Tag: social media platform

  • Elon Musk’s Twitter flame-throwing has new magnitude

    BY TIM HIGGINS | UPDATED DEC 15, 2022 05:31 AM EST

    The entrepreneur’s method will get new scrutiny now that he owns the platform

    For years, Elon Musk has used Twitter to impress, preach and go on the offensive in opposition to criticism and perceived threats from rivals, regulators, and common people.

    His flame-throwing has a brand new magnitude—and the notion of impunity—now that Mr. Musk owns the social-media platform the place he has been a so-called tremendous person for years.

    The world’s second-richest man, who didn’t reply to a request for remark, has greater than 120 million Twitter followers, about 10 million shy of former President Barack Obama.

    In the weeks since he bought Twitter Inc. in October, Mr. Musk has made it clear that those that set off his ire needs to be ready for him to make use of it to focus on them. In latest days, for instance, he has attacked Yoel Roth, who till a couple of month in the past was a high-ranking Twitter govt, with unsubstantiated insinuations that he was an advocate of sexualizing youngsters. He additionally known as for the prosecution of Dr. Anthony Fauci, President Biden’s chief medical adviser and the federal government’s prime infectious-disease official, primarily based on his dealing with of the Covid-19 pandemic.

    And Mr. Musk has threatened to set his rhetorical crosshairs on Twitter’s advertisers, lots of whom have minimize or halted spending due to their considerations about his administration of the corporate and his habits on the platform since taking up.

    In the wake of what he known as “an enormous drop in income” in early November, Mr. Musk responded to a supporter’s tweet suggesting he name advertisers who cut spending by vowing: “A thermonuclear name & shame is exactly what will happen if this continues.”

    Some advertisers have been vocal about their considerations, whereas others have shunned altering their spending on Twitter or discussing their worries publicly as a result of they worry that Mr. Musk will publicly goal them for criticism, unleashing a backlash from his followers, based on advert patrons.

    “Some entrepreneurs are afraid of drawing unwelcomed consideration from Elon,” Lou Paskalis, a veteran marketing executive, said. Companies are also “very concerned about what Elon’s acolytes might do to their brands if they publicly distanced themselves from the platform.”

    Mr. Musk just lately confronted Apple Inc., claiming it curbed advert spending on Twitter and requested, “Do they hate free speech in America?”—before tweeting two days later that he and the iPhone maker had resolved their issues. Apple hasn’t commented.

    Mr. Musk has said he wants to ensure that Twitter remains open to competing ideas—even ones that offend—and has suggested that he welcomes criticism on the platform.

    “I hope that even my worst critics remain on Twitter, because that is what free speech means,” he tweeted earlier this 12 months, the day Twitter accepted his supply.

    He additionally has urged that dissemination of assaults on Twitter shall be curtailed, tweeting final month: “New Twitter coverage is freedom of speech, however not freedom of attain. Negative/hate tweets shall be max deboosted & demonetized, so no advertisements or different income to Twitter.” It is unclear if any related rules have been implemented.

    Twitter’s harassment policy currently posted on its site says it aims to facilitate healthy dialogue. “We prohibit behavior that harasses or intimidates, or is otherwise intended to shame or degrade others,” it says, including that abusive habits can threaten folks’s security and result in bodily and emotional hardship.

    In latest years, social-media firms together with Twitter and Meta Platforms Inc.’s Facebook have confronted a few of their thorniest points over incidents that arose from somebody utilizing their platforms in ways in which incite harassment of an individual—akin to what some worry from Mr. Musk’s personal habits on the platform.

    “There are clear questions that if the phrases of service are violated, who’s going to rein him in, who’s gonna put the brakes on that?” said Brianna Wu, a former Democratic congressional candidate and software engineer who received threats during so-called the GamerGate incident almost a decade ago when women coders faced intense harassment online.

