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☆ Elon Musk says a controversial new feature is coming to Twitter
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-09 | by ( Clare Duffy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

Last month, Musk said Twitter’s “new” policy is “freedom of speech, not freedom of reach,” echoing an approach that is something of an industry standard. Musk on Friday shared Weiss’ thread in a tweet and added, “The Twitter Files, Part Duex! The release of internal documents from Twitter’s prior leadership comes as Musk attempts to reshape the platform in his image. But Musk has also said he doesn’t want Twitter to “become a free-for-all hellscape” and plans to moderate content in a way that appears largely consistent with Twitter’s prior policies. “Freedom of speech,” the blog post stated, “not freedom of reach.”

☆ Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales told Elon Musk it is 'not for sale' after the Twitter owner accused the encyclopaedia of having a left-wing bias
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( Sawdah Bhaimiya | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Wikipedia's founder Jimmy Wales warned Elon Musk that the company is "not for sale." Wales' was responding to a tweet asking Elon Musk how much he thought Wikipedia was worth. Wales was responding to a tweet by a journalist asking Elon Musk: "I wonder how much Wikipedia would cost?" Musk had blasted the company a few days earlier for apparently considering the deletion of a page about the so-called "Twitter Files" saying it has a "left-wing bias." In an interview with i24NEWS in November, Wales said Musk's "diagnosis of what's wrong with Twitter is completely wrong."

☆ Jack Dorsey calls for Elon Musk to release the Twitter Files 'without filter and let people judge for themselves'
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( Grace Kay | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Dorsey told Musk to "just release everything without a filter" when it comes to the Twitter Files. Musk released internal Twitter emails on Friday, claiming they showed the company suppressed free speech. The billionaire has said he plans to release more internal information in the days to come. Last week, Musk began promoting the release of internal Twitter communications, which he dubbed the "Twitter Files." Musk has promised to release more Twitter Files.

Elon Musk's Twitter profile is seen on a smartphone placed on printed Twitter logos in this picture illustration taken April 28, 2022. Taibbi has an exclusive podcast deal with Musk's friend and Twitter investor David Sacks via his podcasting platform, Callin. Taibbi and Weiss both write newsletters on Substack, which is partly funded by Andreessen Horowitz, a co-investor in Twitter with Musk. Musk has even gone so far as to say that Twitter, which he now owns and leads, interfered with U.S. elections. During a Twitter Spaces discussion, Musk suggested more files would be released regarding how Twitter handled the 2020 presidential election, the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol and the Covid-19 pandemic.

☆ 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 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.

☆ Elon Musk confirmed the firing of Twitter deputy general counsel James Baker for allegedly interfering in the publication of the Twitter Files
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( Samantha Delouya | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Elon Musk confirmed the firing of another high-ranking Twitter official: deputy general counsel James Baker. Musk accused Baker of possibly playing a role in suppressing "information important to the public dialogue." Matt Taibbi, who tweeted Friday's "Twitter Files" thread, accused Baker of secretly vetting the files. Taibbi has promised to reveal additional "Twitter Files" material in conjunction with journalist Bari Weiss, a former op-ed writer for The New York Times. Baker's firing comes a little more than one month since Musk took over as the new owner of Twitter.

☆ The Twitter Censorship Files
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-05 | by ( The Editorial Board | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Elon Musk’s release of internal emails relating to Twitter’s 2020 censorship is news by any definition, even if the mainstream media dismiss it. There will be many threads to unspool as more is released, but a couple of points are already worth making. The first is that Mr. Musk would do the country a favor by releasing the documents all at once for everyone to inspect. So far he’s dribbled them out piecemeal through journalist Matt Taibbi ’s Twitter feed, which makes it easier for the media to claim they can’t report on documents because they can’t independently confirm them.

☆ Twitter cofounder Biz Stone appears to slam Elon Musk over 'gross' release of 'Twitter files,' saying he's not a serious person
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-05 | by ( Beatrice Nolan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Twitter cofounder Biz Stone appeared to criticize the platform's new owner, Elon Musk. In an apparent reference to Musk, following the leaks, Stone said he was "not a serious person." Resharing one of Musk's tweets about his plans for more "Twitter files," Stone simply wrote: "Gross." Musk originally teased the release of the so-called "Twitter Files" last week, claiming they would show "free speech suppression." In an apparent reference to Musk, Stone later tweeted: "He's not a serious person.

☆ You may think Twitter was wrong to censor the Hunter Biden laptop story but it wasn't a violation of the First Amendment
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-05 | by ( Kelsey Vlamis | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Twitter, as a private company and not the government, can choose what it does and does not publish. But whether or not the decision was wrong, it wasn't a violation of the First Amendment of the Constitution. "Twitter is not a state actor and the First Amendment applies only to state actors." So whether or not Twitter could violate the First Amendment, depends on whether or not it can be considered the government. "Both the state, the Trump White House, and the Biden team were asking Twitter, and Twitter was under no obligation to either oblige or refuse those requests," Kalir said.

