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☆ Twitter says it's putting an end to 'free promotion' of Facebook, Instagram, and more
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-18 | by ( Jordan Hart | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Twitter announced the end of 'free promotion' for certain social media platforms on Sunday. The company said it would be putting an end to "free promotion of certain social media platforms on Twitter" in a series of tweets on Sunday and specifically named Instagram, Mastodon, Truth Social, Tribel, Nostr and Post as part of the prohibition. According to one of the tweets from Twitter Support, accounts created only to promote those social platforms would be removed from Twitter. "We know that many of our users may be active on other social media platforms; however, going forward, Twitter will no longer allow free promotion of specific social media platforms on Twitter," the site read. The social media platform has undergone many changes since Musk's $44 billion takeover in late October.

☆ Elon Musk offers journalists he banned from Twitter ability to return under certain condition
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-17 | by ( Oliver Darcy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —New Twitter owner Elon Musk offered several of the journalists he banned from the social media website earlier this week the ability to return to the platform if they deleted the tweets he falsely claimed shared his “exact real-time” location. The move from Musk came after he posted an unscientific poll on his personal Twitter account that concluded Friday night with 59% of participants voting in favor of immediately restoring the accounts. Musk had on Thursday banned CNN’s Donie O’Sullivan, The New York Times’ Ryan Mac, and The Washington Post’s Drew Harwell. But while the accounts were made publicly viewable on Saturday, the journalists were restricted from posting until they removed the tweets Musk had claimed violated Twitter’s rules. In the past, Twitter had required the removal of violative tweets for users to regain access to their accounts, but the journalists in this case strongly dispute that their posts violated Twitter rules.

On Thursday, Twitter accounts for at least nine journalists and one left-leaning political pundit were suspended. That is the real problem here.”According to Musk, Thursday’s suspensions were related to new rules around sharing real-time location information, which he tied to an alleged stalking incident. Musk said, “Any account doxxing real-time location info of anyone will be suspended, as it is a physical safety violation. On Wednesday, Musk tweeted that legal action would be taken against Sweeney. Andrew Torba, founder of the far-right social platform Gab, also criticized Musk and touted his company as an alternative to Twitter.

☆ Democrats criticize Elon Musk for suspending journalists covering Twitter
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-16 | by ( Amanda Terkel | Amanda Is Senior Politics Editor For Nbc News Digital. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +5 min

WASHINGTON — Democratic members of Congress had harsh words for Elon Musk on Thursday night after Twitter suddenly suspended a number of high-profile journalists who have been covering the company and Musk, its billionaire CEO. In November, shortly after he took over Twitter, Musk tweeted that he would not ban the account. Musk tweeted Thursday night. "Ro Khanna is great," Musk tweeted in response to one of some of the Twitter files. Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., tweeted: "Twitter can suspend whoever it wants.

Twitter suspended several high-profile journalists Thursday evening who have been covering the company and Elon Musk. The suspensions come a day after Twitter changed its policies around accounts that track private jets, including one owned by Elon Musk. The Twitter account for Mastodon, a platform billed as an alternative, was also suspended early Thursday evening. As of Thursday evening, Twitter accounts operated by NBC News journalists were unable to tweet a link to the Mastodon account of @ElonJet. The suspensions add to what has been a tumultuous couple of days for Twitter after the company first suspended the account that tracked Musk’s jet.

☆ College student who tracks Elon Musk's private jet said he started doing it years ago because he was a fan. Now the billionaire is threatening to sue him.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-16 | by ( Grace Kay | Sam Tabahriti | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Jack Sweeney said he started tracking Elon Musk's jet because he was a fan of the Tesla CEO. Over two years later, the billionaire is threatening to sue him after suspending his Twitter accounts. The 20-year-old has made headlines and even gotten job offers as a result of his jet-tracking accounts. "I don't mean any harm and that's never the intended purpose of the accounts," Jack Sweeney told Insider on Thursday. On Wednesday, Twitter suspended Sweeney's account that track's Musk's private plane as well as his personal account, and over 30 other jet-tracking accounts.

