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A jury found rapper Tory Lanez guilty Friday of all charges in the 2020 shooting of Megan Thee Stallion outside a Los Angeles party. Tory Lanez, Megan Thee Stallion. APIn a statement following the verdict, Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón commended Megan Thee Stallion for her "bravery." Alex Spiro, an attorney for Megan Thee Stallion, said in a statement, "The jury got it right. In her testimony, Megan Thee Stallion said Lanez offered her $1 million to keep quiet about the shooting.

(Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)A jury found rapper Tory Lanez guilty Friday of all charges in the 2020 shooting of Megan Thee Stallion outside a Los Angeles party. In a statement following the verdict, Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón commended Megan Thee Stallion for her "bravery." Alex Spiro, an attorney for Megan Thee Stallion, said in a statement, "The jury got it right. In her testimony, Megan Thee Stallion said Lanez offered her $1 million to keep quiet about the shooting. She said that Lanez had ordered the women to exit the SUV, and Megan Thee Stallion was walking away when the first shots were fired.

Megan Thee Stallion isn’t on trial. But if you consume content from some popular hip-hop bloggers, podcasters and social media accounts, you might be misled. Some question if Megan Thee Stallion was even shot at all. The narratives have become viral social media content. Milagro Gramz, a hip-hop news commentator, has been covering Pete and Peterson since before the trial started.

☆ Twitter has lost its last deputy general counsel as its legal team shrinks, a report says
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-16 | by ( Grace Dean | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Twitter deputy general counsel Regina Lima has left the company, Bloomberg Law reported. The social-media platform's legal team, which once stood at close to 200, is now largely depleted. Before Elon Musk took control of Twitter in late October, the company had around 200 staff on its legal team, according to Bloomberg Law. Twitter's legal team was shaken up as soon as Musk's purchase of Twitter went through. After Gadde and Edgett's terminations, James Baker, a former FBI general counsel, was the company's most senior lawyer.

☆ 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.

☆ A SpaceX director defended Elon Musk after Twitter layoffs, telling employees to show some empathy for the billionaire, report says
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-15 | by ( Kate Duffy | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

A SpaceX director told Twitter staff to show empathy for Elon Musk after mass layoffs, per Bloomberg. Staff have called Gracias and other people Musk has brought into Twitter as "goons," per the report. Twitter employees have referred to these people as "the goons," per Bloomberg. Gracias, Twitter, and SpaceX didn't immediately respond to Insider's request for comment made outside of normal US operating hours. It follows the loss of thousands of Twitter employees through firings, layoffs, and resignations since Musk bought the platform in late October.

☆ A janitor laid off at Twitter's headquarters said one of Elon Musk's team members told him he'd be replaced by robots
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-09 | by ( Grace Kay | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A janitor told BBC that a member of Elon Musk's team said his job would eventually be replaced by robots. Four former Twitter cleaners told the publication they were laid off without severance on Monday. Four former Twitter janitors told the publication they were laid off without severance on Monday. Multiple workers told the publication that they are concerned about how they will be able to pay bills in the coming weeks, particularly with the holidays coming up. "Overnight we don't have anything," Adrianna Villarreal, a cleaner who had worked at Twitter since 2018, told BBC.

☆ Elon Musk keeps bringing in new people to Twitter, like 'enthusiastic' interns, cousins, and even Bari Weiss
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( Kali Hays | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

CEO Elon Musk has made some dramatic changes to Twitter since taking over five weeks ago. Roughly 150 people are still working at Twitter at Musk's behest from his other companies and ventures, according to two people familiar with the company. Musk's hires at TwitterTwo of Musk's cousins, James and Andrew Musk, appear to now be acting as full-time Twitter employees, both of the people familiar said. Weiss was in the San Francisco office that evening, speaking and "laughing with" Musk, two employees said. Now, Weiss has been given access to Twitter's employee systems, added to its Slack, and given a company laptop, two people familiar with her presence said.

☆ Elon Musk has hired two of his cousins to work at Twitter
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( Sam Tabahriti | Kali Hays | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Elon Musk hired two cousins to work at Twitter, two people familiar with the matter told Insider. Elon Musk took over Twitter in late October and has since laid off thousands of staff. His cousins James Musk and Andrew Musk – sons of the billionaire's uncle on his father's side – now appear to be full-time Twitter employees. Andrew Musk works on software-engineering projects, while James Musk is more of as "a fixer type," helping Elon Musk on various tasks, one insider said. Since Elon Musk took over Twitter in late October, about 70% of the 7,500-strong workforce staff have been laid off, fired or resigned.

