Musk suspends ExplainThisBob
Musk suspends a meme Twitter account linked to the cryptocurrency Bob Token, saying it could be a “scam crypto account.” Some Twitter users who hold Bob Token (BOB) and those utilizing the @explainthisbob reply bot voice their opposition to the suspension, and some in the crypto community who disagree with Musk’s decision created a hashtag “FREEBOB,” demanding a reconsideration of the suspension. BOB’s value is down by 30% following the suspension. Musk:
This sure looks like a scam crypto account. If so, it will be suspended.
This sure looks like a scam crypto account. If so, it will be suspended.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 18, 2023
Music publishers sue Twitter for $250m, citing Musk’s lax copyright stance
The National Music Publishers’ Association sues Twitter, on behalf of firms including Sony Music Publishing, BMG Rights Management and Universal Music Publishing Group, in a US federal court in Tennessee, for more than $250m over bulk copyright infringement, citing Elon Musk’s tweets to argue that the company has deliberately stopped enforcing the rules. The suit says Twitter has not paid for a blanket licence allowing its users to upload copyrighted material, unlike TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and Snapchat. in 2023, The New York Times reported that talks had stalled over the $100m price tag and fallen apart since Musk bought the site. The suit names 17000 songs as having been infringed:
Twitter’s policies demonstrate that Twitter views itself, not the law, as the arbiter of what content is permitted on the Twitter platform. Despite claiming to take down tweets in response to an infringement notice within hours or minutes, Twitter routinely waits much longer before acting, if it acts at all. There are thousands of instances where Twitter waited 30 days or more to remove or disable access to the content identified.
According to the suit, Musk said copyright “goes absurdly far beyond protecting the original creator” and “overzealous” application of copyright laws “is a plague on humanity”. The plaintiffs:
This statement and others like it exert pressure on Twitter employees, including those in its trust and safety team, on issues relating to copyright and infringement
Yaccarino sends first memo to Twitter employees
Yaccarino sends her first communication to Twitter employees. In a 320-word memo, she writes that Twitter is “on a mission” to become a “global town square for communication” and says that the “success of Twitter 2.0 is all of our responsibility.” She also mentions thinking “big,” starting from “first principles,” and “building something new from the ground up.”
From space exploration to electric vehicles, Elon knew these industries needed transformation, so he did it. More recently it has become increasingly clear that the global town square needs transformation — to drive civilization forward through the unfiltered exchange of information and open dialogue about the things that matter most to us.
Hello Twitter.
People keep asking me: Why Twitter?
So, I’ll tell you. 👇— Linda Yaccarino (@lindayacc) June 12, 2023
Musk invites liberal TV hosts to Twitter
In a pinned tweet, Musk invites liberal television hosts (Rachel Maddow, Don Lemon and “others”) to bring their shows to Twitter to try and balance out Tucker Carlson’s presence on the platform. (This is the second time he has invited Lemon to start a show there.)
It’d be great to have @maddow, @donlemon, & others on the left put their shows on this platform. No exclusivity or legal docs required! You will receive our full support. The digital town square is for all.
It’d be great to have @maddow, @donlemon & others on the left put their shows on this platform. No exclusivity or legal docs required!
You will receive our full support. The digital town square is for all. https://t.co/v1Yse6TQ6u
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 8, 2023
Twitter’s U.S. ad sales drop 59%
According to an internal presentation obtained by The New York Times, Twitter’s U.S. advertising revenue for the five weeks from April 1 to the first week of May was $88 million, down 59% from a year earlier. The document says the company has regularly fallen short of its U.S. weekly sales projections, sometimes by as much as 30 percent. The company has forecast that its U.S. ad revenue this month will be down at least 56 percent each week compared with a year ago, according to one internal document. Neither CEO Yaccarino nor Musk commented on the report.
According to staff interviews, Twitter’s ad sales staff is concerned that advertisers may be spooked by a rise in hate speech and pornography on the social network, as well as more ads featuring online gambling and marijuana products. In one week last month, four of Twitter’s top 10 U.S. advertisers were online gambling and fantasy sports betting companies, according to one presentation. Twitter has also started allowing ads for cannabis accessories, including “bongs, vapes, rolling paper,” as well as erectile dysfunction products and services, according to internal emails.
