Elon Musk Buys Twitter

[Odinfrost]

But he swore to protect them with his life...

And with that, he means he's going to absorb the cats into his flesh through consumption, therefore being literal with his statement. When he dies, then so, spiritually, does the cats

[Breccia]

From Sky News Australia:

The Communications Legislation Amendment (Combatting Misinformation and Disinformation) Bill 2024 (proposed)

To protect freedom of speech, the bill sets a high threshold for the type of mis- and disinformation that digital platforms must combat on their services—that is, it must be reasonably verifiable as false, misleading or deceptive and reasonably likely to cause or contribute to serious harm. The harm must have significant and far-reaching consequences for Australian society, or severe consequences for an individual in Australia.

"Yawn. Another toothless finger wag. What's Australia going to do? Glower angrily?"

Digital platforms may be subject to civil penalties of up to five per cent of global turnover for breaches of a standard and up to two per cent for codes. These penalties are high. However, they may be necessary in response to egregious and systematic breaches and failure to act.

"...percent?"

Yes. For example, Twitter's revenue dropped to $3.4 billion last year. Two percent of that would be sixty-eight million dollars.

Per offense.

Naturally, Musk had plenty to say about this, as it's a complicated topic that should be taken seriously.

fascists

"Where's the rest of his response?"

That was his response in its entirety.

Naturally, Australian politicians had things to say.

Musk’s comment was met with condemnation from federal government ministers on Friday, with Assistant Treasurer Stephen Jones deeming the scathing remark “crackpot stuff” and calling out the harmful content present on X.

“Whether it’s the Australian government or any other government around the world, we assert our right to pass laws which will keep Australians safe – safe from scammers, safe from criminals,” he told the ABC.

“For the life of me, I can’t see how Elon Musk or anyone else, in the name of free speech, thinks it’s OK to have social media platforms publishing scam content, which is robbing Australians of billions of dollars every year.

“Publishing deepfake material, publishing child pornography. Livestreaming murder scenes. I mean is this what he thinks free speech is all about?”

“When it’s in his commercial interests, he is the champion of free speech; when he doesn’t like it, he’s going to shut it all down,” he said.

So, Musk's response to "please stop sharing knowingly false harmful information" can only reasonably be described as "no, I want to keep spreading knowingly false harmful information". A lot of people would want to stop the spread of knowingly false harmful information on the grounds that it's the right thing to do. Others, because it's illegal (assuming this passes). I would find someone responding to "killing an innocent person on purpose is illegal" with "fascists" to be a horrible person, and I can't say this is any better in direction. Let's not forget, spreading knowingly false harmful information led to the Jan 6th violent terrorist attack. It can kill people.

This may or may not pass, but if it does pass, I'm curious how many $68 million fines Musk will allow himself to pay before passing knowingly false harmful information to help Trump stops being his passtime.

[Gorsameth]

From Sky News Australia:

The Communications Legislation Amendment (Combatting Misinformation and Disinformation) Bill 2024 (proposed)



"Yawn. Another toothless finger wag. What's Australia going to do? Glower angrily?"



"...percent?"

Yes. For example, Twitter's revenue dropped to $3.4 billion last year. Two percent of that would be sixty-eight million dollars.

Per offense.

Naturally, Musk had plenty to say about this, as it's a complicated topic that should be taken seriously.



"Where's the rest of his response?"

That was his response in its entirety.

Naturally, Australian politicians had things to say.



So, Musk's response to "please stop sharing knowingly false harmful information" can only reasonably be described as "no, I want to keep spreading knowingly false harmful information". A lot of people would want to stop the spread of knowingly false harmful information on the grounds that it's the right thing to do. Others, because it's illegal (assuming this passes). I would find someone responding to "killing an innocent person on purpose is illegal" with "fascists" to be a horrible person, and I can't say this is any better in direction. Let's not forget, spreading knowingly false harmful information led to the Jan 6th violent terrorist attack. It can kill people.

