One weekend's TwitX chaos brings threats from Japan; indemnity promises for users; prominent account seizures
- Reference: 1691389813
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2023/08/07/weekend_twitter_chaos/
- Source link:
According to the [1]Ministry , vice-minister Kanda does not have an account with the Musk-owned platform.
"Please don't follow the impersonation account and/or comment on the post," pleaded the Ministry, adding "MOF is currently requesting that X (formerly Twitter) suspends the impersonation account."
[2]
At the time of writing this, the account had been suspended.
[3]
[4]
Kanda is regarded as a person of influence whose perspectives on economics could influence markets.
While that SNAFU unfolded, X owner Elon Musk was busy [5]opening up the platform's ad revenue share program to any X Premium (Blue) subscriber over the age of 18 with at least 500 followers who had generated at least 15 million impressions in the past three months.
[6]
Well, opening the program up to them maybe , because, according to [7]X Support , "We need a bit more time to review everything for the next payout and hope to get all eligible accounts paid as soon as possible."
"Major payouts coming soon!" [8]tweet-exed Musk. Yeah. Sure.
Late payments are of course common when dealing with the X-cellent social network, which is accused of [9]not paying its rent , [10]litigation consultants , or [11]severance pay . The latter payments have become the subject of a [12]lawsuit .
[13]
Musk appears to be managing some of those relationships quite interestingly – such as by [14]reportedly racking up fees for the landlord by erecting a [15]throbbing , bright eyesore onto the company's San Francisco headquarters without a permit.
Whether any of these payment promises will actually be made is questionable. Musk [16]said last month his money pit is yet to achieve positive cash flow, which he attributed to a combination of an around 50 percent drop in advertising revenue and heavy debt load.
Musk took on the debt willingly, and cratered revenue with maximal free speech policies that saw the already-roiling Twitter host even more content advertisers found scary as the platform changed its name to X.
[17]Twitter sues Brit non-profit, claims hate-speech reports scared off advertisers
[18]Twitter's giant throbbing X erected 'without a permit'
[19]Meta says it'll ask Euro peeps nicely before hitting them with personalized ads
[20]Do Facebook's algorithms drive political polarization? Meta says no, but researchers say it's complicated
Account seizures
In late July, the Lex Luthor-y named X Corp. repossessed the handle @X from Gene X. Hwang. Hwang – who now uses handle @x12345678998765 to promote his event photo business, which he has run for the past 16 years – had a commendably cheery attitude to the event, despite being offered no compensation other than some merch and the opportunity to meet management. "All's well that ends well," he wrote.
For an encore, X Corp. appears to have booted the less amenable owner of the @music handle. The former user of that account, Jeremy Vaught, was offered no compensation but was reassigned the handle @musicfan.
X Corp's plans for the @music handle are not yet announced. However, speculation is that the platform will attempt to build a music-streaming service after the account was used to post a picture of Ed Sheeran (whose back catalog includes an album titled "x").
Reports have alleged that the handle @sports has been under threat, suggesting Musk's ambitions for X to become an "everything app" include something related to the the spontaneous athletic competition branch of the entertainment industry.
However, there's one thing that the company formerly known as Twitter has money for, and that’s the lawsuits of strangers.
"If you were unfairly treated by your employer due to posting or liking something on this platform, we will fund your legal bill. No limit. Please let us know," promised [21]Elon over the weekend.
Among those queuing up already is a woman who [22]allegedly was fired for 2016-era tweets questioning trans rights and following right-wing anti-LGBT group [23]Libs of TikTok .
(On the flip side, claiming hate-speech reports scare off advertisers can get an organization [24]sued by X Corp.)
It's highly unlikely such a promise to pay legal fees made over a tweet with no terms and conditions is legally binding – after all, Musk was [25]cleared of fraud last February after he falsely tweeted that "funding" to take Tesla private was "secured." If a CEO can tweet false information to the market and face no consequences, are there even rules anymore?
All this is great for Musk, because who has the time to follow through with all those promises to pay legal bills when you are engaged in planning a billionaire vs billionaire [26]cage fight?
