Kettle Social networks, once thought to have all-encompassing power to change our mood or voting strategy, have been hitting wall after wall this week.

On Wednesday came the news that Meta's Facebook and Instagram are [1]facing a ban on their personalized ad business in the EU unless they sort themselves out. Meta's also [2]under the cosh over the name for its Twitter knock-off Threads, since a British software company says it owns the UK trademark to the name Threads and isn't in a mood to settle.

[3]Forget the outside hacker, the bigger threat is inside by the coffee machine

[4]Still got a job at the end of this week? You're lucky, as more layoffs hit the tech industry

[5]Microsoft ends its week on a high – after a trying time with tax bills and Copilot costs

Then of course there's Elon Musk, who was [6]bizarrely interviewed by the British Prime Minister at the UK's AI Summit this week. Figures out this week showed the value of his social media network has dropped from $44 billion to just $19 billion - a rocketeer who sure knows how to make things crash and burn, it seems.

Some mirth was had over the story, which you can watch below or [7]listen to via your usual podcast supplier ( [8]Apple , Amazon, Spotify, Google, etc.)

Discussing the news, clockwise from top left in the thumb: Chris Williams, Brandon Vigliarolo, Thomas Claburn, and Iain Thomson. The episode was produced and polished by Nicole Hemsoth. ®

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[1] https://www.theregister.com/2023/11/01/eu_data_meta_networking/

[2] https://www.theregister.com/2023/10/31/uk_meta_threads_trademark/

[3] https://www.theregister.com/2023/10/26/register_kettle_insider_threat/

[4] https://www.theregister.com/2023/10/21/register_kettle_layoffs/

[5] https://www.theregister.com/2023/10/15/microsoft_register_kettle/

[6] https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1720188083780370481

[7] https://feeds.simplecast.com/Vnvf8Fkd

[8] https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-register-kettle/id1713589041

[9] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/