This may or may not pass, but if it does pass, I'm curious how many $68 million fines Musk will allow himself to pay before passing knowingly false harmful information to help Trump stops being his passtime.

This is why social media worked hard to tell the world they would police themselves and then did some half arsed attempted to do just that.

And then Elon came by, said "fuck that" and now governments will do it for them. And that is much much more work.

[fwc577]

I'm not normally one to advocate for violence, but Musk is the kind of guy who needs a serious ass kicking. He apparently got one in high school after mocking a kid whose dad committed suicide, but the lesson didn't take. Shame that he backed out of that fight with Zuckerberg.

Reminder that this creep is in his 50s, despite talking like a 14 year old 4chan incel.

I'd laugh if he things go bad for him after some sort of self-driving malfunction.

- - - Updated - - -

I saw people on twitter openly challening Elon to saw that shit in front of Taylor and her Boyfriend.

Also, I think we need to normalize Billionaires beating the shit out of each other.

We can make a yearly sport of it. Call it the Hungry Games. The richest person from each state has to get in an arena and fight each other until only 1 remains standing.

- - - Updated - - -

Musk is a prime example that getting laid doesn't cure being an incel.

This made me snort.

[Evil Midnight Bomber]

We can make a yearly sport of it. Call it the Hungry Games. The richest person from each state has to get in an arena and fight each other until only 1 remains standing.

I was thinking more "Squid Game"...but that can work too.

[Rasulis]

I'd laugh if he things go bad for him after some sort of self-driving malfunction.

- - - Updated - - -



We can make a yearly sport of it. Call it the Hungry Games. The richest person from each state has to get in an arena and fight each other until only 1 remains standing.

- - - Updated - - -



This made me snort.

These are why advertisers are not advertising on X.

[Breccia]

Bankman-Fried sentenced to 25 years for crimes and "effective altruism".

Bankman-Fried files for appeal.

Sam Bankman-Fried was never presumed innocent. He was presumed guilty — before he was even charged. He was presumed guilty by the media. He was presumed guilty by the FTX debtor estate and its lawyers. He was presumed guilty by federal prosecutors eager for quick headlines. And he was presumed guilty by the judge who presided over his trial,

"Why would the media's view get him a new trial?"

It wouldn't.

"Don't most victims assume the person who committed a crime against them is guilty?"

Yes.

At best, they can attempt to show the judge was biased. Good luck with that. The attempt seems to revolve around his 25-year sentence for his first non-violent offence. Worth noting: the typical sentence for "grand theft" is several years. This guy stole billions. He could get millions of years in jail, and it'd be proportional. It was one of the, if not the, biggest fiscal frauds in history. Getting leniency for it being your first non-violent offence? If anything, the concern would be him somehow topping this.

Now, nearly two years later, a very different picture is emerging — one confirming FTX was never insolvent, and in fact had assets worth billions to repay its customers. But the jury at Bankman-Fried’s trial never got to see that picture.

"Wait, so they're asking for an appeal based on PR and...time travel?"

Yes.

"If they had billions, why did FTX file for bankruptcy? The bankruptcy is so famous it has a Wikipedia page."

It does. I like the part where Bankman-Fried was telling people not to panic, while employees were selling off desk chairs on eBay. Kind of reminds me of Trump saying he won't sell his own stock. Nobody believes him, either.

And yes, claiming to be so broke you can't pay your own debts, a claim you make under oath because filing for bankruptcy counts, while blocking people who aren't you from withdrawing their funds, conflicts directly with the claim "I have enough money to pay them". It could even be construed as fraud to declare bankruptcy when you're not bankrupt, and to block withdraws when you could pay the money you were contractually obligated.

This appeal is going nowhere.

[Surfd]

Honestly, there should be some "non violent" crimes that just get the book thrown at you, and fuck your feelings if you think you deserve leniency.

