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He will replace Bob Chapek, who took over as Disney CEO in February 2020 just as the COVID-19 pandemic hit, leading to park closures and restrictions on visitors globally. Disney disappointed investors this month with an earnings report that showed mounting losses at its streaming media unit that includes Disney+. [1/2] Executive Chairman of the Walt Disney Company, Bob Iger arrives at the world premiere for the film 'The King's Man' at Leicester Square in London, Britain December 6, 2021. IGER'S RETURNSIger exited Disney on a high note as the company led the battle against Netflix in the streaming wars. During his tenure, Disney made several key acquisitions, including Pixar Animation Studios, Marvel Entertainment and 21st Century Fox, and boosted its market capitalization five-fold.

Slightly over 15 million Twitter users voted in the poll with 51.8% voting in favor of reinstatement. But Trump also said Twitter suffered from bots, fake accounts and that the problems it faced were "incredible". He also said Twitter would not reinstate any banned users until there was a "clear process for doing so." Truth Social has been Trump’s main source of direct communication with his followers since he began posting on the app regularly in May. He has used Truth Social to promote his allies, criticize opponents and defend his reputation amid legal scrutiny from state, congressional and federal investigators.

Workers at Google and other big tech companies in recent years have clashed and protested over politics and racial and gender equity. "We've always been proud to host external speakers at Google, as they provide great opportunities for learning and connection for our employees," Google spokesman Ryan Lamont told Reuters. Rivals such as Meta Platforms Inc (META.O) also have policies for inviting speakers. At Google, speakers have included then-U.S. presidential candidate Barack Obama, celebrity chef Ayesha Curry and former basketball star Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. At least one of the critics suggested inviting for balance Rajiv Malhotra, according to an internal message.

Musk told Twitter employees that anyone who had not clicked on a link confirming "you want to be part of the new Twitter" by Thursday evening New York time would be considered to have quit. Three sources who had received the message at Twitter confirmed its content. The latest move to restructure the company comes after Twitter slashed half of its workforce earlier this month as Musk took control of the social media company. Elon Musk photo and Twitter logo are seen through magnifier in this illustration taken November 4, 2022. He also told employees that if "you do not show up at the office, resignation accepted," according to a transcript of a meeting reported by Verge.

David Vladeck, a former director of the FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection, said there would likely be another investigation, and potentially another enforcement action before Twitter executives would be held personally liable. Many former FTC officials said the agency's current chair, Lina Khan, has shown interest in going after executives if consent orders are violated. The FTC on Thursday said it is "tracking recent developments at Twitter with deep concern. It is Twitter itself (not individual employees) who is a party and therefore only Twitter the company could be liable," he wrote. In the May settlement, Twitter agreed to pay $150 million and assess potential features for data privacy and security issues.

The U.S. congressional elections posed a fresh test for social media companies, which for years have struggled to balance free expression against amplifying potentially harmful commentary. Voices on the right sought on social media on Tuesday to falsely blame Democrats for voting glitches reported in some places. Common Cause also noted a "big slowdown" in Twitter's response time since Friday, when layoffs gutted many of the company's teams responsible for elevating credible information. Before Tuesday, both Musk and Twitter's head of safety and integrity Yoel Roth tweeted that the company would uphold and enforce its election integrity policies through the midterms. The falsehoods appeared to originate on messaging app Telegram before spreading to more mainstream social media services, according to Common Cause.

☆ Elon Musk's Twitter girds for surge in U.S. midterm election misinformation
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-08 | by ( Katie Paul | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Nov 8 (Reuters) - Days after Twitter Inc fired half its staff and new owner Elon Musk tweeted a recommendation to vote for Republican candidates, election experts are anxiously bracing for a surge in online misinformation as Americans head to the polls on Tuesday. Researchers who study election misinformation say threats, offensive language and false rumors of election fraud have been circulating widely ahead of the U.S. midterm elections, which will determine control of Congress for the next two years. Musk tweeted last week that Twitter would uphold and enforce its election integrity policies, after meeting with activist groups that have pressured advertisers to pull their Twitter ads. Musk tweeted a link to Twitter's content rules on Monday that caused confusion because it appeared to leave out rules for misleading content. Asked if Twitter had stopped enforcing against misinformation, Roth later tweeted "no".

Republicans are favored to win a majority in the House of Representatives in Tuesday's elections, with the Senate rated a toss-up by nonpartisan election forecasters. A crackdown on users impersonating Musk prompted Twitter to suspend comedian Kathy Griffin. Musk also moved his personal residence from California to Texas, where there is no state income tax. In April, Musk said on Twitter he believes that for the platform "to deserve public trust, it must be politically neutral." Federal authorities are investigating Musk over his conduct in acquiring Twitter, the company said in a court filing last month.

The world's richest person, Musk has faced criticism from some groups who believe his absolutist stance on free speech will increase misinformation on Twitter. His tweet to more than 110 million followers on Monday represented the first time the head of a major social media platform explicitly endorsed a U.S. political party. Musk, who frequently comments on U.S. politics, previously said he would vote for Republicans but that he backs moderates of both major political parties. NEW LINE FOR SOCIAL MEDIA EXECSMusk is not alone among social media executives in taking open political stances. Federal authorities are investigating Musk over his conduct in acquiring Twitter, the company said in a court filing last month.

