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Open in TheBrain

TWIT 5 x yaccarino

8 23

SEE TWIT 6 X

tag twt is for musk and related

includes some musk

12 22 CLEAR DEGRADATION

evil pending, commons

merri ok NOT

ag BAILEY PAXTON mma LOST PRESS SUPPRESSION

SEE JONES INFOWARS

SEE TUCKER

bad code bak 123 capt

see attacks on chevron doctrine

SEE TRUMP ASSASS BS

elon 2 404

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aha note 1 23 doomsday clock 90 secs disinfo

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// CONTEXT REICHSTAG BIGG BALLS DC

9 25 an

After it was confirmed that far-right activist Charlie Kirk died after being shot during a Wednesday event on a college campus, and while the shooter remains at large as of Wednesday evening, MAGA activists are still blaming the political left for Kirk's death on social media — and vowing revenge.

Initial responses to the news of Kirk's death, including from President Donald Trump, were encouraging conservatives to pray for the conservative commentator and his family. However, several MAGA influencers and other public figures influential on the far right insisted that Kirk's death should be seen as a mass mobilization event.

"Left-wing violence is out of control, and it’s not random," former Arizona Republican U.S. Senate candidate Blake Masters tweeted. "Either we destroy the NGO/donor patronage network that enables and foments it, or it will destroy us."

READ MORE:'Put two and two together': Conservative argues CNN told hosts to be soft on Trump-Epstein

:{:{MAGA influencer Sam Hyde called on his hundreds of thousands of X followers to watch the video of Kirk being struck by a bullet, writing "It could have been any one of us exercising the first amendment" while adding: "You all need to know what our enemies want." Conservative social media personality FischerKing tweeted: "If this isn't a wake-up call then we're never going to wake up."}:

Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk reposted a separate tweet from FischerKing, who said the "left-wing mainstream media" had created a "climate of hysteria against right-wing figures that could radicalize any number of unstable people to engage in political violence." Musk commented: "Exactly."}:

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"We're in a war," conspiracy theorist Alex Jones said in a video. "The left has been saying put a bullseye on Trump, put a bullseye on his supporters, they've been calling for violence ... they're going to attack."

"The Rubicon has been crossed. Not by Trump or MAGA, but by the far left," wrote far-right activist Mike Cernovich, who spawned the "Pizzagate" conspiracy theory. "Randy Paul can shove his book reports up his a--. F--- everyone who played footsie with these dark demonic forces. We will not be scolded any longer."

"The attack on Charlie Kirk and free speech is evil, pure and simple. The hate, violence and evil being peddled by radical extremists has no place in this country! Schools and social media have become breeding grounds for liberal hate," the Utah Republican Party's official X account posted. "Enough!"

READ MORE:House hearing derailed after Dem calls GOP rep 'lapdog to the president' in shouting match

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an 5 25

Trump's administration has now officially opened an investigation into a progressive advocacy group that has long been a thorn in the side of Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk.

The New York Times reported Thursday that the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is now looking into whether Media Matters for America (MMFA) — which focuses on debunking claims propagated by right-wing media — illegally colluded with advertisers on the social media platform X (which is owned by Musk). The FTC probe comes amid a lawsuit by Musk in which he's seeking damages from MMFA, alleging that the group damaged his relationship with advertisers and prompted a mass exodus of advertising dollars from the platform.

MMFA published a report in 2023 finding that ads sometimes appeared next to extremist content on X. The report found that major advertisers like Apple, IBM and Oracle had ads placed in close proximity to accounts that tweeted pro-Nazi content. Musk's lawsuit alleged that MMFA misrepresented data and insisted that the chances of an advertiser's paid post appearing next to extremist tweets were "rare."

READ MORE:'Extreme response': 11 Republicans slam Trump admin attorney Alina Habba

"Media Matters knowingly and maliciously manufactured side-by-side images depicting advertisers’ posts on X Corp.’s social media platform beside Neo-Nazi and white-nationalist fringe content and then portrayed these manufactured images as if they were what typical X users experience on the platform,” the complaint read. “Media Matters designed both these images and its resulting media strategy to drive advertisers from the platform and destroy X Corp.”

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In response to Musk's lawsuit, MMFA President Angelo Carusone called the litigation "frivolous" that was "meant to bully X's critics into silence."

"Media Matters stands behind its reporting and looks forward to winning in court," he said.

Click here to read the Times' article in full (subscription required).

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note xitter small group can echo each other , thus amplify

mojo 12 24

in 2016, Jarrod Fidden, an Australian entrepreneur living in Ireland, announced that he’d launched a dating app for conspiracy theorists—or, as he put it at the time, for those who engage with “socially inconvenient truths.” The app was written up in dozens of news outlets in multiple languages as a funny curiosity. Fidden himself was described the same way: a jaunty, voluble character who liked to tell reporters how he and his wife had “woken up” together a few years before to the sinister, hidden hands shaping the world, generating the idea for the site.

Elon Musk’s version of X has proven especially helpful for the science-denying account.

While Awake Dating soon vanished from the headlines, the man behind the app seems to have moved on to more impactful pursuits. Less than a decade later, Wide Awake Media, a Twitter account that Fidden appears to operate, has become a major voice for climate denialism. Its more than 500,000 followers on X include former Donald Trump adviser Roger Stone; Craig Kelly, a former member of Australian Parliament and an overt climate change denialist; former General Mike Flynn, who was briefly Trump’s national security adviser before becoming a QAnon promoter; and Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, an opponent of early Covid lockdown measures and a professor of health policy at Stanford, whom Trump has tapped to lead the National Institutes of Health in his second term.

Wide Awake Media is a huge player in a small but exceedingly noisy echo chamber of climate denial accounts on X, which parrot each other’s paranoid assertions that climate change is a “hoax” and that green energy proposals are a pretext to impose global control. With the help of Twitter’s monetized verification system, Wide Awake has grown an exceedingly large audience, mostly on the right; Elon Musk himself recently replied to the account, further raising its visibility.

The fact that a single conspiracy entrepreneur has been able to gain such a large foothold in Twitter’s information ecosystem is concerning to experts who research climate denialism and its dissemination.

Jennie King is the director of climate research and policy for the Institute for Strategic Dialogue, a UK-based think tank that studies how extremism and disinformation spread online. “The Wide Awake story is indicative of various online trends,” she says, “including the diversity of actors who are piggybacking on the climate crisis as a way to generate both clout and revenue.”

In its current form, Wide Awake Media began as a Telegram channel promoting primarily anti-vaccine and anti-lockdown content before joining Twitter in 2022 and becoming more active after Musk’s purchase of the site. (The Telegram channel remains, but is less frequently updated.) At the same time, the account also shifted to focus largely on climate denialism.

The Twitter account is verified, meaning its operator pays for a subscription, and in return has its visibility and replies boosted by the site’s algorithm. A verified account also means Wide Awake Media can make money from popular content.

In 2023, the account saw a huge boom in traffic; between April and November of that year, King says, “they had gone from having 322 followers to 250,000 followers. This morning they’re at 577,000. So in the course of 18 months, that is a 1.7 thousand fold increase.”

The account focuses on several themes, King says, that reliably drive grievance-based engagement, including perceived government overreach during early days of Covid and its tension with “individual liberties,” and “fundamental changes to infrastructure and our lived environment,” like proposals for so-called 15-minute cities.

“There was a diverse community of people with grievances around these themes,” she explains. “Trauma and anger from the pandemic were then directed towards something new, in this case climate action.”

The transition was especially pronounced in 2023, King says. At that time, with the worst days of Covid infections over, you couldn’t “generate the same engagement with pandemic-related content,” she explains. “So you need to expand the business model and think about how you’re going to maintain your relevance, visibility, traction, and profit drivers.”

Acting in a “mutually reinforcing” echo chamber with other online climate deniers is a huge part of Wide Awake’s strategy, King says. “It’s a tiny minority of accounts, probably less than 50 in the Anglosphere, who are really driving this ecosystem. They are constantly citing each other, appearing in each other’s channels, using each other to provide a veneer of credibility, and doing what disinfo needs to in order to survive: create the impression of critical mass.”

Wide Awake Media also uses Twitter to promote an online store selling T-shirts with conspiratorial slogans—another way the operator has monetized their presence on the platform. (It also periodically promotes donations through fundraising platforms.) As Media Matters noted in a September 2023 analysis, the account’s “seemingly scrappy operation offering little original content besides t-shirts, proves that becoming a climate denial influencer is easier than ever.”

A previous email for Fidden is no longer operational, and whoever is behind the Twitter account didn’t respond to several requests for comment—except to post a screenshot of one email I sent, warning that a “hit piece” was imminent. But there are strong indications Fidden is the person behind the Wide Awake Media Twitter account. For one, Wide Awake Media LLC was the name of the company he founded to promote Awake Dating. A previous website, wideawakemedia.ie, which advertised Awake Dating, began redirecting to an identical US-based site, wideawakemedia.us, in 2018. Both the Irish and US sites linked to the Wide Awake Media Twitter account as methods of contact. So does the vendor that sells Wide Awake Media’s T-shirts, suggesting one common operator behind the Irish site, the US site, and the T-shirt seller.

(The Twitter account has claimed to be a “one man operation” based in the UK, uses British spelling, and engages heavily with conspiracy theories about Australian politics, where Fidden is from, and local issues affecting the UK and Ireland.)

“Trauma and anger from the pandemic were then directed towards something new…climate action.”

In the transition from conspiracist dating to climate denial, Fidden seems to have lost at least one ally. Daniel John Sullivan, a Seattle-based software engineer, was previously identified as Awake Dating’s CTO. On one of several blogs he maintains, Sullivan has called Fidden a “shit head” and “a grifter.” In a brief email exchange, Sullivan emphatically stated that he’s no longer involved with Fidden or any of his projects.

Wide Awake Media could be viewed as what the Pew Research Center, in a recent report, called a “news influencer”—a poster with no journalism background or news outlet affiliation, that nonetheless helps shape how their audience reads and interprets current events.

Musk’s version of X has proved especially helpful for Wide Awake Media as it expands its audience and promotes paranoia, given that under him, the company has dismantled its trust and safety teams and fundamentally ceded the fight against disinformation. That can, King says, “create a culture of permissibility within a platform.”

“People know they’re likely to be able to act with impunity,” she adds. By removing the safeguards, “You create an enabling environment where certain accounts are suddenly able to accumulate enormous followings overnight.”

Of course, individual climate disinformation peddlers are always joined by the much more powerful industry lobbyists. At this year’s UN climate summit, known as COP29, oil and gas lobbyists outnumbered “the delegations of almost every country,” the Guardian reported.

But responses to the climate denialism industry, and the individuals who spread it, are also starting to take shape. Brazil, the United Nations, and UNESCO recently announced a project to respond to climate disinformation. Their Global Initiative for Information Integrity on Climate Change will, the groups have said, “expand the scope and breadth of research into climate disinformation and its impacts.” (Rhode Island Democratic Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse has also announced support for the move.)

Meanwhile, King says, climate disinformation is likely to continue to be a major area of focus for conspiracy peddlers, because of the grim reality that climate change and its harmful impacts are increasingly impossible to ignore.

“Judging from what we know about the climate crisis, and how its effects are becoming more directly experienced by the general public, this topic is going to have a long shelf life,” she says.

cf heg pix in cty dude blk suit fruity

12 24 an

One-half of the country duo Big & Rich laid into Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) on Wednesday evening over the senator's comments about Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump's embattled pick for Pentagon chief.

John Rich, a vocal supporter of Trump — and vehement opponent of Joe Biden who once mocked the president as "Sniffy" over his sniffles — took to the social media site X to voice his displeasure with Republicans waffling on Hegseth's nomination.

"The pro-war RINO's are all against @PeteHegseth and that tells you all you need to know," wrote Rich. "Pete is a threat to the war machine. Recess appointments?"

He added in a separate post, "Don't Kavanaugh our Hegseth," referring to the tough confirmation hearing of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, whose nomination was dogged by a sexual assault allegation and protests.

Rich then set his sights on Graham, who has called the allegations against Hegseth "disturbing."

"I think some of these articles are very disturbing. He obviously has a chance to defend himself here, but some of this stuff is it's going to be difficult..." Graham told CBS News.

Rich unleashed a series of posts on X targeting Graham, including at least two that used a homophobic reference.

"Who do you trust more? (repost for maximum results and hilarious responses:)" Rich asked his followers, providing just two responses: Santa Claus and Lindsey Graham.

"I sat across from Lindsey Graham at dinner with DJT a while back. As I was answering a direct question from POTUS, Lindsey twirled his Chardonnay (pinkies up) and told Trump I was a raging conspiracy theorist. I gave him a look that would hairlip the devil, then dismantled him," Rich later posted.

He added: "I've seen tougher guys at Starbucks."

Rich didn't stop there. He shared Graham's office number to his followers and urged them to let him know their feelings about confirming Hegseth.

"This better have 5k reposts before I go to bed," he challenged his followers.

Within an hour, the post had thousands of reposts.

"Welp, that didn't take long," he followed up.

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mma

It takes a bubble

Hurricane Helene shows the catastrophic consequences of the right-wing echo chamber's support for Donald Trump's lies

Written by Matt Gertz

Published 10/08/24

Former President Donald Trump’s deadly lies about the federal response to Hurricane Helene — and soon, inevitably, Hurricane Milton — depend on the impermeability of the right-wing information bubble.

President Joe Biden has directed an ongoing federal and state response to the swath of death and destruction Hurricane Helene left on the southeastern United States, an effort which includes tens of thousands of personnel helping victims across several states.