Financial fraud on the level of this shit, or the people responsible for the housing market collapse should earn you a one way ticket to a hell you never get out of, because you are responsible for utterly ruining the lives of untold numbers of people through your malfeasance. For good measure, we can throw in anyone who gets caught being involved in phone scams too. Special breed of asshole who should just disappear into a hole, never to be seen from in polite society again.

[Breccia]

The Post has made the full court filing public, though most of these are just generically named VC or investment firms whose names will not ring a bell. (27 of them are offshoots of the mutual fund company Fidelity Investments.)

But there is one shocker on the list — pop star and business mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs. Actually, it’s his investment firm Sean Combs Capital, LLC. But since recent allegations accused Diddy of sex trafficking, battery, and sexual assault, you can see how he and Musk may be peas in a pod.

Sean Combs charged with racketeering and sex trafficking

Hip-hop artist Sean “Diddy” Combs was charged with racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking, according to a federal indictment unsealed on Tuesday.

The indictment was unsealed after Combs was arrested late Monday night in New York.

The filing paints Combs as the leader of a vast criminal enterprise, which relied on employees and the influence of Combs’s business empire to attempt to “engage in, among other crimes, sex trafficking, forced labor, kidnapping, arson, bribery and obstruction of justice.”

The indictment includes allegations dating back to 2008, claiming Combs “abused, threatened, and coerced women and others around him to fulfill his sexual desires, protect his reputation, and conceal his conduct.”

The indictment includes three charges: racketeering conspiracy; sex trafficking by force, fraud, or coercion; and transportation to engage in prostitution.

Naturally, his lawyer says the prosecution is unjust because Combs is rich.

No, really.

In a statement Monday night, Combs’s attorney, Marc Agnifilo, said he and his client were “disappointed” by the “unjust prosecution” of Combs, whom Agnifilo praised as a “music icon, self-made entrepreneur, loving family man, and proven philanthropist.”

“He is an imperfect person, but he Is not a criminal,” Agnifilo continued in his statement. “To his credit Mr. Combs has been nothing but cooperative with this investigation and he voluntarily relocated to New York last week in anticipation of these charges. Please reserve your judgment until you have all the facts.”

The word for this is "trial".

So, how much you want to bet this is being blocked on Twitter? No, really, I have no idea if Musk will cover for one of his backers or let them get ripped to pieces.

[Edge-]

Has Elon Musk’s careless posting finally caught up with him? Just one day after having to play off his horrific take on the second attempted assassination of Donald Trump as a “joke,” the Tesla CEO is back in the hot seat again for sharing anti-Ukrainian content that, as it turns out, was actually generated by a Russian psychological operations team. The meme in question, posted by Musk last October, features a strain-faced President Volodymyr Zelensky with the caption: “When it’s been 5 minutes and you haven’t asked for a billion dollars in aid.” Several outlets, including RFE/RL, have now obtained leaked documents that reveal the image had been created by the Social Design Agency. A Moscow-based company, the group was hired by the Kremlin to use propaganda and disinformation to sow discord over Western support for Ukraine amid the conflict. Who’s laughing now?

At least Tim Pool and Benny Johnson and Lauren Southern and them got paid for being useful idiots. It looks like Elon might be doing this for free? Or is he paying the interest to his Russian investors via propaganda shitposting?

[Jessicka]

At least Tim Pool and Benny Johnson and Lauren Southern and them got paid for being useful idiots. It looks like Elon might be doing this for free? Or is he paying the interest to his Russian investors via propaganda shitposting?

It's Russian bots that give him "engagement" numbers to show everyone people still use the platform, so probably the latter.

[Edge-]

https://archive.is/IrQyP

Elon Musk amplified a flurry of false claims and misinformation Wednesday in a period of online activity which, even by his own standards, was fairly unhinged.

The billionaire edgelord is no stranger to a reckless post, already attracting the ire of the White House this week over a tweet in which he wrote “no one is even trying to assassinate Biden/Kamala.” Musk deleted that post— which came just hours after the second apparent assassination attempt of Donald Trump—while passing it off as a joke, though the Secret Service apparently didn’t see the funny side.