☆ Special Report: Voting-system firms battle right-wing rage against the machines
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-06 | by ( Helen Coster | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +19 min

Across the country, election officials have received hundreds of threats or menacing messages that cite debunked conspiracies involving the machines. Some have alleged without evidence that Dominion machines were rigged in plots involving Chinese communists, Venezuelan socialists or Antifa, the loosely organized U.S. anti-fascist movement. Among those calling for Louisiana to ditch Dominion machines is the state’s Republican National Committeewoman, Lenar Whitney. Authorities in the heavily Republican state acknowledge that their aging Dominion machines, most of them bought in 2005, are outdated. Dominion machines remain in use in 14 of Nevada’s 17 counties.

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The groups said on Friday they are escalating their pressure and demanding brands pull their Twitter ads globally. Staff who worked in engineering, communications, product, content curation and machine learning ethics were among those impacted by the layoffs, according to tweets from Twitter staff. Shannon Raj Singh, an attorney who was Twitter's acting head of human rights, tweeted on Friday that the entire human rights team at the company had been cut. Musk tweeted that his team had made no changes to content moderation and done "everything we could" to appease the groups. Employees of Twitter Blue, the premium subscription service that Musk is bolstering, were also let go.

The social media company said in an email to staff that it will alert employees by 9 a.m. Pacific time on Friday (12 p.m. EDT/1600 GMT) about staff cuts. The social media platform said Twitter employees who are not affected by the layoffs will be notified via their work email addresses. The layoffs, which were long expected, have chilled Twitter's famously open corporate culture that has been revered by its employees. Shortly after the email landed in Twitter employee inboxes, hundreds of people flooded the company's Slack channels to say goodbye, two employees told Reuters. "If you are in an office or on your way to an office, please return home," Twitter said in the email on Thursday.

☆ Advertisers begin to grill Elon Musk over Twitter 'free-for-all'
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-03 | by ( Sheila Dang | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Nov 2 (Reuters) - Elon Musk promised advertisers he would keep Twitter from turning into a "free-for-all hellscape." This week, advertisers are beginning to demand details on how he plans to uphold the commitment. The agency's top clients are expected to join the meeting, the media buyer said. Even as Musk took meetings with major agencies and advertisers this week, he took to Twitter on Wednesday night with a poll asking users whether advertisers should support freedom of speech or "political correctness." "Those type of provocations are not helping to calm the waters," the media buyer said.

Nov 3 (Reuters) - Elon Musk has directed Twitter Inc's teams to find over $1 billion in annual infrastructure cost savings by cutting cloud services and extra server space, according to two sources familiar with the matter and an internal Slack message seen by Reuters. The company is aiming to find up to $3 million per day in infrastructure savings, the Slack message said. Such steep cuts could put the Twitter website and app at risk of going down during high-traffic moments, such as the upcoming U.S. midterm election, the source said. Twitter did not immediately respond to request for comment. Reporting by Sheila Dang in Dallas, Paresh Dave in Oakland, Calif.,and Katie Paul Editing by Kenneth Li and Matthew LewisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

[1/2] Twitter logo and a photo of Elon Musk are displayed through magnifier in this illustration taken October 27, 2022. Managers have been forbidden from calling team meetings or communicating directly with staff, one senior Twitter employee said, adding that they were being monitored. "I'm really worried tweeps," a Twitter staffer wrote Thursday on Blind, which verifies employees through their work email addresses. "Give us the details," a Google employee wrote in a Blind post directed at Twitter staff. Much worse," answered a Twitter employee.

Twitter is currently losing about $3 million a day "with all spending and revenue considered," according to an internal document reviewed by Reuters. The social media platform is exploring whether to cut extra server space that is kept to ensure Twitter can handle high traffic, one source said. The second source described the proposed cuts as "delusional," adding that when user traffic kicks up, the service can fail "in spectacular ways." Teams across Twitter are racing to present a plan to achieve the cost savings by a Nov. 7 deadline, according to one of the sources and the Slack message. Some employees have been ordered to work in the office every day of the week to meet the deadline, the source said.

As recently as August, Lachlan Murdoch described sports betting as "a huge opportunity" for Fox Sports, telling Wall Street it would fuel viewer engagement. The sports betting app Fox Bet is available in four states, with just 0.2% share of the U.S. market, according to researcher Vixio. A free version called Fox Bet Super 6 has attracted some 6 million users whom Fox hopes to eventually convert to gamblers. The growth of Fox Bet has stagnated since market-leading FanDuel's owner, Flutter Entertainment Plc (FLTRF.L), acquired Stars Group in 2020. The matter is the subject of an arbitration case and Lachlan Murdoch told investors a decision is expected imminently.