☆ Twitter is now blocking tweets that include links to Mastodon, its competitor
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-16 | by ( Cheryl Teh | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Twitter appears to be banning the posting of links to its competitor, Mastodon. Insider's attempt to publish tweets containing Mastodon links were met with an error message. On Thursday evening, Insider attempted to publish ten tweets from three separate Twitter accounts, all containing links to various Mastodon user profiles. Other Twitter users also noticed on Thursday evening that they were unable to post links to Mastodon, a platform often touted as an alternative to Twitter. Also on Thursday, Twitter suspended the official Mastodon Twitter account.

☆ The only victim in Elon's beef with journalists is Twitter
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-16 | by ( Hasan Chowdhury | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Twitter itself knows news and journalists are major drivers of user engagement on its platform. By barring journalists, Musk is openly demonstrating his resentment towards one of Twitter's most active and important userbases, hurting the platform further. Journalists depend on Twitter, and Twitter depends on them tooBy Twitter's own estimates, journalists count for a lot on its platform. Users "regularly follow news-related Twitter accounts, and around 4 in 5 young journalists rely on the platform for their jobs. Journalists use Twitter more than any other social media platform, according to research from Pew in June, treating it as a real-time source of information.

☆ Twitter suspends multiple journalists who have been covering, criticizing Elon Musk
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-16 | by ( Erin Snodgrass | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Twitter suspended several journalists' accounts on Thursday. Many of the affected writers had been covering or criticizing Elon Musk in the preceding days. But Rupar told Insider that he didn't believe he had tweeted or even retweeted anything about the ongoing private jet saga. Nearly all of them had been reporting on Twitter, covering Musk, or writing critically about the billionaire in the days leading up to their suspension. The flight data Musk is trying to keep off Twitter is available online to anyone and relatively easy to track.

☆ Germany heavily criticizes Elon Musk's Twitter for suspending journalists, saying the free press 'must not be switched on and off at will'
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-16 | by ( Beatrice Nolan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

The German Foreign Office has warned Twitter about suspending journalists' accounts. Multiple journalists who reported on Elon Musk have been unable to post on the platform. On Thursday, Twitter suspended the accounts of multiple journalists that reported on the platform's new owner, Elon Musk. Wolfgang Buechner, the country's deputy government spokesperson, said in a separate tweet: "Arbitrary locking of journalists' accounts is unacceptable. On Friday, a top European Union official warned Elon Musk about possible Twitter sanctions, following what it described as the platform's "arbitrary suspension of journalists."

REUTERS/Carlos Barria/File PhotoBERLIN, Dec 16 (Reuters) - The German Foreign Office tweeted screenshots on Friday of the accounts of journalists suspended by Twitter, warning the platform that the ministry had a problem with moves that jeapordised press freedom. Twitter suspended the accounts of several prominent journalists who had posted about its new owner Elon Musk, prompting protests from their media organisations. German regulators are already pushing government institutions to stop posting announcements exclusively to privately-held platforms, touting alternatives like the fledgling decentralised social media network Mastodon. Twitter also suspended the Mastodon network's account and attempts to link to Mastodon accounts in tweets frequently triggered error messages on Friday. But with some 8.5 million registered users, Mastodon is still a minnow compared to Twitter with half a billion users.

☆ Elon Musk’s Twitter blocked links to rival Mastodon. That could raise alarms among regulators
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-16 | by ( Brian Fung | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

Soon, however, Twitter began throwing up roadblocks — marking links to Mastodon as “unsafe” and potentially malicious, blocking tweets containing those links and preventing users from adding Mastodon links to their profiles. Now, legal experts are pondering whether there may be anticompetitive or other regulatory implications arising from Twitter’s blocking of Mastodon links. Eugen Rochko, the founder and CEO of Mastodon, has not publicly addressed Twitter’s link blocking, but has amplified a public report about it. Baer added that Twitter’s link blocking doesn’t just raise potential competition concerns. And prior to Thursday, there did not appear to be grounds for Twitter to claim that Mastodon links were unsafe.