Some people might decide to be more cautious online after such a snafu.

But on Wednesday, Musk retweeted an X post to his nearly 200 million followers claiming there was a bomb threat in a car near a planned Trump rally on Long Island. The original poster deleted their tweet after the claim was shown to be wrong, while Musk’s own post about the matter—in which he’d written “wow” in response to the fake claim—remains live as of Thursday morning.

The Tesla boss on Wednesday also reshared a post alleging that ABC News had “falsely claimed the Springfield City Manager refuted Trump’s debate statement” about Haitian immigrants eating pets in Ohio. The person speaking in the post’s video, however, was not the city manager, CNN reports. It was actually Springfield resident making unproven claims based on comments that he had “heard.”

That didn’t stop Musk sharing the misleading post came with the caption “Always Be Cheating News,” an apparent jibe at the ABC News moderators who swiftly fact-checked Trump’s claims about Haitian immigrants during his debate with Kamala Harris.

Several hours later, Musk also shared a map projecting a sweeping electoral college victory for Trump in the November elections. “Trending well,” Musk wrote in his quote-tweet of the map.

The post’s creator atrributed the map to Nate Silver, the pollster founder of FiveThirtyEight who now publishes on his Substack blog Silver Bulletin. But the map wasn’t real, with the actual map shared on Silver’s blog showing that—in contradiction to the poster’s claims—the race remains, in Silver’s words, a “tossup.”

Must like his senpai, Donald, Leon seems to be losing his mind and is retweeting an unusually high number of absolutely obviously false, dishonest bullshit and misinformation.

Leon seems to be very mad and losing it, too.

[Breccia]

Gov. Newsom threatens to sue Elon Musk for his willful sharing of known false information.

I think Mr. Musk has missed the punchline, parody is still alive and well in California but deepfakes and manipulation of elections? That hurts democracy and the integrity of the system and trust and we believe in truth and trust and we believe this law is sound and will be upheld in court.

He is referring to this law he signed three days ago, but does not go into effect until next year. Simply put, after Musk himself willingly shared a video that faked Harris' voice and, Musk being Musk, forced it into tens of millions of feeds without any indication it was humor or satire.

Which it was. But half the country probably heard what they thought was Harris saying "I am a diversity hire" and believed it.

Musk, of course, has responded by saying this is a First Amendment violation. I'm looking forward to the courts deciding how much you can just make up and assume the audience knows it's satire. More importantly, I'm waiting until Musk himself is the target of one of these AI deepfakes, and instead of sharing it with a good laugh, takes it down and bans the source. Because if he does that, Newsom immediately wins the lawsuit.

[Lenonis]

Musk, of course, has responded by saying this is a First Amendment violation.

I feel fairly confident in an assertion that faking video to show someone saying something in their voice they didn't say using AI or other tools skips right out of first amendment territory and right into defamation/slander territory.

[Breccia]

I feel fairly confident in an assertion that faking video to show someone saying something in their voice they didn't say using AI or other tools skips right out of first amendment territory and right into defamation/slander territory.

And that willingly spreading it (not just "it happened on Twitter" but "the CEO of Twitter shared it on purpose") would be aiding and abetting, yes. Again, I want to see this come to court, just to see where that line is drawn. Public figures like Musk really don't want the answer to be "you can make any deepfake of anyone at anytime and it's fair".

[Edge-]

The Securities and Exchange Commission has asked a federal judge to sanction Elon Musk if he continues to violate the court’s order to appear for a deposition in a probe of his 2022 Twitter acquisition.

The SEC has been investigating whether Musk or anyone else working with him committed securities fraud in 2022 as the Tesla CEO sold shares in his automaker and shored up a stake in Twitter, ahead of his leveraged buyout of the company now known as X.