Former employees say some of Twitter’s biggest advertisers — including Apple, Amazon and Disney — have been spending less on the platform than last year, and that large specialized “banner” ads on Twitter’s trends page that can cost $500,000 for 24 hours and are almost always bought by large brands to promote events, shows or movies, are often going unfilled.
Irwin confirms resignation
Ella Irwin, Twitter’s head of trust and safety, confirms her resignation from the company in a pair of tweets. She does not say why she resigned, but the move comes just after Musk criticized Twitter’s handling of tweets about a documentary that questions transgender medical treatment for children and teens. Irwin says “one or two people noticed” that she left Twitter the day before and notes speculation about whether she was fired or quit. She also jokes about posting 24 tweets to explain her departure.
In all seriousness, I did resign but this has been a once in a lifetime experience and I’m so thankful to have worked with this amazing team of passionate, creative and hardworking people. Will be cheering you all and Twitter as you go!
Just kidding folks. 😂 There’s no thread. In all seriousness, I did resign but this has been a once in a lifetime experience and I’m so thankful to have worked with this amazing team of passionate, creative and hardworking people. Will be cheering you all and Twitter as you go!
— Ella Irwin (@ellagirwin) June 3, 2023
Senators ask Musk and Yaccarino about Twitter FTC violations
Four US senators send a letter to Musk and Yaccarino asking them whether the layoffs and resignations at Twitter have hindered its ability to comply with the company’s FTC obligations. The senators are examining Twitter’s privacy practices under Musk to determine whether consumer protection laws are being flouted. The letter – signed by Elizabeth Warren (D), Ron Wyden (D), Ed Markey (D), and Mazie Hirono (D) – cites Ella Irwin’s departure as the latest source of concern about Twitter’s compliance track record. It asks whether Twitter conducted a privacy and security assessment of Twitter Blue before rolling it out (according to its 2022 consent agreement, Twitter must perform such assessments “prior to implementing any new or modified product”) as well as whether the platform has maintained a comprehensive cybersecurity program to protect user data since Musk’s takeover. It also asks whether Twitter has met various reporting requirements, including obligations to report any significant data breaches to the authorities.
[P]ersonnel changes, firsthand accounts from employees, and hasty launch of new products raise questions about whether Twitter is able to comply with its obligations under the FTC consent decree.
Mr. Musk’s behavior reveals an apparent indifference towards Twitter’s longstanding legal obligations, which did not disappear when Mr. Musk took over the company.
Regardless of his personal wealth, Mr. Musk is not exempt from the law, and neither is the company he purchased. Twitter must meet the requirements it agreed to under the 2011 and 2022 FTC agreements.
The lawmakers want Twitter to respond by June 18.
Twitter’s head of Trust and Safety resigns
Ella Irwin, Head of Trust & Safety at Twitter, resigns after just under one year in the company. She joined Twitter in June 2022 and took over as head of the trust and safety team in November when previous head Yoel Roth resigned. She oversaw content moderation. Irwin declined further comment and Musk did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Twitter’s press email replied with a poop emoji.
Boreing: Twitter suppressing one side of ‘trans debate’
Daily Wire CEO Boreing accuses Twitter of joining other “tech superpowers” in their suppression of “one side of the [trans] debate.”:
Twitter canceled a deal with @realdailywire to premiere What is a Woman? for free on the platform because of two instances of “misgendering.”
(“What is a Woman?” is an online film about gender and transgender issues presented by conservative political commentator Matt Walsh.) Boreing says he thought Twitter was “the perfect place to distribute the film” because of its “recent commitments to free speech,” adding:
Twitter responded with enthusiasm and offered us the opportunity to buy a package to host the movie on a dedicated event page and to promote the event to every Twitter user over the first 10 hours. After reviewing the film, though, Twitter let us know that not only could we no longer purchase the package they offered, they would no longer provide us any support and would actually limit the reach of the film and label it as “hateful conduct” because of “misgendering.”
