Topic: One Man's Mission to X $44 billion Goodbye

[Elmo!]

Putting aside the fact I wouldn't want to ever give Musk a penny, I'd almost be tempted to pay a small fee for Twitter, if it came with a cast iron guarantee my data would not be used in any way. In other words I would 100% change from being the product to being a customer. That isn't going to be the case though.

[WhereAngelsPlay]

Putting aside the fact I wouldn't want to ever give Musk a penny, I'd almost be tempted to pay a small fee for Twitter, if it came with a cast iron guarantee my data would not be used in any way. In other words I would 100% change from being the product to being a customer. That isn't going to be the case though.

The Saudis do not like this.

He should maybe sort out his companies url before anything

[Jiminy Cricket]

Putting aside the fact I wouldn't want to ever give Musk a penny, I'd almost be tempted to pay a small fee for Twitter, if it came with a cast iron guarantee my data would not be used in any way. In other words I would 100% change from being the product to being a customer. That isn't going to be the case though.

I agree - it would not happen. It would lose far more revenue than it gained.

[PaulF]

What was suggested long before Musk bought Twitter is that brands should be charged a fee. Some brands have done very well from using twitter to promote their businesses and products - they should be charged fees commensurate with the benefit they receive. There is great argument for charging them appropriate fees (perhaps through a simple metric of page views and retweets, or something along those lines). That, and advertising, was probably the only viable model for a large social media platform like Twitter. Yeah, he can charge all members a subscription fee if he likes, but participation will take a massive hit - and it will create a downward spiral of non-participation. Because the fewer who participate, the less incentive there is for others to continue to participate.

Although how the platform operated was very problematical for a long time, conceptually, it was brilliant. Musk came along, actually downgraded it operationally (both in function and quality), and he looks set to destroy the concept. I hope Twitter goes bust, takes Tesla with it, and bankrupts Musk.

Do you have a dislike of Tesla, or is it more about the owner?

[Jiminy Cricket]

Do you have a dislike of Tesla, or is it more about the owner?

The owner. I'm indifferent about the vehicles. Though, so odd design choices.

[Brissyred]

Federal probe examines Tesla perks given to Musk going back several years.

An exclusive story by the Wall Street Journal Tuesday reports that federal prosecutors in a probe of electric vehicle maker Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) are scrutinizing personal benefits the company may have provided to CEO Elon Musk since 2017. The inquiry is part of a criminal investigation examining issues including a proposed house for the multi-billionaire executive.

The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York is actively seeking details regarding transactions between Tesla and various entities linked to Musk. According to individuals familiar with the investigation, prosecutors have made mention of a grand jury's involvement.

This recent development suggests that federal prosecutors possess a more expansive interest in the conduct of both Elon Musk and Tesla than what was previously disclosed. They are actively exploring the possibility of pursuing criminal charges. Last month, reports surfaced that the Justice Department is conducting an inquiry into Tesla's utilization of company resources for a covert housing project for Musk.

Internally, the housing project was dubbed "Project 42" at the car manufacturer. The project's blueprints entailed the construction of a spacious glass structure in close proximity to Tesla's facility and corporate headquarters located in the Austin area.

Tesla's legal team and board questioned the project following concerns raised by employees regarding the utilization of millions of dollars worth of large-format glass panels that the company had procured.

Zach Kirkhorn, who was Tesla’s chief financial officer before stepping down last month, was among those who raised concerns internally about the project.

On X, the social media platform, formally known as Twitter and also owned by Musk, the CEO said there isn’t a glass house “built, under construction or planned.”

Prosecutors are currently investigating whether Tesla appropriately disclosed any perks that Elon Musk may have received. Typically, such disclosures are managed by internal or external legal counsel. However, there have been instances at Tesla where Musk himself has been involved in determining what information should be disclosed to shareholders.

