Elon Musk now owns 9.2% of twitter...update.. will soon be the sole owner as Board of Directors accepts his purchase offer

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Amused

Elite Member
Apr 14, 2001
56,590
16,586
146
When reality and social economics collide with your tech bro fake idea of "freedums."

Aaaaaand the alt-right melts down...



Musk meeting with civil rights groups angers former supporters
After the Zoom meeting, Musk tweeted that no suspended accounts would return to the site until there was a clear process for doing so


Elon Musk pledged early Wednesday after a Zoom meeting with civil rights groups that Twitter will not reinstate banned accounts until it has a clear process for doing so — a vow that means suspended users including Donald Trump will not rejoin the site before the midterm elections.

Twitter will “continue to combat hate & harassment & enforce its election integrity policies,” Musk tweeted hours after meeting with the groups.

The news prompted immediate dismay from people who previously had hailed his takeover of the site.
“I was 100% wrong about @elonmusk changing Twitter,” the 900,000-follower meme account Catturd tweeted. Tim Pool, another right-wing influencer with 1 million Twitter followers used an epithet to describe the decision to postpone the reinstatement of suspended accounts. Musk “caved in less than a week,” Pool tweeted.


“I thought the conversation was respectful. It was not contentious,” said Rashad Robinson, the president of Color of Change, one of the groups on the Zoom call. The others were the NAACP, the Anti Defamation League, Free Press, LULAC, and The Asian American Foundation, according to a Musk tweet.
“We stressed what was important," Robinson said. "He stressed his vision.”

“I think it’s important...he’s made these statements now publicly,” Robinson added.

Another participant in the call, Jonathan Greenblatt, the Anti Defamation League’s CEO, said Musk was in “listening mode.”
“We’re going to watch very closely, very carefully,” Greenblatt said. “But I was encouraged by the conversation and his willingness to engage with us.”

The blowback from conservatives who’d been Musk’s biggest cheerleaders throws a spotlight on the tightrope Musk must walk as he takes control of a financially shakey company whose purchase will require $1 billion in debt-service payments every year.

It also highlights the long-running conundrum for “free speech” platforms: By catering to fringe users eager to push the boundaries on acceptable speech, they often push away more moderate voices and advertisers.

Musk has sought to assuage big advertisers worried that changes to Twitter policy could stain Twitter feeds with more lies, crude images and hate speech. But even basic steps of moderation could stir up anger from users who see them as violating their entitlement to unchecked speech.

An account with 361,000 followers, which calls itself “Christ is Lord,” said “it’s so over MuskBros.”
“'World’s richest man’ is still a slave to j*ws lol,” the account tweeted.

Civil rights activists said they made three main requests in their meeting with Musk: that Twitter continue its election integrity policies until after the election results are certified, that he continue to hear from people who have been affected by hate speech, harassment and disinformation on Twitter, and that Musk not reinstate users who have been de-platformed without a transparent process.

“What we did say is that the rich, powerful and famous should have to play by the same rules as the rest of us,” said Free Press co-CEO Jessica González. “That’s just basic fairness and that the people who’ve been de-platformed, especially the richest, the most powerful and the most famous, have often broken Twitter’s rules repeatedly.”

She added that Musk assured the group that employees on the company’s trust and safety team who were locked out of some content moderation tools over the weekend would have access again by the end of the week.

Robinson said that during the meeting, which lasted a little under an hour, Trump was not mentioned specifically, though he confirmed the subject of people who repeatedly violated the platform’s rules was a topic of the conversation as was who would serve on a content moderation council that Musk has proposed, Robinson said.

Twitter has struggled to curb the spread of false claims of widespread voter fraud during the 2020 presidential election and to mitigate suggestions of fraud in the upcoming contests, and the civil rights groups stressed that those efforts must continue.

“Any content (or account) promoting election denial and other harmful lies about election results cannot be allowed to exist on his platform," NAACP President Derrick Johnson said in a statement after the meeting. "As long as hate, misinformation, and disinformation spread across Twitter, the bird cannot be free.”

The meeting came after nearly 50 organizations signed a letter to Twitter’s top advertisers this week asking them to cease spending on the social media site if “he follows through on his plans to undermine brand safety and community standards including gutting content moderation.”

The groups noted that they were concerned about the spike in hate and disinformation on the platform in the hours after Musk took ownership.

“Not only are extremists celebrating Musk’s takeover of Twitter, they are seeing it as a new opportunity to post the most abusive, harassing, and racist language and imagery,” the groups wrote.

Musk has sought to assuage big advertisers worried that changes to Twitter policy could stain Twitter feeds with more lies, crude images and hate speech. But even basic steps of moderation could stir up anger from users who see them as violating their entitlement to unchecked speech.

Musk’s assurances to the civil rights groups were only the latest step in conservatives’ loss of patience with Musk in the few days since he assumed control of the company.

