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☆ After unexpected death of 6-year-old girl, family becomes target of 'Died Suddenly' anti-vax conspiracy theories
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-11 | by ( Isobel Van Hagen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

An anti-vax social-media campaign has targeted the family of a 6-year-old girl who died suddenly. A photo of the child posted on the "Died Suddenly" Twitter blamed her parents for vaccinating her. #DiedSuddenly is a recent iteration of an online conspiracy spreading disinformation about vaccines. The "Died Suddenly" hashtag is centered around a video by the same name, which labels itself as a "documentary film of a generation." Anastasia and her family are only one of the latest targets of the "Died Suddenly" Twitter account, which began posting in October 2022 and has nearly 300,000 followers.

☆ Republican-led U.S. House panel probes Twitter block of Hunter Biden story
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-08 | by ( David Morgan | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Even before the proceedings began, the White House denounced the hearing as "a bizarre political stunt" motivated by denial of Biden's 2020 election victory over Republican former President Donald Trump. "America witnessed a coordinated campaign by social media companies, mainstream news, and the intelligence community to suppress and de-legitimize the existence of Hunter Biden's laptop and its contents," Comer said. The former Twitter executives acknowledged that blocking the New York Post tweets was an error and said they reversed the decision within 24 hours. We applied this policy to the New York Post's tweets and blocked links to articles," Gadde said. The social platform has since been purchased by billionaire Elon Musk, who many Republicans view as a champion of free speech.

☆ Twitter Hasn’t Paid Bill, M&A Advisory Firm Says
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-04 | by ( Georgia Wells | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

A firm that advised Twitter in the months leading up to its acquisition by billionaire Elon Musk has filed a lawsuit, saying it hasn’t been paid. An advisory firm says Twitter Inc. hasn’t paid its bill after the firm worked for the company on Elon Musk‘s acquisition last year, the latest contention that the company is shirking debts. Innisfree M&A Inc. sued Twitter on Friday in New York State Supreme Court, seeking about $1.9 million.

☆ Elon Musk is changing Twitter so much, even investor Marc Andreessen is getting upset and complained to him directly
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-04 | by ( Kali Hays | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Issues with how Twitter looks and operates have been frequent since billionaire Elon Musk took over. Investor Marc Andreessen invested in Musk's takeover and is said to have complained directly to him. Twitter CEO Elon Musk is pushing so many changes to the social media site so fast that high profile users, Musk fans, and even some of his investors are complaining. Representatives of Twitter and Andreessen Horowitz did not respond to requests for comment. "Musk knows it's bad right now, but it's going to get better over time," a person familiar with Twitter said.

☆ Renewed U.S. junk bond rally ignites hope for more stuck buyout debt
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-03 | by ( Matt Tracy | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

This exercise now has more impetus on expectations that junk bond prices will continue to rally in the wake of Powell's comments, which raised hopes of slowing rate hikes and a so-called economic soft landing. Junk bond spreads on average tightened 37 basis points on Wednesday, the day of Powell's remarks, from a day earlier, according to ICE BAML data. This is around the level in September when banks sold only about half of the total $15 billion of debt through a U.S. dollar bond, leveraged loan and a Euro-denominated loan. Reuters could not confirm the exact amount sold in these sales and balance of LBO debt still left with banks. Banks could consider selling larger parcels of LBO debt in the primary bond markets where there has been a surge in new issue supply, said the sources.

☆ Infamous fake German heiress Anna Sorokin plans to speak with Harvard MBA students
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-02 | by ( Jordan Hart | Jacob Shamsian | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Anna Sorokin, aka Anna Delvey, is preparing to speak with a class of MBA students at Harvard University. Sorokin, aka Anna Delvey, confirmed to Insider that this semester she is set to make a virtual live appearance in front of MBA students at the top business school on February 14. In September, the 32-year-old spoke at an "Intro to Reporting" class for Columbia University students from her ICE detention facility. She pretended to be a German heiress and sought to bilk banks and other institutions for money in order to build a project she called the Anna Delvey Foundation. In January, Harvard MBA students had the chance to hear from another unconventional source.