Adjusted earnings per share came in at 57 cents, 7 cents ahead of estimates. Thomson Reuters' peers include RELX Group’s (REL.L) LexisNexis, Bloomberg LP, News Corp's (NWSA.O) DowJones, and Wolters Kluwer (WLSNc.AS). Thomson Reuters holds a minority stake in the LSE, worth about $6.3 billion as of Friday. Thomson Reuters will be "quite a bit more aggressive in the next few quarters in looking at acquisitions," he said. Reporting by Ken Li and Nick Zieminski in New York Editing by Mark PotterOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

The Toronto-based company recorded $1.57 billion in sales during the quarter, up 3%, slightly below expectations of $1.59 billion. Adjusted earnings per share came in at 57 cents, 7 cents ahead of analyst estimates. But it noted that 2023 margins were trending towards the lower end of the 39%-40% range amid heightened inflation and investments. Thomson Reuters' peers include RELX Group’s (REL.L) LexisNexis, Bloomberg LP, News Corp's (NWSA.O) DowJones and Wolters Kluwer (WLSNc.AS). Reporting by Ken Li and Nick Zieminski in New York Editing by Mark PotterOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Elon Musk manages free speech versus 'hellscape' at Twitter
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-29 | by ( Sheila Dang | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

The pressure is mounting on Musk and Twitter as he is set to address the Twitter staff on Friday after closing the deal. Fewer than 10% of 266 Twitter employees who participated in a poll on messaging app Blind expected to still have their jobs in three months. Musk fired Twitter Chief Executive Parag Agrawal, Chief Financial Officer Ned Segal and legal affairs and policy chief Vijaya Gadde, according to people familiar with the matter. Twitter, Musk and the executives did not immediately respond to requests for comment. As news of the deal spread, some Twitter users were quick to flag their willingness to walk away.

[1/2] The Truth social network logo is seen displayed behind a woman holding a smartphone in this picture illustration taken February 21, 2022. The involvement of the previously unnamed financial backers of Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG) – parent company of social media app Truth Social – shows how Trump tapped his political supporters to launch an outlet aimed at political conservatives and libertarians after he was banned from Twitter and Facebook following the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on Congress. TMTG launched Truth Social in February in the Apple App Store and in Google’s Play Store in October. Truth Social has been downloaded 2.9 million times across both platforms, according to market tracker Appfigures. Trump had 4.37 million followers on Truth Social as of Oct. 27, compared to the more than 88 million followers he had on Twitter when the platform permanently suspended him.

[1/2] The Truth social network logo is seen displayed behind a woman holding a smartphone in this picture illustration taken February 21, 2022. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/IllustrationOct 28 (Reuters) - Ever since former U.S. President Donald Trump launched a new media company aimed at rivaling Twitter, there has been a mystery over who provided the money. TMTG launched Truth Social in February in the Apple App Store and in Google’s Play Store in October. Truth Social has been downloaded 2.9 million times across both platforms, according to market tracker Appfigures. Trump had 4.37 million followers on Truth Social as of Oct. 27, compared to the more than 88 million followers he had on Twitter when the platform permanently suspended him.

☆ As Elon Musk takes over Twitter, free speech limits tested
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-28 | by ( Sheila Dang | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

The pressure is mounting on Musk and Twitter as he is set to address the Twitter staff on Friday after closing the deal. Fewer that 10% of 266 Twitter employees who participated in a poll on messaging app Blind expected to still have their jobs in three months. Musk fired Twitter Chief Executive Parag Agrawal, Chief Financial Officer Ned Segal and legal affairs and policy chief Vijaya Gadde, according to people familiar with the matter. Twitter, Musk and the executives did not immediately respond to requests for comment. As news of the deal spread, some Twitter users were quick to flag their willingness to walk away.

☆ Analysis: For Twitter boss Elon Musk, now comes the hard part
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-28 | by ( Sheila Dang | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

The long term potential for Twitter in my view is an order of magnitude greater than its current value." "Buying Twitter is an accelerant to creating X, the everything app," Musk tweeted earlier this month. Twitter permanently suspended Trump for risk of further incitement of violence after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. Tesla's expanding business in China, where it generated $14 billion last year, could also put Twitter at risk, Goldman, the former Twitter board member, said. Twitter is staffed with experts who review data requests from governments, but Musk has shown his contempt of these experts, he said.

☆ Exclusive: Twitter is losing its most active users, internal documents show
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-25 | by ( Sheila Dang | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

The reality, according to internal Twitter research seen by Reuters, goes far beyond the handful of examples of celebrities ghosting their own accounts. Twitter was motivated to investigate “disturbing” trends among users that may have been masked by overall growth in daily active users and better understand the decline in the company’s most active users, the documents said. Twitter’s most active English-speaking users were also increasingly interested in cryptocurrencies, reaching an all-time high in late 2021, the internal documents showed. ‘DEVASTATING’ LOSSESTopics that have traditionally made Twitter a popular platform for its millions of users are now in decline among the most active English-speaking users, the documents show. But the categories have since lost the highest number of heavy Twitter users and have shown no signs of recovery, the report said.

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