    “If you have a big platform, you have to think carefully about how you use it,” she stated, “as a result of it’s very clear, when you begin accusing folks of being pedophiles, if in case you have a really massive platform, you understand what the result goes to be.”

    As soon as Mr. Musk tweeted on Saturday in a way that misrepresented the academic writing of Mr. Roth, Twitter’s former head of trust and safety—suggesting he was in favor of children having access to adult internet services—people raised concerns for Mr. Roth’s safety.

    In the wake of harassment following Mr. Musk’s tweets, Mr. Roth has moved out of his house temporarily because of threats to his safety, according to a person familiar with the situation. CNN earlier reported on Mr. Roth’s safety concerns.

    The sharp turn that Mr. Musk took on Mr. Roth contrasts with how he defended him and praised him in October, when he wrote in a tweet: “My sense is that he has high integrity, and we are all entitled to our political beliefs.”

    But Mr. Musk’s tone modified after Mr. Roth left the corporate and went public with considerations about content material moderation below the brand new regime.

    In April, Mr. Musk was requested at a TED convention about his behavior of partaking in public fights somewhat than taking the excessive street.

    “I’m form of a combined bag,” Mr. Musk responded, chuckling. “I don’t like to lose—I’m not sure many people do—but the truth matters to me a lot…like sort of pathologically it matters to me.”

    Mr. Musk has proven that he’s conscious of the facility of his following on Twitter. When Tesla Inc., the place he’s CEO, struggled to ship Model 3 compact vehicles in 2018, Mr. Musk put out a tweet in search of volunteers to assist out by educating new house owners, they usually obliged him.

    On different events, his followers have taken his lead in additional hostile methods. He focused a professor who was appointed to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration as a prime adviser, tweeting: “Objectively, her observe report is extraordinarily biased in opposition to Tesla.” The adviser, Mary “Missy” Cummings, a Duke University engineering professor who had been crucial of Tesla’s superior driver-assistance system, confronted a barrage of criticism, usually vulgar, after Mr. Musk’s tweet.

    At Twitter, Mr. Musk has overseen the discharge of inside firm paperwork which have included names and emails of employees, subjecting them to the cruel gentle of public scrutiny. Some observers have urged the discharge of the personal particulars violated Twitter’s phrases of service for so-called doxing. Mr. Musk has stated releasing the unredacted particulars was a mistake.

    “Publicly posting the names and identities of front-line staff concerned in content material moderation places them in hurt’s method and is a basically unacceptable factor to do,” Mr. Roth said on the social platform Mastodon at the time.

    Mr. Musk has been more sensitive about his own information.

    On Wednesday, the account that used public data to track Mr. Musk’s private plane was suspended. Jack Sweeney, a student at the University of Central Florida who ran the account, said he wasn’t given a reason for the move. Mr. Sweeney created an algorithm that calculated the whereabouts of the jet using public data from plane transponders that log longitude, latitude and altitude.

    Mr. Sweeney’s personal account and several other ones he held were also suspended.

    Mr. Musk suggested the account violated Twitter’s terms of service. “Real-time posting of someone else’s location violates doxxing policy, but delayed posting of locations are ok,” Mr. Musk wrote, including later that monitoring of his location endangered his household.

    —Suzanne Vranica, Jeff Horwitz and Elisa Cho contributed to this text.

    Write to Tim Higgins at [email protected] and Alexa Corse at [email protected]

  • The Tesla shadow on Musk’s Twitter play

    Elon Musk, the world’s richest particular person, is combating to show round Twitter. Rolling out cost-cutting measures, he warned workers that “chapter isn’t out of the query”. He also tweeted an old joke with a new twist: “How do you make a small fortune in social media? Start out with a large one.” Musk has a big fortune at this time, and Twitter is only a fragment of that. But nearly two years in the past, he in all probability couldn’t have purchased Twitter.