When the Daily Wire noted that Twitter had actually removed its policy around misgendering, Twitter representatives allegedly “clarified they only removed ‘misgendering’ from their policy because they didn’t need to be that specific, but that they still consider ‘misgendering abuse and harassment,” and also said that the Daily Wire’s “own followers would not be able to see it in their feeds.” As Boreing puts it:
We brought all our shows to Twitter Tuesday because we believed Twitter was committed to free speech, especially on this issue. After all, the @TheBabylonBeewas silenced on Twitter over this very issue, and that in part prompted @elonmusk to purchase the platform. The other tech platforms have already decided where they stand in the trans debate and demonetize and deprioritize all those who disagree. Now, Twitter has joined the ranks of the other tech superpowers in ensuring one side of the debate is suppressed.
@elonmusk is not beholden to conservatives. He has the right to run his business as he sees fit. But if Twitter is going to throttle one side of one of the most important debates facing society, it cannot claim to champion free speech.
I hope @elonmusk will reconsider this awful policy. If we can’t debate these issues on Twitter, where can we debate them? If conservatives aren’t welcome on Twitter, where are they welcome? It’s unlikely another centibillionaire will come along to offer an alternative.
We plan to post the movie anyway tonight at 8:00 pm eastern. Will Twitter make good on their threat to throttle it and label it “hateful conduct,” or will Twitter live up to its great promise?
We’ll all find out together.
Twitter canceled a deal with @realdailywire to premiere What is a Woman? for free on the platform because of two instances of “misgendering.”
I’m not kidding.
Here's what happened:🧵1/16
— Jeremy Boreing (@JeremyDBoreing) June 1, 2023
Musk criticises NPR: ‘You don’t generally bite the hand that feeds you’
In an interview with The Babylon Bee, Musk talks about NPR leaving Twitter, after the company labelled it as state0funded media:
We’re trying to apply the rules consistently at Twitter. If we’re going to call some media state-affiliated, then we should apply the label equally. They got pretty upset at that, and said that ‘state-affiliated’ implies that the state has editorial authority and influence over the content. So you’re saying you don’t have that? How self-aware are you? NPR literally, on their own website, said government funding was essential to their operation. We even changed [the label] from ‘state-affiliated’, to ‘state-funded’. That’s literally a statement of fact. But they’re unhappy with that. They have got to their punches in criticizing the government. It’s just a guess, based on their extreme dependence on government funding. I mean you don’t generally bite the hand that feeds you.
How will we ever stay informed on Twitter without NPR? pic.twitter.com/wWNN0fv8uq
— The Babylon Bee (@TheBabylonBee) May 31, 2023
Fidelity: Twitter worth 33% of Musk’s purchase price
According to Fidelity, which helped finance Musk’s purchase of Twitter, its valuation of its equity stake in the company puts the total value of Twitter at $15 billion, around 33% of what Musk originally paid for it. Fidelity downgraded its holdings in the company by 56% a month after the acquisition, by 63% in February 2023, and now by 66%. Musk’s investment in Twitter is now worth $8.8 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, which uses Fidelity’s valuation to calculate the value of his holding. Musk spent more than $25 billion to acquire an estimated 79% stake in the company in 2022.
EU: Twitter ‘can run’ from disinformation obligations, ‘but can’t hide’
Twitter withdraws from the European Union’s Code of Practice on online disinformation. But Twitter is considered a “very large online platform” under the EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA) and is therefore obligated to assess and mitigate systemic risks to civic discourse and electoral processes, such as disinformation, under pan-EU law. Breaches of the DSA can attract penalties of up to 6% of global annual turnover, but VLOPs are given a three month deadline to comply. Internal market commissioner Thierry Breton:
Twitter leaves EU voluntary Code of Practice against disinformation. But obligations remain. You can run but you can’t hide. Beyond voluntary commitments, fighting disinformation will be legal obligation under #DSA as of August 25. Our teams will be ready for enforcement.
Twitter leaves EU voluntary Code of Practice against disinformation.
But obligations remain. You can run but you can’t hide.
Beyond voluntary commitments, fighting disinformation will be legal obligation under #DSA as of August 25.
Our teams will be ready for enforcement.