☆ European Union threatens sanctions over Twitter's ban of journalists
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-16 | by ( Julia Horowitz | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

London CNN —Elon Musk’s decision to suddenly ban prominent tech journalists from Twitter is fanning a fierce backlash in Europe. Germany warned of the impact on press freedom, while a senior EU official said Twitter must comply with the bloc’s rules or face possible sanctions. “The EU’s Digital Services Act requires respect of media freedom and fundamental rights. European leaders previously said they were watching how Musk’s takeover of Twitter would affect the platform. Thierry Breton, a top EU official, warned Musk in late November that the social media platform must take significant steps to comply with the bloc’s content moderation laws.

☆ Elon Musk hasn't filed a police report about the 'crazy stalker' incident which sparked journalists' Twitter suspensions, LAPD says
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-16 | by ( Pete Syme | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

The LAPD says Elon Musk hasn't filed a police report about the "crazy stalker" who followed his son. Musk tweeted that the man had followed a car containing his son X Æ A-Xii, believing Musk was inside. On Thursday, the Los Angeles Police Department said "LAPD's Threat Management Unit is aware of the situation and Tweet by Elon Musk and is in contact with his representatives and security team." Musk then shared a video of the masked person who he said followed his son, and the car's license plate. The official Twitter account for Mastodon was also suspended.

☆ Twitter suspends accounts of several journalists
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Dec 15 (Reuters) - Twitter on Thursday suspended the accounts of several prominent journalists who recently wrote about its new owner Elon Musk, with the billionaire tweeting that rules banning the publishing of personal information applied to all, including journalists. On Wednesday, Twitter suspended @elonjet, an account tracking Musk's private jet in real time using data available in the public domain. Twitter on Thursday showed "account suspended" notices for a clutch of journalists' accounts. A spokesperson for The New York Times said: "Tonight's suspension of the Twitter accounts of a number of prominent journalists, including The New York Times's Ryan Mac, is questionable and unfortunate. We hope that all of the journalists' accounts are reinstated and that Twitter provides a satisfying explanation for this action."

☆ Twitter took its Spaces audio feature offline after suspended journalists found they still had access and confronted Elon Musk about their removals
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-16 | by ( Britney Nguyen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Twitter Spaces was taken offline after suspended journalists were still able to access it. After Spaces stopped working, Musk tweeted that Twitter is "fixing a Legacy bug," and it should return Friday. A little after 2 a.m. Eastern, actor Sir Maejor, tweeted at Musk, asking what happened with Twitter Spaces. Twitter suspended more than six journalists from the platform on Thursday, all of whom report on Musk regularly. During his appearance in the Space, Musk said "everyone's going to be treated the same, you're not special cause you're a journalist."

☆ The college student tracking Elon Musk's private plane says he'll continue monitoring Musk on different platforms: 'If I give up now, it's kind of like letting the big guy win'
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-16 | by ( Cheryl Teh | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Jack Sweeney, the teen who tracked Elon Musk's private jet, says he will keep tracking the plane. "If I give up now, it's kind of like letting the big guy win," Sweeney wrote. Sweeney wrote in a Newsweek op-ed published on Thursday that he wants to keep tracking the plane on different social media platforms. "I don't have to follow Musk's rules on other platforms, and I don't have to worry about him watching my account," Sweeney wrote. Twitter on Wednesday updated its "Private Information policy," which now prohibits "sharing someone else's live location in most cases."

☆ Elon Musk suspended his jet tracker's Twitter account for sharing public information about his whereabouts, then shared a person's license plate with his 121 million followers
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-15 | by ( Grace Dean | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Musk has allowed some controversial users back onto Twitter, including former president Donald Trump and satire publication The Babylon Bee. "Any account doxxing real-time location info of anyone will be suspended, as it is a physical safety violation," Musk tweeted on Wednesday. Some Twitter users have accused Musk of changing Twitter's terms to target Sweeney's account. Hours later, Musk posted a video that he claimed showed the "stalker" and included the driver's license plate. Sweeney told Insider that he planned to continue sharing the whereabouts of Musk's jet on other platforms, including Instagram, Discord, and Mastodon.