    Musk debuted on the Forbes Billionaires checklist solely about 10 years in the past, with a web value of $2 billion (and ranked 634 globally). His web value steadily rose to $24.6 billion in 2020, after which shot as much as $151 billion in 2021, peaking at $320 billion in November 2021. That primarily displays the surge within the inventory of his electrical car firm Tesla, up from $29.53 in January 2020 to a excessive of $407 in November 2021. That’s the place Musk’s giant fortune comes from.

    Musk began at Tesla as an investor, placing in $6.5 million in 2004, earlier than taking up in 2008. Today, it accounts for practically two-thirds of his web value. While the surge in Tesla’s inventory has occurred towards the backdrop of the corporate ramping up EV manufacturing and turning into extra worthwhile, Tesla is now essentially the most worthwhile car firm. The expectations from Tesla are excessive.

    But the journey forward can get bumpy. Musk faces authorized battles, operational points and mounting competitors from mainstream car rivals. Amid all this, can the chaos at Twitter turn into a distraction?

    Legal Snags

    MUSK HOLDS 14.1% stake in Tesla, and is the biggest shareholder. Since 2012, as an alternative of a wage, Tesla has been compensating Musk with inventory choices linked to milestones in market capitalization and operations.

    The first award was instituted in August 2012, and would give Musk 5% extra shares in tranches. The second award was instituted in 2018, and can give him 10% extra at an train worth of $70 per share.

    Earlier this month, a US court docket started listening to a case by a Tesla investor, who contended that Musk used his standing as the biggest shareholder to dictate phrases to the Tesla board. Musk and the board members argue Tesla was on the point of failure, and that the payout was depending on reaching targets, which Musk did. A judgement is anticipated in just a few months. Telsa’s share worth is now $183, down from $249 on 4 October, when Musk agreed to purchase Twitter after months of uncertainty.

    Operational Hurdles

    THE SURGE within the Tesla inventory got here amid the corporate increasing manufacturing. Talking about that point, throughout his court docket testimony on 16 November, Musk mentioned he underwent nice ache to attain that. “The quantity of ache, no phrases can specific,” he mentioned. In the primary quarter of 2018, Tesla produced 34,494 autos. In the final three quarters, it has averaged about 310,000. During the pandemic, when auto majors had been reducing manufacturing as a result of a semiconductor chip scarcity, Tesla continued to ramp up because it was producing its personal chips, which it began earlier to make chips extra energy-efficient.

    At the identical time, Tesla faces different operational points, manifesting in car remembers internationally. In July, Germany’s street transport watchdog ordered a recall of Tesla fashions Y and three as a result of a fault in its computerized emergency name system. More just lately, Tesla needed to recall autos in China, Australia and the US.

    Rival Attacks

    MEANWHILE, COMPETITION is selecting up from conventional auto gamers, pushed by a number of elements. Many nationwide governments are pushing EVs as a part of their environmental objectives. Prices of key components are dropping.

    According to Bloomberg New Energy Finance, the price of electric-car batteries is anticipated to drop to $87 per kilowatt-hour by 2025, from about $176 per kWh now. Bloomberg NEF additionally estimates that electrical vehicles might outsell petrol/diesel vehicles by 2040. Traditional auto firms, with established distribution channels and model recall, are scaling up their EV presence. Tesla is the world’s main producer of electrical vehicles at this time. The inherent argument on this valuation is that it’ll keep its EV dominance. But as EV goes mainstream, Tesla shall be challenged. If the problem is stiff, Musk, with every thing on his plate, shall be challenged extra.

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  • Meta’s Oversight Board sees spike in person appeals

    NEW DELHI : An unbiased physique which hears challenges to content material moderation choices taken by Meta has reported a excessive success fee of appeals, strengthening the case for such an entity for social media platforms.

    Meta’s Oversight Board, which oversees appeals towards the corporate’s content material takedowns on Facebook and Instagram, stated that in 14 out of 20 circumstances it reviewed, Meta acknowledged that its “authentic determination was incorrect.”

