Musk contradicts Twitter safety chief, disavows statement as “fake news”

Ever since The Verge reported that Twitter shut down its communications office, it’s been harder to confirm information about the company, which seems to be the way that CEO Elon Musk likes it.

However, increasingly, Twitter trust and safety chief Ella Irwin seems more willing to confirm or deny rumors to media outlets, a move that’s possibly irking Musk.

#Twitter #ElonMusk #EllaIrwin
https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2022/12/musk-implies-twitter-exec-falsely-reported-removal-of-suicide-prevention-tool/

#ElonMusk Fires Twitter Janitors, Reportedly Forcing Staff To Bring Own Toilet Paper

Musk suddenly canceled janitorial services early last month at the headquarters, NBC News reported.
Janitors said they were locked out with no warning, just weeks before the holidays, after they had sought better wages, and the company terminated a cleaning contract.

A 10 year Twitter janitor was told robots will eventually do their job.

#Twitter #Janitors #ToiletPaper #CleaningRobots
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/elon-musk-twitter-janitors-cut-smelly-toilet-paperr_n_63afb374e4b0ae9de1b706b2

Twitter's San Francisco headquarters — and the company's Seattle office — are getting smelly and gross after Musk boasted that he's "cutting costs like crazy."

"The smell of leftover takeout food and body odor has lingered on the floors ... bathrooms have grown dirty," The New York Times reported Thursday, citing accounts from employees.

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/elon-musk-twitter-janitors-cut-smelly-toilet-paperr_n_63afb374e4b0ae9de1b706b2

Musk's Twitter to lift ban on political ads 'in coming weeks'

The announcement comes as advertisers have fled the platform in droves after Elon Musk's takeover last October.

#Twitter #ElonMusk #PoliticalAdvertising #TargetedAds #Elections #Advertising
https://www.politico.com/news/2023/01/03/twitter-political-advertisements-announcement-00076234

Twitter Support's statement:
https://twitter.com/twittersafety/status/1610399203481784320

Twitter blocks hashtags used to promote child sex abuse material after NBC News review
A group of Twitter employees met over the weekend to accelerate plans to address the accounts that promote the sale of such material, a Twitter executive said.

Musk in November said cleaning up the platform and addressing #ChildExploitation on it was his “priority #1.”

#Twitter #CSAM #ElonMusk
https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/social-media/twitter-blocks-hashtags-elon-musk-child-sex-abuse-material-nbc-news-rcna64965

Musk's "Priority #1" tweet:
https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1594548607243411456

Tweetbot, Twiterrific, Echofon, and other third-party Twitter clients have failed to work for many people since late last night, and the social network has seemingly not notified the apps' developers as to why.

#Twitter #Tweetbot #Twiterrific #Echofon
https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2023/01/third-party-twitter-clients-are-broken-whether-by-policy-or-glitch/

Twitter Employees Escorted Out of Singapore Office
Elon Musk reportedly didn't pay the rent on time. The 22,000-square-foot office had served as Twitter's Asia Pacific headquarters since 2015.

#Twitter #Singapore #AsiaPacific #ElonMusk #DidNotPayTheRent
https://gizmodo.com/twitter-singapore-office-employees-escorted-out-1849978847

The official Twitter Developer's account tweets:

"Twitter is enforcing its long-standing API rules. That may result in some apps not working."

That's it. That's the tweet. No indication what rules are being enforced, despite the question being asked several times.

#Twitter #TwitterAPI #Tweetbot #Twiterrific #Echofon
https://twitter.com/twitterdev/status/1615405842735714304

Developer Agreement and Policy:
https://developer.twitter.com/en/developer-terms/agreement-and-policy

#Twitter changes developer agreement to ban third-party clients

A single line, changed days after a vague statement, ends a foundational era.

On Jan 19, 2023 Twitter's developer agreement effective date changed from October 10, 2022 to that day and added to the "Restrictions on Use of Licensed Materials" section:

"c) use or access the Licensed Materials to create or attempt to create a substitute or similar service or product to the Twitter Applications;"

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2023/01/twitter-retroactively-changes-developer-agreement-to-ban-third-party-clients/

#Twitter owes $13 billion, and it is expected to make its first payment against that debt this week, Bloomberg reports.

#ElonMusk's cost cutting measures include mass layoffs, skipping rent payments, and slashing employee benefits. But even those measures weren't enough to keep Musk from turning to penny-pinching.

Twitter held an auction last week that was essentially a #GarageSale, selling off equipment no longer needed by Twitter's drastically reduced staff.

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2023/01/twitter-auctions-highest-bid-was-100k-it-could-owe-300m-next-week/

Lawsuit: Twitter stopped paying rent at headquarters after Musk took over

The lawsuit, filed Friday by SRI Nine Market Square LLC, says Twitter leases 462,855 square feet on eight floors of the 1355 Market Street building but failed to pay $3.36 million in rent due in December 2022. Twitter also failed to pay rent of $3.43 million in January 2023, according to the complaint filed in California Superior Court in San Francisco County.