It remains unclear whether this was the case regarding the perks under scrutiny by prosecutors. Tesla has previously stated that it generally does not offer perks or personal benefits to its senior executives.

https://au.investing.com/news/stock-market-news/federal-probe-examines-tesla-perks-given-to-musk-going-back-several-years-432SI-2977107

[CornerFlag]

The whole Twitter/X site is just so much worse, slowly becoming what Trump imagined Truth Social would be. Absolutely awful.

[Red Beret]

I'm wondering if/when any big corporation will announce it's shutting down its twitter platform, and if that might mark the start of a stampede? Seems it's largely an echo chamber full of propaganda and disinformation now.

[KillieRed]

The best thing to do for those corporations would be to quiet quit. Don’t announce anything, just stop posting and don’t make any interactions.

[Red Beret]

The best thing to do for those corporations would be to quiet quit. Don’t announce anything, just stop posting and don’t make any interactions.

Why do you think this is best? Surely a public announcement is the kill switch X needs? These corporations will surely want to encourage their followers to move to alternative platforms to stay informed?

Incidentally, I saw this on NOELreports:

   The EU has published reports on how tech companies including Facebook, Google and TikTok are thriving in the fight against disinformation. Elon Musk's X is recognized as the largest means of spreading Russian lies and propaganda.

Most major platforms have agreed to work with the EU on a voluntary code of conduct that aims to set industry standards for fact-checking and other measures.

"X that is no longer subject to the code, is the platform with the most disinformation posts," Jourová said.   

[Jiminy Cricket]

The best thing to do for those corporations would be to quiet quit. Don’t announce anything, just stop posting and don’t make any interactions.

Why do you think this is best? Surely a public announcement is the kill switch X needs? These corporations will surely want to encourage their followers to move to alternative platforms to stay informed?

Incidentally, I saw this on NOELreports:

I assume KillieRed refers to what would be best for the company. Why unnecessarily alienate potential customers!?

[Elmo!]

Announcing it just gives Musk and his followers more chance to act like victims and whine about it all being a coonspiracy. Just quietly drop them and let Twitter die a slow death.

[Schmidt]

Announcing it just gives Musk and his followers more chance to act like victims and whine about it all being a coonspiracy. Just quietly drop them and let Twitter die a slow death.

Or companies could keep promoting their accounts on other platforms like Threads/Mastodon until Elon bans them.

[Red Beret]

I assume KillieRed refers to what would be best for the company. Why unnecessarily alienate potential customers!?

But if you quiet quit, aren't your customers going to be pissed they got left in the dark?? It's going to get out sooner or later.

Announcing it just gives Musk and his followers more chance to act like victims and whine about it all being a coonspiracy. Just quietly drop them and let Twitter die a slow death.

Who cares about that? Let them whinge. The platform is dying anyway. It's already just an echo chamber for conspiracists and sycophants.

[KillieRed]

I assume KillieRed refers to what would be best for the company. Why unnecessarily alienate potential customers!?

Yes, indeed.

[PaulF]

Coca Cola could sponsor its own thread on Rawk , who in turn could use the money to buy Mbappe.

[WhereAngelsPlay]

Stay in your lane you freaky looking disgusting c*nt & it's probably not the best statement to make when your companies are bing sued for racial discrimination.

Billionaire Elon Musk on Saturday waded into German politics at a time of a heated debate on immigration across Europe, saying Berlin-funded migrant rescue operations in the Mediterranean could be seen as an "invasion" of Italy.

Musk, who was born in South Africa, has Canadian nationality and lives in the United States, shared a post calling for a victory of the far-right party AfD a week before regional elections in two major German states.

Berlin is locked a row with Italy over the NGO sea operations, with Italian Prime Minister Giorgio Meloni on Friday demanding that charity ships disembark the rescued migrants in their own countries.

Musk shared a post on X by a user identified as "Radio Genoa" that blasted German NGO operations in the Mediterranean and expressed hope that "AfD wins the elections to stop this European suicide", referring to the upcoming polls.

To Musk's question if the "German public is aware of this", the German foreign ministry replied curtly: "Yes. And it's called saving lives."

