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California aims to protect kids with social media warning labels

December 10, 2024
A new bill introduced Monday, Dec. 9, in California’s Legislature, would, if passed, make it the first state to mandate mental health warning labels on social media sites. Supporters of the proposal say it is needed to protect children’s online safety and stop social media companies from viewing kids as a “commodity.”

Victoria Hinks, who says her 16-year-old daughter died by suicide after she was “led down dark rabbit holes” on social media that glorified eating disorders and promoted self-harm, supports the bill.

Hinks said the warnings would protect children from social media companies that ignore the mental health problems linked to their products.

However, Big Tech is vowing to fight the measures, with industry officials arguing that the rule violates the First Amendment on the grounds it is “compelled speech.” They contend lawmakers should put their efforts toward online education and mental health resources.

State lawmakers have not given specifics on the bill but say the warnings could pop up once a week.

California’s past efforts to take on Big Tech involved the state suing Meta, the parent company of Facebook, in 2023 and TikTok in October. Both suits accused the companies of creating addictive features that keep children obsessed with their platforms.
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X claims ownership of InfoWars’ account, blocks transfer to The Onion

November 27, 2024
Elon Musk’s social media platform, X, is contesting the transfer of InfoWars’ accounts as part of the site’s bankruptcy sale to satirical news outlet The Onion. The objection, based on X’s terms of service, argues the platform owns user accounts and requires its permission for their sale or transfer.

InfoWars, founded by Alex Jones, was auctioned after he was ordered to pay $1.5 billion in damages to families of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting victims for falsely claiming the tragedy was a hoax.

The Onion placed the winning bid of $1.75 million, with the support of the Sandy Hook families. However, another bidder, First United American Companies, offered $3.5 million but alleged improper collusion in the auction process.

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In a court filing, X claimed its terms of service specify that accounts on the platform are licensed to users but remain the property of the company. X’s stance highlights broader implications for social media account ownership, potentially affecting millions of users. The platform clarified it does not oppose the sale of other InfoWars assets, such as its website or customer lists.

Jones and First United American Companies have also filed objections, accusing the trustee overseeing the sale of bias. The trustee denied the allegations, calling them baseless attempts to disrupt the auction. A bankruptcy judge is set to hold a hearing in December to determine whether the sale can proceed.

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The case underscores Elon Musk’s growing use of X’s platform for personal and political influence. Musk recently reassigned the dormant @America account to promote his pro-Trump super PAC, as part of his increasingly visible role in the president-elect’s administration.

The legal battle is expected to set a precedent for how social media accounts are treated in bankruptcy cases, with potential ramifications for the tech industry.
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New X terms will allow all user data to train AI services

October 21, 2024
X, formerly known as Twitter, has updated its terms of service, allowing the platform to use user posts for artificial intelligence training. The changes, effective Nov. 15, have sparked concerns over data privacy and content ownership.

The new terms grant X a worldwide, nonexclusive license to analyze and use all content shared on the platform. That includes personal posts and artwork, and the data will be used to further train its AI models.

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Users and creators are worried their work may be used to fuel AI systems that could eventually replace human creators, while others are concerned about personal data being included in the training process.

While users could previously opt out of sharing data for AI purposes, the updated terms no longer make it clear whether that option will remain available, leaving some unsure if their private posts will still be protected.

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X’s AI chatbot, Grok, has already faced controversy for spreading misinformation and generating fake images, raising further concerns about how the platform’s AI models are being developed.

Despite the backlash, users who continue to use X after Nov. 15 will automatically agree to the updated terms.
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X is worth 79% less than when Elon Musk bought it for $44 billion: Report

October 1, 2024
Elon Musk’s contention in 2022 that he and his fellow investors were overpaying when they bought the social media platform formerly known as Twitter seems to be spot on. Fidelity said the value of its investment in X dwindled by nearly 79%.

Asset managers at Fidelity’s Blue Chip Growth Fund say the value of its investment into X has fallen by 78.7% as of the end of August. The fund invested $19.66 million in the social media company in October 2022. By July of this year, it said its investment was worth $5.5 million. By the end of August, it valued the investment at $4.19 million, according to recent disclosures.

Musk and his group bought the company for $44 billion and by Fidelity’s math, it’s worth just $9.37 billion as of August 2024.

This isn’t the first time the value of the company has been called into question. In October of last year, X issued stock grants to employees at a price of $45 per share. That put the price at around $19 billion.

Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal said the $13 billion Musk borrowed to buy the company has become the worst buyout situation for banks since the Great Recession.