— Thierry Breton (@ThierryBreton) May 26, 2023
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
Musk Twitter buyout suit dismissed
U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer in San Francisco dismisses a class-action lawsuit against Musk which accused him of cheating Twitter shareholders in the course of buying the company. (Heresniak v Musk et al, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, No. 22-03074)
According to the judge, the plaintiff lacked standing to sue because he challenged “wrongs associated with” Musk’s buyout, not the fairness of the buyout itself. Further, the judge says the plaintiff failed to show harm from Musk’s belated disclosure of a 9.2% Twitter stake (which the suit said let him buy more shares at lower prices before the buyout was announced) or from the late closing of the deal. The judge also finds no proof that Musk helped Dorsey and Silver Lake private equity firm managing partner Egon Durban breach their fiduciary duties by favoring their own and Musk’s interests – letting Dorsey roll his Twitter shares into an equity stake in the new company merely reduced the amount Musk paid at closing, it did not “improperly divert” money from other shareholders.
Tesla releases promo video on Twitter
Tesla releases a two-minute Twitter video on its Tesla Asia account (which has only 172,000 followers, compared to its main account’s 21 million) called “Drive to believe.” The ad highlights Tesla’s Autopilot feature, infotainment system, the Tesla app, as well as featuring a Model 3 owner and mother of two children saying she was initially drawn to the vehicle because of its technology, but has grown to appreciate its safety measures as well.
I would say it’s one of the greatest gifts, that my kids can have, in terms of their future.
Drive to believe——why she chose Tesla? ❤️ pic.twitter.com/LXtGl15QUy
— Tesla Asia (@Tesla_Asia) May 19, 2023
X Corp acquires tech recruiting platform Laskie
In its first deal under Musk’s leadership, Twitter’s parent company X Corp acquires Laskie, a talent recruitment tool. Though the exact price of the acquisition is unclear, it was apparently “tens of millions” of dollars, with the deal including cash and equity elements.
Laskie is a San-Francisco based startup founded in 2021 by current CEO Chris Bakke, and apparently has somewhere between 11 and 50 employees. Its aim has been to connect tech talent with employers using tools that are “designed to make your job search faster, more efficient, and less stressful,” but now the platform’s website displays a message saying its platform is “no longer available.” Twitter has not publicly confirmed the deal.
Yaccarino praises Musk’s vision
In her first tweet since the announcement by Musk of her hire as Twitter CEO, Yaccarino praises Musk:
I’ve long been inspired by your vision to create a brighter future. I’m excited to help bring this vision to Twitter and transform this business together!
I see I have some new followers👀…👋 I’m not as prolific as @elonmusk (yet!), but I’m just as committed to the future of this platform.
Your feedback is VITAL to that future. I’m here for all of it.
Let’s keep the conversation going and build Twitter 2.0 together!
— Linda Yaccarino (@lindayacc) May 13, 2023
Musk to Yglesias: ‘Did your brain fall out of your head?’
Musk responds to Yglesias’ criticism of Twitter’s compliance with legal requests by the Turkish government to restrict access to some content in Turkey during a closely contested presidential election:
Did your brain fall out of your head, Yglesias? The choice is have Twitter throttled in its entirety or limit access to some tweets. Which one do you want?
Did your brain fall out of your head, Yglesias? The choice is have Twitter throttled in its entirety or limit access to some tweets. Which one do you want?
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 13, 2023
Musk: Twitter will not ‘shadow ban’ users
Responding to concerns from some Twitter users, Musk says the company’s next CEO will not “shadow ban” users (or discretely limit the visibility of their posts).
That will not be the case
His response comes before publicly naming his replacement.
That will not be the case
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 12, 2023
Musk announces Twitter CEO hire
Musk says he has found a new CEO for Twitter, a woman who will start in six week’s time. Musk does not revealed her identity. Musk says he will become CTO.
Excited to announce that I’ve hired a new CEO for X/Twitter. She will be starting in ~6 weeks! My role will transition to being exec chair & CTO, overseeing product, software & sysops.
Excited to announce that I’ve hired a new CEO for X/Twitter. She will be starting in ~6 weeks!
My role will transition to being exec chair & CTO, overseeing product, software & sysops.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 11, 2023