The foreign ministry's answer prompted the social media platform's boss to intensify his criticism, writing in another post early Saturday: "Frankly, I doubt that a majority of the German public supports this.

"Have you run a poll? Surely it is a violation of the sovereignty of Italy for Germany to transport vast numbers of illegal immigrants to Italian soil? Has invasion vibes," Musk added.

Meloni recently wrote a letter of complaint to German Chancellor Olaf Scholz to express her "amazement" about Berlin funding charities helping irregular migrants in her country.

Asked about the letter, Berlin confirmed that it was providing between 400,000 euros and 800,000 euros each to two projects relating to migrants.

The projects were "for the support on land in Italy of people rescued at sea and an NGO project for sea-rescue operations".

At a press conference this week following talks with her Italian counterpart, Germany's Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock defended Berlin's backing of rescue missions.

"Volunteer sea rescuers have a life-saving task in the Mediterranean," she said.

"They are committed to countering the deaths in the Mediterranean with humanity, precisely because the European joint sea rescue service Mare Nostrum no longer exists," she added, referring to the Italian government's year-long operation which rescued more than 100,000 migrants before ending in 2014.

More than 130,000 migrants have arrived on Italy's shores so far this year, almost double the number last year, according to interior ministry figures.

In Germany too, new arrival numbers have risen sharply, prompting Berlin to announce Wednesday that it would step up policing of its borders with Poland and the Czech Republic, in a bid to stop people smugglers.

Ahead of regional elections on October 8 in the states of Bavaria and Hesse, immigration has also emerged as a key topic, with Bavarians citing it as the most important subject in a latest poll.

[CornerFlag]

God, Musk is such a twat.  Like, it's not even close, he's void of pretty much all redeeming features.

[Jiminy Cricket]

What was Elon Musk’s strategy for Twitter?
A year after the world's richest man acquired the social media platform, a game plan published by a fired Trump White House staffer provides a clue.

Oct. 3, 2023, 1:48 AM CEST
By Ben Collins

On the day that public records revealed that Elon Musk had become Twitter’s biggest shareholder, an unknown sender texted the billionaire and recommended an article imploring him to acquire the social network outright.

Musk’s purchase of Twitter, the 3,000-word anonymous article said, would amount to a “declaration of war against the Globalist American Empire.” The sender of the texts was offering Musk, the Tesla and SpaceX CEO, a playbook for the takeover and transformation of Twitter. As the anniversary of Musk's purchase approaches, the identity of the sender remains unknown.

The three texts were sent on April 4, 2022. In the nearly 18 months since then, many of the decisions Musk made after he bought Twitter appear to have closely followed that road map, up to and including his ongoing attacks against the Anti-Defamation League, a nonprofit organization founded by Jewish Americans to counter discrimination.

[...]

https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/was-elon-musks-strategy-twitter-rcna118490

[TepidT2O]

I mean, who designs the way their adverts are targeted?

A fucking humming bird feeder!

https://twitter.com/lurezaco/status/1709131076743102876?s=61&t=IBM61bzNciP9yNB3C-HiEg

In England!

[Trada]

Matt Binder@MattBinder

Twitter / X is serving users with a new ad format that can't be blocked or reported

the ads aren't even actual X posts & aren't connected to any X accounts. they do not disclose that they are ads

it appears the ads are connected to clickbait ad networks

[Jiminy Cricket]

Matt Binder@MattBinder

Twitter / X is serving users with a new ad format that can't be blocked or reported

the ads aren't even actual X posts & aren't connected to any X accounts. they do not disclose that they are ads

it appears the ads are connected to clickbait ad networks

Doesn't sound very 'authentic' to me.

Why don't they just call it a day and shut up shop.

[Jiminy Cricket]

Matt Binder@MattBinder

Twitter / X is serving users with a new ad format that can't be blocked or reported

the ads aren't even actual X posts & aren't connected to any X accounts. they do not disclose that they are ads

it appears the ads are connected to clickbait ad networks

https://mashable.com/article/twitter-x-new-clickbait-ad-format

[TepidT2O]

And people laughed when I got targeted with adverts for hummingbird feeders..