When banks loan money for takeovers like this one, they typically sell the debt to other investors so they can collect fees instead of it sitting on their books. But banks haven’t been able to do that with the X debt without taking losses because it isn’t making money.

The Twitter loans have hung longer than similar deals in 2008-2009. Banks call loans stuck on their balance sheets “hung.”

While the Great Recession created more hung loans, banks were generally able to offload the debt within a year, something that hasn’t happened in the case of X, according to analysis from Pitchbook LCD.

Despite Musk saying in October 2022 that he and his other investors were “obviously overpaying for Twitter,” seven banks, including Morgan Stanley, Bank of America, and Barclays, still approved the loans.

But it’s not all downside for the banks involved. They’ve been able to rake in massive amounts of interest off the acquisition. Musk previously said he is paying $1.5 billion per year on those loans, which have significantly higher rates than other loans used for acquisitions.
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New X report shows platform more compliant with ‘censorship’ under Musk

September 27, 2024
X, the social media platform formerly called Twitter, has issued its first transparency report since Elon Musk took control of the company. The report details a significant increase in both account suspensions and content moderation actions, reflecting the company’s efforts to enforce its rules more strictly.

During the first half of this year, X suspended nearly 5.3 million accounts, more than triple the 1.6 million accounts suspended in the same period in 2022. The company also reported that over 10.6 million posts were either removed or labeled for violating platform rules, with roughly 5 million falling under its “hateful conduct” category.

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Posts involving violent content accounted for 2.2 million of the removals or labels, while those related to abuse and harassment reached 2.6 million. However, the company did not specify how many posts were taken down compared to those that were only flagged.

In a previous blog post from April 2023, X noted that it had required users to take down 6.5 million pieces of content in the first half of 2022, marking a 29% rise from the latter part of 2021.

Musk’s leadership has faced criticism, with some accusing him of turning the platform into a more chaotic and toxic space. He has sparked controversy by sharing conspiracy theories and clashing with political figures and world leaders. Additionally, X remains banned in Brazil after a conflict between Musk and a Brazilian Supreme Court judge over free speech, misinformation and far-right accounts.

X said it relies on a combination of machine learning and human moderators to enforce its rules. Automated systems are tasked with flagging or taking action on problematic content, which is then reviewed by human moderators if needed. The company added that posts violating its policies made up less than 1% of the total content on the platform.

When Musk sought to acquire Twitter in 2022, he expressed a desire to transform it into a “platform for free speech.” Since completing the purchase in October 2022, Musk has overseen substantial changes, including firing much of the staff. These changes have contributed to the steady departure of many celebrities, public figures, organizations and users from the platform.
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Graphic images from Texas mall shooting spread on social media: Media Miss

May 9, 2023
Within hours of the mass shooting that left nine people dead at a Texas outlet mall on Saturday, May 6, graphic images from the shooting had already spread on social media. Images and videos were not particularly difficult to find on Twitter, in part because they were shared from accounts that had paid to be verified on the platform.

“Graphic material often found its way onto Twitter in the past but it was more likely to be downranked and hard to find,” Emily Bell, director of the Tow Center for Digital Journalism at Columbia University, said in a Twitter thread Saturday. Referencing one verified account, she added “the blue check account has a very graphic video attached to it and much higher engagement than responsible reporting.”

Traditionally, Twitter used a blue check mark to confirm that verified accounts belonged to actual people or entities. But in 2022, new CEO Elon Musk rolled out Twitter Blue, which lets anyone with $8 a month get a check mark. Twitter Blue subscribers can also edit tweets and get early access to new features.

The spread of graphic images from the mall shooting has revived scrutiny around how social media platforms handle graphic content from mass shootings. Social media platforms typically have policies that restrict sharing graphic content, with certain exceptions.

On Twitter, users are technically prohibited from sharing content that shows “gratuitous gore,” a category that includes “dismembered or mutilated humans.” Other forms of graphic media may be allowed, as long as the user marks their account as sensitive.

Twitter did not respond to a request for comment. The social media platform has cut much of its public relations team since Musk took over.

Straight Arrow News aims to identify when stories are being underreported on either side of the political aisle and media landscape. This story is a Media Miss for right-leaning outlets, with most sources reporting it being either left-leaning or center-oriented outlets, according to Ground.News.

Straight Arrow News has seen some of the graphic videos, but has not included links to them in this article, as the debate over sharing such violent content is ongoing.
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MTA halts service alerts on Twitter due to reliability issues and cost

April 28, 2023
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), the largest transportation network in North America that serves 15.3 million people, has announced that it will no longer provide service alerts on Twitter. The MTA operates New York City Transit, the Long Island Rail Road, Metro-North, and Bridges and Tunnels.

