What Elon Musk Really Wants

Musk’s pursuit of this dream clearly transcends #Bllionaires hobbyism.

Consider the personal attention and financial resources that he is pouring into the former president’s campaign. According to NYT, Musk has relocated to Pennsylvania to oversee Trump’s ground game there.

That is, he’s running the infrastructure that will bring voters to the polls. In service of this cause, he’s imported top talent from his companies, and he reportedly plans on spending $500 million on it. That doesn’t begin to account for the value of #Musk’s celebrity shilling, and the way he has turned #X…

https://www.theatlantic.com/books/archive/2024/10/donald-trump-is-elon-musks-trojan-horse/680309/

BREAKING: Elon Musk-backed PAC is micro-targeting muslim areas with ads saying Harris stands with Israel and targeting jewish areas saying the opposite.

Proof that Musk is willing to further divide #America if he thinks it will help his candidate win.

Informed by @jsrailton & article by @jasonkoebler: https://www.404media.co/this-is-exactly-how-an-elon-musk-funded-pac-is-microtargeting-muslims-and-jews-with-opposing-messages/

@404mediaco #elonmusk #disinformation #misinformation #psyops #fediverse #mastodon #kamalaharris #DonaldTrump @MisinformationVillage #twitter #x #isreal #palestine #gaza

I wrote an open letter to artists and other creatives who are thinking about giving the fediverse a chance:

"There’s a better way!"

https://stefanbohacek.com/blog/a-fediverse-invitation-for-artists/

Feel free to share, and be sure to add your signature!

#fediverse #mastodon #creatives #artists #musicians #twitter #x

Resources for composers and music producers

An open letter signed by the creative fediverse community.

^{Stefan Bohacek (stefanbohacek.com)}

It would be better for @EUCommission to simply ban #X / #Twitter app from European Union 🇪🇺 App Stores (both #Google & #Apple).

That would be far more effective & avoid a long & expensive legal battle in court. Going after unrelated companies would also discourage tech companies from doing more business in #Europe.

👉🏾 EU considers calculating X fines by including revenue from Musk’s other firms https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2024/10/eu-considers-calculating-x-fines-by-including-revenue-from-musks-other-firms/ 🔛 @arstechnica

EU considers calculating X fines by including revenue from Musk’s other firms

Musk could face DSA fines of up to 6% of global revenue—including SpaceX sales.

^{Jon Brodkin (Ars Technica)}

@Npars01
#X #Legal #InvestorsUnsealed

(5/5)

...prompting some gentle sparring on #Twitter — but he soon came around. Given #Saudi Crown Prince #MohammadBinSalman’s [#MBS] years-long crackdown against dissent and powerful businessmen and political rivals — which included imprisoning and torturing hundreds of prominent #Saudis, including Prince Alwaleed, in Riyadh’s Ritz Carlton hotel — it’s likely that #MBS controls those shares..."

Do read on:

https://www.jacobsilverman.com/p/we-got-a-judge-to-unseal-a-list-of?ref=disconnect.blog

//

We Got a Judge to Unseal a List of X's Shareholders

A federal judge agreed with me that knowing the identities of Elon Musk's investors is in the public interest.

^{Jacob Silverman}

@Npars01
#X #Legal #InvestorsUnsealed

(4/n)

...and sanctioned entities, is listed an X investor. (#Binance’s CEO, #ChangpengZhao, pleaded guilty to money laundering violations and is finishing up a short stint in federal prison.)

There are two entries for Prince #AlwaleedBinTalal and another for his Kingdom Holding Company, which was the largest outside shareholder of #Twitter when it was a public company. Prince #Alwaleed briefly opposed #Musk’s takeover —...

@Npars01
#X #Legal #InvestorsUnsealed

(3/n)

...#LarryEllison, the #Oracle founder and one of the richest people in the world, along with #SeanCombs Capital (yup). There’s #VyCapital, the #UAE-based venture capital firm, and something called #QTetris Holdings LLC, whose directors seem to be part of the #Qatari government. #Binance, the global crypto giant which recently paid a $4.3 billion fine to the #US government for facilitating money laundering by terrorist groups...

It ain't just the block function changing for the worse over at #Twitter / #X

It's changing policy so that *all* art, writing and other creations posted there can be used to train #AI whether you like it or not.

@Npars01 @pluralistic

#X #Legal #InvestorsUnsealed

(IIII/III)

...might just remedy that. All pieces of the puzzle would fall into place.