In May, the court ordered Musk to appear for a deposition by the financial regulators regarding the Twitter deal.

“Musk has now failed to appear before the SEC twice: first in September 2023, in defiance of a lawful administrative subpoena, and last week, in defiance of a clear court order,” SEC attorney Robin Andrews said in the Friday filing.

Andrews asked the judge to consider sanctions should Musk delay further, according to the filing.

“The Court must make clear that Musk’s gamesmanship and delay tactics must cease,” Andrews wrote.

https://www.cnbc.com/2024/09/20/sec-...positions.html

Come on, he's a busy guy! Surely he's not just being an asshole!

The filing also revealed, in a footnote, that the SEC intends to ask the court to hold Musk in “civil contempt” for canceling a deposition on Sept. 10, giving the agency only a few hours notice that he would not appear. Musk’s cancellation cost the SEC time and money after it sent personnel to Los Angeles to depose him and he didn’t appear for the investigative interview, the agency said.

Oh...yeah. Well he does hate the SEC.

Musk’s deposition in the probe has been rescheduled for a date in early October at an SEC office, the filing said.

“Without further action by the Court, nothing deters Musk” from “simply failing to show up for that date,” Andrews wrote.

And they're right about this.

Musk’s attorney, Alex Spiro, a partner at Quinn Emanuel in New York, wrote in a response that “such drastic action would be inappropriate,” adding that the SEC and Musk had agreed rescheduling would be permissible in light of an emergency.

Uh huh.

[Karreck]

Cards Against Humanity sues Elon Musk's SpaceX for allegedly trespassing on Texas land

https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-ne...and-rcna172016

The maker of the party game Cards Against Humanity has sued Elon Musk’s SpaceX accusing it of trespassing on and damaging company-owned property in Texas.

The lawsuit, filed Thursday in Texas court, asks for $15 million to cover damages including what the company calls the destruction of natural vegetation.

The dispute involves a plot of vacant land near Brownsville, Texas, far from the Cards Against Humanity corporate headquarters in Chicago. The game maker bought the land in 2017 in what it said was a stunt to obstruct the plan by then-President Donald Trump to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. No wall was ever built on the property, where the company keeps a “No Trespassing” sign, according to the company.

But the land is near SpaceX’s operations, known as Starbase, and according to the lawsuit, SpaceX has been using the land without permission for about six months as a staging area for construction: clearing vegetation, parking vehicles, storing gravel and running generators.

“CAH acquired the Property for the sole purpose of ensuring that it would stay that way,” the lawsuit says.

“SpaceX’s abuse of this Property has not only destroyed its natural condition, but has also caused even greater harm to CAH by virtue of the damage it has caused to CAH’s relationship with its paying supporters,” it says.

Cards Against Humanity said it bought the land after 150,000 people each paid $15 toward a crowdfunding effort. The “politically incorrect” card game also got its start with crowdfunding in 2010. The company said that if it succeeds in the lawsuit, it will pass any money received onto the original 150,000 donors, up to $100 a person.

SpaceX, which launches rockets from the area, did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday. Musk, the CEO, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Musk has been systematically moving many of his business operations to Texas, including for his companies SpaceX, Tesla and X.

Cards Against Humanity complained to SpaceX about the alleged trespassing and damage, according to a website the game maker set up devoted to the lawsuit. The company said SpaceX responded with a “lowball offer” to buy the land “for less than half” its value, with a 12-hour deadline to accept. Cards Against Humanity said it rejected the offer.

The company also said it would “accept Twitter.com as compensation,” referring to the social media app Musk bought in 2022 and renamed X.

The lawsuit was first reported by Reuters, which also relayed complaints from other neighbors about the swift development around Starbase.

The lawsuit includes what it says are before-and-after photographs of the Cards Against Humanity land, with grasses and cacti from before the alleged SpaceX intrusion and construction equipment and material after the alleged trespassing.