☆ Elon Musk keeps bringing in new people to Twitter, like enthusiastic interns, cousins, and even Bari Weiss
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( Kali Hays | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

CEO Elon Musk has made some dramatic changes to Twitter since taking over five weeks ago. Roughly 150 people are still working at Twitter at Musk's behest from his other companies and ventures, according to two people familiar with the company. Musk's hires at TwitterTwo of Musk's cousins, James and Andrew Musk, appear to now be acting as full-time Twitter employees, both of the people familiar said. Both men work daily at Twitter offices, with Andrew Musk working on software-engineering projects and James Musk seen more as "a fixer type," one of the people said, helping Musk out with various needs and tasks. Weiss was in the San Francisco office that evening, speaking and "laughing with" Musk, two employees said.

☆ A lawyer for fired Twitter staff says Elon Musk is trying to 'tap-dance' his way out of paying severance, and threatens a 'fun as hell' arbitration campaign
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-02 | by ( Pete Syme | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A lawyer representing laid-off Twitter staff sent a fiery letter to Elon Musk's lawyer, Alex Spiro. Cohen tweeted that he hoped Musk would do the right thing, otherwise "it'll be fun as hell." He accused the world's richest person of "attempting to tap-dance your way out of Twitter's binding obligations to its employees." "If you don't unequivocally confirm by Wednesday, December 7 that you intend to provide our clients with the full severance Twitter promised them, we will commence an arbitration campaign on their behalf," Cohen said. Musk now stands accused by some former Twitter staff of failing to provide the severance package they were promised, as alleged in a previous lawsuit.

☆ Elon Musk's 2-year-old son ran around Twitter's office and played with toys while his dad talked to advisors about moderation, report says
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-24 | by ( Grace Dean | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Elon Musk's son X Æ a-Xii was present during Twitter meetings after the purchase went through, WaPo reported. Two-year-old X Æ a-Xii, Musk's first child with Grimes, ran round while he met with Yoel Roth, per WaPo. The Post reported that toys were scattered round the room and X Æ a-Xii ran around. X Æ a-Xii may have been at Twitter's HQ to attend the office Halloween party that day, where some staff brought their children. X Æ a-Xii, who he had with his musician and ex-partner Grimes, was Musk's seventh child.

☆ Trump's day of reckoning is overdue. Garland's special counsel move adds to the delay.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-22 | by ( Michael Conway | Michael Conway Was Counsel For The House Judiciary Committee In The Impeachment Inquiry Of President Richard Nixon In In That Role | He Assisted In Drafting The Committee'S Final Report To The House In Support Of The Three Articles Of Impeachment Adopted The Committee. Conway Is A Graduate Of Yale Law School | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +7 min

Attorney General Merrick Garland’s decision to appoint a special counsel to investigate former President Donald Trump is a miscalculation, with the main problem being timing. Despite assurances from Garland that a special counsel will not bog down the investigation, reality suggests otherwise. Not to mention that past practice demonstrates that the Justice Department has regularly shown that anyone can be held accountable — without resorting to a special counsel. No special counsel was used. I believe Trump’s day of reckoning is long overdue, and Garland’s overly cautious decision to appoint a special counsel may continue postponing that day.

☆ Elon Musk wanted to reinstate a right-wing satire account on day one as Twitter chief
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-22 | by ( Azmi Haroun | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Elon Musk expressed interest in reinstating the Babylon Bee's twitter account hours after he took over. According to The Washington Post, Musk thought the right-wing satire site shouldn't have been banned. The Babylon Bee had called Biden health official Rachel Levine, who is a transgender woman, "Man of the Year." The site's account was reinstated on Sunday, three weeks after his takeover of Twitter. Weeks before Musk's purchase, ex-wife Talulah Riley texted Musk criticizing the platform's decision to ban The Babylon Bee and calling for him to reverse the decision and make the platform "radically free speech."

☆ Disabled Twitter employees resigned because they felt they couldn't keep up with Elon Musk's 'hardcore' drive, discrimination lawsuit says
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-18 | by ( Matthew Loh | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

A discrimination lawsuit against Twitter said its disabled employees were forced to resign. The class action lawsuit, filed Wednesday in the San Francisco federal court, highlighted how Musk told Twitter employees this week that they would have to "work long hours at high intensity" and "be extremely hardcore." "Thus, many disabled employees have felt forced to resign," it added. "Elon Musk's behavior since he took over Twitter a couple of weeks ago has been nothing short of appalling. Musk's new "hardcore" work mandate did not sit well with many employees at Twitter.

☆ After Elon Musk fired Twitter staff for criticizing him, some remaining employees are hurriedly deleting Slack messages they fear he won't like
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-16 | by ( Grace Dean | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Twitter staff are removing Slack messages they fear Elon Musk won't like, Platformer reported. This comes after the tech mogul fired some Twitter staff for criticizing him online. Engineers Eric Frohnhoefer, Sasha Solomon, and Ben Leib all appeared to be fired on Sunday and Monday for criticizing Musk. Platformer also reported that some of the fired employees had simply expressed sympathy with Frohnhoefer, Solomon, and Leib. Sources told The Times that some fired staff had shared news of Frohnhoefer's termination in internal chats.