//

#X #Legal #InvestorsUnsealed

(II/n)

...the role model, well nothing can beat the #Chinese #surveillance state.

It's all in the open, #Twitter's programming and infrastructure is way to much legacy and trying to move masses of people from one app to another is all but impossible due to the network lock-in effect, as Cory @pluralistic has been explaining.
A mature #Bluesky product and a quickly collapsing #X infrastructure...

#X #Legal #InvestorsUnsealed

(I/n)

You're right, Nicole.
I think, however, there still is a hidden equally important agenda regarding the #TwitterDemolition, which most still fail to see:

https://mastodon.social/@HistoPol/111192410060940874

I can't prove it yet, OFC, but time will tell. #Bluesky inheriting most of the remaining #X users would just make so much sense.

Apart from the reasons named, #Elmo is still working towards the #EverythingApp, inspired by the #Chinese #WeeChat.
And if #China is...

@mike

#X #Legal #InvestorsUnsealed

(5/5)

...prompting some gentle sparring on #Twitter — but he soon came around. Given #Saudi Crown Prince #MohammadBinSalman’s [#MBS] years-long crackdown against dissent and powerful businessmen and political rivals — which included imprisoning and torturing hundreds of prominent #Saudis, including Prince Alwaleed, in Riyadh’s Ritz Carlton hotel — it’s likely that #MBS controls those shares..."

Do read on:

https://www.jacobsilverman.com/p/we-got-a-judge-to-unseal-a-list-of?ref=disconnect.blog

//

We Got a Judge to Unseal a List of X's Shareholders

A federal judge agreed with me that knowing the identities of Elon Musk's investors is in the public interest.

^{Jacob Silverman}

#X #Legal #InvestorsUnsealed

(4/n)

...and sanctioned entities, is listed an X investor. (#Binance’s CEO, #ChangpengZhao, pleaded guilty to money laundering violations and is finishing up a short stint in federal prison.)

There are two entries for Prince #AlwaleedBinTalal and another for his Kingdom Holding Company, which was the largest outside shareholder of #Twitter when it was a public company. Prince #Alwaleed briefly opposed #Musk’s takeover —...

@Npars01
#X #Legal #InvestorsUnsealed

(2/n)

...of the investors [which IMO should often be called "co-conspirators,"] in particular the #Saudi crown prince, #MBS's role (see article).

"...The list #X filed with the court mentions 95 names and legal entities.

Some of them are familiar names for Musk-watchers:

#AndreessenHorowitz, 8VC, #JackDorsey, Ross Gerber, Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Sequoia, et al. There are 26 entries related to #Fidelity, the mutual fund colossus. There’s...

#X #Legal #InvestorsUnsealed

(1/n)

Via #JacobSilverman

"...it’s important to know who the volatile owner of a major platform for public debate, political discourse, and government surveillance and information operations is working with — who he [#ElonMusk] owes, who he listens to, and who might influence what happens on X."

"*We Got a Judge to Unseal a List of X's Shareholders*"

While the list is quite long, it is interesting to highlight some...

https://www.jacobsilverman.com/p/we-got-a-judge-to-unseal-a-list-of?ref=disconnect.blog

Cc @Npars01 @mike

We Got a Judge to Unseal a List of X's Shareholders

A federal judge agreed with me that knowing the identities of Elon Musk's investors is in the public interest.

^{Jacob Silverman}

I'm fed up of hearing about 'town square' social media 🚫 A town square is so much more. It's human. So, what's the closest we can get? Is it new, cross-platform, social tech? forbetter.ghost.io/why-youll-ne...#SocialMedia #Bluesky #Twitter #X #Fediverse #Blog

Why you'll never have a 'town ...

Why you'll never have a 'town square' on most social platforms

Can open social platforms offer an alternative? Is 'town square' even the right metaphor? The 'digital town square' is an idea X seems to have their claws in. It's not a bad one either.

^{Saskia (FORbetter)}

@Npars01
#X #TwitterTakeover #TwitterDemolition
#Elections2024
#ElectionInterference

Exactly. #Elmo is carrying out "A controlled demolition" of #X (formerly #Twitter.)

I (and others) have been saying this since early 2023.
However, many saw (and still see) it as a "conspiracy theory". Alas, it clearly isn't, Nicole.