#Twitter #ElonMusk
https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2023/01/twitters-landlord-sues-for-millions-in-unpaid-rent-at-firms-us-headquarters/

Musk blows off Dems in first Capitol tour as Twitter CEO
Elon Musk's whirlwind Washington trip left off Democrats from his calling card, but the minority party still wants to hear from him.

#ElonMusk #Twitter #Democrats
https://www.politico.com/news/2023/01/31/elon-musk-republicans-capitol-twitter-00080516

#ElonMusk locked his #Twitter account and went private for a bizarre test.

One of Elon Musk's favorite right wing Twitter users, Ian Miles Cheong, reported that he had experienced an engagement boost after locking his account.

The theory is that this changes how "the algorithm" behaves and increases impressions.

Musk: "Made my account private until tomorrow morning to test whether you see my private tweets more than my public ones"

https://mashable.com/article/twitter-locked-private-elon-musk-account

Nick Fuentes Twitter account suspended less than 24 hours after reinstatement

https://thehill.com/policy/technology/3830106-nick-fuentes-twitter-account-suspended-less-than-24-hours-after-reinstatement/

House Speaker McCarthy spoke with #ElonMusk about making #Twitter 'fair on all sides'

Musk discussed how to make the social media site "fair on all sides" in a meeting with #KevinMcCarthy, the lawmaker told reporters, according to NBC News.

McCarthy also confirmed to reporters he had convened a meeting in his office that day with Musk and several top Republicans.

"He's really defending the First Amendment. And we had a really good discussion," McCarthy said of Musk.
https://www.cnbc.com/2023/01/27/mccarthy-spoke-with-musk-about-making-twitter-fair-on-all-sides.html

Elon Musk says bots with 'good content' can use Twitter's API for free

#Twitter #TwitterAPI #GoodContent #ElonMusk
https://www.theverge.com/2023/2/5/23586577/elon-musk-bots-good-content-twitters-api-free

America’s top cybersecurity diplomat Nate Fick said his personal Twitter account was hacked, calling it part of the "perils of the job."

Fick tweeted the news from his personal account Saturday evening.

It was not clear who was responsible for the hack or if they had made any unauthorized posts on Fick’s account. He did not immediately respond to a request for comment Sunday.

There did not appear to any broader fallout from the hack.

#CyberSecurity #Twitter #Diplomat
https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/05/politics/nate-fick-twitter-hack-cybersecurity/index.html

Paying Twitter subscribers made up less than 0.2% of monthly users in the US 2 months after Elon Musk introduced Blue, report says

#Twitter #TwitterBlue #ElonMusk
https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-twitter-subscribers-less-users-pay-months-launch-blue-2023-2

Twitter is telling users that they've reached their daily limit for posts

Twitter was down for about 90 minutes Wednesday, telling users they’d hit their daily limit on posts

#Twitter #LimitedTweets #ElonMusk
https://www.cnbc.com/2023/02/08/twitter-daily-limit-error-prevents-users-from-posting.html

Twitter's official developer account tweets a 🧵:

We have been busy with some updates to the Twitter API so you can continue to build and innovate with us.

We're excited to announce an extension of the current free Twitter API access through February 13.

Here's what we’re shipping then:

Paid basic access that offers low level of API usage, and access to Ads API for a $100 monthly fee.

https://twitter.com/TwitterDev/status/1623467618400374784

A new form of free access will be introduced as this is extremely important to our ecosystem – limited to Tweet creation of up to 1,500 Tweets per month for a single authenticated user token, including Login with Twitter.

Also on February 13, we will deprecate the Premium API. If you’re subscribed to Premium, you can apply for Enterprise to continue using these endpoints.

https://twitter.com/TwitterDev/status/1623467618400374784

This is a new chapter for the Twitter API to increase quality, reduce spam, and enable a thriving ecosystem. We appreciate your patience as we implement these changes and we can’t wait to see what you build next!

Stay tuned for more information on continued Twitter API access.

https://twitter.com/TwitterDev/status/1623467621139222529

Twitter suspended 400K for child abuse content but only reported 8K to police

Child safety advocates told The New York Times that after Elon Musk took over, Twitter started taking twice as long to remove CSAM flagged by various organizations.

#Twitter #CSAM #ElonMusk
https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2023/02/twitter-only-reported-2-of-accounts-suspended-for-child-abuse-content-org-says/

Twitter's official developer account tweeted about the API changes that were planned to be active Valentine's day.

TLDR; The cutover to the updated API has been extended by "a few more days".

#Twitter #TwitterAPI
https://twitter.com/TwitterDev/status/1625234161010343941

Twitter is just showing everyone all of Elon’s tweets now

For many of still using Twitter its "For You" section is full of tweets and replies to tweets from Elon Musk.

Not everyone is getting the Elon-first feed, but on Monday afternoon, more than a few people noticed something was different.