Trump’s Helene response has been characterized by conspiracy theories and grievance-mongering for political gain.

The Biden administration won plaudits from GOP elected officials across the region, but Trump falsely claimed the federal government abandoned the public. Americans affected by the storm can access a robust program of federal assistance, but he falsely claims they could only get $750 in aid. The White House stressed there’s plenty of FEMA funds to respond to both Helene and Milton — and Republicans are reportedly the ones blocking additional funding — but Trump falsely claims Vice President Kamala Harris blew “all her FEMA money” housing immigrants.

The former president, through these deranged fabrications, is trying to win votes in the coming election. He is summoning an alternate reality in which Biden and Harris are blithely unconcerned with the fates of millions of victims because many of those victims are Republicans and they instead prioritize immigrants. And he is doing so despite his own record as president of allegedly withholding disaster aid for political reasons.

The only reason this strategy is remotely plausible is that the right-wing media ecosystem is willing to play along with it. The news sources Republicans rely on, from MAGA influencers to Fox stars, have bolstered Trump’s lies at every turn. The result is that right-wing audiences are bombarded with falsehoods from within an echo chamber.

The MAGA media ecosystem responds in this same fashion to every news event because its function isn’t to report on what is happening. Instead, right-wing pundits offer a scapegoat — immigrants, Jews, journalists, teachers, trans people, Democrats, anti-Trump Republicans — in order to hold their audience’s attention, make money, and support the GOP’s core agenda of tax cuts for rich people and abortion bans.

This incentive structure is universally toxic. But when it collides with issues like disaster relief, the consequences can turn deadly. Before, during, and after a hurricane, people on the ground need credible information about what to do, what help is available, and how to get it. Right now, the sources many victims depend on for news are lying to them.

Hurricane misinformation is plaguing the response to Helene. Local media outlets, federal and state officials, and emergency responders all are desperately trying to swat down rumors and falsehoods — some promoted by the former president. Republican officials in affected areas are begging the people pushing “conspiracy theory junk” to stop lying and pitch in instead.

“The scale of the misinformation — and simply the number of posts and the eyeballs that each of those are being given online, particularly on [X] — that is what is different and truly scary,” a North Carolina state official told Politico. “This has felt like you're in the Thunderdome, and people are just piping this noise in. They create this great confusion. It creates chaos and a crisis moment where you need people to be able to work together and come together.”

The calamity hearkens back to the early weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic, when Trump and his media allies first downplayed the potential impact of the deadly virus, then promoted unproven and ultimately ineffective medications as a “miracle cure.”

And it bodes ill for the coming election if Trump loses, when all the same figures will have the same incentives to help him deny and subvert the results.

Related

Right-wing media lies about the federal response to Hurricane Helene}:

:{10/04/24

  1. ### Right-wing media falsely and dishonestly claim that Hurricane Helene survivors are only entitled to $750 in aid

:{10/04/24

  1. ### Ignoring praise for federal aid from GOP governors and officials on the ground, right-wing media falsely claim that Hurricane Helene is “Kamala’s Katrina”

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an 10 24 bADASH

The U.S. Secret Service reportedly intervened last month after tech billionaire Elon Musk, whose companies have received billions in taxpayer dollars through federal defense and intelligence contracts, subsidies, tax credits, and loans, posted a so-called “joke” on his social media platform X claiming no one is even attempting to assassinate President Joe Biden or Vice President Kamala Harris.

In a nearly two-hour interview with Tucker Carlson that posted Monday, Musk and the far right-wing host wisecracked about both his original post and his thoughts that led to the now-removed tweet.

After laughing about what will happen to Musk if Donald Trump loses his presidential bid, Musk suggested he will be imprisoned and wondered if he will see his children.

“I’ve been trashing Kampala nonstop,” Musk told Carlson, appearing to pronounce the Vice President’s name incorrectly. “Well, the Kamala puppet, I call her, you know, the machine that the Kampala puppet represents.”

READ MORE: ‘Trafficking in Nazi Race Science’: Trump Blasted After ‘Vile Trifecta’ of Antisemitism

“Yeah, she’s irrelevant,” Carlson declared, waving his hand in the air dismissively.

“I made a joke, which I realized I deleted, which is like, ‘nobody’s even bothering to try to kill Kamala, because it’s pointless’,” Musk said, laughing with Carlson. “What do you achieve? Nothing. Just buy another puppet.”

“Nobody’s trying to kill Joe Biden,” Musk added. “It would be pointless.”

“Some people interpreted it as I was, as though I was calling for people to assassinate her,” Musk explained. “But I was like, but I was like, doesn’t it seem strange that no one’s even bothered to try?” he asked, laughing.

“Nobody tries to assassinate a puppet,” Musk concluded.

The Daily Beast reports Musk is a “longtime financier of Republican causes,” and “joined Trump last Saturday for his rally in Butler, Pennsylvania—the site of July’s assassination attempt. After jumping around on stage—a move that he was widely mocked for on his own site—the X CEO dished out some fear-mongering about how, if Trump doesn’t win, ‘this will be the last election.'”

Back in February The Wall Street Journal described Musk’s SpaceX as “a major national-security contractor” that “is deepening its ties with U.S. intelligence and military agencies.” The company has “a $1.8 billion classified contract with the U.S. government.”

“The Pentagon has more recently done business with SpaceX’s Starlink broadband service, including agreements to pay for Ukrainian internet links during Ukraine’s war with Russia,” The Journal also reported, noting Starlink has a $70 million U.S. military contract.

A short excerpt (bel0w) from the Musk-Carlson interview dropped Monday night, garnering 5 million views in about 13 hours. It prompted many to express outrage, anger over the violent rhetoric, and concern over a military government contractor joking about presidential assassinations. Some said they believed the FBI or Secret Service should get involved.

READ MORE: ‘Trump Did This’: SCOTUS Blocks Biden Emergency Abortion Mandate in Texas

Brad Moss, a well-known national security attorney, commented: “If one of my clients made this ‘joke’ their clearance would be suspended before the interview ended.”

National security expert Olivia Troye served as Vice President Mike Pence’s Homeland Security and Counterterrorism Advisor, and has had roles at roles at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, in the intelligence community (at the National Counterterrorism Center, Office of the Director of National Intelligence, Department of Energy), and at the Department of Defense (DOD) according to herofficial biography.

“Joking about assassinating our elected leaders is not just tasteless—it’s dangerous,” she warned. “In today’s divided climate, we need responsible voices, not reckless rhetoric that normalizes violence. It’s un-American for Elon Musk & Tucker Carlson to make light of such serious threats. Our leaders—and all Americans—deserve better.”

Christopher Burgess, a writer, speaker and commentator on national security issues who served for over 30 years at the CIA, commented: “Reaction: DISGUSTING / Racist – Misogynist – Cultist / All on display in one 10-15 second sound bite – there is no place for this – anywhere let alone the United States of America”

“Nothing to see here,” remarked gun violence prevention advocate Shannon Watts. “Just a man with classified federal contracts worth billions fantasizing about the assassination of the President and Vice President.”

“Deport this clown,” urged Esquire columnist Charles P. Pierce.

Journalist Jon Ralston, CEO/Editor of The Nevada Independent remarked: “These people are grotesque, the vanguard of Team Trump, simpering fools joking about assassinations. Musk, once thought a visionary, is a pathetic troll on a site he has destroyed.”

Watch the video below or at this link.

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dancing at butler?

if apply fema they will take your property, also musk

'This has to stop': FEMA administrator begs Trump to knock off 'completely false' rumors

an 10 24

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mma 9 24

MAGA media are attacking ProPublica’s comprehensive account of the role Georgia’s six-week abortion ban played in a woman's death

Special ProgramsAbortion Rights & Reproductive Health

Written by Chloe Simon

Published 09/19/24

Right-wing media are attacking a ProPublica piece scrutinizing the death of Amber Nicole Thurman, who died after she could not get an abortion in her state and then got delayed abortion care in a local hospital.

The piece elaborates on Thurman’s “preventable” death and Georgia’s strict abortion ban and vague language on “life of the mother” exceptions. Thurman had to travel to North Carolina for a dilation and curettage because she was past the six-week limit in Georgia, but traffic made her miss her appointment, so she received medication abortion instead. She suffered a rare complication, and doctors at a Georgia hospital failed to perform the needed D&C until it was too late.

Right-wing and anti-abortion media have denounced ProPublica’s report as “lies” and claimed that Georgia’s abortion law is not the reason for Thurman’s death.

Breitbart published a piece titled “Left-Wing ProPublica Ties Georgia Abortion Law to Woman’s Death Without Clear Evidence.”T}:he article goes on to claim that “Thurman’s story, in addition to other tragic stories, is already being used by Democrats to promote their agenda of undoing all abortion restrictions by passing a federal law that allows abortion-on-demand.” Breitbart, [9/18/24]|

* Washington Examiner’s David Harsanyi wrote that the “ProPublica piece on Amber Thurman's death is a masterclass in hackery and conjecture.” He went on to say that there’s “literally nothing in the piece backing the claim that Thurman died because of GA's abortion law.” Twitter/X, [9/17/24]

Related

  1. ### Broadcast news, Fox News failed to cover deaths stemming from Georgia's six-week abortion ban

09/19/24

  1. ### Project 2025 partner president makes misleading claims about IVF and hospital treatment of women dealing with miscarriages

09/13/24

  1. ### Anti-abortion groups have launched aggressive lobbying campaigns against ballot abortion access amendments across the country

09/05/24

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bb 9 24

JD Vance described the cabinet position from which Elon "Leon"Musk will direct a brain trust to save social security from "migrants" and fix the DOD.

In what appeared to be a momentary break from disparaging asylum seekers in the US, JD Vance found his way back to disparaging "migrants" as somehow responsible for the social security fraud that he also imagines. The answer to this is noted Pedo Guy Leon Musk. Following his disastrous re-imaging of "X," most Americans will likely not choose to have Leon fix social security.

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Shawn Ryan: Let's talk about government reform.

JD Vance: Yeah.

Ryan: So, it looks like Elon's going to be on the cabinet.

Vance: That's right, yeah.

Ryan: And will be in the charge on the government efficiency department.

Vance: Yep.

Ryan: If that's what you call it.

Vance: Yep.

Ryan: How do you see? How, have you spoken to him about the plan? How he's going to do it?

Vance: Well, I've spoken. You mean with the president or with Elon?

Ryan: With Elon.

Vance: Ok, yeah, with Elon. So, I've spoken with Elon a little bit about it and um, you know, I think that the way that this is envisioned is you set up a, you know, you set up an organization with very smart people from the private sector and a few smart people from government and you go in and you say, 'How are we going to fix all of these inefficiencies?' And the thing that's complicated about this, man, is it's going to look much different in say the Department of Defense versus Social Security, right?

via MTN

Previously:

• Leon Musk complains there is not enough assassinating going on

wapo 9 19 24

the X billionaire’s false posts about noncitizen voting spur officials to fact-check him, lead to requests to purge voter rolls, and add to worries about threats.

BB 9 24

After having its assets frozen, Elon Musk's Starlink is complying with a Brazilian court's order to block Musk's shrinking social network in Brazil "regardless" of the frozen assets.

Elon's screwing around with Twitter is impacting his other businesses. He may have to dump a bunch of Tesla to pay the piper when the time comes for X's bond payments; and now Starlink Brazil finds its assets frozen due to being a part of the same "economic group," i.e. Musk's ownership.

Starlink said in a statement posted on X that it will heed Justice Alexandre de Moraes' order despite him having frozen the company's assets. Previously, it informally told the telecommunications regulator that it would not comply until de Moraes reversed course.

"Regardless of the illegal treatment of Starlink in freezing our assets, we are complying with the order to block access to X in Brazil," the company statement said. "We continue to pursue all legal avenues, as are others who agree that @alexandre's recent order violate the Brazilian constitution."

AP

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08/26/24

Media Matters statement on winning injunction against Missouri AG Andrew Bailey in federal court

Written by Media Matters Staff

Published 08/26/24

Media Matters President and CEO Angelo Carusone issued the following statement after Judge Amit Mehta of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia granted Media Matters a preliminary injunction against Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey.

“A federal judge has clearly seen this coordinated effort by state attorneys general for what it is – sucking up to Elon Musk and abusing the power of their offices to intimidate researchers and stifle accurate reporting by Musk's critics. Andrew Bailey was one of those AGs that took up the call and he was defeated.

“The judge’s decision is a victory for free speech and a warning to other AGs and like-minded bad actors that the constitution does not allow for this type of meritless, retaliatory, harassing effort to suppress free speech.”

Key takeaways from the order:

* The U.S. District Court also affirmed that Media Matters’ reporting is “protected speech” and has been corroborated by other media outlets and even X Corp.

* The U.S. District Court affirmed that AG Bailey’s own “public statements are direct evidence of retaliatory intent” against Media Matters, and “retaliation for protected expression was likely his true motive for investigating Media Matters.”

The same day that X Corp. filed a meritless lawsuit against Media Matters for America for an accurate report on the platform’s extremism, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton opened a similarly specious investigation into MMFA under Texas’ deceptive trade practices act. Paxton subsequently issued an overbroad and invasive civil investigative demand – despite the fact that Media Matters has no relevant connection to Texas. On April 12, 2024, U.S. District Court Judge Amit Mehta granted Media Matters a preliminary injunction against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.