Internet celebrity Andrew Tate had offered her a new life. British-American Andrew Tate, 36, who's been based mainly in Romania since 2017, and his 34-year-old brother have denied all the allegations against them. Spokesperson Sue Beeby told Reuters that Andrew Tate "has never had" a creator account or received payments. In a separate YouTube video aimed at men who want to make money by putting women on OnlyFans, Tate called the platform "the greatest hustle in the world". The pair threatened to beat the women up if they did not do their job, according to the court document.

☆ Twitter makes first interest payment on Musk buyout debt -sources
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-31 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Twitter paid about $300 million to a group of banks last week, one of the sources said, confirming an earlier Bloomberg story. The banks declined to comment, while Twitter and Musk did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment. The sources did not want to identified because the details of the payment are not public. Morgan Stanley's Chief Financial Officer Sharon Yeshaya told Reuters this month the bank's mark-to-market losses on corporate loans include debt to Twitter. Reporting by Saeed Azhar; additional reporting by Matt Tracy; Editing by David GregorioOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Twitter says users will be able to appeal account suspension
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Jan 27 (Reuters) - Twitter users will be able to appeal account suspensions and be evaluated under the social media platform's new criteria for reinstatement, starting Feb. 1, the company said on Friday. Under the new criteria, which follow billionaire Elon Musk's purchase of the company in October, Twitter accounts will only be suspended for severe or ongoing and repeat violations of the platform's policies. Severe policy violations include engaging in illegal content or activity, inciting or threatening violence or harm, and engaging in targeted harassment of other users, among others. Twitter said that going forward, it will take less severe action, in comparison to account suspension, such as limiting the reach of tweets that violate its policies or asking users to remove tweets before continuing to use the account. Reporting by Juby Babu in Bengaluru; Editing by Leslie AdlerOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Twitter, ad verification firms team up to give advertisers tweet-level analysis
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Jan 25 (Reuters) - Twitter Inc will team up with digital ad verification companies Integral Ad Science (IAS.O) and DoubleVerify Holdings Inc (DV.N) to provide advertisers tweet-level analysis on content appearing next to their ads, the companies said on Wednesday. IAS and DoubleVerify, who have both previously partnered with Twitter, use technology to independently verify that digital ads are viewed by real people. Advertisers use the services to ensure the ads they pay for are seen by potential customers and not automated bots. Musk has been fighting to retain clients as many companies, including General Motors (GM.N) and United Airlines (UAL.O), had paused or pulled back from advertising on the platform. Many advertisers including Dyson, Mazda, Forbes and PBS Kids suspended their marketing campaigns or removed their ads from parts of Twitter because their promotions appeared alongside tweets soliciting child pornography.

☆ Twitter, ad verification company partner to give advertisers tweet-level analysis
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Jan 25 (Reuters) - Twitter Inc and Integral Ad Science (IAS.O), a digital ad verification company, will team up to provide advertisers tweet-level analysis on content appearing next to their ads, the companies said on Wednesday. "Marketers are looking for confidence to continue to invest in Twitter and eventually grow their investment in Twitter... and that is what this is all about," said Craig Ziegler, senior vice president, Product Management of Integral Ad Science. IAS will also give advertisers measurement for brand safety, an industry term to protect its online reputation and evaluate content that is next to an ad at the tweet level. Musk has been fighting to retain clients as many companies, including General Motors (GM.N) and United Airlines (UAL.O), had paused or pulled back from advertising on the platform. Many advertisers including Dyson, Mazda, Forbes and PBS Kids suspended their marketing campaigns or removed their ads from parts of Twitter because their promotions appeared alongside tweets soliciting child pornography.

Musk's comments add to a long-running debate over whether such advisers have too much sway over corporate decision-making. Academic reviews have found mixed evidence about the proxy advisers’ impact. U.S. Republican state officials have also weighed in, writing to the two advisory firms asking if their recommendations met their obligations to investors. Contrary to Musk, however, Republicans at the state and national level have also charged top passive fund managers themselves have grown too aggressive with their proxy votes, a claim fund managers deny. Tesla has faced its own disagreements with the proxy advisers.