#Twitter #ElonMusk
https://www.theverge.com/2023/2/13/23598514/twitter-algorithm-elon-musk-tweets

Want to Delete Your Twitter DMs? Good Luck With That
People in Europe are making GDPR requests to have their private messages erased, but Elon’s team is ignoring them.

#GDPR #Twitter #ElonMusk #DirectMessages #Privacy
https://www.wired.com/story/delete-twitter-dms-gdpr/

#ElonMusk created a special system for showing you all his tweets first

After his #SuperBowl tweet performed statistically worse than President #Biden's, Musk ordered major changes to the #algorithm.

Biden's tweet, in which he said he would be supporting his wife in rooting for the #PhiladelphiaEagles, generated nearly 29 million impressions. Musk also tweeted support for the Eagles, generated around 9.1 million impressions before deleting the tweet in frustration.

https://www.theverge.com/2023/2/14/23600358/elon-musk-tweets-algorithm-changes-twitter

#Twitter announced that it would become the #weed-friendliest social platform & start allowing some previously restricted cannabis #ads to appear in the feeds of users in states that have legalized it.

Weed delivery services could be #advertising on Twitter feeds soon.

This new policy sets Twitter apart from other ad giants like #Meta, which bans both CBD and THC ads, #Google, which allows some CBD ads but bans #marijuana ads, including instructional content.

#Cannabis
https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2023/02/twitter-allows-weed-ads-the-move-could-alienate-its-top-advertisers/

Elon Musk says Twitter will open source its algorithm next week after supporting the idea for months

https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-twitter-will-open-source-its-algorithm-next-week-2023-2

#Twitter struggles to convince #SCOTUS it isn't bolstering terrorists

SCOTUS to decide if platforms should be liable for terrorist content by June.

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2023/02/twitter-struggles-to-convince-scotus-it-isnt-bolstering-terrorists/

Some #Twitter employees stopped working after the company's #Slack went down, report says

Twitter's company Slack went down on Wednesday and Thursday, Platformer reported.

Employees were told that it was because of routine maintenance, per the publication.

A Slack employee told #Platformer, however, that there was no such thing as routine maintenance.

https://www.businessinsider.com/twitter-employees-slack-elon-musk-went-down-work-2023-2

Elon Musk slams Dilbert backlash as 'racist' against whites

#ElonMusk #Dilbert #Racism
https://www.rawstory.com/elon-musk-dilbert-backlash-racism/

#Twitter Payments chief is out as layoffs cut 10% of Twitter staff, report say

Twitter now has fewer than 2,000 employees, The New York Times reported.

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2023/02/twitter-payments-chief-is-out-as-layoffs-cut-10-of-twitter-staff-report-says/

Elon Musk says remaining Twitter employees will soon receive 'very significant' stock awards

In an internal memo, he calls the company's most recent round of layoffs 'a difficult organizational overhaul focused on improving future execution.'

#ElonMusk #Twitter #StockAwards
https://www.theverge.com/2023/2/27/23616933/elon-musk-twitter-employees-stock-awards-march-after-more-layoffs

Twitter Outage Prevents Users From Visiting Links, Seeing Images

The message 'Your current API plan does not include access to this endpoint' is popping up for users. Twitter now says it 'made an internal change that had some unintended consequences.'

The outage has since been resolved with #ElonMusk tweeting "The code stack is extremely brittle for no good reason. Will ultimately need a complete rewrite".

#Twitter #TwitterAPI
https://www.pcmag.com/news/twitter-outage-prevents-users-from-visiting-links-seeing-images

How a single engineer brought down Twitter on Monday
The high cost of cutting expenses

The change in question was part of a project to shut down free access to the Twitter API, Platformer can now confirm.

“This is what happens when you fire 90 percent of the company,” another current employee says.

https://www.platformer.news/p/how-a-single-engineer-brought-down

Twitter Revenue, Adjusted Earnings Drop Around 40% in December

The company is battling with a massively reduced pool of advertising revenue, and lower-than-expected subscribers to Twitter Blue.

https://www.pcmag.com/news/twitter-revenue-adjusted-earnings-drop-around-40-in-december

Thousands of pro-#Trump #bots are attacking #RonDeSantis, #NikkiHaley

Researchers have uncovered a network of tens of thousands of fake #Twitter accounts created to support former president #DonaldTrump and attack his critics and potential rivals

#Election2024
https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/digital-foot-soldiers-pro-trump-bots-swarm-desantis-97652880

#ElonMusk has apologized after publicly scoffing at a #Twitter employee's uncertainty about whether he had been laid off in a recent round of cuts & speaking dismissively of the employee's disability in a series of tweets Monday night.

"I would like to apologize to Halli for my misunderstanding of his situation. It was based on things I was told that were untrue or, in some cases, true, but not meaningful," Musk tweeted Tuesday. "He is considering remaining at Twitter."

https://www.cnn.com/2023/03/07/tech/elon-musk-twitter-employee-disability/index.html