☆ Elon Musk says Twitter's team was 'too intense' with suspending false accounts and is 'moving to chill mode'
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-05 | by ( Sawdah Bhaimiya | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Musk said Twitter's team had been "too intense" with suspending fake accounts. Musk said the team in charge of suspensions was "moving to chill mode." After one Twitter user complained about Twitter suspending a number of genuine accounts that posted "memes and positivity," Musk responded: "Team was a bit too intense with spam/bot suspensions. Twitter's new trust and safety head Ella Irwin said that Musk's top priority was platform safety in an interview with Reuters. Several left-wing activists had their accounts suspended unfairly over the past few weeks because Twitter's trust and safety team has been "decimated," one activist impacted told Insider.

☆ Elon Musk says there wasn't a single 'breaking point' that made him buy Twitter, but that he feared a rise in online 'groupthink'
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-05 | by ( Pete Syme | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Elon Musk said during a Twitter Space that there was no "breaking point" which made him buy the company. Instead, Musk said that general concerns about free speech online motivated him to purchase Twitter. Musk made his first offer to buy Twitter at $43 billion around three weeks later. "Basically, just, we are traveling the path more and more of suppression of free speech. Musk has previously called himself a "free speech absolutist," but has a track record of silencing his own critics.

☆ Twitter's former C-suite received $200 million in combined stock payouts after Elon Musk fired them
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-05 | by ( Kali Hays | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

CEO Elon Musk quickly fired Twitter executives upon taking over the company in October. The Twitter executives who were immediately fired when Elon Musk took over the company walked away with much larger bank accounts. He walked away from Twitter with a total of $63 million in converted stock. Gadde held just over 1 million shares in common stock when she was fired, having worked there for more than 11 years, which converted to $59.5 million. Gadde walked away from Twitter with the most money, seeing all of her converted stock total $72 million.

☆ Twitter granted requests from both the Trump White House and the Biden campaign to remove content in 2020, report says
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-04 | by ( Kelsey Vlamis | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Those requests came from both the White House and the Biden campaign during the election cycle. The long Twitter thread, dubbed "The Twitter Files," was hyped up by Elon Musk, the social media platform's billionaire owner and self-styled "free speech absolutist." Trump's White House, however, was the government, but Musk did not address reporting that said they also made and were granted requests. Taibbi did not provide evidence the White House — or the Biden campaign — "ordered" or coerced Twitter into removing content. Taibbi did not include any additional details or an example of a request from the White House.

☆ Caitlyn Jenner tells Elon Musk he's 'public enemy number one to some very, very bad people' and that she's worried about his safety
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-04 | by ( Sam Tabahriti | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Caitlyn Jenner told Elon Musk he's become "public enemy number one for very, very bad people." In a Friday tweet, the former Olympian voiced her concerns of the billionaire's safety. It came following Musk releasing "The Twitter Files" – Twitter's controversial decision to suppress a New York Post report. Musk, Twitter's new owner, also said during a live interview Saturday on Twitter Space that he probably should "increase his security." The billionaire, who acquired the social media platform October 27, justified releasing the internal documents saying his goal was to build trust.

☆ Elon Musk speaks out on 'Twitter Files' release about platform inner workings
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-04 | by ( Ramishah Maruf | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

During a two-hour long Twitter Spaces session, Musk said a second “Twitter Files” drop will again involve Taibbi, along with journalist Bari Weiss, but did not give an exact date for when that would be released. It showed employees on several Twitter teams debating over whether to restrict the article under the company’s hacked materials policy, weeks before the 2020 election. Musk also said Twitter should program and monetize native long audio and video posting. He is quoted as saying that some of the investment may have been sold before Twitter went private in October, but he wasn’t sure. Musk also said that Twitter will roll out its new account verifications within the next week, which had been halted.

☆ GOP congressman skirts question about supporting Trump as the party's 2024 pick after the ex-president promoted suspending US Constitution: 'I'll support whoever the Republican nominee is'
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-04 | by ( Taylor Ardrey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

GOP Rep. Dave Joyce refused to answer whether he'd support Trump after his recent comments. On Saturday, Trump called for the termination of the US Constitution. "I will support whoever the Republican nominee is," Joyce told ABC News on Sunday. Stephanopoulos told Joyce that his response was "a remarkable statement" and asked again if he would "support a candidate who's come out for suspending the Constitution?" On his social media platform on Saturday, Trump called for the termination of the Constitution, making the unfounded claim that there has been "massive fraud" from tech giants and the Democratic Party in US elections.