Weeks after Paxton issued his demand, Missouri AG Andrew Bailey claimed to open his own investigation into Media Matters. Bailey ultimately filed a Civil Investigative Demand against the organization on March 25, 2024 – despite the fact that Media Matters has no relevant connection to Missouri. According to Bailey himself, he is coordinating with Paxton in his “war” against Media Matters and his Missouri Demand is “virtually identical” to Paxton’s Texas Demand. On April 24, 2024, Judge Mehta permitted Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey to be a defendant in Media Matters’ suit against Paxton.

The nonpartisan U.S. Press Freedom Tracker which catalogs press freedom violations in the United States recently recorded incident reports related to the Texas attorney general's investigation and the Missouri attorney general’s investigation in their database.

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an 8 24

lies on Elon Musk’s X have instigated some of the worst racial riots in Britain’s history. Musk recently posted a comment to his hundreds of millions of followers claiming “Civil war is inevitable” in the U.K., and asserted that the British criminal justice system treats Muslims more leniently than far-right activists.

European Union commissioner Thierry Breton sent Musk an open letter reminding him of EU laws against amplifying harmful content “that promotes hatred, disorder, incitement to violence, or certain instances of disinformation” and warning that the EU “will be extremely vigilant” about protecting “EU citizens from serious harm.”

Musk’s response was a meme that said: “TAKE A BIG STEP BACK AND LITERALLY, F--- YOUR OWN FACE!”

As I noted last week, Americans, too, are being subject to lies and bigotry on Musk’s X — and not just because Musk fired the entire staff that had been keeping such filth off the platform; Musk is also reposting and encouraging some of it.

Musk recently released an AI chatbot that falsely told tens of millions of Americans that “the ballot deadline has passed” in several swing states, including the battlegrounds of Michigan, Minnesota, and Pennsylvania, among others.

Secretaries of state in five states urged Musk to “immediately implement changes” to his chatbot, but Musk hasn’t done so.

Evidence is mounting that Russia and other foreign agents are using X to disrupt this year’s presidential race, presumably in favor of Trump. Musk refuses to take any action.

What to do about Musk? I’ve suggested that advertisers boycott X. Now Musk is suing advertisers for doing this, arguing that they’re violating antitrust laws.

It’s time to get tough with Musk. Here are some suggestions.

First, the Federal Trade Commission should demand that Musk take down lies that are likely to endanger individuals or threaten our democracy, and if he does not, sue him under Section 5 of the FTC Act.

Musk’s free-speech rights under the First Amendment don’t take precedence over the public interest. Seven weeks ago, the Supreme Court said federal agencies may pressure social media platforms to take down misinformation — a technical win for the public good (technical because the court based its ruling on the plaintiff’s lack of standing to sue).

The U.S. government — and we taxpayers — have additional power over Musk, if we’re willing to use it: The U.S. should terminate its contracts with him, starting with Musk’s SpaceX.

In 2021, the United States entered into a $1.8 billion classified contract with SpaceX that includes blasting off classified and military satellites, according toThe Wall Street Journal. The funds are now an important part of SpaceX’s revenue.

The Pentagon has also contracted with SpaceX’s Starlink broadband service to pay for internet links, despite Musk’s refusal in September 2022 to allow Ukraine to use Starlink to launch an attack on Russian forces in Crimea.

Last August, the Pentagon gave SpaceX’s Starshield unit $70 million to provide communications services to dozens of Pentagon partners.

Meanwhile, SpaceX is cornering the rocket launch market. Its rockets were responsible for two-thirds of flights from American launch sites in 2022 and handled 88 percent in the first six months of this year. SpaceX is also the only entity ferrying NASA astronauts to and from the International Space Station.

In deciding upon which private-sector entities to contract with, the U.S. government considers the contractor’s reliability. Musk’s mercurial, impulsive temperament makes him and the companies he heads unreliable. The government also considers whether it is contributing to a monopoly. Musk’s SpaceX is fast becoming one.

Why is the U.S. government allowing Musk’s satellites and rocket launchers to become crucial to the nation’s security when he’s shown utter disregard for the public interest? Why give Musk more economic power when he repeatedly abuses it and demonstrates contempt for the public good?

There is no good reason. American taxpayers should stop subsidizing Elon Musk. Stop. Him. Now.

Robert Reich is a professor of public policy at Berkeley and former secretary of labor. His writings can be found at[https://robertreich.substack.com/

42 min delay

BB 8 24

*"You can't have a conversation with Biden or Kamala. It's like talking to an NPC." — Elon Musk

*"A wall of negative headlines was so predictable. They're such NPCs" — Elon Musk

*"Easy to tell who is an NPC today" — Elon Musk

Elon Musk uses "NPC" to describe people who disagree with him. NPC is a video game term that stands for "non-player characters" controlled by the game's AI.

Musk is a bit like wealthy tax-dodger Leona Helmsley, who once said, "We don't pay taxes; only the little people pay taxes." At least Helmsley thought the entities surrounding her were people, albeit diminutive ones with commensurate importance. Musk, on the other hand, thinks those who disagree with him are mere simulations, devoid of genuine thoughts or feelings.

There's little doubt Musk is a narcissist and a sociopath, but his ramped up use of NPC makes me suspect he's a solipsist, too. He's the protagonist in a world where others are simply programmed responses, not thinking, feeling individuals. This fits neatly with his belief that our universe is a computer simulation. Musk happens to be the only character in the game with a mind. And since he's got the high score, who can argue?

Previously:

• Musk told Trump that Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings 'not as scary as people think.' Trump: 'That's great.'

of the many, many weird exchanges between Donald Trump and Elon Musk in last night's mock interview, their casual remarks about nuclear devastation might be the most bizarre:

Musk: "Hiroshima and Nagasaki were bombed but now they're full cities again."

Trump: "That's great. That's great."

> Musk: "Yeah, so it's not as scary as people think."

Here's the audio clip:

• Elon Musk triggered by Black comic book characters

• Elon Musk to his sycophant pet journalist Matt Taibbi: 'You are dead to me'

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an 8 24

'Lasting political consequences' as UAW files labor charges against Trump, Musk over X interview

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['Problem for Tesla' as Dems flee automaker over Musk’s Trump endorsement: Sales 'may have peaked'

an 7 24

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7 24

republicans-think-elon-musk-is-total-flake-report

Elon Musk recently came out with a public endorsement of Donald Trump for president, but Republicans haven’t fully embraced him, according to a report from *The New York Times*.

The tech billionaire CEO of Twitter, Tesla, and SpaceX has been highly sought after by GOP fundraisers and Trump associates for years, who see him both as a meal ticket and a potential inspiration for the party. But Musk doesn’t have a solid record for political involvement.

For example, he has promised to spend money on “free speech” lawsuits to support conservatives who claim that they are the victims of social media censorship but hasn’t followed through. Musk has also been a no-show at public appearances, such as a 2023 event to support Kevin McCarthy, then the newly elected speaker of the House. In San Francisco, he promised to donate $100,000 to the centrist group GrowSF to defeat progressives, but again didn’t follow through.

“Some conservative activists said they wished that Mr. Musk had followed through more on promises,” the Times reported.

Musk’s public endorsement of Trump only came after a gunman tried to assassinate the former president and convicted felon on Saturday. Previously, the tech magnate, while privately urging friends not to vote for Biden, was waiting until the president had secured the Democratic nomination, according to the Times.

Musk’s confidants in the tech world, such as Joe Lonsdale, a co-founder of data analytics firm Palantir, reportedly discuss politics with him and have urged him to play a more active role. Lonsdale founded AmericaPAC to help Trump return to the White House, with Musk reportedly pledging a monthly donation of $45 million, according to *The Wall Street Journal*. Musk denied the report, leaving those involved with the PAC to wonder how much he plans to donate, or if he will at all.

Alongside fellow tech CEOs Peter Thiel and David Sacks, Musk is a member of the “PayPal mafia,” the group of early supporters and founders of the payment service. All three have embraced conservative ideas and supported J.D. Vance as Trump’s running mate, with Musk and Sacks openly lobbying Trump on behalf of the Ohio senator. If Trump wins in November, the trio will have an administration friendly to their whims and those of Silicon Valley’s right wing.

Unfortunately More on Elon:

Why Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos Want Women to Stay Barefoot and Pregnant

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Right-wing media and social media users spread conspiracy theories about the Trump rally shooting

WRITTEN BY ALEX KAPLAN & PAYTON ARMSTRONG

RESEARCH CONTRIBUTIONS FROM JASON CAMPBELL & NOAH DOWE

PUBLISHED 07/16/24

Following the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump at a rally in Pennsylvania on July 13, right-wing media figures and social media users have spread baseless conspiracy theories and claims about the shooting.

They have amplified a 4chan hoax that the Secret Service gave a stand-down order during the shooting; made baseless allegations that Alex Soros was connected to the shooting; falsely claimed a protester at a 2016 Trump rally was the shooter; suggested the shooting could be attributed to the intelligence community, the “deep state,” foreign actors, or an “RNC/Israeli hit job”; and connected the assassination attempt to biblical prophecy and “the hand of God.”

Social media users earned tens of thousands of shares and likes promoting the 4chan post. Multiple users, including QAnon figure Nicholas Veniamin, shared the 4chan posts or its claims, raking up tens of thousands of shares and “likes” on X and Instagram. According to CrowdTangle, posts on Instagram sharing the 4chan hoax received more than 80,000 interactions. Twitter/X, [7/14/24, 7/14/24, 7/14/24, 7/15/24; Instagram, 7/14/24; CrowdTangle, accessed 7/16/24; Media Matters, 3/4/22]

A post amplifying the 4chan hoax was one of the top posts on Reddit’s conspiracy subreddit. On the prominent subreddit “r/conspiracy,” a user posted an image of the 4chan post — though they added, “BIG grain of salt recommended.” The post was one of the top posts in terms of “upvotes” in a 24-hour period between July 14 and July 15. Reddit, [7/14/24, 7/15/24; Media Matters, 9/18/23]

QAnon figure Woke Societies after the shooting: “Don’t forgot Alex Soros posted this in January of this year. Demons.” Telegram, [7/13/24; Media Matters, 4/18/22]

QAnon figure Pepe Lives Matter: “Remember when Alex Soros tweeted a bullet shot with the number 47 in this ominous tweet that people thought was about Donald Trump and now he was just shot.” Telegram, [7/13/24, 1/7/21]

:{QAnon figure Ben Moore, known online as “Sun Tzu,” responded to a user claiming Alex Soros “hinted at what was coming in a X post” by asking if George and Alex Soros should “be designated as enemy combatants at this point.” :{Twitter/X,:(style="background-color:#dd5800ff"):}:** [7/15/24; Media Matters, 4/24/24]}:

:{Ann Vandersteel, who has promoted QAnon, posted an image of Alex Soros’ tweet with the text “Remember this?” :{Twitter/X:(style="background-color:#ff0000ff"):}:, [7/13/24; Media Matters, 6/7/24]}:

A user on the online forum GreatAwakening, which is dedicated to the QAnon conspiracy theory, shared a post saying “Y’all remember when Alex Soros posted $47 and a bullet hole?” GreatAwakening, [7/14/24; Media Matters, 6/30/20]

Longtime Trump ally Roger Stone claimed that “a number of people have contacted me to say that the shooter is not the man they’ve identified.” During an appearance on conspiracy theory network Infowars, Stone said that “a number of people have contacted me to say that the shooter is not the man they’ve identified, but rather” someone else — the same person mentioned by QAnon John — “who appears to more closely resemble the picture we've been shown that is allegedly the corpse of the shooter.” [Infowars, The Alex Jones Show, 7/15/24]

Far-right figures baselessly suggested the shooting could be attributed to the “intelligence agencies,” the “deep state,” foreign actors, or “an RNC/Israeli hit job”

Alex Jones claimed that the Trump shooting was “clearly” done by the “deep state.” In the X Space with Fuentes, Jones claimed of the attempted shooting, “Clearly this was deep state.” He said it was evidence of “the deep state trying to kill him,” adding, “This was no accident, in my view.” Twitter/X, [7/13/24]

White nationalist Stew Peters baselessly claimed it was “an RNC/Israeli hit job.” According to Peters, “Everyone is blaming Biden and the Dems when this was clearly an RNC/Israeli hit job.” Twitter/X, [7/13/24; Media Matters, 3/13/23]

Right-wing personality Candace Owens said that if she were a conspiracy theorist, she might think the FBI was behind the Trump shooting. While discussing on her YouTube show the FBI’s efforts to access the alleged shooter’s phone (which it has since done), Owens said, “If I were a conspiracy theorist, and I’m not — I’m not a conspiracy theorist — some people might be thinking, though, those conspiracy theorists might be thinking, like, maybe it’s because the FBI did it. Maybe the FBI doesn’t want to get into the phone that connects the kid to the deep state.” YouTube, *Candace Owens*, [7/15/24; The New York Times, 7/15/24]

QAnon figure Clandestine claimed, “Whether this was a CIA-coordinated plot, or just a lone shooter, the Deep State are responsible regardless.” Jacob Creech, known online as “Clandestine,” added, “Either they planned the hit, or their years of violent rhetoric and endless MSM propaganda, created the vitriol that led to the attack.” Telegram, [7/14/24; Anti-Defamation League, 4/5/22]

Self-described prophet Amanda Grace said “prayer matters” because the assassination attempt was “meant to kill him and by the hand of God it grazed him” and claimed the “Lord warned” her that it would happen. Grace added: “Saul did this to David. This is that same spirit rising up. Saul attempted to kill David on multiple occasions and never was able to succeed.” She also suggested that God had warned her multiple times that Trump would be hurt, claiming that “the Lord warned [on] June 8” and “he warned it again two days ago.” YouTube, *Ark of Grace Ministries*,[; Media Matters, 5/30/24] VID]

While discussing the assassination attempt on FlashPoint, commentator and self-described prophet Lance Wallnau mentioned a prophetic “decree” and attributed Trump’s survival to “the impulse of God or an angel that enabled him to not be hit.”Wallnau said that “the brush with mortality is a moment also for President Trump to realize that God himself is preserving him. And let’s agree together in this decree that he will have an ear to hear in every key situation what the spirit of God is actually saying. And he’ll wisely and shrewdly navigate, turning to the left or to the right as the wisdom of God dictates, and that he will stay one step ahead of death.” Twitter/X, [7/13/24; Rolling Stone, 9/29/22]

:{Far-right figures Dom Lucre and Jack Posobiec shared a video of supposed prophet Brandon Biggs predicting three months ago that Trump would be injured. Lucre wrote that “the prophet Brandon Bible’s prophecy about Donald Trump’s assassination attempt from 3 months ago has resurfaced” and said, “This has been biblical since day one.” Posobiec, who has a penchant for spreading conspiracy theories, amplified the video to his 2.5 million followers. :{Twitter/X,:(style="background-color:#ff0000ff"):}: [7/14/24, 7/14/24; The Washington Post, 8/15/17; Forbes, 7/27/23]}:

:{Christian nationalist pastor Sean Feucht shared the video of Biggs and wrote, “Prophecy from March 14, 2024 about Trump being shot in the ear in an assassination attempt!” :{Twitter/X,:(style="background-color:#ff0000ff"):}: [7/14/24; Media Matters, 9/14/23]}:

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an 7 24 thiel pal?