Musk has decried the use of permanent bans and has said he would restore Trump’s account. Twitter banned him following the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.

Musk explained his thinking at an event hosted by the Financial Times in May, calling the ban a “mistake” and saying it “was a morally bad decision, to be clear, and foolish in the extreme.”

Speaking generally, Musk said temporary suspensions could be appropriate in situations where such action may need to be taken. Musk has advocated for content moderation policies rooted in free speech, that do little beyond the demands of the law.

Musk has made efforts to build inroads with advertisers on his new platform — who typically do not want their promotions appearing alongside objectionable content — tweeting an open letter last week pledging Twitter will not become a “free-for-all hellscape.”

But Musk himself prompted questions with a tweet on Sunday that linked to a post from a questionable news source about the attack on Nancy Pelosi’s husband, Paul. Musk subsequently deleted his tweet.

That prompted the formerly supportive Catturd to tweet that Musk had “cave[d] to the liberal mob.”

Musk’s defense of Yoel Roth, a Twitter executive responsible for content moderation policy, also riled pro-Trump tweeters who have long portrayed him as one of Twitter’s most censorious boogeymen. Liz Wheeler, a right-wing commentator, called Roth “a nasty individual” who “should’ve been the first person fired.”
On Wednesday, Musk’s former backers were certain he is betraying them.

The Columbia Bugle, a pro-Trump account with 300,000 followers, tweeted, “You can not have a free speech platform and take the advice of the ADL.”
 

HomerJS

Lifer
Feb 6, 2002
36,764
28,977
136
Questions:

After Musk takes over will bad behavior such as anti-Semitism, racism misogyny get better or worse?

Will the new rules apply equally to everyone?

My predictions:

Worse
No
 

cytg111

Lifer
Mar 17, 2008
24,027
13,538
136
When reality and social economics collide with your tech bro fake idea of "freedums."

Aaaaaand the alt-right melts down...



Musk meeting with civil rights groups angers former supporters
After the Zoom meeting, Musk tweeted that no suspended accounts would return to the site until there was a clear process for doing so


Elon Musk pledged early Wednesday after a Zoom meeting with civil rights groups that Twitter will not reinstate banned accounts until it has a clear process for doing so — a vow that means suspended users including Donald Trump will not rejoin the site before the midterm elections.

Twitter will “continue to combat hate & harassment & enforce its election integrity policies,” Musk tweeted hours after meeting with the groups.

The news prompted immediate dismay from people who previously had hailed his takeover of the site.
“I was 100% wrong about @elonmusk changing Twitter,” the 900,000-follower meme account Catturd tweeted. Tim Pool, another right-wing influencer with 1 million Twitter followers used an epithet to describe the decision to postpone the reinstatement of suspended accounts. Musk “caved in less than a week,” Pool tweeted.


“I thought the conversation was respectful. It was not contentious,” said Rashad Robinson, the president of Color of Change, one of the groups on the Zoom call. The others were the NAACP, the Anti Defamation League, Free Press, LULAC, and The Asian American Foundation, according to a Musk tweet.
“We stressed what was important," Robinson said. "He stressed his vision.”

“I think it’s important...he’s made these statements now publicly,” Robinson added.

Another participant in the call, Jonathan Greenblatt, the Anti Defamation League’s CEO, said Musk was in “listening mode.”
“We’re going to watch very closely, very carefully,” Greenblatt said. “But I was encouraged by the conversation and his willingness to engage with us.”

The blowback from conservatives who’d been Musk’s biggest cheerleaders throws a spotlight on the tightrope Musk must walk as he takes control of a financially shakey company whose purchase will require $1 billion in debt-service payments every year.

It also highlights the long-running conundrum for “free speech” platforms: By catering to fringe users eager to push the boundaries on acceptable speech, they often push away more moderate voices and advertisers.

Musk has sought to assuage big advertisers worried that changes to Twitter policy could stain Twitter feeds with more lies, crude images and hate speech. But even basic steps of moderation could stir up anger from users who see them as violating their entitlement to unchecked speech.

An account with 361,000 followers, which calls itself “Christ is Lord,” said “it’s so over MuskBros.”
“'World’s richest man’ is still a slave to j*ws lol,” the account tweeted.

Civil rights activists said they made three main requests in their meeting with Musk: that Twitter continue its election integrity policies until after the election results are certified, that he continue to hear from people who have been affected by hate speech, harassment and disinformation on Twitter, and that Musk not reinstate users who have been de-platformed without a transparent process.

“What we did say is that the rich, powerful and famous should have to play by the same rules as the rest of us,” said Free Press co-CEO Jessica González. “That’s just basic fairness and that the people who’ve been de-platformed, especially the richest, the most powerful and the most famous, have often broken Twitter’s rules repeatedly.”