If it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it is a duck--here is the reason why, and it's not pretty:

https://mastodon.social/@HistoPol/110079043525873237

#WompWomp

SpaceX’s plans to launch more rockets from the #California coast were rejected by a state commission this week, with some officials citing #Musk’s political posts on #X and raising concerns about the billionaire’s labor record at his companies.

...despite assurances from Space Force and Air Force officials that they would increase efforts to monitor the effects that rocket launches have on nearby wildlife" https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2024-10-11/la-me-spacex-coastal-commission

California officials reject more SpaceX rocket launches

SpaceX's plans to launch more rockets from California's coast were rejected by a state commission this week, with some officials citing Elon Musk's political posts on X.

^{Salvador Hernandez (Los Angeles Times)}

More precisely, this is an initiative by @evanprodromou , @ohmallory and @tomcoates .

On their website, they're bragging about "industry support" (sic) by, and "advisors" (sic) from, #Meta and others.

Once again, this makes it clear that some people still allow that "industry" to live as their reference and benchmark in their heads.

Implicitly devaluing what can and should be created without interference by that "industry", and making it seem as if such "support" or "advice" is necessary for some kind of weird "validation" by the adults™. Their footer (see screenshot) merely lists their own Fediverse account - plus their accounts on #X (yes) and #Threads.

It's only a question of time when a few of these "advisors" will be proudly announced as new members "serving" on the team.

A rare SCOTUS #WompWomp…

#SCOTUS declined to hear an appeal from Elon #Musk’s #X Corp. claiming special counsel #JackSmith violated the First Amendment when he obtained a search warrant for former President #Trump’s Twitter messages & then barred the company from disclosing it.
https://cnn.com/2024/10/07/politics/elon-musk-trump-twitter-records/index.html

“For Twitter to earn the public trust, it must remain politically neutral,” so says the man wearing a MAGA hat. File this one under “tweets that didn’t age well.”

#Musk #Twitter #X

You know it’s bad when X is less popular than:
Microsoft Outlook
Microsoft Teams
Starbucks
A random food and cosmetic scanner app.

But somehow some people will accuse this of being a political post or me personally attacking Elon Musk. Just accept it Elon Musk is a huge reason it went from a not so great app to an absolute dumpster fire.

#Twitter #X #ElonMusk

"Russia has installed Musk's Starlink on Shahed-136 drones: it gives unlimited communication range for drones flying at 2,000 km"
- Defense Express

The drone was shot down by Ukraine's Armed Forces during last night's attack.

With the help of Starlink, Russia can use Shahed drones as an extremely long-range loitering munition with the ability to conduct reconnaissance checks, thanks to an additional camera, and even hit moving targets.
#AureFreePress #Ukraine️ #Russia #Musk #Twitter #x

Habe gestern einem Mastodon-Account zugestimmt, dass das Trolling hier wieder nachgelassen hat. Seitdem wurden wieder neue Troll-Accounts angelegt. Diese Leute lesen hier längst mit.

Ich beobachte: Umso mehr X niedergeht, umso öfter wird das dezentral organisierte Fediversum attackiert. Einige Leute haben sich digital in antisozialen Medien schon so radikalisiert, dass sie nicht mehr so schnell davon runterkommen.

#Mastodon #Fediversum #X #Trolling #Empörungssucht https://scilogs.spektrum.de/natur-des-glaubens/empoerungssucht-nach-dem-x-odus-trolle-scheitern-an-den-mastodon-instanzen/

Empörungssucht nach dem X-odus - Trolle scheitern auf Mastodon

Dr. Michael Blume berichtet, wie seit X empörungssüchtige Trolle in letzter Zeit versuchen, das Mastodon-Fediversum zu stürmen.

^{Michael Blume (Natur des Glaubens)}

@FRA @EUCouncil
@EUCommission

#Legal #Surveillance #GDPDR #China #TikTok
(1/n)

#Europe needs to protect its citizens from foreign interference, not only from #Chinese platforms like #TikTok, #Temu, and #Shein, but also from the likes of #Meta and #X. #GDPDR needs an upgrade:

Via #ZeyiYang from #Wired

"Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act (#PAFACA),...

👉By comparing #TikTok’s data security ...

https://www.wired.com/story/tiktok-defense-china-ban/

TikTok's Defense Strategy Involves Throwing Shein and Temu Under the Bus

In an attempt to defend itself against a ban in the US, TikTok has pointed out that other Chinese companies could be collecting as much data as it does.

^{Zeyi Yang (WIRED)}