Musk donates $45m to pro-Trump PAC — after promising he wouldn't

Alex Henderson

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mma Project 2025 partners join right-wing media and climate deniers to celebrate SCOTUS decision overturning Chevron deference

06/28/24

On June 28, the Supreme Court upended 40 years of precedent by overturning Chevron deference, a decision that will restrict federal agencies' regulatory abilities that will also make it easier for corporations to challenge environmental protections, climate action, and rules that protect workers and regulate drugs and financial practices, among other issues.

Undoing Chevron deference has been a central goal of the conservative legal movement and corporate lobbyists for decades, with right-wing think tank the Heritage Foundation arguing that “the modern administrative state creates a pervasive system of consolidated power that weakens the checks and balances carefully constructed by the United States Constitution.”

Now, Heritage has joined with over 100 other conservative organizations to organize Project 2025, a comprehensive transition plan to guide the next GOP presidential administration with policy proposals and staffing recommendations. In response to the Supreme Court ruling finally overturning Chevron deference, multiple Project 2025 partners joined right-wing media figures and climate deniers in celebrating the decision.

What is Chevron deference and why overturning it matters

Project 2025 partners celebrate court’s decision to overturn Chevron and the demise of the “administrative state”

===

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bully = macho dictator

an 6 24

elon Musk and convicted felon Donald Trump have been in contact several times a month since their private meeting in March at the home of billionaire investor Nelson Peltz, according to The Wall Street Journal.They’re discussing an advisory role for Musk if Trump wins back the White House in November — potentially giving Musk influence over economic policy.

Musk has already briefed Trump about his plans to invest in a data-driven project to prevent voter fraud (which, as I noted yesterday, is almost nonexistent).

And Musk has committed his social media platform, X, to host live video town halls with Trump ahead of the election.

Musk is also using X to spread conspiracy theories that Democrats are intentionally “importing” millions of undocumented immigrants to vote in elections.

READ:**Buckle up for Trump's 'October Surprise'**

Musk has accused Biden of “treason” and claimed that if Democrats win control of the White House and Congress in November, America “will become a permanent one-party deep socialist state.”

What’s Musk’s motive? Not simply more money. Hell, he’s the second-richest man on the planet. He wants more power. Unaccountablepower.One route to unaccountable power is to hitch his fortune to convicted felon Trump.

Musk has been emulating Trump for years.

Consider Trump’s MO of treating underlings like dung. In 2022, Musk fired half of Twitter’s 7,500 employees, including teams devoted to combating election misinformation — and did it so haphazardly and arbitrarily that most had no idea they were fired until their email accounts were shut off.

This was after Musk fired Twitter’s executives “with cause” to avoid paying them the golden parachutes they were owed. And after he taunted Twitter and the law firm it worked with in its lawsuit against him, suggesting he would sue all of them.

Musk’s concern about the dwindling number of people seeing his tweets prompted him to convene a group of engineers to discover why his engagement numbers were tanking. When one of the company’s two remaining principal engineers explained it was likely due to waning public interest in Musk’s antics, Musk fired the engineer.

A few weeks ago, Musk laid off 14,000 Tesla workers. They discovered they no longer had jobs only when their keys to the parking lot no longer worked. In order to receive severance, they had to agree not to participate in any lawsuit or mass arbitration against the company or publicly defame Tesla.

Musk has also been copying Trump’s bombastic ridicule of anyone who gets in his way. When the British diver Vernon Unsworth rejected his help rescuing youth football players trapped in a cave in Thailand, Musk described him as “pedo guy.”

When the Securities and Exchange Commission went after Musk, he tweeted that the “E” in the SEC stands for “Elon’s.” (You can guess what the “S” and “C” stand for.)

Musk has copied Trump’s disregard for the law. During the pandemic, when public health authorities refused Musk permission to reopen his Tesla factory, he did it anyway.

Musk has been just as shameless as Trump when it comes to padding his pockets. In 2018, Musk got the richest pay package in U.S. corporate history, then worth around $56 billion. Earlier this year, a Delaware court voided that pay package, finding that the process to decide on it was “deeply flawed” because Tesla’s board hadn’t properly disclosed it to investors and had “barely” negotiated it with Musk.

In response to the Delaware court’s finding, Tesla’s board (that is, Musk) said it would ask shareholders to vote again on that same pay package at its annual meeting on June 13. In a letter to shareholders, Robyn Denholm, Tesla’s chair, wrote that the Delaware Court’s decision was “fundamentally unfair, and inconsistent with the will of stockholders who voted for it.”

Fundamentally unfair that Musk hadn’t been paid the exorbitant pay package that a court found to be illegal?

In effect, Musk got the giant multibillion-dollar package by extorting Tesla — implying that if the board refused to sign off on it, he’d devote even more of his time to his other businesses, like SpaceX or his xAI startup. The Delaware judge cited a meeting at which the board planned to ask Musk to commit a minimum level of time to Tesla but chickened out because, according to one participant, “‘that would have been like saying goodbye to Elon.’”

Treating employees like dung. Taunting and ridiculing opponents. Refusing to be held accountable or be bound by norms or even laws. Bullying adversaries. Demeaning critics. Craving attention. Self-promoting. Making gobs of money. Impetuous. Unpredictable. Autocratic. Vindictive. Utterly lacking in empathy.

Musk and Trump are different generations, of course. They possess different skills and occupy different roles in the bizarre firmament of America’s billionaire class. But both represent the emergence of a particularly ruthless and dangerous American power monger: the wildly disruptive narcissist.

Their singular goal is to imprint their giant egos on everyone else — to exercise raw power over people. To make others grovel.

They disdain democracy. Their politics might be called, instead, thugocracy.

They demean America with their brazen assertions of untrammeled power to dominate and force others to submit.

We used to call such behavior shameless. Now it’s just what Trump, Musk, and a few other super-rich (Peter Thiel, Bill Ackman, Stephen A. Schwarzman) do. It’s the new norm of the brazenly wealthy.

Shame once reenforced the common good. Through most of human history, survival depended on extended families, clans, and tribes. To be ostracized often meant death.

Charles Darwin, in his book The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals, thought shame may have evolved as a way to maintain social trust necessary for the survival of a group and, therefore, of its members.

In a 2012 paper, psychologists Matthew Feinberg and Dacher Keltner and sociologist Robb Willer found evidence that shame and embarrassment function as a kind of “nonverbal apology” for having done something that violates social norms. A display of embarrassment shows others that the embarrassed person is still aware of the group’s expectations and is still committed to the group’s well-being.

“Ignominy is universally acknowledged to be a worse punishment than death,” wrote Benjamin Rush, a signer of the Declaration of Independence who also sought to put an end to public stocks and whipping posts.

But shamelessness has gained a certain elan. Audacity, insolence, and impudence are welcomed. Irreverence is celebrated. Many Americans love Musk’s and Trump’s loutishness.

***

Why are so many Americans enthralled with Musk and Trump? What’s attractive about their thugocracy? Why are billionaires who violate the common good treated like Wild West outlaw heroes?

The answer, I believe, has a lot to do with America’s shameful degree of inequality.

A large portion of the American public projects its needs and fantasies on these billionaire thugs. People who have been bullied their whole lives wantsuperbullies capable of bullying everyone who’s been bullying them.

Read:[Buckle up for Trump's 'October Surprise'

*Robert Reich is a professor at Berkeley and was secretary of labor under Bill Clinton. You can find his writing at https://robertreich.substack.com/.

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judd pop info 4 24

handful of billionaires are tightening their grip on the information ecosystem.

Popular Information takes on the powerful, and we've proven this approach can have a real impact. The billionaires consolidating their power are increasingly hostile to our work. That's why we need your help.

rob reich an 4 254

in 2018, Elon Musk got the richest pay package in U.S. corporate history, then worth some $56 billion.

Nearly three months ago, a Delaware court voided that pay package, finding that the process to decide on it was “deeply flawed” because Tesla’s board didn’t properly disclose it to investors and had “barely any evidence of negotiations at all” with Musk.

Musk effectively decided on his own that he’d be paid $56 billion.

Last Wednesday, Tesla’s board said it would ask shareholders to vote again on that same pay package (now valued at about $47 billion) at its annual meeting on June 13.

READ:[10 fascinating SCOTUS facts to tide us over until it wrecks the country in June

In a letter to shareholders intended to justify the pay package, Robyn Denholm, Tesla’s chair, wrote:

Because the Delaware Court second-guessed your decision, Elon has not been paid for any of his work for Tesla for the past six years that has helped to generate significant growth and shareholder value. That strikes us — and the many stockholders from whom we already have heard — as fundamentally unfair, and inconsistent with the will of stockholders who voted for it.

Fundamentally unfair that Musk hasn’t yet been paid a $56 billion pay package that a court found to be illegal?

It didn’t stop him from selling $23 billion worth of stock and pledging hundreds of millions of existing shares against personal loans to finance his gonzo purchase of Twitter (now X).

Speaking of unfairness, Musk is extorting Tesla by implying that if shareholders refuse to sign off on his giant compensation package, he’ll devote more of his time to his other businesses, like SpaceX or his xAI startup.

The extortion began with the 2018 pay package, according to the Delaware court. The judge cited a meeting at which the board planned to ask Musk to commit a minimum amount of time to Tesla but chickened out because, according to one participant, “that would have been like saying goodbye to Elon.”

Tesla is already suffering from Musk’s lack of focus. Its slumping sales have erased billions off its market value in recent months. On Tuesday, it posted $21.3 billion in revenue, a 9 percent drop year over year — marking its biggest decline since 2012.

True to form, Musk is furious that the Delaware court nixed his giant pay package. “Never incorporate your company in the state of Delaware,” Musk said on X after the ruling, adding: “I recommend incorporating in Nevada or Texas if you prefer shareholders to decide matters.”

So he’s also having Tesla shareholders vote to move Tesla’s incorporation to Texas, where he can grab even more of Tesla’s profits for himself.

Musk doesn’t want an independent board of directors — which, according to the Delaware court, is why his pay package is the richest in corporate history.

According to the court, board chair Denholm will do whatever Musk wants because he’s rewarded her so generously. She cashed in stock options in 2021 and 2022 for $426 million, describing it as “life-changing.” (It was revealed in an SEC filing that Denholm plans to sell additional stock options expiring on August 16, worth $53 million.)

The judge also found that Tesla director James Murdoch (son of Rupert) is not independent due to his long-standing personal friendship with Musk, including going on joint family holidays. And board member Kimbal Musk is, well, Elon’s brother.

While we’re on the subject of fairness, what about Tesla’s mass layoffs last week?

A week ago Monday, Tesla announced it was laying off around 10 percent of its workforce, or roughly 14,000 people.

Last Tuesday, affected employees discovered they no longer had jobs because their keys to get into the Tesla parking lot didn’t work. Showing up to work only to be sent home is a hell of a way of firing someone, but it’s just like how Musk handled mass firings at Twitter.

Tesla appears to be offering workers two months of severance — the legal minimum — meaning that workers will be paid through June 14. In order to receive severance pay, laid-off workers must agree not to participate in any lawsuit or mass arbitration against the company or publicly defame Tesla.

The mass layoff went about as poorly as you might expect for a company that operates at the whim of its mercurial CEO.

American capitalism is coming apart because of people like Elon Musk, who insists on getting the largest pay package in corporate history while extorting his shareholders and shafting his workers.

Boards of directors are supposed to represent and protect shareholders, but Musk doesn’t want an independent board. Unions represent and protect workers, but Musk has used illegal means to fight off a union, according to the National Labor Relations Board.

Most of all, Musk rejects the entire concept of fairness. To him, it’s all about money. But fairness is the bedrock of capitalism. If most people come to believe that the system is rigged for the benefit of mercurial idiot savants and unprincipled robber barons, they will not support it.

History tells us that social upheavals sometimes lead to fairer systems, but they have sometimes fueled authoritarian strongmen.

