Elon May Have Accidentally Revealed How ExTwitter Usage Has Dropped Massively Since His Takeover None of this speaks well to exTwitter’s chances at survival. Beyond the advertising revenue, which the company already admits is down by 50%, downloads are dropping, users appear to be dropping, and the usage by the remaining users may be significantly down as well, based on Musk’s own statements. No wonder he seems increasingly desperate.
The US Securities and Exchange Commission is seeking to force Elon Musk to testify as it investigates the billionaire’s purchases of Twitter shares ahead of his takeover of the social media platform. The regulator said on Thursday that Musk failed to appear to testify last month as requested, and asked a judge to force him to. The agency is reviewing Musk’s statements and disclosures about the stock transactions. Increased Holdings Before acquiring all of Twitter, Musk first purchased a 9.2% stake in the social media firm in March 2022. He then disclosed the stake to the SEC in April. The agency’s rules require most people who buy more than 5% of a public company to disclose it within 10 days. As Musk was ramping up his holdings of Twitter stock, the SEC sent a query to the billionaire in April 2022 over how he disclosed his major stake. The letter from the SEC’s mergers and acquisitions office was focused on the form that investors must file when they accumulate more than 5% of a company, Bloomberg reported last year. That same year, Musk agreed to pay a $20 million fine, give up his chairmanship at the carmaker, and clear future tweets about that firm with an internal monitor, after the SEC investigated his comments about planning to take the company private. The Wall Street regulator has also been probing Musk’s role in shaping Tesla Inc.’s self-driving car claims. SEC officials are weighing whether Musk may have inappropriately made forward-looking statements, Bloomberg News reported in January. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/arti...r&utm_term=231005&utm_campaign=bloombergdaily
Europe gives Elon Musk 24 hours to respond about Israel-Hamas war misinformation and violence on X, formerly Twitter PUBLISHED TUE, OCT 10 20233:56 PM EDTUPDATED 29 MIN AGO Jonathan Vanian@JONATHANVANIAN KEY POINTS Thierry Breton, the European commissioner for the internal market, said in a letter addressed to Musk on Tuesday that his office has “indications” that groups are spreading misinformation and “violent and terrorist” content on X, and urged the billionaire to respond within a 24-hour period. The letter comes after numerous researchers, news organizations and other groups have documented a rise of misleading, false and questionable content on X, creating confusion about the current conflict. Failure to comply with the European regulations around illegal content could result in fines worth 6% of a company’s annual revenue. X CEO Elon Musk leaves a U.S. Senate bipartisan Artificial Intelligence Insight Forum at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 13, 2023. Mandel Ngan | Afp | Getty Images A European regulator has issued Elon Musk a stern warning about the spread of illegal content and disinformation on X, formerly known as Twitter, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict. Failure to comply with the European regulations around illegal content could result in fines worth 6% of a company’s annual revenue. Thierry Breton, the European commissioner for the internal market, said in a letter addressed to Musk on Tuesday that his office has “indications” that groups are spreading misinformation and “violent and terrorist” content on X, and urged the billionaire to respond within a 24-hour period. The letter comes after numerous researchers, news organizations and other groups have documented a rise of misleading, false and questionable content on X, creating confusion about the current conflict. Breton shared his letter via an X post, tagging Musk’s handle and including a hashtag that refers to the Digital Services Act, the newly enacted legislation by the European Commission — the executive arm of the European Union — that requires platforms with more than 45 million monthly active users in the EU to monitor for and take down illegal content as well as detail their protocols for doing so. He reminded Musk in the letter that the DSA “sets very precise obligations regarding content moderation,” and that X needs “to be very transparent and clear on what content is permitted under your terms and consistently and diligently enforce your own policies.” The commissioner said that recent “changes in public interest policies” caused confusion in “many European users.” Breton seemed to be referring to a change that X made over the weekend to its public interest policy that influences whether the company decides to leave certain posts available for everyone to see despite the messages violating policy rules. “Public media and civil society organisations widely report instances of fake and manipulated images and facts circulating on your platform in the EU, such as repurposed old images of unrelated armed conflicts or military footage that actually originated from video games,” the letter said. “This appears to be manifestly false or misleading information.” Breton said that he wants Musk to ensure that X’s “systems are effective” and “report on the crisis measures taken to my team.” He added that he expects X “to be in contact with the relevant law enforcement authorities and Europol, and ensure that you respond promptly to their requests.” “I remind you that following the opening of a potential investigation and a finding of non-compliance, penalties can be imposed,” Breton wrote. X did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment. Watch: Elon Musk has “cut off the good guys, empowered the bad guys.” CNBC.com