According to a statement from the MTA’s acting chief customer, Shanifah Rieara, their access to Twitter through its application programming interface (API) was involuntarily interrupted twice in the last two weeks, and “the reliability of the platform can no longer be guaranteed.”

Twitter had also requested the MTA to pay $50,000 a month to access the API.

“The MTA does not pay tech platforms to publish service information and has built redundant tools that provide service alerts in real-time,” Rieara said.

Instead, the MTA is advising riders to check its website, apps, email and mobile alerts for service updates.

Additionally, Twitter has recently begun taking away blue check marks from legacy verified accounts. This is causing the accounts to consider paying for a subscription or not. It has been around six months since Elon Musk purchased Twitter for $44 billion.

However, according to reports from Platformer and The Information based on an internal email, Musk says Twitter is now worth $20 billion.
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Twitter’s legacy checkmark is going away. Here are 5 Musk-made changes.

March 31, 2023

It’s been less than six months since Elon Musk closed on Twitter for $44 billion after backing out and facing litigation over the matter. There’s still a question as to whether it’s better or worse under the world’s second wealthiest person’s leadership. But, it’s certainly different. Here are the ways he’s changed the platform in this week’s Five For Friday.

#5: Twitter Blue

Before Musk, Twitter’s verified check signified an elite group of users. Just ask anyone with a legacy verified account, and they’ll tell you how important the checks are. But Twitter Blue made it so anyone willing to pay $8 on the web could procure the highly coveted check mark. It’s $11 if you sign up from an iOS or Android device so the company can make up the respective app store fees of 30%. Twitter Blue subscribers can edit tweets, get early access to new features and eventually see fewer ads. Musk said the platform will start taking away the old guard’s checks in April. Full disclosure: At the time of writing, Simone Del Rosario has a legacy verified account, although it provides the caveat that she “may or may not be notable.”

#4: Verified ‘For You’

It seems the idea of verified accounts is important to the Twitter ecosystem. Musk announced this week that only verified accounts will show up in the platform’s ‘For You’ section, which uses its algorithm to recommend content from people you don’t follow. He claims it’s the only way to combat bots taking over the platform, something he was concerned about amid negotiations to buy the company. Users will also need a blue check to take part in Twitter polls too, a feature Musk himself has used quite a bit since taking over.

#3: Account reinstatement

Over the years, Twitter has banned a whole host of controversial figures including Alex Jones, Tila Tequila and ‘Pharma Bro’ Martin Shkreli. When Musk took over, he wanted a fresh start and reinstated folks like kickboxer Andrew Tate, who apparently has a massive following for being a misogynist. He was later roasted by climate activist Greta Thunberg before being arrested in Romania on sex trafficking charges. Former President Donald Trump was also reinstated after being banned following the events of Jan. 6, 2021. But he never returned, opting to stick to his own platform Truth Social. Ye, the rapper formerly known as Kanye West, also made a brief return before getting banned again. Jones, Tequila, and Shkreli have yet to get a Twitter reprieve.

#2: No more Trust and Safety

Shortly after taking over, Musk disbanded the platform’s Trust and Safety Council. It was a group of 100 independent advisors created in 2016 to address hate speech, child exploitation and self-harm, among other issues on Twitter. Prior to doing away with the council, studies showed hate speech had already spiked on the platform since Musk’s takeover. But for his part, Musk claims he defeated the hate bots. Independent analyses say otherwise.

#1: Twitter Files

Musk’s Twitter, or Twitter 2.0, has been more transparent than previous leadership. He tapped independent journalists like Matt Taibbi and Bari Weiss to report on the Twitter Files, a series of select internal documents from the company. The Twitter Files have covered issues like the platform’s moderation of the Hunter Biden laptop story from the New York Post, Jan. 6, COVID-19 and Twitter’s dealings with the U.S. government, just to name a few. He also said he will make Twitter’s recommendation algorithm open source as of March 31. Parts of Twitter’s source code have apparently already been leaked, according to court filings.
Trump expects arrest Tuesday; 20 years since Iraq War began: March 20 rundown

March 20, 2023

Former President Donald Trump said over the weekend that he expects to be arrested Tuesday, citing “illegal leaks” from New York prosecutors, and Miami was struck by spring break crime, leading to a city curfew. These stories and more highlight the daily rundown for Monday, March 20, 2023.

Trump expects indictment Tuesday

Former President Trump is facing what he believes is his imminent arrest over alleged hush money payments to adult film actress Stormy Daniels. New York prosecutors have been investigating a $130,000 payment Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen made to Daniels in 2016, when Trump was running for president.