Both Elon Musk and Donald Trump are sociopathic leaders who demand vast wealth and power, scoff at norms, want total control, and have no regard for anyone but themselves.

They are the antithesis of the common good.

SO MUCH FOR FREE SPEECH ABSOLUTISM

OMFG

mma 4 24

media Matters President and CEO Angelo Carusone issued the following statement after Judge Amit Mehta of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia granted Media Matters a preliminary injunction against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.

Elon Musk encouraged Republican state attorneys general to use their power to harass their critics and stifle reporting about X. Ken Paxton was one of those AGs that took up the call and he was defeated. Today's decision is a victory for free speech.

Key takeaways from the order:

The same day that X Corp. filed a meritless lawsuit against Media Matters for America for an accurate report on the platform’s extremism, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton opened a similarly specious investigation into MMFA under Texas’ deceptive trade practices act. Paxton subsequently issued an overbroad and invasive civil investigative demand – despite the fact that Media Matters has no relevant connection to Texas. The nonpartisan U.S. Press Freedom Tracker which catalogs press freedom violations in the United States recently recorded an incident report related to the Texas attorney general's investigation in their database.

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bb 4 24

twitter recently imposed blue checkmarks, previously assigned only to people paying to use the site, on all users meeting a certain threshold of paid followers. And soon users assigned blue checkmarks will no longer be able to hide them.

The blue checkmark, originally a form of verification and implicit status, was turned into a paid feature after Elon Musk's takeover of the site. Initially resulting in a wave of impersonations, the icon became something of an embarrassment to anyone not an overt Musk fan: to have one suggested one was willing to pay to look important on Twitter. The site tried to push the symbol on popular users once before and backtracked, but eventually pushed them on accounts with more than a million followers and now to those with much smaller followings too.

Previously:Elon Musk slaps free Twitter Blue checks on critics, whether they want it or not

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ymail judd 4 24

in October 2022, Elon Musk completed his purchase of Twitter. He then dramatically changed the algorithm to boost his own tweets. The new algorithm, according to a February 2023 report by Platformer, "artificially boosted Musk’s tweets by a factor of 1,000 – a constant score that ensured his tweets rank higher than anyone else’s in the feed."

Musk is now using his dominant presence on the social network, which he has renamed X, to convince people that the 2024 presidential election is rigged. His efforts dovetail with the lies of Donald Trump, who recently claimed that Democrats are "allowing" undocumented immigrants to enter the country and "signing them up to vote."

Musk promoted a post from @EndWokeness, a popular account that promotes bigoted conspiracy theories, that claimed to have uncovered "data" showing that hundreds of thousands of "illegals" have registered to vote since the start of 2024. Musk shared @EndWokeness' post with his 170 million followers and called it "extremely concerning."

According to X, thanks to Musk's promotion, over 100 million people have viewed the claims in this post. The only problem is that the entire thing is bunk.

To begin, "illegals" cannot get a Social Security number. Most people who have Social Security numbers are citizens. In some instances, non-citizens can receive a Social Security number — usually in connection with a work authorization — but only if they are legally present in the United States. The idea that using a Social Security number to register to vote is evidence of undocumented status makes no sense.

Help America Vote Verification (HAVV) is part of a process that allows people to register to vote by providing their Social Security number, name, and date of birth. That information is then passed from the state Department of Motor Vehicles to the Social Security Administration, which checks to make sure that the information is valid and that the individual is not deceased.

Critically, every "transaction" using the HAVV process does not equate to a newly registered voter. A November 2010 report by the Social Security Administration's Office of Inspector General "found that 2.4 million (32 percent) of the 7.7 million HAVV transactions submitted by 25 States related to the same voter data being re-submitted 10 or more times." In 2008, according to the report, "Ohio submitted the same voter information 1,778 times during the year for a 77-year-old man who died in December 2005." Then, in 2009, "Ohio continued to submit this applicant’s information 13,824 times." On one day in 2008, Illinois submitted the same voter to HAVV 342 times.

This helps explain why the numbers cited by @EndWokeness dramatically exceed the total number of newly registered voters in 2024 in each state. According to the Texas Secretary of State Jane Nelson, as of April 3, "voter rolls have increased by 57,711 voters since the beginning of 2024." That represents all newly registered voters — not just the much smaller number that registered to vote without a drivers license. There are similar discrepancies in Arizona and Pennsylvania.

Even if a non-citizen were able to register without a driver’s license in Texas, Pennsylvania, or Arizona, that would not enable them to vote. All three states require voters to present identification that establishes their citizenship and state residency. (In Pennsylvania, this is only required when voting for the first time.) The entire conspiracy theory is incoherent.

Non-citizen voting is extraordinarily rare

Musk is trying to convince people that non-citizen voting is a severe threat to democracy. The truth is that it almost never happens. A study by the Brennan Center for Justice evaluating 23.5 million votes across 12 states in 2016 found 30 incidents of suspected non-citizen voting, 0.0001% of the 2016 vote in those jurisdictions. A 2022 audit of Georgia voting rolls found about 1600 noncitizens attempting to register to vote over a 25-year period, and no non-citizens were actually allowed to register or vote.

The issue of non-citizen voting is connected to the racist Great Replacement theory, popular with white supremacists, that falsely claims that Democrats are allowing non-citizens to illegally enter the country as part of a plot to seize political power. Musk has repeatedly endorsed the Great Replacement theory on X.

In March, Musk accused Biden of committing "treason" by chartering flights full of undocumented immigrants with the intention of registering them to vote. The flights did not exist.

Musk's absurd approach to fact-checking

Musk promotes X's Community Notes feature as a way of identifying misinformation. Community Notes allows users to flag misinformation and write a correction. In certain cases, the Community Note is appended to the post itself.

But Musk's post about HAVV and his other false claims do not feature any publicly available Community Notes. That's because Musk has designed Community Notes to make it virtually impossible for his posts to be fact-checked.

Musk has a cult following on X who agree with his reactionary politics and defend his claims, no matter how outlandish. Community Notes are displayed publicly only if there is a consensus among people who normally disagree. That means, even if thousands of people agree that Musk is lying, a Community Note will not be displayed unless Musk's loyal supporters also agree it should be displayed. Here is how X describes its approach:

To find notes that are helpful to the broadest possible set of people, Community Notes takes into account not only how many contributors rated a note as helpful or unhelpful, but also whether people who rated it seem to come from different perspectives.

Community Notes assesses "different perspectives" entirely based on how people have rated notes in the past… If people who typically disagree in their ratings agree that a given note is helpful, it's probably a good indicator the note is helpful to people from different points of view.

The practical impact of this policy is that very few Community Notes are displayed publicly, especially not on political posts by Elon Musk.

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an 3 24

on X, formerly Twitter, @ringwiss has at least 14,000 followers and regularly tweets about the United States' congressional procedures.

Many X users have wondered who @ringwiss is, and according to Politico's Gabe Fleisher, he isn't from the U.S., but rather, is Kacper Surdy — a 20-year-old economics student at Durham University in England.

Surdy was born in Poland, but has lived in the U.K. most of his life. And he is clearly fascinated by the United States' congressional system.

READ MORE:**'I will not help the Democrats': GOP rep says he’ll torch border deal to deny Biden a win**

"In fact," Fleisher explains in an article published by Politico on March 8, "@ringwiss has never even stepped foot in the Capitol, much less worked there…. Surdy may live some 5000 miles from Washington, but he has a favorite Senate presiding officer, Cory Booker, and a favorite House procedure: defeat of the previous question, last seen in 1988."

Fleisher adds, "When he gets home from classes, he immediately turns on the live-feeds of the House and Senate floors and keeps them on in the background for the rest of the night."

The Politico reporter notes that Surdy's tweets "often take on an educational function."

"A recent thread on defeating the previous question — which has taken on a fresh importance as Democrats consider using it to move a Ukraine aid package — fetched 67,000 views," Fleisher observes. "Another breaking down the parliamentary errors in a recent judicial opinion on House proxy voting was seen by more than 200,000."

READ MORE:[Mike Johnson is 'mainstreaming' a 'fringe set of charismatic evangelical' Christians: report

Fleisher continues, "His missives are always meticulously backed up by evidence, be they clips unearthed from deep in the C-SPAN archives or highlighted screenshots of Deschler's Precedents, an 18-volume House reference book. He often corrects even lawmakers themselves about the rules of their own chambers."

Matt Glassman, a congressional scholar at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., is quite impressed by Surdy's knowledge of Congress.

Glassman told Politico, "When we think of the best of Twitter, of what it could be, it's when you find a guy like this, who as best I can tell, is sitting in London watching congressional procedure obsessively, when his knowledge can be unleashed to both elite audiences in D.C.… and really, anybody who wants to understand what's going on."

READ MORE:['Moral cowardice': Mitch McConnell slammed for 'pathetic' endorsement of 'vicious autocrat' Trump

*Read Politico's full report at this link.

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DEW space lasers

https://www.mediamatters.org/tiktok/conspiracy-theories-about-record-breaking-texas-wildfire-spread-online-after-biden-visited

bonus deny climate

recall tx drought some yrs back was prayer

oregon was antifa

mma 3 24

Conspiracy theorists and right-wing influencers are attributing unprecedented wildfires in Texas to a government attack using so-called directed energy weapons (DEWs), while others say the fires were an act of “retaliation” from the federal government motivated by an ongoing stand-off over migration at the state’s southern border. Dozens of videos and posts falsely insist that the claim is backed up by remarks President Joe Biden made during his February 29 visit to Brownsville, Texas.

While discussing how “up-to-date standards and building codes” could help reduce property damage from wildfires, Biden said, “If you fly over these areas that are burnt to the ground, and you see in the midst of 20 homes that are just totally destroyed, one home is sitting because it has the right roof on it.”

Claims that Biden was somehow suggesting that certain roofs are immune to the impacts of DEWs while other structures were intentionally targeted in the fires are proliferating on X (formerly Twitter) and TikTok, along with related conspiracy theories suggesting the fires were payback for the state defying federal border policy.

In 2024, climate change is already fueling extreme weather all around the country — including the Texas fires}:

A conspiracy theory about blue objects being immune to so-called government weapons has been brewing since the Lahaina fires}:

X and TikTok users claim Biden’s roof comment is evidence of foul play}:

Video Player

Other online content creators speculate that the wildfires are “retaliation” for Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s dispute with the administration’s border policies}:

On social media, some conspiracy theorists and right-wing influencers alleged that the government started the fires deliberately to punish Texas for not complying with the Supreme Court ruling, or suggested that migrants were somehow involved in starting the Smokehouse Creek Fire.

[twt]

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on Tuesday, billionaire Elon Musk told his 175 million followers on X that President Biden had committed "treason" by "secretly" flying "320,000 illegal immigrants" from Latin America to US airports.

It is quite a dramatic claim. The only problem is that nearly everything Musk said is a lie.

Musk was responding to information from Collin Rugg, the co-owner of a right-wing news aggregation site called Trending Politics. Rugg's post references a report by the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) about a program expanding humanitarian parole for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans. CIS is an anti-immigrant think tank co-founded by eugenicist and racist John Tanton.

First, nothing about the expanded humanitarian parole program is "secret." Biden announced it in a White House speech on January 5, 2023:

The way this parole program works: One must have a lawful sponsor here in the United States who agrees to sponsor you to get here… Then, that person has to… undergo rigorous background checks and apply from outside the United States and not cross the border illegally in the meantime. If they apply and their application is approved, they can use the same app, the CBP One app, to present at a port of entry and be able to work in the United States legally for two years. That’s the process.

…Today I’m announcing that my administration is going to expand the parole program for people not only from Venezuela but from Cuba, Nicaragua, and Haiti.

The program was then detailed in a White House press release. The release specifies that the program allows "up to 30,000 individuals per month from these four countries." To qualify, individuals must have an "eligible sponsor and pass vetting and background checks." Those admitted through the program "can come to the United States for a period of two years and receive work authorization." The program was then described in further detail in another press release issued the same day by the Department of Homeland Security.

The announcement received widespread press coverage in major media outlets, including the Washington Post and the New York Times. Today, the program is featured on the home page of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) website:

Musk is also amazed that the Biden administration was able to keep the program secret when it involved chartering thousands of planes, flying to dozens of airports.

The reason why no one noticed all the planes chartered by the Biden administration is that they don't exist. Under the terms of the parole program, individuals are required to purchase their own flights to the United States. "If the beneficiary has been authorized to travel to the United States, they must arrange and fund their own travel," the USCIS website states. "Beneficiaries must arrange to fly to the United States by air directly to an interior port of entry and their final destination."

While Musk says this program constitutes "treason," it is fully within Biden's legal authority. Under the Immigration and Nationality Act, the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security can "in his discretion parole into the United States temporarily under such conditions as he may prescribe only on a case‐​by‐​case basis for urgent humanitarian reasons or significant public benefit any alien applying for admission to the United States." Federal courts have found that parole determinations are not subject to judicial review. Every president has used parole authority since it was established in 1952, except Trump.

Musk says the immigrants admitted under the program are a national security threat — "[i]t is highly probable that the groundwork is being laid for something far worse than 9/11" — because they are "unvetted." This is also false. The program requires all individuals to "[u]ndergo and pass required national security and public safety vetting."