The pre-fight trash talk between social media platform kingpins Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg began in June. Flash forward to last weekend and, according to [27]Elon , the fight will be live-streamed on the shiny new toy he calls "X" with all proceeds going to a charity for veterans (probably also not legally binding.)
"Shouldn't we use a more reliable platform that can actually raise money for charity?" posted Zuck on his own Twitter-esque platform, Threads – which, along with Instagram, carries a fundraising feature.
According to [28]Zuck , he's suggested August 26 as the day, but has not received confirmation from his opponent – although both have said they are physically training for the engagement.
Um, can't wait. ®
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[1] https://twitter.com/MOF_Japan/status/1686989776770211840
[2] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2ZNDAxrGGH111dap-7RD@9QAAA8E&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44ZNDAxrGGH111dap-7RD@9QAAA8E&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33ZNDAxrGGH111dap-7RD@9QAAA8E&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[5] https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1687698537469898753
[6] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44ZNDAxrGGH111dap-7RD@9QAAA8E&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[7] https://help.twitter.com/en/using-twitter/creator-ads-revenue-sharing
[8] https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1687682347120873472
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2023/01/31/twitter_market_square_lawsuit/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2023/01/31/twitter_market_square_lawsuit/
[11] https://edition.cnn.com/2023/07/17/tech/ghana-twitter-layoffs-severance-intl-hnk/index.html
[12] https://www.reuters.com/legal/x-musk-seek-dismissal-lawsuit-over-ex-twitter-workers-severance-pay-2023-08-01/
[13] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33ZNDAxrGGH111dap-7RD@9QAAA8E&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[14] https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-sign-twitter-headquarters-landlord-fees-agency-says-2023-8
[15] https://www.theregister.com/2023/07/31/twitters_giant_glowing_x_was/
[16] https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1680082007873953794
[17] https://www.theregister.com/2023/08/01/x_corp_lawsuit_ccdh/
[18] https://www.theregister.com/2023/07/31/twitters_giant_glowing_x_was/
[19] https://www.theregister.com/2023/08/02/meta_eu_gdpr_advertising/
[20] https://www.theregister.com/2023/07/31/are_facebooks_algorithms_politically/
[21] https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1688022163574439937
[22] https://twitter.com/Kara_Creates/status/1688065503820931072
[23] https://twitter.com/libsoftiktok/status/1688043352044838912
[24] https://www.theregister.com/2023/08/01/x_corp_lawsuit_ccdh/
[25] https://www.theregister.com/2023/02/04/musk_tesla_civil_fraud_trial_verdict/
[26] https://www.theregister.com/2023/06/22/mark_zuckerberg_vs_elon_musk/
[27] https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1688091377823895552
[28] https://www.threads.net/@zuck/post/CvnechDSJeC/
[29] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Hmm,
- X is quite close to X-rated - one wonders where Musk's attraction to the character stems from
- Isn't such material usually visual, which negates the need to speak Japanese to remove it?
Not that Musk is likely to do that as his definition of "free speech" seems to be "I don't have to pay for moderators", but still.
That's right, Einstein, hate speech and spoofed accounts are usually visual. Got it in one.
I hope Zuck & Elmo knock each other out in the cage fight.
I'd like them both to lose!
This is the one time I'd root for Zuck
Just because you know Musk would be a total crybaby about losing, full of excuses, asking for a rematch, claiming there was cheating. It would be epic! If Zuck loses he probably doesn't say anything and just hides out for a while, but Musk could never manage to go even 24 hours without attention.
I'm laughing thinking of the idea of Musk "training". Someone who is as out of shape as he is can't get into shape in a month or two, especially when he probably listens to a personal trainer for about 10 minutes before he gets all ADHD and pulls out the laptop to start reading emails.
Re: This is the one time I'd root for Zuck
Ah, but he was at least capable of lifting a metal ball to hit an armoured window that wasn't..
