X -Where Twitter goes to die.

[MN-Skeptic]

[raison de arizona]

What is even more puzzling is what possible commercial purpose Twitter could have in attacking NPR, which is delivers users, and thus advertising income, to Twitter with its content.

Dude. It's because Elmo is a right wing dickhead. He doesn't need a commercial purpose to shoot himself in the foot. Repeatedly.

[p0rtia]

The cruelty is the point.

[Phoenix520]

He’s edge-lording again.

For all his “brilliance”, he makes some really stupid decisions.

[bob]

For all his “brilliance”, he makes some really stupid decisions.

E.g.: Polygon: Twitter’s web logo is still the decade-old Doge meme:

Elon Musk’s favorite cryptocurrency appears to be Twitter’s new on-site mascot

[In] 2013, Billy Markus and Jackson Palmer created Dogecoin cryptocurrency as a joke. This on-site logo swap arrives at a time when Musk is being sued for $258 billion, in a lawsuit that alleges he ran a pyramid scheme supporting the cryptocurrency.

* * *

Musk has long been a fan of Dogecoin, frequently tweeting about it in the years since its creation. But Musk’s big public history with the coin starts in 2021 when he became a vocal public advocate of the cryptocurrency, declaring that a SpaceX mission would be funded with Dogecoin and that the currency would be accepted to buy Tesla merchandise. Musk’s legal and financial advisor Jared Birchall even sits on the board of the Doge Foundation as a representative of Musk. In 2021, when Musk appeared on Saturday Night Live, he made a joke about Dogecoin, and its value fell nearly 30%; it fell nearly 90% in the few months after.

Furthering Musk’s connection with the coin, in July 2022, during Tesla’s quarterly investor call, Musk disclosed that the company owned Dogecoin and did not sell it as it did its Bitcoin investments — though he did not say how much Dogecoin Tesla owns.

As Twitter's sole shareholder, Musk isn't going to sue himself. But Telsa shareholders in theory could if this appearance of a pump-and-dump affects the price of Telsa shares.

[Gregg]

Twitter is private but I don't think Elmo is the sole shareholder. I thought some "Saudi Sovereign Wealth Fund" kind of money was in it with him.

[bob]

Musk claimed to have borrowed money to buy Twitter, but there's no indication someone else owns any shares.

It is possible some shell company owns some shell company that owns the holding company, etc. I'll defer to the expertise of JCP, etc., on that.

[raison de arizona]

Here are 9 Twitter promises that Elon Musk has failed to deliver on as ‘chief Twit’

► Decisions by poll
► Stepping down
► Maximal free speech
► Digital town square
► Verification
► Open-sourced algorithm <- This one has happened since the publication of this article
► Moderation council
► Shadow ban feature
► Severance
Details at link: https://www.cnn.com/2023/03/29/media/el ... index.html

[Slarti the White]

Twitter is private but I don't think Elmo is the sole shareholder. I thought some "Saudi Sovereign Wealth Fund" kind of money was in it with him.

Larry Ellison (Oracle) was an investor too. also. IIRC

[humblescribe]

It seems to me that Twitter's definition of "state run affiliated media" aligns nicely with Faux News, amirite?

Edited to correct the locution in quotation marks.

[raison de arizona]

White House Slaps Musk’s Twitter For Labeling NPR ‘State-Affiliated’

The world’s second-wealthiest man Elon Musk continues to stir up drama as his tenure as Twitter’s owner/CEO enters its sixth month, controversially giving NPR the same labeling as Chinese and Russian propaganda machines on his social media site this week, sparking backlash from the outlet and the Biden Administration.

Twitter labeled NPR as “US state-affiliated media” late Tuesday, earning it the same label as state-controlled outlets like China’s People Daily and Russia’s TASS, an apparently targeted change that NPR’s CEO John Lansing called “unacceptable” and “disturb[ing]” in a Wednesday statement.

In a Wednesday afternoon press conference, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said “there is no doubt of the independence of NPR,” clarifying Twitter is free to label NPR as it desires as a private company.

Musk seemed to revel in the attention, responding to a tweet about NPR getting “rekt” by him with a screenshot of Twitter’s newly altered policy for labeling state-affiliated news organizations, following similar gloats about the New York Times losing its verification on Twitter over the weekend.

NPR, which says it gets less than 1% of its annual budget from federal funding, was previously explicitly exempted from Twitter’s policy for state-run media labels before abruptly losing its privilege Tuesday.

Entirely editorially independent from the U.S. government, NPR is grappling with financial struggles as corporate sponsorships dry up and advertising revenue dwindles.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/dereksaul/ ... 0a25bf7d5b

[Greatgrey]

[raison de arizona]

Probably unenforceable even if it was signed, I suspect.

[Slarti the White]

Probably unenforceable even if it was signed, I suspect.

Even if it is unenforceable, Twitter could easily use it to bully people who don't have the resources to fight them in court.

[RTH10260]

I guess lawyers will quote from the invalidity decision of T NDAs.

[raison de arizona]

Not sure how they determined it was Elmo and not just random pranksters, but it would be on-brand for him.

Elon Musk, in a remarkable show of maturity, has removed the "w" from Twitter's logo outside their San Francisco HQ. The company now reads as "Titter"

[raison de arizona]

Taibbi made stuff up and was dishonest? Color me astonished. Oh wait, they were just mistakes.

Me: "It's just error after error, Matt?"
@mtaibbi: "Well, that is an error."

Watch me confront Matt Taibbi with multiple, unacknowledged, and glaring mistakes in his Twitter Files reporting.

Full @MehdiHasanShow interview later tonight. Preview:

[pipistrelle]

Not sure how they determined it was Elmo and not just random pranksters, but it would be on-brand for him.

Elon Musk, in a remarkable show of maturity, has removed the "w" from Twitter's logo outside their San Francisco HQ. The company now reads as "Titter"

Cameras, probably

[bob]

The sign at Twitter has been restored to "Twitter."

[sugar magnolia]

The sign at Twitter has been restored to "Twitter."

The bird is back too.

That dog is so creepy.

[humblescribe]

Elon Musk is so creepy.

[Dr. Ken]

Taibbi made stuff up and was dishonest? Color me astonished. Oh wait, they were just mistakes.

Me: "It's just error after error, Matt?"
@mtaibbi: "Well, that is an error."

Watch me confront Matt Taibbi with multiple, unacknowledged, and glaring mistakes in his Twitter Files reporting.

Full @MehdiHasanShow interview later tonight. Preview:

Lol and now Taibbi is taking his toys and going home.

[Ben-Prime]

Not sure how they determined it was Elmo and not just random pranksters, but it would be on-brand for him.

Elon Musk, in a remarkable show of maturity, has removed the "w" from Twitter's logo outside their San Francisco HQ. The company now reads as "Titter"

It was the second choice for the prank when they realized they didn't have enough room on the sign to turn the 'i' into an 'a'.

[bob]

I can't be bothered to carry over all the drama, but it appears Musk has shadowbaned Taibbi, ostensibly because Taibbi gets money from Substack, which Musk perceives to be a competitor.

Rooting for injuries.

[New Turtle]

He blocked substackers from posting links to their writing in tweets, so most of them would make a tweet and tell people go to their bio for their substack link. And now if you click a substack link, a "malicious URL" warning page will pop up because there is some rule that says they consider it malicious activity for users to try and direct their followers off site. If that site is substack.