fake. Again, you look at these other guys and they’re making the stacks of cash. Who was the first doing that? Muhammad Ali was doing that. So you’re copycatting another guy.
Aldo trainer questions McGregor doping
Aldo’s trainer, Pederneiras, says his offer to pay for tests to be performed three times a week on Aldo and McGregor was rejected.
Conor went two months and two days without being tested before the fight with Aldo, and I was asking, asking, and asking but nothing was done. [Both fighters were tested four times, but only in the last two to three weeks, when McGregor was already in Los Angeles for the fight, while] Aldo was tested in the right way. I’m telling and challenging his trainer – test Conor seriously, I want to see if he makes weight. I can’t accuse anyone without having certainty. It would be frivolous to accuse someone without being certain. But, at the very least, it’s strange.
Van Heerden upset about McGregor video edits
0 0 Mark Devlin Mark Devlin2016-07-05 13:04:452016-07-05 13:12:52Van Heerden upset about McGregor video edits
‘Keys is innocent’ letter
Ars Technica reports that hours before Keyes was sentenced, they received a letter (link) from an anonymous source, called “Sam Snow”, saying that Keys was wrongfully accused. In the letter, Snow described himself as someone who met Keys on a dating website in 2009. The pair dated briefly, but they eventually decided to just be friends. Eventually, Snow says, Keys gave him a key to his apartment, with an open invitation to come by anytime he wanted. Snow then describes how he did the actions Keys is accused of.
[Keys] never gave a username and password for any computer system to any hacker or hacking group. He never conspired to hack his former employer, and he never sent e-mails to any of his co-workers or the audience of the TV station where he worked. I know he did not do any of the things for which he has been accused—because I did them, and again this is something I can prove.
Keys tells Ars that he did not send the letter and declines further comment. Keys’ lawyers say that they had received a copy of the letter in January 2016 (it is dated January 3, 2015), but that it was far too late and contained far too little verifiable proof to be useful in Keys’ defense.
Accuses Cruz of stealing Iowa caucuses
Trump accuses Cruz of stealing his Iowa results, and calls for a new vote, or the results to be nullified.
Ted Cruz didn't win Iowa, he stole it. That is why all of the polls were so wrong and why he got far more votes than anticipated. Bad!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 3, 2016
Based on the fraud committed by Senator Ted Cruz during the Iowa Caucus, either a new election should take place or Cruz results nullified.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 3, 2016
Cruz campaign responds:
Reality hit the reality TV star in Iowa, so nobody is talking about him now, so he’s trying to regain some attention on Twitter. There are Twitter addiction support groups, so he should seek out his local chapter.
Sebring, OH, water operator accused
Ohio’s Environmental Protection Agency accuses the water treatment plant operator of falsifying reports in a lead poisoning scandal in Sebring, Ohio. It is not clear at this time how long the lead has been leaching into the town’s drinking water. The agency issued a warning about Sebring’s water supply on Dec. 3, The agency then directly notified residents of the issue on Jan 21 when it came to their attention that the local water authority had not done so.