Despite Musk's claims, individuals entering the United States under this program are doing so legally. And they are not eligible to vote. The notion that migrants are voting in meaningful numbers is not grounded in fact. A study by the Brennan Center for Justice evaluating 23.5 million votes across 12 states in 2016 found 30 incidents of suspected non-citizen voting, 0.0001% of the 2016 vote in those jurisdictions. A 2022 audit of Georgia voting rolls found about 1600 noncitizens attempting to register to vote over a 25-year period, and no non-citizens were actually allowed to register or vote.

Playing the hits

“Secretive” migrant flights have been the focus of similar outcries in years past. Ahead of the 2022 midterms, multiple Republicans accused the Biden administration of organizing “ghost flights” of migrants. Republican Tyler Kistner, who ran for Congress in Minnesota, said that Biden “has been secretly flying illegal immigrants into communities across the country in the middle of the night.” Representative Ashley Hinson (R-IA) claimed the government was “flying illegal immigrants from the border into our country in the dead of night.” And former Congressman Lou Barletta (R-PA), in his bid for governor of Pennsylvania, blamed Biden for “hid[ing] secret ghost flights of illegal immigrants. Meanwhile, politicians in Florida, Texas, New York, Alabama, and North Dakota also fomented panic over migrant flights.

These claims, however, were highly misleading. Most of the flights targeted by the right carried unaccompanied minors who, under federal law, cannot be held by Border Patrol for more than 72 hours. The goal of these flights is to connect children with their parents, relatives or, in some cases, a licensed program. Experts say that it’s extremely unlikely that adults with unauthorized immigration status were aboard these flights. The mix-up, a 2022 Washington Post fact-check explained, could have been due to the fact that there are separate flights that carry adults in ICE custody to “different detention facilities.”

Regardless, both types of transports are routine and were carried out under Trump. According to the Washington Post, “in 2019, the Trump administration sought a private contractor whocould transport 225,000 migrants across the country to temporary shelters, because of overcrowding at the border.”

The truth about the app

Musk’s posts also target the CBP One App and misrepresent its functions. To Musk, the app is evidence of an “open border.” The reality, however, is that the app limits the number of people who can immigrate.

Launched in 2020 by U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the app has several purposes. At the southern border, asylum seekers must use the app to schedule appointments at a Port of Entry. Most migrants who don't use the app are turned away. Critics have highlighted many issues with the app, including the fact that there are more individuals seeking asylum each day than there are available appointment slots. Some advocates have accused the app of being “unlawful because migrants are allowed to seek asylum anyway on U.S. soil.”

In addition, the app is also used for the parole process for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans. (This is the well-publicized program Musk claimed was "secret.") These individuals can use the app to “request advance authorization to travel to an airport in the United States to seek a discretionary grant of parole,” CBP’s website states.

Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, a policy director at the American Immigration Council, explained that the app is just one component of the process. An individual using the app would still need to secure a sponsor who can “submit evidence that they are able to financially sponsor the person coming on parole,” Reichlin-Melnick said. A CBP agent will still inspect the individual upon arrival. The process is limited to 30,000 individuals per month, chosen at random. Everyone else is out of luck. Reichlin-Melnick says publicly available data shows the program has helped slow irregular entries by individuals from eligible countries.

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an 1 24

Rep. Beth Van Duyne (R-TX) served up wild accusations against President Joe Biden and his administration on Monday during a House Republicans’ press conference on the border. After making demands of the Biden Administration to send an ultra-conservative bill that includes funding and stringent policies for the U.S. border, and funding to support fighting in Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, Republicans are now rejecting what they requested after decrees from Donald Trump.

Back in October, after far-right House Republicans ousted Kevin McCarthy and were struggling to find a new Speaker, President Joe Biden requested a $105 billion aid package for the U.S. southern border, Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan. Of the $105 billion, $50 billion would go to U.S. defense industry manufacturers to “expand production lines, strengthen the American economy, keep us safe, and create new American jobs,” Office of Management and Budget Director Shalanda Young said, CNBC reported at the time.

“Additionally,” CNBC explained, “the White House is seeking $6.4 billion for border operations, pushing back against Republicans who have criticized it for not doing enough to contend with migration from Latin America. The request also includes about $1.2 billion for efforts aimed at countering fentanyl, which has driven a wave of deadly overdoses in the United States.”

“Some in Congress have said a lot about doing something on border security while refusing to take up the $4 billion request we sent in August to Congress,” Young said. “We will not be lectured by those who refuse to act. As we’ve said repeatedly, Congress needs to take action to provide sufficient resources for the border.”

READ MORE: Tuberville Delivers Startling Military Analysis: ‘I Don’t Know Who’s Running Our Country’

Three months later, House Republicans under direction of Donald Trump have decided to reject any legislation that is not “perfect.” Just as he did when he launched his xenophobic presidential campaign in 2015, and throughout his 2016 campaign, Trump aims to use immigration as a wedge issue to win the White House in November.

But now, Trump has the support and influence of the Republican Party, and many – especially House Republicans – willing to obey him via often-angry rants he posts on his Truth Social platform.

Congresswoman Van Duyne, a Texas backbencher who failed at her attempt to be elevated into House leadership when Mike Johnson was made Speaker, on Monday in a little-noticed speech served up allegations of “traitorous acts,” “usher[ing] in a new era of slave trade,” and promoting the “endless rapes” of women and children and a “lifetime of sex trafficking enslavement,” against President Biden and his administration.

“Joe Biden and the extremists in his administration are arsonists,” Congresswoman Van Duyne declared. “From day one they have burned down every shred of strong, effective, Trump-era border security policy that was protecting America.”

“Their purposeful and persistent actions, the arsonists of the Biden administration have created a national security and humanitarian nightmare. By turning over control of our southern border to the Mexican cartels, Biden, the Democrats, have ushered in a new massive era of slave trade here in America that is cursing the lives of illegal immigrant women, little girls and little boys. But Biden, [DHS Secretary] Mayorkas, and the Democrats couldn’t care less about the lives of these small children. They’re condemning them to endless rapes in a lifetime of sex trafficking enslavement.”

READ MORE: Local Reporter Hammers House Republican Taking Credit for Biden’s Bills After Voting ‘No’

“And rather than using the power that they already have in existing law, to this end is utter catastrophe,” she continued. “Biden is salivating at the prospect of some staggeringly horrible Senate compromise bill to enshrine that this ongoing disaster continues.”

The Senate bill was drafted by hard-core conservative U.S. Senator Jim Lankford, Republican of Oklahoma, and it is far more extreme than Democrats would ordinarily support, yet has the approval of Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.

“I’ve got news for the Senate: You don’t reward arsonists by handing them gasoline. Instead, you do what Texas is doing: you dig in, you fight, you hold the line and you never give in when our national security is constantly being threatened by the traitorous actions of the executive branch. Stand with Texas. Hold the line and never back down.”

Watch Van Duyne’s remarks below or at this link.

twt

“From day one, they have burned down every shred of strong, effective Trump-era border security policy that was protecting America.” -

@RepBethVanDuyne

#WeStandWithTexas

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rww 1 24

Nick Fuentes’ most recent Twitter account, created to evade his permanent ban from the platform, has been suspended.

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mma 1 24

Following news that a session at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting would be focused on the World Health Organization’s preparations for a potential epidemic of a currently unknown pathogen dubbed “Disease X,” right-wing media figures pushed conspiracy theories about a supposed plan to kill off “excess population” and fearmongered over the possibility of another pandemic and lockdowns. Some sought to capitalize on the fear by selling “medical emergency kits” that contain an unproven COVID-19 treatment.

because they “want less people.” Schlapp stated: “I think they must know something, and I’m not going to discount the fact that probably Disease X is a thing and could happen, and some people — as evil and dastardly as it sounds — thinks killing millions of people actually could be good for the rest of us who survive.” Additionally, host Chris Plante said that at the meeting, “globalists at Davos ... might not be preparing for imaginary situations, but rather assembling their next global power grab.” Newsmax, *Chris Plante The Right Squad*, [1/17/23; CNN, 12/16/23]

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In the months following the deadly US Capitol insurrection on January 6, 2021, both chambers of Congress voted to award the Congressional Gold Medal — the highest civilian award in the United States along with the Presidential Medal of Freedom — to US Capitol police officers who defended members of Congress during the attack. 21 House Republicans voted no.

Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Kentucky), who was one of those 21 no votes, defended his "no" vote on his official X (formerly Twitter) account on the third anniversary of the attack that killed resulted in five deaths of police officers with hundreds more injured.

"Did you know all but 21 US Representatives voted for a bill written by Nancy Pelosi that called the January 6th protestors 'insurrectionists'?" Massie tweeted, along with a link to the legislation. "I voted No and took a lot of heat for it."

Massie's objection to the bill was that it referred to supporters of then-President Donald Trump who breached the US Capitol building as a "mob of insurrectionists." The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines an "insurrection" as "the act or an instance of revolting especially violently against civil or political authority or against an established government," and "the crime of inciting or engaging in such revolt." According to The Hill, Massie disagreed with the characterization of January 6 rioters as "insurrectionists" when the bill was being discussed.

"They were protesting. And I don’t approve of the way they protested, but it wasn’t an insurrection," Massie said at the time.

According to CNN, there were ultimately three medals awarded — one for the entire US Capitol Police Department, one for the entire DC Metropolitan Police Department, and a third to be displayed at the Smithsonian museum naming all of the law enforcement agencies that participated in the defense of the US Capitol during the insurrection.

The final vote on the bill was 406-21, with 218 "yea" votes from Democrats and 188 "yea" votes from Republicans. No Democrats voted against the bill.

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tesla-drops-disney-in-retaliation

e-u-opens-investigation-into-xitters-woeful-content-moderation

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musk demands eisner resign? pulled ads from twt?

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Conservatives’ ‘anti-woke’ alternative to Disney has finally arrived - Alternet.org

an 12 23

as fanfare blares, female sprinters at the starting line suspiciously eye a man in a wig. A hulking, goateed wrestler slams a woman half his size to the mat. An ominous voice-over intones that women’s sports are being “trans-formed.”

No, this isn’t the beginning of a classic cross-dressing comedy. It’s the trailer for “Lady Ballers,” a new right-wing movie that farcically depicts cisgendered men claiming to be women in order to dominate women’s sports.

At first glance, it’s easy to dismiss the movie as yet another example of the meme that conservatives only have one joke, repeated ad nauseam, mocking liberal views on gender identity.

But my own research has explored the vast network of conservative comedy that bolsters right-wing political efforts.

Now, in addition to comedy, U.S. conservatives are using action films, dramas and even kids’ cartoons to build their own alternative entertainment industry, one shielded from the alleged liberal biases of Hollywood.

The most prominent recent efforts are two streaming entertainment platforms from right-wing pundit Ben Shapiro and “Lady Ballers” star Jeremy Boreing.

DailyWire+ offers documentaries, Westerns and faith-based fantasy series. Its companion streaming platform, Bentkey, which launched in October 2023, specializes in children’s programming.

To be sure, these streamers have miles to go before challenging Netflix and Disney+. But by strategically targeting their politically engaged audiences, the platforms have been successful – and could have more staying power than prior attempts at making music and movies for conservatives.

Swings, misses – and a few hits

U.S. conservatives have successfully launched and steered a number of news outlets. They have a spottier record when it comes to entertainment, whether it’s feature films, pop songs or kids’ shows.

In 2013, former Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum became the CEO of EchoLight Studios, which produced several faith-based films in the 2010s. Similarly, the pundit and documentary filmmaker Dinesh D'Souza has had a few modest box office hits centered on right-wing conspiracy theories. These efforts saw limited success because their niche political appeal was mismatched with theatrical movies’ wide distribution.

Other forms of conservative entertainment have briefly gone viral, before all but disappearing – perhaps because they’re too closely aligned with current events to have staying power. Kid Rock’s “We the People” bemoaned COVID-19 restrictions and “Bidenomics,” while Jason Aldean’s Try That In a Small Town” tried to harness conservative resentment toward Black Lives Matter protests a few years too late.

One notable conservative entertainment hit is the 2023 thriller “The Sound of Freedom.” The movie’s surprise success had as much to do with its subject matter – child trafficking, which is catnip for right-wing conspiracists – as it did with its unique financing. The film’s producer, Angel Studios, used an equity crowdfunding model that gave 100,000 individual investors a say in creative and marketing decisions.

Then “The Sound of Freedom” used a “pay it forward” marketing scheme that encouraged the film’s fans to buy tickets for like-minded friends and family. Although Angel Studios won’t disclose how much revenue “pay it forward” generated, the movie has an overall gross of nearly US$250 million against a $14.5 million budget.

“The Sound of Freedom” allowed audiences literally to buy into the film’s success, which its marketing campaign equated with actively rejecting Hollywood’s liberal agenda. A similar dynamic informed the launch – and will likely determine the future – of DailyWire+ and Bentkey.

Packaging conservatism for kids

Shapiro is among the most vocal backers of Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis. Both are deeply hostile to LGBTQ+ rights. They’ve also routinely claimed that supporters of “woke gender ideology” like Disney are “grooming” children.

In late 2022, DailyWire+ surpassed 1 million subscribers by releasing programming that stoked these culture war concerns. Among the platform’s hits were right-wing commentator Matt Walsh’s anti-trans documentary “What Is A Woman?” and PragerU’s video shorts that advocate for conservative pet issues through sober, educational-sounding explainers. Then, of course, there are comedies like “Lady Ballers.”

Boreing has explicitly highlighted the disconnect between viewers’ politics and their entertainment options.

“[Americans are] tired of giving their money to woke media companies who want to indoctrinate their children with radical race and gender theory,” he told The Washington Post ahead of Bentkey’s recent launch.