☆ Elon Musk's Twitter bans several prominent journalists without explanation
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-15 | by ( Oliver Darcy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

New York CNN —Twitter on Thursday evening banned the accounts of several high-profile journalists from top news organizations without explanation, apparently marking a significant attempt by new owner Elon Musk to wield his unilateral authority over the platform. Neither Musk nor Twitter responded to a request for comment Thursday evening, and the platform did not explain precisely why the journalists were exiled from the platform. It also called into serious question Musk’s supposed commitment to free speech. We hope that all of the journalists’ accounts are reinstated and that Twitter provides a satisfying explanation for this action.”“Elon says he is a free speech champion and he is banning journalists for exercising free speech,” Harwell told CNN on Thursday. Several of the journalists banned Thursday had covered the ban of the @ElonJet account, and highlighted the irony of Musk’s self-purported mission to advance free speech.

☆ The college student tracking Elon Musk's jet lashes out after Twitter bans his account. He says he'll keep posting.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-14 | by ( Grace Kay | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Twitter banned the personal account of the college student who tracks Elon Musk's jet. "I really didn't think he'd suspend my personal account," Sweeney told Insider, speaking about Twitter honcho Elon Musk. Insider was interviewing Sweeney about his jet-tracking account's ban when Sweeney realized his personal account also had been banned. The social media site said his personal account had been suspended for violating its rules against "platform manipulation and spam." When Musk first offered to buy Twitter, Sweeney said he thought it was likely that Musk would try to shut down the account.

Vindman first joined Twitter while working in the Trump administration because it was often the way his then-boss, the president, made policy. His wife, liberal activist and podcaster Rachel Vindman, has almost 400,000 followers, making them a progressive Twitter power couple. In a clubby city obsessed with status and information, Twitter delivers both, all from the comfort of one’s mobile phone. No one wants to leave Twitter until everyone else does, but there’s no obvious place to go next. Some think Musk will kill Twitter regardless of whether there’s a mass exodus of its users.

☆ Oldest DNA reveals life in Greenland 2 million years ago
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +5 min

NEW YORK — Scientists discovered the oldest known DNA and used it to reveal what life was like 2 million years ago in the northern tip of Greenland. With animal fossils hard to come by, the researchers extracted environmental DNA, also known as eDNA, from soil samples. Studying really old DNA can be a challenge because the genetic material breaks down over time, leaving scientists with only tiny fragments. In their study, published Wednesday in the journal Nature, they compared the DNA to that of different species, looking for matches. He worked on the study that previously held the “oldest DNA” record, from a mammoth tooth around a million years old.

☆ Meta considered building a Twitter competitor to capitalize on Elon Musk's 'crisis' at company, report says: 'LET'S GO FOR THEIR BREAD AND BUTTER'
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( Grace Kay | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Meta brainstormed how to build a Twitter competitor as Elon Musk took over the platform, NYT reports. Since, Elon Musk took over Twitter the company has lost advertisers and around half its staff. "Twitter is in crisis and Meta needs its mojo back," one Meta employee wrote in a post, per The Times. Since the richest man in the world took Twitter private in October there's been a large amount of uncertainty regarding the company's future. Without major advertisers, Twitter could flounder as ads accounted for about 90% of Twitter's revenue last year.

☆ Oldest DNA sheds light on a 2 million-year-old ecosystem that has no modern parallel
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( Katie Hunt | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

CNN —A core of ice age sediment from northern Greenland has yielded the world’s oldest sequences of DNA. They then compared the DNA fragments with existing libraries of DNA collected from both extinct and living animals, plants and microorganisms. It was super exciting when we recovered the DNA (to see) that very, very different ecosystem. They found no DNA from carnivores but believe predators — such as bears, wolves or even saber-toothed tigers — must have been present in the ecosystem. Further study of environmental DNA from this time period could help scientists understand how various organisms might adapt to climate change.

☆ Migration to other social media platforms shows no signs of slowing following Elon Musk's chaotic takeover at Twitter, report says
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-05 | by ( Isabella Zavarise | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

In the midst of Elon Musk's Twitter takeover, users are joining other social networks like Mastodon. Twitter has always been chaotic but it has been even more so in the midst of Elon Musk's turbulent takeover. The flow of Twitter users stating their new accounts for each platform over this time period, referring to emerging social networks. He told Insider that Twitter was bringing out the worst in him and he wanted to explore other social networks. Chambers told Insider that Twitter executives should be monitoring the migration trends.

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