The payment was allegedly made to keep her quiet about an alleged affair, which Trump has denied. Trump called the investigation a “witch hunt” and said illegal leaks from the D.A.’s office are indicative of an indictment this week.

According to the New York Times, the Manhattan Grand Jury could call on Cohen’s former legal advisor today. The testimony of attorney Robert Costello would be used to discredit Cohen, and Cohen has reportedly been asked to be available if needed in the ongoing investigation.

The Manhattan DA’s office has not commented on the reports of potential charges coming down Tuesday against the former president.

China’s president visits Putin

Chinese leader Xi Jinping is visiting Moscow today, just days after the International Criminal Court charged Putin with committing war crimes in Ukraine.

Over the weekend, Putin was also seen touring through parts of Ukraine occupied by Russian forces since last May. It’s unknown what Chinese and Russian officials may be discussing today. China has claimed they are neutral in the conflict, despite having a “no limits” relationship with Russia. The face-to-face meeting is their first since the war began.

20 years since Iraq war began

Today marks two decades since the U.S. forces invaded Iraq. Then-President George W. Bush said the invasion was to protect the world from grave danger and to disarm Iraq under the dictatorship of Saddam Hussein. While the war was ultimately successful in toppling Saddam, it came at a heavy cost. ISIS militants swarmed Iraq, the U.S. spent 8 years of boots on the ground and lost around 4,600 service members. More than 250,000 Iraqis also died in the conflict.

Spring break crime leads to curfew

The city of Miami is a popular vacation destination for spring breakers, but for those visiting the city, there were no late night parties thanks to a city curfew.

The city cited two fatal shootings and large unruly crowds as reasons for the city to shut down overnight from midnight to 6 a.m. Officials declared a state of emergency and are meeting Monday to discuss further potential restrictions in order to decrease the risk of crime.

This isn’t the first time Miami has had to enact a curfew because of spring breakers. A curfew was imposed last year during the same time period.

Twitter’s two-factor authentication

Have you logged onto twitter lately? Millions of users could be locked out of their accounts starting today. In recent weeks Twitter has been warning users that two-factor-authentication would end Monday. That’s where users can take additional steps to secure their account.

That feature is now exclusive to Twitter Blue subscribers, which costs $8 a month. Elon Musk says the decision comes down to money. Musk said phone companies are scamming Twitter with two factor authentication costing the company $60 million a year.

New Mexico looking for bear huggers

If you love the outdoors and don’t mind interacting with the occasional bear, then a job may be waiting for you in New Mexico. The state’s Department of Game and Fish posted a job on Facebook that says it is looking for professional bear huggers. The post includes photos showing workers cuddling baby bears.

The agency is actually looking to hire conservation officers and interactions with bears is only one part of the job. The listing says the department is looking for someone who likes to hike in strenuous conditions, has the courage to crawl into a bear den, and will trust co-workers to keep them safe during the process.

The department says the job is guaranteed to bring someone the experience of a lifetime. Those interested have until March 30 to apply.
Taliban leaders subscribed to Twitter Blue

January 18, 2023

Twitter is now offering a new annual plan to pay for its blue checkmark. The tool was originally used to identify verified accounts of important public figures.

Twitter Blue is Elon Musk’s product that charges users for the checkmark. It ruffled some feathers when he first proposed it, but one group welcomed the chance to pay for the checkmark almost immediately: the Taliban.

Muhammad Jalal, who was at one time a Taliban official, offered up praise to Musk on Monday. Jalal tweeted Musk was “making Twitter great again.”

Despite the fact the U.S. considers the Taliban a terrorist organization, and the longest war in U.S. history was against the same group, leaders and low-level members of the Taliban have always loved using the U.S.-based social media platform. The Taliban uses the 21^st century tool to spread its message while advocating for the return of ancient and barbaric social customs, like murdering “non-believers.”

Until recently, at least two Taliban officials had Twitter’s blue checkmark next to their names: Hedayatullah Hedayat, the head of the Taliban’s Department for Access to Information, and Abdul Haq Hammad from the Afghan Ministry of Information and Culture. Twitter has since removed the marks from each account after mounting public criticism.

Twitter Blue’s base price is $8 per month. Apple users pay $11. Under a new pay scale offered by Musk, customers get a discount if they pay by the year. The price of an annual Twitter Blue subscription is $84. According to Twitter, subscribers to Twitter Blue get priority ranking in search, mentions and replies to help fight spam and bots.

Reuters contributed to this report.

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