SpaceX has found enormous demand for its rockets and satellite-launch service. This month it sent four private citizens on a historic mission 870 miles above Earth’s surface, the highest humans have reached since 1972, and earlier this year, it successfully launched its Starship megarocket to orbit and back.

But the rocket company has also been at the center of controversy over its reliance on government contracts and dominance of the market. SpaceX has an estimated 80% of the space launch market and it continues to sign new U.S. government contracts.

SpaceX has also violated environmental regulations at its Texas launch facility by repeatedly releasing pollutants into or near bodies of water, a state agency said last month, according to CNBC. The facility is near the mouth of the Rio Grande, on the Gulf of Mexico.

Elon is so good at making friends.

[Elegiac]

Rare Brazil W.

X’s lawyers said in a Friday court filing cited by the Times that X complied with the orders asking the social network to remove accounts accused of engaging in disinformation, as well as demands from the Supreme Court regarding fines and the assignment of a new legal representative for X in Brazil.

The Brazilian Supreme Court confirmed the compliance in its own filing Saturday, though it noted X has yet to file the proper documents to move forward with its case and will have five days to do so, the Times reported.

André Zonaro Giacchetta, one of X’s new lawyers in Brazil, told the Times the conditions for X’s return in Brazil “have already been met, but it depends on the assessment of” the country’s supreme court.

[Edge-]

So that's two completely stupid, pointless games of chicken that Leon has chosen to start. And he lost both of them.

Damn, so was all his high falootin rhetoric about freeze peach and how bad Brazil was really just sour grapes?

I can't wait to find out what game of chicken he's going to get into, completely of his own volition, next.

[Breccia]

JD Vance suggested the US's support for NATO could be pulled if Europe tries to regulate Elon Musk's X

Vance, Donald Trump's running mate in the upcoming presidential election, claimed on the show that an EU official had threatened to arrest Musk if he platformed Trump.

"The leader, I forget exactly which official it was within the European Union, but sent Elon this threatening letter that basically said: 'We're gonna arrest you if you platform Donald Trump,'" Vance said.

"What America should be saying is, if NATO wants us to continue supporting them and NATO wants us to continue to be a good participant in this military alliance, why don't you respect American values and respect free speech?" he continued, adding that it was "insane that we would support a military alliance if that military alliance isn't going to be pro-free speech."

"What? The EU would be breaking the law!"

No. They would be enforcing the law.

Vance seemed to be referring to a letter posted on X in August by Thierry Breton, the European Commissioner for the Internal Market at the time.

Breton addressed the letter to Musk ahead of the X owner's much-publicized interview with Trump, warning him against amplifying "harmful content."

Breton wrote that Musk and X had an obligation to comply with EU law, ensuring freedom of expression and information but making sure that "all proportionate and effective mitigation measures are put in place regarding the amplification of harmful content in connection with relevant events."

The EU Commission had previously said in July that X did not comply with the EU's Digital Services Act on advertising transparency and in relation to its verified accounts policy.

Breton said that the commission's preliminary findings suggested that X's blue checks "deceive users" and infringe the DSA.

Responding to the findings on his social media platform, Musk said that the European Commission had previously offered X "an illegal secret deal."

"If we quietly censored speech without telling anyone, they would not fine us. The other platforms accepted that deal. X did not," he added.

Well, you heard it in public. JD Vance, officially chosen Vice-Presidential candidate of the USA's second-largest party, has suggested cutting funding for NATO if EUropean countries enforced their own laws about willfully allowing harmful content on purpose. Laws which passed Oct 2022 and went into action the following year. This is not a surprise or a new proposal. Also Musk's buyout completed Oct 27, 2022, so he should have known about it.

And, well, you know where this is going.
@Flarelaine I formally petition to merge this thread with the 2024 election thread.

I know, it shouldn't go there. It doesn't belong there. But one of the two major parties has now made it a multi-continent political issue. Therefore, now it's an election issue, and needs to be in the election thread.

Sorry. I don't make the rules.