She added that Musk assured the group that employees on the company’s trust and safety team who were locked out of some content moderation tools over the weekend would have access again by the end of the week.

Robinson said that during the meeting, which lasted a little under an hour, Trump was not mentioned specifically, though he confirmed the subject of people who repeatedly violated the platform’s rules was a topic of the conversation as was who would serve on a content moderation council that Musk has proposed, Robinson said.

Twitter has struggled to curb the spread of false claims of widespread voter fraud during the 2020 presidential election and to mitigate suggestions of fraud in the upcoming contests, and the civil rights groups stressed that those efforts must continue.

“Any content (or account) promoting election denial and other harmful lies about election results cannot be allowed to exist on his platform," NAACP President Derrick Johnson said in a statement after the meeting. "As long as hate, misinformation, and disinformation spread across Twitter, the bird cannot be free.”

The meeting came after nearly 50 organizations signed a letter to Twitter’s top advertisers this week asking them to cease spending on the social media site if “he follows through on his plans to undermine brand safety and community standards including gutting content moderation.”

The groups noted that they were concerned about the spike in hate and disinformation on the platform in the hours after Musk took ownership.

“Not only are extremists celebrating Musk’s takeover of Twitter, they are seeing it as a new opportunity to post the most abusive, harassing, and racist language and imagery,” the groups wrote.

Musk has sought to assuage big advertisers worried that changes to Twitter policy could stain Twitter feeds with more lies, crude images and hate speech. But even basic steps of moderation could stir up anger from users who see them as violating their entitlement to unchecked speech.

Musk’s assurances to the civil rights groups were only the latest step in conservatives’ loss of patience with Musk in the few days since he assumed control of the company.

Musk has decried the use of permanent bans and has said he would restore Trump’s account. Twitter banned him following the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.

Musk explained his thinking at an event hosted by the Financial Times in May, calling the ban a “mistake” and saying it “was a morally bad decision, to be clear, and foolish in the extreme.”

Speaking generally, Musk said temporary suspensions could be appropriate in situations where such action may need to be taken. Musk has advocated for content moderation policies rooted in free speech, that do little beyond the demands of the law.

Musk has made efforts to build inroads with advertisers on his new platform — who typically do not want their promotions appearing alongside objectionable content — tweeting an open letter last week pledging Twitter will not become a “free-for-all hellscape.”

But Musk himself prompted questions with a tweet on Sunday that linked to a post from a questionable news source about the attack on Nancy Pelosi’s husband, Paul. Musk subsequently deleted his tweet.

That prompted the formerly supportive Catturd to tweet that Musk had “cave[d] to the liberal mob.”

Musk’s defense of Yoel Roth, a Twitter executive responsible for content moderation policy, also riled pro-Trump tweeters who have long portrayed him as one of Twitter’s most censorious boogeymen. Liz Wheeler, a right-wing commentator, called Roth “a nasty individual” who “should’ve been the first person fired.”
On Wednesday, Musk’s former backers were certain he is betraying them.

The Columbia Bugle, a pro-Trump account with 300,000 followers, tweeted, “You can not have a free speech platform and take the advice of the ADL.”
Wait a minute, is the dingo learning?
 

MrSquished

Lifer
Jan 14, 2013
23,155
21,281
136
Wait a minute, is the dingo learning?
Doubtful. The guy has shown his true colors time and time again. Anything he does like this is just for marketing and for show. He's just reactive trying to bandage some of the bleeding but he doesn't believe any of this shit those people were telling him in the meeting guaranteed.

The guys in impulsive narcissistic egomaniac. Wants to do all these things with Twitter but he has destroyed morale and caused top talent to leave by repeating massive layoffs, then he changes his mind. First the premium tier is going to be 20 bucks now it's 8 bucks. He was going to unban people right away now he's waiting a few weeks.

The guy is like a fucking evil seesaw just trying to cover his ass because he doesn't want to lose a lot of money but he is a piece of shit and he is proven it time and time again.
 
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Amused

Elite Member
Apr 14, 2001
56,590
16,586
146
Doubtful. The guy has shown his true colors time and time again. Anything he does like this is just for marketing and for show. He's just reactive trying to bandage some of the bleeding but he doesn't believe any of this shit those people were telling him in the meeting guaranteed.

The guys in impulsive narcissistic egomaniac. Wants to do all these things with Twitter but he has destroyed morale and caused top talent to leave by repeating massive layoffs, then he changes his mind. First the premium tier is going to be 20 bucks now it's 8 bucks. He was going to unban people right away now he's waiting a few weeks.

The guy is like a fucking evil seesaw just trying to cover his ass because he doesn't want to lose a lot of money but he is a piece of shit and he is proven it time and time again.

I think he's hemorrhaging advertisers. That is the entire profit source for Twitter. I think he's being educated if he turns it into Storm Front McAnti-Vaxxer he'll lose everything.
 