☆ Tesla's slowing sales, shrinking margins in focus in EV price war
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-24 | by ( Akash Sriram | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Net profit is set to increase at its slowest rate in three years, according to Refinitiv estimates. Reuters GraphicsThere are some early signs that the price cuts are working, with Chinese EV makers XPeng and Seres (601127.SS) slashing prices of their EVs in response and data showing a surge in Tesla's China sales. There was also an uptick in U.S. orders for Tesla vehicles in December after the company rolled out the cuts, according to YipitData. WALL STREET SENTIMENT* Of the 42 analysts covering the company, 25 rate the stock "buy" or higher, 12 rate it "hold" and five rate it "sell" or lower. Tesla's shares, which have more than halved in the past 12 months, closed at $143.75 on Monday.

☆ Twitter offers new annual plan for subscription service
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Jan 18 (Reuters) - Twitter Inc said on Wednesday it was offering an annual plan for its subscription service called Twitter Blue, which includes its sought-after "verified" badge, at a discount to its monthly price. Users can subscribe to the service for an annual price of $84, instead of a monthly subscription price of $8 on the web and $11 on Apple devices. The discount would be available in countries including United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Japan, New Zealand and Australia, Twitter said. Since billionaire Elon Musk's takeover of Twitter for $44 billion last year, he has brought changes to the company including new subscription plans for Twitter Blue. But a subscription option, open to anyone prepared to pay, was rolled out last year to help Twitter grow revenue as Musk fights to retain advertisers.

☆ Disney CEO Bob Iger orders workers to return to the office 4 days a week
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-10 | by ( Jordan Valinsky | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

New York CNN —Disney CEO Bob Iger is clamping down on remote workers. Iger, who recently returned to Disney’s helm after a brief hiatus, ordered employees to return to corporate offices four days a week beginning March 1. In an email sent to employees obtained by CNN, he said that employees work better together in-person. Iger returned to Disney in November 2022, replacing predecessor Bob Chapek after a tumultuous, brief tenure. Snapchat’s parent company recently asked workers to return to the office 80% of the time, or the equivalent of four days a week, beginning in February.

☆ Twitter further cuts staff overseeing global content moderation -Bloomberg News
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

Jan 7 (Reuters) - Twitter Inc made further staff cuts in the trust and safety team handling global content moderation and in the unit related to hate speech and harassment, Bloomberg news reported on Saturday. At least a dozen more cuts on Friday night affected workers in the company’s Dublin and Singapore offices, the report said, citing people familiar with the matter. Twitter, owned by billionaire Elon Musk, did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. Reporting by Shubhendu Deshmukh in Bengaluru; Editing by Leslie AdlerOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Elon Musk tweets support for the embattled Kevin McCarthy in his quest to be House speaker
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-06 | by ( Taiyler Simone Mitchell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

Twitter CEO Elon Musk tweeted his support for Kevin McCarthy. McCarthy has faced 11 unsuccessful votes in his bid to be speaker of the House of Representatives. "Kevin McCarthy should be Speaker," Musk, who considers himself "economically right of center, maybe," tweeted early Thursday morning. Rep. Kevin McCarthy, a California Republican is aiming to become the next House speaker — but he has come up short in 11 votes over three days. The House currently has no active member of Congress as the speaker vote is delaying the swearing-in process and pushing back legislation.

☆ Hackers post email addresses linked to 200 million Twitter accounts, security researchers say
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-05 | by ( Brian Fung | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

CNN —Email addresses linked to more than 200 million Twitter profiles are currently circulating on underground hacker forums, security experts say. The apparent data leak could expose the real-life identities of anonymous Twitter users and make it easier for criminals to hijack Twitter accounts, the experts warned, or even victims’ accounts on other websites. The trove of leaked records also includes Twitter users’ names, account handles, follower numbers and the dates the accounts were created, according to forum listings reviewed by security researchers and shared with CNN. Troy Hunt, a security researcher, said Thursday that his analysis of the data “found 211,524,284 unique email addresses” that had been leaked. The account data could also be valuable to hackers who can use the information as part of password-reset attempts and account takeovers.