[DangerScouse]

I fucking detest this right wing prick. Hopefully he gets ruined.

[SamLad]

yesterday ....

EU warns Elon Musk over ‘disinformation’ about Hamas attack on X

The EU has issued a warning to Elon Musk over the alleged disinformation about the Hamas attack on Israel, including fake news and “repurposed old images”, on X, which was formerly known as Twitter.

The letter comes less than two months after sweeping new laws regulating content on social media seen in the EU came into force under the Digital Services Act. If Musk, the owner of X, does not comply, he can face a fine of 6% of his revenues from X or a total blackout in the EU.

Thierry Breton, the commissioner responsible for the act, wrote to Musk to urge him to ensure “a prompt, accurate, and complete response” to the request to contact Europol, the EU police enforcement agency and “relevant law enforcement agencies” within the next 24 hours.

Breton reminded Musk that he needed to have “proportionate and effective mitigation measures to tackle the risks to public security and civic discourse stemming from disinformation”. He wrote:


Following the terrorist attacks carried out by Hamas against Israel, we have indications your platform is being used to disseminate illegal content and disinformation in the EU.

He added:

Public media and civil society organisations widely report instances of fake and manipulated images and facts circulating on your platform in the EU, such as repurposed old images of unrelated armed conflicts or military footage that actually originated from video games. This appears to be manifestly false or misleading information.

[Red Beret]

Forget the fine. Just axe X in the EU, and hopefully the rest of Europe too. Musk is complete scum.

[Schmidt]

Forget the fine. Just axe X in the EU, and hopefully the rest of Europe too. Musk is complete scum.

EU countries still don't have access to Threads due to it not meeting EU requirements so it should be on the table, though blocking an app from ever being available and taking down something that's used everywhere are two different things.

[Red Beret]

EU countries still don't have access to Threads due to it not meeting EU requirements so it should be on the table, though blocking an app from ever being available and taking down something that's used everywhere are two different things.

Absolutely. I'm just saying the EU should bypass the fines and go straight to the ban. It's clear Musk is backed by dirty money that has an agenda, and that he has a viewpoint that allows disinformation to flourish. It needs punishing, and men like that don't feel financial penalties.

I once saw a video describing a mathematical formula on finding money in the street. You know, you might spot the odd penny, or 50p - very rarely a fiver or more. The formula concluded that, for a man of Musk's financial means, to make it worth his while to physically stop and pick up random money in the street, the amount would have to be around £250k. Fining isn't going to work. He needs to be shut down.

[KillieRed]

EU countries still don't have access to Threads due to it not meeting EU requirements so it should be on the table, though blocking an app from ever being available and taking down something that's used everywhere are two different things.

Was gonna say that “but I can see threads!”, then ugh, oh yeah.

[PaulF]

Can the EU block a site using tech? Just curious really
 I know it's well known that China can do it, but I thought the whole point of the internet was resilience.

[Jiminy Cricket]

Can the EU block a site using tech? Just curious really
 I know it's well known that China can do it, but I thought the whole point of the internet was resilience.

ISPs can be directed to block certain sites. But it would also require ISPs blocking Tor (which also could be done). I think the greater problem is blocking access via VPNs. And blocking VPNs is much more difficult, and would have other far-reaching negative consequences.*

*Others here will know better and be able to explain it better than me.

I expect for big social media websites, the practical remedy is the imposition of massive fines to 'encourage' the required behaviour. And 'Big Tech' will comply, because at the end of the day, the EU is a massive and very lucrative market.

[PaulF]

That's pretty much what I was guessing Jiminy. I guess big fines to start with. And if he refused to pay, then fine the advertisers in the EU jurisdiction maybe.
Or, as you say, get the isps to block it. Obviously tor and VPN can circumnavigate it, but I'd imagine enough harm is done just by blocking easy access. Although vpns seem to be shrinking up everywhere. I think I even have a free Google one.