DaaQ

Golden Member
Dec 8, 2018
1,448
1,045
136
Twitter is now the Elon Musk show, as long as he stays just shy of slander he can say pretty much anything he want's. Qualifiers matter, preface almost anything with "in my opinion" and you're good to go.
I'd like it if twitter was moderated fairly, but it's an absolute certainty that there will be no agreement on what's fair. Extremism is where the money is. Anger, accusations, partial truths, and outright lies, all of those generate clicks, get adds in front of people with a credit card, and generally support consumerism. The system works.

You are acting like an asshole.


See what I did there?
 
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Paratus

Lifer
Jun 4, 2004
17,132
14,509
146
If anyone is interested in this guy’s idea of free speech and how it will end up this is a good thread. He thought he was invincible and decided to buy his favorite media platform at enormous cost and never thought about the consequences.
It’s starting to feel like the end of War Games.
rGwY8YM.gif


Maybe he’s learning?

The only winning move is not to play?
 
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Greenman

Lifer
Oct 15, 1999
20,971
5,592
136
If anyone is interested in this guy’s idea of free speech and how it will end up this is a good thread. He thought he was invincible and decided to buy his favorite media platform at enormous cost and never thought about the consequences.
It's a $44B experiment that I find interesting to watch. I've always considered twitter to be little more than monkeys throwing shit at each other, so I don't much care how to pans out.
It seems like someone along the way would have penciled this out and questioned the viability of spending $44B on a used septic tank.
 
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IronWing

No Lifer
Jul 20, 2001
70,266
29,013
136
It seems like someone along the way would have penciled this out and questioned the viability of spending $44B on a used septic tank.
Pretty much everyone did and came up with a frowny face, even Elon, eventually.
 

fskimospy

Elite Member
Mar 10, 2006
85,710
51,001
136
It's a $44B experiment that I find interesting to watch. I've always considered twitter to be little more than monkeys throwing shit at each other, so I don't much care how to pans out.
It seems like someone along the way would have penciled this out and questioned the viability of spending $44B on a used septic tank.
I think the central problem that our good friend Elon is about to discover is that it is not possible to have a platform that embraces free speech and is also a welcoming place for all users and advertisers. There is, and always will be, an inherent tension between these two ideas.
 

K1052

Elite Member
Aug 21, 2003
48,246
37,666
136
It seems like someone along the way would have penciled this out and questioned the viability of spending $44B on a used septic tank.

Given Musk's usual habit of not associating or employing people who question him I really doubt such a theoretical person exists in his orbit.
 

NWRMidnight

Diamond Member
Jun 18, 2001
3,048
2,654
136
Twitter is going to implode from the inside. He is going to can 75% of the work force (supposably already has a list), and he is already making the managers/staff work 12+ hours a day, 7 days a week to "prove" themselves.. How long till they tell him to go get fucked? (those that are left after he can's the 75% that is)
 

vi edit

Elite Member
Super Moderator
Oct 28, 1999
62,483
8,344
126
It's a $44B experiment that I find interesting to watch. I've always considered twitter to be little more than monkeys throwing shit at each other, so I don't much care how to pans out.
It seems like someone along the way would have penciled this out and questioned the viability of spending $44B on a used septic tank.

LOL. We may have found our common ground. Am I brining the popcorn or are you?
 
Jan 25, 2011
16,705
8,935
146
I'm shocked I see so much discussion about the cost factor and free speech and little about why verification became needed so badly in the first place. What harms were being done that necessitated it's implementation.
 

Thump553

Lifer
Jun 2, 2000
12,768
2,544
126
It's a $44B experiment that I find interesting to watch. I've always considered twitter to be little more than monkeys throwing shit at each other, so I don't much care how to pans out.
It seems like someone along the way would have penciled this out and questioned the viability of spending $44B on a used septic tank.

Totally agree with you. Initially I was wondering why I was so interested in this topic, but then realized it has the same fascination as watching a car wreck.

I'm wondering about the long term ramifications of Musk's $44B stunt will be. At this point I imagine the Board of Directors, stockholders and employees of Tesla all cringe nearly every time Musk twits and/or opens his mouth. He's causing a lot of indirect damage to future sales at that company. Even after I win the $1.5B Powerball I can't imagine myself shopping for a Tesla and helping enrich Musk even more.
 

Zorba

Lifer
Oct 22, 1999
15,284
10,882
136
Twitter is going to implode from the inside. He is going to can 75% of the work force (supposably already has a list), and he is already making the managers/staff work 12+ hours a day, 7 days a week to "prove" themselves.. How long till they tell him to go get fucked? (those that are left after he can's the 75% that is)
This is why wage and labor laws did a massive update. Salaried employees need some kind of protection against insane work hours.