    Appeals before the board grew 66% in the March quarter sequentially. According to its latest transparency report, a total of 480,000 cases were filed with the Board during the period, up from 288,440 cases in the December quarter.

    The increase in successful appeals against content moderation decisions by Meta buttresses the case for an independent regulator or a government-appointed appellate grievance committee as proposed in India.

    The Oversight Board doesn’t look into every request and usually picks up cases that are common to set a wide precedent with its rulings.

    Social media companies, on their part, are reportedly mulling a self-regulatory body to deal with challenges and users’ grievances. Such a body may function on the lines of the Oversight Board and make all social media companies more accountable with their recommendations.

    Meta set up the Oversight Board in May 2020 to take an independent call on controversial content moderation decisions related to issues like hate speech. Though independent, the Board is funded by Meta through a trust. The company has so far committed $280 million to the trust for managing and running the Oversight Board’s affairs.

    “A self regulatory body may be a welcome move as compared to internal regulatory mechanisms of each platform. In any event, the oversight committee or equivalent in the regulatory body would review the platform’s actions. The government also indicated that it may view this option favourably,” stated N.S. Nappinai, Supreme Court Advocate and founding father of Cyber Saathi.

    Though a self-regulatory physique isn’t a nasty concept, Nappinai famous that such a physique would solely have recommendatory powers and won’t have enforcement authority. That will, in any occasion, all the time stay with the federal government.

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  • Twitter says engaged on long-form textual content characteristic known as Notes; test particulars right here

    Twitter Inc stated on 22 June stated that it’s testing a brand new characteristic known as “Notes” that may enable customers to jot down longer on the platform.

    User can now share essay-like write-ups as a hyperlink each on and off the social media platform, it stated.

    Twitter shared how the characteristic will work in two separate GIFs on its platform. 

    The firm additionally stated e-newsletter agency Revue, which it purchased final yr, would now be a part of Twitter Write together with the “Notes” characteristic.

    Currently, the long-form characteristic is being examined by a small group of writers. The firm didn’t give extra particulars on its wider roll-out.

    Users can click on into the “Write” tab to start out writing a Note, and might then embed the Note into their tweet when completed. Twiiter has additionally shared tweets by writers those that have already revealed Notes on the platform, which seem as long-form posts that may have tweets, movies, and pictures combined in.

    The firm at the moment has a 280-character restrict on tweets, a characteristic it started testing practically 5 years in the past.

    Earlier on April 6, Twitter stated that it’s engaged on a means for customers to edit their 280-character messages, which it known as “the most requested feature for many years.”

    It had stated that it’s going to take a look at the characteristic in its paid service, Twitter Blue, within the coming months.

    It stated the take a look at would assist it be taught what works, what would not, and what’s attainable. So it could be some time earlier than most Twitter customers get to make use of it, in the event that they ever do. Twitter spokesperson Catherine Hill declined to say whether or not an edit characteristic is likely to be rolled out for all customers.

    Many Twitter customers – amongst them, Kim Kardashian, Ice T, Katy Perry and McDonald’s company account – have lengthy begged for an edit button.

    The firm itself had just lately teased its customers with an April Fool’s Day tweet saying we’re engaged on an edit button. The official Twitter account stated Tuesday that the April 1 tweet wasn’t a joke and that it has been engaged on it since final yr.

    Twitter additionally stated it did not get the concept from a Twitter ballot launched by Tesla CEO Musk which noticed greater than 4 million individuals had voted. Musk had requested followers in the event that they wished an edit button, cheekily misspelling sure as yse and no as on.

    Do you need an edit button?

    — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 5, 2022

    Musk had additionally tweeted that he’s wanting ahead to creating important enhancements to Twitter in coming months.

    The firm is at the moment in the course of a $44 billion buyout by Tesla Inc CEO Elon Musk, the world’s richest individual based on Forbes journal.

