Musk offers to buy Twitter

[KingOfPain]

The gift that keeps on giving...

Elon Musk told bankers they wouldn’t lose any money on Twitter purchase

Lenders unlikely to get even 60 cents on the dollar for the bonds and loans.

arstechnica.com

Judge rejects Elon Musk’s attempt to avoid testifying in Twitter stock probe

Musk has to testify for SEC probe into whether he violated US securities laws.

arstechnica.com

Musk’s X hit with EU’s first investigation of Digital Services Act violations

EU probes disinformation, election policy, Community Notes, and paid checkmarks.

arstechnica.com

While Twitter/X/whatever has certainly lived longer than I would have guessed, if this keeps up, the writing is definitely on the wall.

 

[Edd]

With the addition of Alex Jones to the Muskverse, the Pivot podcast was contemplating how long until Apple decides that X is violating terms of service with the app. Any company wanting at least the veneer of decency and professionalism has to be looking at doing business with X as a source of diminishing returns, to be kind.

 

[Eric]

The current state of Twitter.

 

[GermanSuplex]

I’ve had warnings on Twitter for simply using the word “conservative”. I don’t know if someone reported a post of mine or if an algorithm caught it, but I just laughed. I don’t even remember what I posted, but it would be pretty much the same crap that I post here. I don’t use slurs and the like - maybe I called your usual MAGA operative like Gaetz or MTG a conservative asshole or something. Whatever it was, it didn’t warrant a warning or anything else for that matter.

Musk’s “free speech, anything goes” policy only seems to apply to bigots and conservatives.

 

[Yoused]

maybe I called your usual MAGA operative like Gaetz or MTG a conservative asshole or something

Well, now, there was your mistake: those two, and all the other MAGAts, bear very little resemblance to conservatives.

 

[Citysnaps]

Last night I watched a recent and fascinating PBS Frontline documentary about Musk taking over Twitter, and the resulting consequences.

Thought I'd pass it on.

 

[ArgoDuck]

^ though long, very worth the watch. Covered a lot of territory. Fascinating indeed.

 

[Citysnaps]

^ though long, very worth the watch. Covered a lot of territory. Fascinating indeed.

Frontline always delivers the goods with respect to documentaries. Regarding Musk... all I can say is whoa... There's certainly a lot to chew on

 

[ArgoDuck]

Frontline always delivers the goods with respect to documentaries. Regarding Musk... all I can say is whoa... There's certainly a lot to chew on

Re Musk, my take too. A lot to think about for sure. He’s kind of a left-field bit-player in complex times, playing an outsized part. I can’t decide whether he’s complex or just seems so because of the age we live in?

Just tentative first thoughts but…I don’t think he’s a narcissist (like Trump, for example). It’s not himself but his ‘children’ - I mean primarily his businesses and ‘noble goals’ not his 11 offspring - that are his vulnerability. The perceived attack on Tesla‘s ability to function in 2020 fuelled a - in his case - simplistic pursuit of freedom at all costs, and so twitter/X. That single impact on his business outweighed completely the bigger picture; that the context was a global pandemic threatening people’s lives and health…

Which seems to me ample illustration of a characteristic single-mindedness and complete disregard of ‘side issues’ (which just happen to be core issues when it comes to people, but he doesn’t get that) and well…this is what we have now: an unpredictable, chaotic misinformation platform ramped up to the n-th degree with a critical election looming

 

[Citysnaps]

Re Musk, my take too. A lot to think about for sure. He’s kind of a left-field bit-player in complex times, playing an outsized part. I can’t decide whether he’s complex or just seems so because of the age we live in?

...

I agree with all of your points in your post. For now, I'm going with complex. It makes me wonder what his childhood was like. Was he socially awkward as a child, and that drove him to excelling later in life as an adult? Closely watching him speak (at least publicly), for me he comes off self-effacing and cautious - like he's a little uncomfortable and not sure that what he's saying will be well-received. The complete opposite of trump. A good thing.

The above aside, I have to give him a ton of credit for what he's accomplished over his career. When he started Space-X years ago, I thought for sure that was never going to fly (a bad pun). It was a rocky start, and he did receive government subsidies, but he's significantly brought the cost of launch services down and is competing with ULA (United Launch Alliance - Boeing and Lockheed) and Northrop-Grumman. And launching multi-billion $ national security payloads - something I thought would never happen.

Getting back to running X/twitter... that makes me really nervous. It's kind of like they're bouncing off the walls not sure of what's appropriate with respect to speech.

 

[ArgoDuck]

^ interesting observation concerning "self-effacing and cautious". I can see this. Not Trump, for sure.