☆ White House spokesperson criticizes Trump's suggestion to get rid of the Constitution: 'You cannot only love America when you win'
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-04 | by ( Hannah Getahun | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

A White House spokesperson said Trump's words should be "condemned." A Massive Fraud of this type and magnitude allows for the termination of all rules, regulations, and articles, even those found in the Constitution," Trump wrote in a Saturday post. In a statement to CNN, White House Spokesperson Andrew Bates called for Trump's words to be "universally condemned." Virginia Representative Dan Boyer tweeted that Trump's words "stoke hatred and political violence." "Trump's words and actions are unacceptable, they stoke hatred and political violence, and they are dangerous."

☆ Elon Musk's 'Twitter Files' drop revealed some of the tweets the Biden campaign asked the social app to remove were nude photos of Hunter Biden spread without his consent
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-04 | by ( Katherine Tangalakis-Lippert | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Internal Twitter emails showed the Biden campaign asked the company to remove posts. Some of the posts contained nude photos of Hunter Biden shared without his consent. "Handled these," an unnamed Twitter executive wrote in an email in response to five links shared by another Twitter employee. Of the links to five since-deleted tweets that were shared in a screenshot by Taibbi, four had archives available online. Musk, Taibbi, and representatives for Twitter and the Biden administration did not immediately respond to Insider's requests for comment.

☆ Elon Musk promotes release of internal Twitter documents rehashing platform’s block of Hunter Biden story
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-03 | by ( David Ingram | David Ingram Covers Tech For Nbc News. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +7 min

The controversy involving Twitter and Hunter Biden dates to October 2020, weeks before the presidential election between Joe Biden and then-President Donald Trump. Taibbi wrote that he has seen no evidence that there was government involvement in Twitter’s move to block the New York Post story. Shortly after the New York Post published the article, Twitter pointed to concerns about hacked materials as the reason for blocking the story. Zuckerberg cited warnings from the FBI about election-related threats, though none about Hunter Biden in particular. Hunter Biden has said that federal prosecutors in Delaware are investigating his taxes.

☆ Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna reached out to Twitter as it suppressed the Hunter Biden laptop story to voice concerns about violating free speech and press freedom principles
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-03 | by ( Kelsey Vlamis | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

In October 2020, Twitter initially blocked users from sharing a New York Post story about Hunter Biden's laptop. Rep. Ro Khanna sent Twitter concerns about the decision, according to materials published Friday. Less than a month before the 2020 election, the Post published a story that claimed to contain emails retrieved from a laptop that belonged to President Joe Biden's son Hunter. Giving an example, Khanna said if materials uncovering a war crime were hacked and obtained by The New York Times, the Times should be able to publish them. New York Times Co. v. Sullivan established that public figures suing for defamation must establish "actual malice."

☆ Twitter's clumsy handling of the Hunter Biden laptop story spurred enough bipartisan criticism to risk the existence of the internet as we know it
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-03 | by ( Katherine Tangalakis-Lippert | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Twitter's decision to throttle stories about Hunter Biden's laptop prompted bipartisan criticism. Some lawmakers have since called to repeal Section 230, a law "that created the internet." The criticism has since intensified a movement to repeal Section 230, which could change the Internet forever. Much of Taibbi's thread focused on Twitter's handling of the New York Post's October 2020 story about Hunter Biden's laptop, which the Post reported was left in a Delaware repair shop. Representatives for Khanna did not answer questions about the congressman's current position on whether or not to repeal Section 230.

☆ Released Twitter emails show how employees debated how to handle 2020 New York Post Hunter Biden story
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-02 | by ( Brian Fung | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

It showed employees on Twitter’s legal, policy and communications teams debating – and at times disagreeing – over whether to restrict the article under the company’s hacked materials policy, weeks before the 2020 election, where Joe Biden, Hunter Biden’s father, ran against then-President Donald Trump. The Taibbi posts undercut a top claim by Musk and Republicans, who have accused the FBI of leaning on social media companies to suppress the Hunter Biden laptop stories. The tweet thread also highlighted how officials from both political parties routinely wrote to Twitter asking for specific tweets to be removed. A CNN review of those tweets on an archive site showed some purported photos of Hunter Biden, including nudity, that may have violated Twitter policy. He also did not say that Democrats requested that Twitter suppress the Post story, and his account did not suggest that the US government had ever pressured Twitter to suppress the story.

☆ Elon Musk told he's '100% wrong' for claiming Twitter is the internet's biggest click driver 'by far'
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-13 | by ( Ryan Hogg | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Elon Musk claimed Twitter was "the biggest click driver on the internet by far" in a tweet Saturday. In a tweet on Saturday, the new owner of Twitter suggested the platform was the biggest source of referrals to other websites. Biggest click driver on the Internet by far," Musk replied. In terms of all websites, Twitter ranked ninth for traffic, just above adult website Pornhub. Musk is looking for ways to make Twitter profitable after saying last week the company was losing $4 million a day.

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