Bentkey strives to directly counterprogram Disney with its own conservative family programming. “Chip Chilla,” for instance, is a fairly transparent rip-off of the Disney+-distributed hit “Bluey,” a cartoon about the hijinks of a family of Australian dogs.

The creators of “Chip Chilla” include “Saturday Night Live” alumnus-turned-anti-vaxxer Rob Schneider and Ethan Nicolle, the former creative director of the right-wing satire website The Babylon Bee.

The platform also aims to challenge Disney’s dominance in the princess realm. Bentkey’s forthcoming fantasy film “Snow White and The Evil Queen” stars the popular conservative YouTuber Brett Cooper and purports to emphasize the fairy tale’s traditional social values.

If politics is downstream from culture …

As media grapple with declining advertising revenue, DailyWire+ and Bentkey are betting that loyal, politically engaged subscribers will drive their growth.

Shapiro’s strategy aligns with that of X, which is backing into a subscription model as chairman Elon Musk’s impulsive tweets alienate advertisers.

In a move away from the ad-supported YouTube, Shapiro struck a deal with Musk for X to host The Daily Wire’s podcasts. Like Shapiro, Musk is a supporter of DeSantis, with X – then known as Twitter – infamously hosting the candidate’s disastrous campaign launch in May 2023.

Backed by this confluence of powerful right-wing voices, conservative entertainment can engage the Republican electorate in new ways. Liberals would do well not to dismiss its potentially galvanizing effects before the 2024 election.

The late right-wing muckraker Andrew Breitbart – a mentor of Shapiro – famously asserted that politics is downstream from culture.

If this is, in fact, the case, slapstick comedy and children’s animation just might buoy the next wave of conservative activism.

Nick Marx, Associate Professor of Film and Media Studies, Colorado State University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

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elon-musk-to-allow-alex-jones-back-on-twitter-days-before-the-anniversary-of-the-sandy-hook-school-shooting

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defamation?

musk slapp suit legal suppression; macho libtard requires retaliation, punish - money [ sorta explains musk FU to corps that pulled ads after anti sem and now pizzagate reboot?

Media Matters for America names counsel in X Corp. v. Media Matters for America

:{:{WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Media Matters for America named Elias Law Group as counsel in the case of *X Corp. v. Media Matters for America}:

On Monday, November 20, X Corp. sued Media Matters for America following publication of a report which revealed that ads for major brands appeared on X next to content that touts Adolf Hitler and his Nazi Party, despite CEO Linda Yaccarino’s claims that brands are “protected from the risk of being next to” toxic posts on the platform.

Media Matters President Angelo Carusone said, “Media Matters stands by its reporting. This case is not only significant for us, but has major First Amendment implications for all. With Elias Law Group, we look forward to continuing our work unabated and ultimately winning in court."

Abha Khanna, Partner, Elias Law Group, added, “Elias Law Group is proud to represent Media Matters for America in this case. X Corp.’s lawsuit against MMFA is a clear attempt to bully and silence anyone who dares to hold them accountable. X Corp. has fallen far short of its commitment to protect its users and advertisers from hateful, extremist content. We look forward to ensuring that MMFA is able to continue its important work."

Media Matters for America is a nonprofit media watchdog dedicated to monitoring and exposing conservative misinformation. Through real-time monitoring, comprehensive research and analysis, and rapid response work, Media Matters combats lies, propaganda, and extremism to ensure that all Americans have access to truthful information.

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ymail 11 23

stephen Miller, the notorious advisor to former president Donald Trump, suggested on X yesterday that a "conservative state Attorney[] General" should pursue civil and criminal charges against Media Matters. Miller claims that Media Matters committed "fraud" by reporting that X was displaying ads from major brands next to white nationalist and neo-Nazi posts. X has accused Media Matters of "completely misrepresent[ing] the real user experience on X." But, according to X's own statement, all Media Matters did was create an account, follow some users, and observe what ads were displayed.

Musk, a self-described "free speech absolutist," responded favorably to Miller's proposal to subject journalists to criminal prosecution, declaring it "interesting." But the idea that Media Matters' conduct is legally actionable is absurd, especially since X has already admitted that ads were displayed next to the posts identified by Media Matters.

Nevertheless, Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey (R) took Miller up on his suggestion. "My team is looking into this matter," Bailey posted in response to Musk.

Bailey expanded on his investigation of Media Matters' reporting in an interview on Newsmax, a far-right cable channel:

The Missouri Attorney General's Office is tasked in statute with protecting Missouri consumers. That means consumers that participate on social media platforms as well. And so if we have an instance where there was a deceptive or fraudulent business practice where Media Matters was using some sort of coercive or fraudulent algorithms or advertising, that's going to be problematic on the Missouri Merchandising Practices Act.

It does not appear that Bailey gave this "investigation" much thought. Media Matters’ conduct did not involve "fraudulent algorithms" or "advertising." And the Missouri Merchandising Practices Act only applies to "the sale or advertisement of any merchandise in trade or commerce." Media Matters was not selling anything.

But Bailey's announcement should not come as a surprise. Bailey has never been elected by the people of Missouri. He was appointed to his position in January by Missouri Governor Mike Parson (R). Since then, Bailey has brazenly exceeded the legal authority of his office to grab headlines. Bailey is running for a full term in 2024 and is seeking to make sure he is not outflanked from the right in the Republican primary.

Bailey circumvents legislature, announces "emergency" rule on trans medical care

In March 2023, Bailey announced that he was unilaterally implementing emergency regulations that would impose severe restrictions on transgender hormone therapy for children and adults. What authority did Bailey cite to justify circumventing the legislature? The Missouri Merchandising Practices Act. Bailey's actions were condemned by Democrats and Republicans.

Bailey proposed requiring 15 hourly therapy sessions over 18 months before any person could receive hormone therapy. Doctors would also need to certify that "for at least the 3 most recent consecutive years, the patient has exhibited a medically documented, long-lasting, persistent and intense pattern of gender dysphoria" and "any existing mental health comorbidities of the patient have been treated and resolved." Further, doctors would need to have in place a system to monitor "all patients beginning the first day of intervention and continuing for a period of not fewer than 15 years."

Bailey claimed he had the authority to issue these rules — the first in the country limiting hormone therapy for adults — because "gender transition interventions are experimental and have significant side effects." But hormone therapy and other gender-affirming treatments are not experimental. They have existed for decades and are supported as medically necessary by the American Medical Association, the American College of Physicians, the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Psychiatric Association.

Prominent Missouri Republicans harshly criticized Bailey's efforts. Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft (R) blasted Bailey for exceeding his authority. "If you're an adult, you have the capacity to make your own decisions," Ashcroft said. "I don't believe it's the role of [the] government to forbid it."

Trans advocates sued to block Bailey's rule, and it was temporarily blocked by a state judge. In May, the Missouri legislature then passed a bill banning gender-affirming care for minors. Shortly thereafter, facing increasing criticism from all sides, Bailey withdrew the rule.

Bailey claimed protecting reproductive rights in Missouri would cost taxpayers $50 billion

Reproductive rights supporters are seeking to put the Missouri Right to Reproductive Freedom Amendment on the state ballot in 2024. (Missouri banned most abortions after the Supreme Court overturned Roe). The amendment would enshrine "the right to make and carry out decisions about all matters relating to reproductive health care," including abortion, in the Missouri Constitution. Reasonable restrictions on abortions after "fetal viability" would be permitted.

Bailey's role in this matter is very limited. Before the organizers can collect signatures, Bailey must certify that "the proposed ballot language isn't more than 50 words, and that it includes the auditor's cost estimate." Missouri State Auditor Scott Fitzpatrick (R), an abortion opponent, estimated that the amendment would cost the state about $51,000 annually.

"Even though I would prefer to be able to say these initiative petitions will cost the state billions of dollars, I have a responsibility to the people of Missouri to not allow my personal beliefs to prevent the Auditor’s office from providing a fair cost estimate based on facts," Fitzpatrick said.

Bailey, however, refused to certify the amendment because he claimed the real cost was not $51,000, but over $50 billion. According to Bailey, if the state protected abortion rights, it would lose $12.5 billion in Medicaid funding. (This is not true.) Bailey also claimed that the amendment would "cost the state billions more in lost revenue because future taxpayers wouldn't be born." A state judge rejected both of those arguments.

Undeterred, Bailey then claimed the cost of another proposed constitutional amendment protecting reproductive rights was $21 million. Bailey said that, as an opponent of abortion rights, he could not in good conscience defend the amendment as Missouri's Attorney General. Therefore, he would have to hire outside counsel to do his job. Those lawyers, Bailey claimed, would cost $21 million annually. That figure was included in the descriptions of the amendment for voters drafted by Secretary of State Ashcroft.

Bailey's unprecedented effort to overturn a manslaughter conviction

Earlier this summer, Bailey asked a judge to throw out the conviction of a white police officer who killed a 26-year-old Black man outside his home in 2019. The former detective, Eric DeValkenaere, was found guilty of “second-degree manslaughter and armed criminal action” in the death of Cameron Lamb. DeValkenaere claimed that he fired his gun after Lamb pointed a gun at his partner, Troy Schwalm. But a judge rejected this defense, arguing that the officers “had no probable cause to believe [Lamb] had committed a crime, had no warrant for Lamb’s arrest and had no search warrant or consent to be on the property,” the AP reported. Prosecutors also claimed that the officers planted a gun on Lamb after the shooting.

Bailey, however, insists the conviction was based on insufficient evidence. “DeValkenaere’s use of force was reasonable in light of Mr. Lamb’s use of deadly force against Schwalm, and the court erred as a matter of fact and law in determining that Schwalm and DeValkenaere were the initial aggressors,” Bailey’s office argued.

But experts say that Bailey’s move is unusual. As the Kansas City Star wrote, the state’s Attorney General office “has historically fought to defend convictions.” Jean Peters Baker, the prosecutor whose office secured the conviction, called the reversal “unprecedented” and “disappointing.”

“I’ve been doing this work for 40 years. And I can just say, I’ve not been involved — in the scores and scores and scores of murder cases I’ve tried — where the attorney general came in and filed a brief seeking to reverse a conviction I obtained,” Tim Dollar, a private attorney who assisted with the prosecution, said.

In October, a three-judge panel rejected Bailey's position and "ruled unanimously that there had been enough evidence" for a conviction. DeValkenaere began serving his six-year sentence that month after spending two years free on bond while his appeal was pending.

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an 1123

last week, X CEO Elon Musk endorsed a tweet accusing Jews of pushing “dialectical hatred against whites” and supporting “hordes of minorities … flooding their country.”

“You have said the actual truth,” Musk replied.

In parroting the Great Replacement conspiracy theory, and giving antisemites free rein on his site, Musk is emulating Henry Ford, a car mogul who bought a media platform to spread antisemitic libels.

The Great Replacement is the delusional belief that someone is trying to replace white people by championing liberal immigration policies and racial justice. As is typical, Musk cast the Jews in the role of racial puppet masters.

When fascists in Charlottesville chanted “Jews will not replace us,” they were referencing the myth of the Great Replacement. The following year, Robert Bowers accused the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society (HAIS) of perpetrating white genocide before his shooting spree at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh:

“HIAS likes to bring invaders that kill our people,” Bowers said. “I can’t sit by and watch my people get slaughtered. Screw your optics, I’m going in.”

In 2019, a gunman killed 52 people in two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand. His manifesto was entitled “The Great Replacement.” The same year, a shooter cited the Great Replacement to explain why he took 23 lives at an El Paso Walmart. The Buffalo supermarket shooter was also a believer.

Jewish philanthropist George Soros is routinely cast in conspiracy theories for his foundation’s support of liberal causes, such as criminal justice reform and the Black Lives Matter movement.

During the civil rights struggle of the 1960s, American Jews played a prominent role in founding and funding major civil rights organizations. Many of the white student Freedom Riders were Jewish and 17 rabbis were arrested alongside Martin Luther King in St. Augustine in 1964. Segregationists spread their own conspiracy theories about Jews teaming up with Blacks to destroy the white way of life.

In fact, the image of the liberal Jew goes back at least as far as the French Revolution. In the prevailing spirit of liberalism, the revolutionary government became the first in Europe to grant citizenship to Jews in 1791. In keeping with this liberalizing ethos, various European countries emancipated their Jewish residents. This wave of emancipation vastly expanded opportunities for Jews in terms of where they could live, what jobs they could do, and how they could participate in politics, business and the arts. Not surprisingly, many Jews embraced liberal ideologies because liberal tolerance improved their lives.

It was during the 19th century that Europe’s longstanding Jew-hatred curdled into modern antisemitism. It was during this time that the myth of the international Jewish conspiracy was fully fleshed out.

Some scholars argue that conspiracy theories arethe defining characteristic of antisemitism. It’s wrong to hate someone for their religion, but the animosity is rooted in a real difference of opinion: Jews aren’t Christians, and some Christians have had a problem with that for centuries. Whereas, antisemitism is based on pure racial and political fantasy.

Modern antisemitism construes Jews as both the racial other and as agents of malignant modernity. Jews are identified with both communism and capitalism. The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, the most successful antisemitic tract of all time, was forged by agents of the Russian secret police in the late 19th century. It purports to reveal the secret deliberations of a group of rabbis gathered in Prague to take over the world. By some estimates, the Protocols have been republished more than any other book except the Bible.

In 1920, Henry Ford began publishing the Protocols under the header of “The International Jew” in his newspaper, the Dearborn Independent. At the time, the Independenthad a greater national reach and more influence than the Times. Hitler praised Ford by name in Mein Kampfas the “single great man” of the “American Union” standing against “the Jews.”