:)
Re: This is the one time I'd root for Zuck
He had someone else throw it. Maybe if he'd thrown it he couldn't have broken the glass and generated all that publicity.
Re: This is the one time I'd root for Zuck
Musk could just about get into reasonable shape in that timeframe. It would require serious commitment though, and assumes no underlying conditions.
He'd need a strict diet, heavy exercise regime along with a mix of TRT (testosterone replacement therapy) and HGH (human growth hormone).
That's the regimen that some Hollywood stars use to get into shape in a short space of time. I can't see Musk having the discipline to follow it though.
Zuck is not holding his breath, apparently
I'm no fan of either, but I think [1]Zuck comes out well ahead in this one, with some well deserved snark at Musk.
[1] https://www.bbc.com/news/business-66424364
Re: Zuck is not holding his breath, apparently
TBH, I'm not actually expecting it to happen. Elmo pulling out for some reason is the most likely outcome.
Not to be outdone by X, Facebook this week is showing advertisements belonging to the impostor store gang on Cloudflare.
If you were unfairly treated by your employer due to posting or liking something on this platform, we will fund your legal bill. No limit. Please let us know,
Does that apply to his own ex-employees that he fired for criticising him?
Eric Frohnhoefer?
He got fired for posting tweets criticising his boss. Sounds like just the sort of thing Elon would be delighted to fund. See
https://www.theregister.com/2022/11/14/musk_twitter_rpc_spat/?td=rt-3a
It's rattle time...
And in the blue pram, we have Elon "the X man" MMMUUUSSSKKK... All Elon has to do is lift up Zux's comb forward and all Zux has to do is waggle a bottle of Grecian 2000 at Musko and they'll both be screaming for their mommies.
Who's the ref? Trump?
I think the lot of them need a nap.
Re: Who's the ref? Trump?
I'll bet he would join the fray, or at least declare himself the winner, probably without even showing up. Then accuse everyone of persecution. Sad!
But he would be the best referee there is, everyone is saying that, trust me.
Re: It's rattle time...
Exactly.
Every time I hear about this, I imagine it'll either be nursery school hair pulling, slapping and biting, or it'll be high-noon in Parump, Nevada, out on East Basin in front of the DMV, with handbags at 15 paces. Either way, it'll all end in tears.
Regardless, I wouldn't pay money to see it. Waste o'time.
Money
One of the standard schemes is to set up a fake news web site with Google ads, link to it from social media and the RWNJs will cite it as proof of their conspiracy theories until advertising revenue goes through the roof. (Trying the same with liberals gets little traction because many of them are capable of a little critical thinking and minimal fact checking.) Musk clearly plans to cash in by replacing the middle men.
I am surprised the Masato Kanda xcretion handle has been suspended. It would make more sense to put it up for auction.
They're just so ridiculous.
Everything about these stories shows why we can't trust billionaires with anything. As someone observed [1]back when Twitter existed : "In terms of cognitive impairment [being a billionaire is] probably like being kicked in the head by a horse every day."
[1] https://twitter.com/Merman_Melville/status/1088527693757349888?lang=en
I've been wondering....
Why tweets haven't been re-named "Raiders". I mean, TwiX is an obvious new name for a tweet, but it's already taken, so....
Re: I've been wondering....
Xcretions seems to be the winning name.
If you were unfairly treated by your employer, we will fund your legal bill. No limit.
1. Set up company with friend, and get your friend to hire you as an employee
2. Post something appallingly offensive about your new employer on TwiX
3. Friend sacks you for posting something appallingly offensive
4. Hire the most expensive lawyer you know to commence unfair dismissal legal case
5. Send Musk bill for huge legal fees preparing case
6. Split money received 3 ways
Of course the plan fails at point 6 when money doesn't arrive from Musk. It also could be considered fraud, but Musk's extravagant promise, made in public with no caveats leaves such shenanigans with a much higher chance of succeeding.
X Japan is unusually profitable among its overseas subsidiaries, but despite this, it seems that there are no moderators who are native Japanese speakers, and therefore pornography, hate speech, and spoofing accounts are left alone.