☆ George Santos arrived in D.C. this week. No one is more riled than N.Y.'s other gay congressman.
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-04 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Matt-Lavietes-Byline-Jm.Jpg | Matt Lavietes | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +7 min

“The House Republican chaos has a silver lining,” Torres tweeted Wednesday, referring to Republicans’ difficulty in electing a House speaker. Does Stefanik have George Santos in mind?” Torres tweeted Tuesday. In another tweet last week, Torres posted a screenshot of an invitation Santos sent to supporters, inviting them to celebrate his swearing into Congress. “He’s a pathological liar who cannot be trusted to serve the very public he defrauded,” Torres told MSNBC’s Joy Reid on Monday. “No one has handed me anything on a silver platter,” he previously told NBC News.

☆ Fact Check-Video shows deepfake of Elon Musk
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-04 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Note - offensive language in paragraph 5A parody video created by artificial intelligence depicting billionaire Elon Musk is being shared by social media users as if it is authentic. It includes the watermark “@plattepus,” the username of a TikTok user who posted the original video (here) on Dec. 25, 2022. The user’s TikTok bio (here ) describes him as “The AI guy” and posts a variety of AI-generated content. The user’s YouTube channel includes similar videos, and the description in one parodying the Joe Rogan Experience podcast with Musk reads: “Subscribe for more AI parody videos.”The @plattepus user declined to provide a comment when contacted by Reuters. The video appearing to show Elon Musk was created by artificial intelligence as satire.

☆ Twitter back online after global outage hits thousands
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Reports of Twitter outages fell sharply by Wednesday evening, according to the website, with some users later commenting service had returned to normal. loadingDuring the outage, some users said they were unable to log in to their Twitter account via desktops or laptops. Hundreds of Twitter employees quit the social media company in November, by some estimates, including engineers responsible for fixing bugs and preventing service outages. Thousands of Twitter users were also hit by a global outages in February and July, before Musk's takeover. In July, a near 19-hour service outage at Canada's biggest telecom operator Rogers Telecommunications shut banking, transport and government access for millions.

Mastodon, an alternative microblogging platform, has seen several spikes in user sign-ups since the world’s second-wealthiest man purchased Twitter in late October. Hourly data from a Mastodon user counter shows that the surges typically happened shortly after some of Musk’s most headline-grabbing actions. Mastodon-powered sites averaged about 130 new sign-ups per hour from Oct. 1 to Oct. 26. That number jumped to 2,000 per hour after Elon Musk took control of Twitter on Oct. 28. Since Musk’s takeover of Twitter, journalists, news organizations, authors and politicians have created Mastodon accounts.

☆ Futures rise as Nike posts strong quarter, consumer confidence data on tap
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

"We had some better news from the likes of Nike yesterday, which suggested that consumer sentiment and spending was holding up," said Stuart Cole, head macro economist at Equiti Capital. Other data expected through the week on core inflation and the labor market will likely determine the future course of interest rate hikes by the Fed. ET, Dow e-minis were up 233 points, or 0.7%, S&P 500 e-minis were up 20 points, or 0.52%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 47 points, or 0.42%. Market volumes are expected to decline this week before the Christmas and New Year holidays. Reporting by Shubham Batra and Amruta Khandekar in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak DasguptaOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Musk to step down as Twitter CEO once he finds 'someone foolish' enough as successor
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] Elon Musk's Twitter profile is seen on a smartphone placed on printed Twitter logos in this picture illustration taken April 28, 2022. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File PhotoDec 20 (Reuters) - Billionaire Elon Musk said on Tuesday he will step down as chief executive of Twitter Inc once he finds a replacement, but will still run some key divisions of the social media platform. After that, I will just run the software & servers teams," Musk wrote on Twitter. He has not provided a time frame for when he will step down and no successor has been named. Musk has himself said he had too much on his plate, and that he would look for a Twitter CEO.

☆ Elon Musk is growing a social network. Just not the one he expected.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-21 | by ( Nigel Chiwaya | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

It has been reported that more than 200.000 new users flocked the social media app after the takeover of Twitter by Elon Musk. One of the biggest beneficiaries of billionaire Elon Musk's chaotic ownership of Twitter is a small social network most people hadn't heard of two months ago. Mastodon, an alternative microblogging platform, has seen several spikes in user sign-ups since the world's second-wealthiest man purchased Twitter in late October. Mastodon-powered sites averaged about 130 new sign-ups per hour from Oct. 1 to Oct. 26. That number jumped to 2,000 per hour after Elon Musk took control of Twitter on Oct. 28.

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