Isaacson’s comment that he respects the "rules of physics", all others are breakable seems insightful. I guess i’m not sure he even sees that there are other rules though?

Yet, when Joel Roth and he first met he listened and readily agreed with Roth’s cautions about dangerous speech!

He currently embraces a theory of free speech which has taken him into company and places he possibly didn’t anticipate (and hence his increasing questioning of Roth’s explanations of twitter’s policies). But I would not be surprised if in five years he‘s somewhere else altogether…

 

[Chew Toy McCoy]

Getting back to running X/twitter... that makes me really nervous. It's kind of like they're bouncing off the walls not sure of what's appropriate with respect to speech.

There are only 2 options. Complete free speech and always be operating in the red or moderated speech and make some money. Those are the only options. Rich right-wing operatives would have their money better served if they used it to prop up Twitter instead of donating to campaigns.

 

[Roller]

Judge throws out Musk's massive pay package:

https://www.cnn.com/2024/01/30/investing/elon-musk-pay-package-thrown-out/index.html

It might be worth it if he agreed to launch himself on a one-way trip to Mars, though.

But seriously - "wealth inequality" doesn't begin to cover it.

 

[GermanSuplex]

Hopefully Musk gets to test drive his first hydro-powered submersible to visit the Titanic. By himself, preferably.

 

[Yoused]

found this amusing

Spoiler

(esecially, the correction)

 

[dada_dave]

If this is true … what the hell is going on in our government?

Starshield shut off in Taiwan for US troops

House China committee demands Elon Musk open SpaceX Starshield internet to U.S. troops in Taiwan

The Pentagon awarded Elon Musk's SpaceX a one-year contract for Starshield in September.

www.cnbc.com

Even worse:

Russia using thousands of SpaceX Starlink terminals in Ukraine, WSJ says​

 

[GermanSuplex]

Free Speech Elon. Didn’t he buy the platform because he was tired of conservative voices getting banned?

Don Lemon Airs Clips of Elon Musk Interview on CNN, Tense Conversation

Don Lemon went back to the network that fired him to talk about his Elon Musk interview that made him lose out on his deal with X ... and he even aired some clips from their chat.

www.tmz.com

Don Lemon's Deal with X Canceled, He Blames Elon Musk Interview

Don Lemon says Elon Musk canceled his new show on X.

www.tmz.com

 

[AG_PhamD]

Free Speech Elon. Didn’t he buy the platform because he was tired of conservative voices getting banned?

Don Lemon Airs Clips of Elon Musk Interview on CNN, Tense Conversation

Don Lemon went back to the network that fired him to talk about his Elon Musk interview that made him lose out on his deal with X ... and he even aired some clips from their chat.

www.tmz.com

Don Lemon's Deal with X Canceled, He Blames Elon Musk Interview

Don Lemon says Elon Musk canceled his new show on X.

www.tmz.com

To be fair, nothing is stopping Don Lemon from posting his content on Twitter/X. Twitter/X/Musk just will not be paying him to do so. (Granted, I would not be surprised if shadow banning, etc also occur- but I guess we have to see what happens)

I think Lemon’s line of questioning around prescribed medication (ketamine) was completely inappropriate. With his CNN follow up (another discussion entirely), he seemed to be trying to blur the lines of illicit drug use with a treatment that is medically condoned and suggesting investors should be concerned.

That said, this is yet another example of Musk’s pettiness. Lemon is not the first “journalist” Musk has partnered with only to cut ties when he didn’t like their content (ex. Taibi, Weiss). But I’m not sure what Don Lemon was expecting making a deal with Musk and then turning around and effectively attacking him as the first content he puts out… not the smartest move. If Lemon did the same type of interview with Jeff Zucker back at CNN I wouldn’t expect him to have a job there either.

Don Lemon apparently is trying to sue Musk now but turns out reportedly never had a contract in place. Not the brightest bulb but that should be no surprise to anyone at this point.

If this was Lemon’s plan from the start, I’m not sure he’s succeeded to any degree. No one is going to feel sorry for him. Musk’s ego is a known quantity at this point and breaking off a business agreement is far from the far more legitimate and numerous examples of Musk’s actual censorship.

And you really have to wonder what Musk was expecting to get out of Don Lemon. Certainly not favorable coverage?

I have no sympathy for either of these schmucks. It’s evident Musk’s ego is shamefully fragile, but I can’t say it’s surprising he doesn’t want to fund someone who goes out of his way to disparage him. You wouldn’t expect any company to maintain such a relationship under such circumstances. But Musk also stirs up his own controversy through his own actions and often by stupidly inserting himself into situations he has no reason to be involved with- so when people ask him about it, it should not be surprising.