☆ Twitter's trust and safety team sent Elon Musk a 7-page list of the risks with his paid verification system, and he launched it anyway: report
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-15 | by ( Matthew Loh | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Twitter warned Elon Musk of the dangers in his new badge system before its launch, per Platformer. The trust and safety team said the rework would give rise to impersonation issues and confusion. The warning came from Twitter's trust and safety staff a week before the billionaire implemented his overhauled verification system, per Platformer. In their recommendations, the trust and safety team warned of "impersonation of world leaders, advertisers, brand partners, election officials, and other high profile individuals," according to Platformer. In its memo, the trust and safety team also highlighted the consequences of removing checkmarks from accounts that were already verified before Musk bought Twitter, according to Platformer.

The public termination came after Frohnhoefer tweeted evidence suggesting that Musk was “wrong” about his claims that Twitter was running, in the billionaire’s words, “super slow” in various countries. Sources have indicated to CNN that employees in recent days had been very candid in criticism of Musk in the company’s Slack. (CNN has attempted to contact fired employees to confirm.) In addition to the public pushback from employees, some Twitter staff appear to have tried to appeal to Musk and his inner circle privately as they weigh numerous disruptive changes to the platform. The paid subscription service was suspended on Friday with little warning.

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.

☆ Meet the members of Elon Musk's inner circle said to be helping him fix Twitter
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-12 | by ( Beatrice Nolan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Picked from Musk's inner circle of allies, friends, and ex-colleagues, these are the people reportedly helping him fix Twitter. Three days after Musk's acquisition, Krishnan tweeted that he was temporarily "helping out" Musk after the takeover. Sources told Insider he was listed on Twitter's company directory as a staff software engineer and was assigned a company email address. Bloomberg reported that Birchall played a key part in securing the financing for Musk's Twitter purchase. Over the past week, Musk's right-hand man has also been among the team strategizing inside Twitter, per The Washington Post.

☆ Elon Musk tells Twitter staff that the company spoke with the FTC and will do 'whatever it takes' to comply with government regulations
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-11 | by ( Kali Hays | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Elon Musk told Twitter staffers that he intends to fully comply with requirements the company is under from the Federal Trade Commission. "I cannot emphasize enough that Twitter will do whatever it takes to adhere to both the letter and the spirit of the FTC consent decree," Musk wrote in his email. Spiro went on to note that Musk is already taking steps to ensure Twitter remains in compliance with the consent decree. Email from Elon Musk, subject line: FTCI cannot emphasize enough that Twitter will do whatever it takes to adhere to both the letter and the spirit of the FTC consent decree. We will of course remain in compliance with teh consent decree and the legal department is handling it and happy to answer any questions.

☆ The Federal Trade Commission says it is tracking Elon Musk's Twitter 'with deep concern' as top privacy execs quit
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-11 | by ( Matthew Loh | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The FTC said it's tracking developments at Twitter "with deep concern," per Reuters. It made the comment after four top execs in charge of privacy at Twitter reportedly resigned. Elon Musk said on Thursday that he and his team would fully comply with FTC rules. Twitter has also fired half of its global workforce, roughly 3,700 people, alongside several other tech giants that conducted mass layoffs. Chief Privacy Officer Damien Kieran and Chief Compliance Officer Marianne Fogarty also resigned, according to Reuters, citing a Slack message among Twitter's staff posted by an internal lawyer.

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission said it was watching Twitter with "deep concern" after these three privacy and compliance officers quit. Twitter did not respond to requests for comment on a potential bankruptcy, the FTC warning, or the departures. Wheeler was the face of Twitter for advertising after Musk took over. Musk has saddled Twitter with $13 billion in debt, on which it faces interest payments totaling close to $1.2 billion in the next 12 months. It joined other brands including General Motors (GM.N) that have paused advertising on Twitter since Musk took over, concerned that he will loosen content moderation rules.

Chief Privacy Officer Damien Kieran and Chief Compliance Officer Marianne Fogarty have also resigned, according to an internal message seen by Reuters. He announced plans to cut half its workforce last week, promised to stop fake accounts and is charging $8 a month for the Twitter Blue service that will include a blue check verification. "We are tracking recent developments at Twitter with deep concern," Douglas Farrar, the FTC's director of public affairs, told Reuters. "Elon puts rockets into space, he's not afraid of the FTC," the attorney quoted Spiro as saying. Twitter did not respond to a request for comment on the FTC warning, the note from the attorney or the departures.

Take big law firms and Twitter. “Lawyers and law firms must struggle to stay visible, posting regularly, getting followers, and tweeting regularly. Consider, for example, Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, which has 1,587 Twitter followers – among the fewest of Am Law 100 firms. “To date, the firm’s social media efforts have focused on platforms that are most aligned with recruiting — LinkedIn and Instagram,” the spokesman said via email. Will law firms pony up $8 a month for the blue check now?

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