[Schmidt]

It would be a struggle to completely block a site, but simply getting the app removed from the various app stores in the EU would be extremely detrimental to twitter I'd imagine, particularly if a viable rival like BlueSky starts gaining traction.

[Elmo!]

ISPs can be directed to block certain sites. But it would also require ISPs blocking Tor (which also could be done). I think the greater problem is blocking access via VPNs. And blocking VPNs is much more difficult, and would have other far-reaching negative consequences.*

*Others here will know better and be able to explain it better than me.

I expect for big social media websites, the practical remedy is the imposition of massive fines to 'encourage' the required behaviour. And 'Big Tech' will comply, because at the end of the day, the EU is a massive and very lucrative market.

You don't need to block Tor or VPNs, to in effect kill it as a commercial enterprise in the EU. If you are an authoritarian government trying to crack down on anyone using then sure. But the EU don't need to worry about people being able to access it via those methods, they just need to make it difficult enough that the vast majority of people don't use it and deny Twitter the ad revenue.

(Tor is an absolute shit experience to use, people would not tolerate it for anything other than for nefarious purposes - or so I heard from a friend  )

In reality all you need to do is mandate Apple and Google remove the app from their app stores, as the vast majority of Twitter traffic is through the app, not in the browser.

[Jiminy Cricket]

You don't need to block Tor or VPNs, to in effect kill it as a commercial enterprise in the EU. If you are an authoritarian government trying to crack down on anyone using then sure. But the EU don't need to worry about people being able to access it via those methods, they just need to make it difficult enough that the vast majority of people don't use it and deny Twitter the ad revenue.

(Tor is an absolute shit experience to use, people would not tolerate it for anything other than for nefarious purposes - or so I heard from a friend  )

In reality all you need to do is mandate Apple and Google remove the app from their app stores, as the vast majority of Twitter traffic is through the app, not in the browser.

Yes, blocking VPNs would be highly, HIGHLY disruptive to the internet. And yes, as you say, instruct Google and Apple to not distribute the apps would likely do the trick (I had not thought of that). It almost certainly would not come to any of that - massive fines would have the desired effect.

[Crosby Nick]

This is a weird one but is anyone else getting ads from Israel in their timeline? Scrolled through a couple earlier, didn’t really pay attention and thought maybe someone had retweeted. But then just seen another with them tweeting an image of a dead baby. It’s from the official Israel Twitter. It’s obviously a PR exercise of sorts to justify what’s happening now/coming next. Not going to get involved in any political debate on it with the thread locked but finding it very odd (but maybe not surprising) Twitter/X is allowing it. Regardless of sides, plenty of people won’t want to seek out images of victims of any atrocity.

[Elmo!]

This is a weird one but is anyone else getting ads from Israel in their timeline? Scrolled through a couple earlier, didn’t really pay attention and thought maybe someone had retweeted. But then just seen another with them tweeting an image of a dead baby. It’s from the official Israel Twitter. It’s obviously a PR exercise of sorts to justify what’s happening now/coming next. Not going to get involved in any political debate on it with the thread locked but finding it very odd (but maybe not surprising) Twitter/X is allowing it. Regardless of sides, plenty of people won’t want to seek out images of victims of any atrocity.

I had one earlier from @Israel, promoting pictures of what has gone on in the last week. Found it a bit odd to say the least. Anyway it got blocked like all accounts that advertise at me.

[Samie]

This man is desperate for this to blow up in his face.

https://twitter.com/kyliebytes/status/1714423732591337944

X, formerly known as Twitter, will begin charging new users $1 a year to access key features including the ability to tweet and retweet.

[BarryCrocker]

This man is desperate for this to blow up in his face.

X, formerly known as Twitter, will begin charging new users $1 a year to access key features including the ability to tweet and retweet.

https://twitter.com/kyliebytes/status/1714423732591337944

Just the start of extra fees for extra functions.