    (With inputs from businesses)

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  • Koo raises $30 million funding led by Tiger Global

    Twitter-rival Koo has raised USD 30 million (about Rs 218 crore) in Series B funding, led by Tiger Global with current buyers additionally collaborating within the newest spherical.
    Existing buyers Accel Partners, Kalaari Capital, Blume Ventures and Dream Incubator additionally took half within the spherical, Koo stated in a press release. IIFL and Mirae Assets are different new buyers who’ve come on board the cap desk with this spherical, it added.
    Notably, the fund elevating comes amid new IT middleman guidelines taking impact, translating into higher accountability and scrutiny for social media firms, together with Twitter and Facebook. Koo has near 60 lakh customers, making it a significant social media middleman below the brand new pointers.

    Koo, final week, stated it has complied with the necessities of the brand new guidelines and its privateness coverage, phrases of use and group pointers now mirror the adjustments.
    “Koo, India’s own microblogging app, has raised USD 30 million in Series B funding,” it stated in a press release on Wednesday, including that Tiger Global led the funding spherical.
    The recent spherical of funding could be used primarily to strengthen engineering, product and group efforts throughout all Indian languages at Koo.
    Aprameya Radhakrishna, Co-Founder and CEO of Koo stated, “We have aggressive plans to grow into one of the world’s largest social media platforms in the next few years. Every Indian is cheering for us to get there soon”.
    Tiger Global is the precise associate to have on board to understand this dream, Radhakrishna added.

    Koo was based by serial entrepreneurs Aprameya Radhakrishna, founding father of TaxiForSure and Mayank Bidawatka who beforehand based firms like MediaAnt and Goodbox. Its reputation peaked amid clarion requires increasing the ecosystem of homegrown digital platforms.
    Koo has seen an enormous progress in its consumer base over the previous few months after union ministers and authorities departments endorsed the homegrown microblogging platform, following a spat with Twitter.

  • Instagram launches ‘Remix’ characteristic on Reels

    NEW DELHI: Instagram guardian Facebook, which has been pushing its quick video format Reels aggressively in India, on Thursday introduced a brand new characteristic Remix for the app. The characteristic provides a approach to document a Reels video alongside a video from one other person. It is much like TikTok’s Duets characteristic, which additionally lets customers react to or work together with one other individual’s video content material whereas creating their very own. TikTok was banned in India in June final yr.

    Facebook allowed Indian creators to share their Reels content material on Facebook accounts leading to increased visibility and attain. The was geared toward boosting Reels in scale.

    Also Read | Inside Mumbai’s new extortion financial system

    The characteristic is primarily geared toward making the platform extra linked and fewer passive the place extra customers can collaborate with one another.

    With the brand new characteristic, the display splits into the unique reel and the brand new one and customers can begin recording their remix. Once recorded, customers can management the quantity for the unique audio, their recorded audio, and add a voiceover.

    Users can monitor remixed content material by way of Instagram’s Activity tab.

    “Since the launch of Reels last year, several features have been added to it. This includes extending the recording time limit up to 30 seconds, extending the countdown timer to 10 seconds while recording, and adding options to trim and delete clips from the timeline. There have also been updates to the audio features, where you can now save audio clips, share audio pages, and browse for trending songs,” Instagram mentioned in a submit.

    Instagram Reels, launched in July final yr, has discovered traction amongst manufacturers throughout vogue and life-style, magnificence, private care, meals and drinks and journey classes.

    Instagram mentioned movies make up for over a 3rd of posts on its platform in India with two out of the 5 songs most shared globally on Reels from Indian artistes.

    Reels, in accordance with Instagram, offers a fantastic alternative for creators and types to be found on devoted surfaces, Reels tab and in Explore part. Brands can work with influencers to create content material or their very own Reels content material, which tendencies on Instagram, growing their likelihood to be found. Reels is at the moment free.

    Recently, information shared by Indian authorities confirmed that Facebook has nearly double the variety of customers (410 million) than Instagram (210 million) in India.

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