The Protocols were debunked as a crude forgery in 1920 and Ford was eventually forced to retract them and apologize after being sued for libel by an American Jewish lawyer whom Ford accused of furthering the conspiracy by founding farm cooperatives.

In endorsing the Great Replacement conspiracy theory, Musk is partaking in an ancient and ugly tradition of twisting one of Judaism's proudest traditions – a commitment to social justice.

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  1. ### Elon Musk lights his tiki torch

11/16/23 11:06 AM EST

  1. ### As Musk endorses antisemitic conspiracy theory, X has been placing ads for Apple, Bravo, IBM, Oracle, and Xfinity next to pro-Nazi content

11/16/23 10:05 AM EST

  1. ### Elon Musk praises antisemitic replacement theory that motivated a mass shooting as “the actual truth”

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Pro-Hitler and Holocaust denier account: X has paid me $3,000 in ad revenue sharing | Media Matters for America

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Elon Musk reinstates two anti-Muslim extremists as X CEO Linda Yaccarino attempts to woo back UK advertisers to the platform | Media Matters for America

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Numerous verified X accounts are claiming that the Maine mass shootings were a “false flag” | Media Matters for America

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 Musk’s Twitter rewards far-right conspiracy theorist with ad revenue, even after posting child sexual abuse imagery on the platform

08/08/23

https://www.mediamatters.org/twitter/elon-musks-twitter-rewards-far-right-conspiracy-theorist-ad-revenue-even-after-posting

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https://www.mediamatters.org/twitter/under-linda-yaccarino-x-placing-ads-major-brands-verified-pro-hitler-account-company

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https://www.mediamatters.org/twitter/x-corp-ceo-yaccarinos-interview-cnbc-should-alarm-major-advertising-brands

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note rebrand = fail

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https://www.mediamatters.org/twitter/advertisers-beware-elon-musk-and-linda-yaccarino-are-trying-lure-you-back-rebranding

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7 23

https://www.mediamatters.org/alex-jones/even-though-elon-musk-confirmed-alex-jones-ban-twitter-jones-content-still-spreading

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musk is leading/drive to right BS misinfo?

see soc media, media bias BS links

https://www.mediamatters.org/facebook/social-media-platforms-are-backsliding-paving-way-chaos-2024-0

aha note bail on moderation (big layoffs)

mma 6 23 badish code box size

social media companies Meta, YouTube, and Twitter are backsliding on their efforts to combat misinformation, capitulating to right-wing pressure and allowing the same sort of dangerous content that has previously led to real-world harm.

Social media platforms’ failures to moderate false and dangerous content during the 2020 election contributed to the January 6 insurrection. Following the violence at the Capitol, platforms including Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube suspended former President Donald Trump from posting and developed new policies to curb dangerous falsehoods. The platforms have regularly struggled to enforce moderation policies, but the changes helped prevent some of the spread of harmful misinformation during the 2022 midterm elections.

Both before and since platforms made these changes, right-wing figures have repeatedly and relentlessly claimed that there is an unfair bias against them online. Media Matters and others have repeatedly debunked this claim, with a recent study showing that right-leaning Facebook pages earned more engagement than left-leaning or ideologically nonaligned pages in 2020 and 2021.

Despite this reality, platforms have actually bent their rules and given preferential treatment to right-wing media and politicians. In the lead up to another presidential election and amid recurring election misinformation and conspiracy theories, platforms are further capitulating to right-wing pressure — loosening content moderation policies, downsizing content moderation and safety teams, and reinstating accounts known for pushing misinformation.

Meta is deprioritizing content moderation and user safety

Since the start of 2022, Meta has gradually reverted its policies and practices to how they were prior to the insurrection. The company has restored the previously banned accounts of political candidates and vowed not to fact-check them, with Trump regaining access to his Facebook and Instagram accounts. More recently, Meta has restored access to Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who was banned for spreading dangerous COVID-19 misinformation. 

Meta has also laid off about a quarter of its workforce since November, cutting teams focused on site security, privacy and integrity.

Below is a timeline of key developments since the start of 2022:

June 22, 2022: Meta considers eliminating its COVID-19 misinformation policies, asking its oversight board to advise the company on whether to maintain its policies against dangerous COVID-19 misinformation, claiming that “the COVID-19 situation has evolved.”

July 26, 2022: Meta's oversight board accepts the company’s request to revise its COVID-19 misinformation policy, kicking off its advisory process and requesting public comments to inform its recommendations. (The oversight board’s policy advisory opinions are not binding; they require only that Meta provide a public response and follow-up actions.)

September 22, 2022: Meta global affairs president Nick Clegg indicates in an interview with Semafor that Facebook might end Trump’s suspension in January 2023 without considering the accuracy of (or the risk posed by) his content.

November 9, 2022: Meta announces that it will eliminate more than 11,000 jobs, or 13% of its workforce, choosing to sink more money into its efforts to build the “metaverse.”

January 17, 2023: The Washington Post reports that House January 6 committee investigators found — but ultimately did not publish — mountains of evidence demonstrating that social media companies “like Facebook and Twitter” provided “megaphones” for right-wing extremists ahead of the Capitol insurrection and refused to enforce their own content moderation policies out of fear of conservative backlash.

January 25, 2023: Meta announces that it will be reinstating Trump’s account in the coming weeks, along with a new “Crisis Policy Protocol,” and “Restricting accounts of public figures during civil unrest” policy. With this decision, Meta gives Trump the green light to push harmful misinformation and extremism on its platforms, reportedly telling CNN’s Oliver Darcy that “posts attacking 2020 will be allowed, but posts attacking 2024 are a different story.”

February 9, 2023: Meta reinstates Trump’s Facebook and Instagram accounts.

March 14, 2023: Meta announces a second round of mass layoffs, cutting another 10,000 people from its workforce including those focused on site security, privacy, and integrity.

March 17, 2023: Trump posts on Facebook for the first time since his account was reinstated.

March 30, 2023: After news broke that a Manhattan grand jury had voted to indict Trump for paying hush money to Stormy Daniels, Trump posts a full copy of his misinformation-filled statement to his newly reinstated Facebook page.

June 4, 2023:Instagram reinstates the account of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who is one of the most prominent anti-vaccine figures in the U.S. Kennedy was banned from the platform in 2021 for violating its COVID-19 misinformation policies, but since “he is now an active candidate for president of the United States,” Meta decided to reinstate his account. Kennedy had been pressuring the platform to do so on Twitter in the days leading up to the decision. Right-wing media, meanwhile, have  the platform announced that it will reverse its policy against election misinformation and no longer remove content that “advances false claims that widespread fraud, errors, or glitches occurred in the 2020 and other past US Presidential elections.” While Trump was seemingly avoiding livestreaming on YouTube to avoid being banned for violating the platform’s election policies, he may use the feature now that his election lies will be tolerated.

Right-wing media figures and outlets have credited Twitter and owner Elon Musk for “moving the needle” around election misinformation, implying that his actions influencedYouTube’s decision.

Here’s a timeline of key developments since the start of 2022:

November 5, 2022: The New York Times reports thatYouTube “may have misinformation blind spots” and that its election integrity policy prohibits election misinformation only during presidential elections, not during midterm elections. In the Times piece, Media Matters President Angelo Carusone described the policy as tantamount to building “a sprinkler system after the building is on fire.”

January 20, 2023: Google CEO Sundar Pichai announces that parent company Alphabet will be laying off 12,000 employees, or 6% of the company’s global workforce. This includes more than 100 YouTube employees.

February 1, 2023: YouTube begins sharing ad revenue with Shorts creators on the platform, providing a new form of monetization. This means right-wing influencers who litter the platform with anti-LGBTQ vitriol, racist and misogynistic rhetoric, and COVID-19 misinformation may stand to gain financially from their harmful content.

March 17, 2023: YouTube announces that it will be immediately lifting Trump’s suspension on the platform and allowing him to upload new content. Though the platform claims that it “carefully evaluated the continued risk of real-world violence,” the decision fails to account for Trump’s propensity to push extreme rhetoric and the platform’s weak misinformation policies and haphazard enforcement.

June 2, 2023: YouTube reverses its policy to allow 2020 election lies, claiming: “Two years, tens of thousands of video removals, and one election cycle later, we recognized it was time to reevaluate the effects of this policy in today's changed landscape. … With that in mind, and with 2024 campaigns well underway, we will stop removing content that advances false claims that widespread fraud, errors, or glitches occurred in the 2020 and other past US Presidential elections." Right-wing media celebrate the decision.

Twitter has devolved into a dysfunctional cesspool of conspiracy theories and bigotry,losing half of its advertising revenue since Musk took over in October 2022<... zzz Elon Musk’s leadership has plunged Twitter into chaos, with his misguided “free speech” crusade transforming the platform into an engine of radicalization and a steady source of harmful content. He had driven away half the site’s top 100 advertisers after a month as CEO and recently admitted to having reduced its revenue by half.

The platform now has minimal content moderation, minimal staff, and paid (and unreliable) verification. Musk has caved to authoritarian governments and reinstated previously banned accounts of extremists (including Trump, who has yet to tweet).

A timeline of key developments since the start of 2022:

April 4, 2022: News breaks that Elon Musk had purchased a 9.2% stake in Twitter, making him the largest shareholder.

April 5, 2022: Twitter's then-CEO Parag Agrawal announces that Musk has been given a seat on Twitter’s board, prompting right-wing media to ask Musk to end Twitter's nonexistent censorship and bring Trump back to the platform.

April 10, 2022: Musk decides not to join Twitter’s board.

April 14, 2022: Musk offers to buy Twitter for about $44 billion.

July 22, 2022: A Twitter spokesperson confirms that the targeted use of “groomer” as a slur against another user “based on their perceived membership in a protected category” violates the platform’s hate speech policies. They further identified its use “in context of discussion of gender identity” as prohibited under Twitter’s Hateful Conduct policy. (Enforcement was extremely uneven and use of the term skyrocketed after Musk acquired the platform.)

October 3, 2022: Musk offers to buy Twitter at the original share price of $44 billion. Right-wing media celebrate.

October 27, 2022: Musk completes the $44 billion deal and takes control of Twitter, tweeting “the bird is freed” after firing former Twitter executives and sending out an email to staff saying that layoffs were set to begin. Per a Securities and Exchange Commission filing, Musk also dismisses Twitter’s board, making himself the sole leader. Previously banned Twitter users celebrate, and QAnon supporters make clear that they see the takeover as a green light to rejoin the platform.

October 28, 2022: Musk flexes his new power by issuing a directive, without any context or rationale, to change the page logged-out users see when they go to Twitter.com to the “explore” page, which shows trending tweets and news stories, rather than a sign-up form.

November 3 and 4, 2022: Twitter undertakes mass layoffs, firing over 3,000 people — or around 50% of Twitter’s workforce — including the entire ethical-AI team and most of the company’s communications team.

November 6, 2022: Reportedly without informing the policy team, Musk tweets, “Going forward, any Twitter handles engaging in impersonation without clearly specifying ‘parody’ will be permanently suspended,” after some users mimicked Musk’s account.

November 7, 2022: Musk tweets out a link to “The Twitter Rules” with the caption “Twitter rules will evolve over time, but they’re currently the following.” This leads to confusion about whether misinformation violates Twitter’s policies. (The platform has a separate page on Twitter’s Help Center website that addresses misleading information.)

November 9, 2022: Twitter launches Twitter Blue, which asks users to pay for a blue verification check mark for $7.99 per month. QAnon influencers use the service to try to regain a foothold on the platform, and other right-wing extremists begin using their newly purchased check marks to spread hate.

November 10, 2022: Six Twitter executives resign: Yoel Roth (head of moderation and safety), Lea Kissner (chief information security officer), Marianne Fogarty (chief compliance officer), Kathleen Pacini (head of human resources and talent management), Damien Kieran (chief privacy officer), and John Debay (director of software engineering). Several other members of the site’s privacy and security unit resign as well, prompting “a rare warning from the Federal Trade Commission.”

November 11, 2022: Just days after Twitter Blue launched and caused mayhem — with subscribers impersonating numerous users and brands — Musk reportedly pauses the program, but allows users already subscribed, including extremists, to keep their subscriptions.

November 12, 2022: Twitter undertakes a second wave of mass layoffs, impacting about 4,400 contractors.

November 14, 2022: Musk fires about a dozen employees — including multiple longtime Twitter engineers — seemingly for criticizing him.

November 15, 2022: Musk fires roughly two dozen more employees, seemingly for expressing sympathy for those fired the day before.

November 16, 2022: Musk sends a midnight email ultimatum for remaining Twitter employees: either commit to being “extremely hardcore” or quit and receive three months of severance pay. Reuters reports that hundreds of employees resigned following this email.

November 18, 2022: Musk tweets, “Freedom Fridays … ,” seemingly to announce the beginning of reinstatements of formerly banned accounts, starting with comedian Kathy Griffin, The Daily Wire’s Jordan Peterson, and conservative satire site The Babylon Bee.

November 19, 2022: After launching a poll about whether Twitter should reinstate Trump’s account — which was permanently suspended following the January 6 Capitol insurrection “due to the risk of further incitement of violence” — Musk tweets, “The people have spoken. Trump will be reinstated.”

November 24, 2022: After Musk posts another poll, Twitter begins granting “amnesty” to previously suspended accounts that had “not broken the law or engaged in egregious spam.”

November 29, 2022: Twitter stops enforcing its COVID-19 misinformation policies, providing no further details beyond a note on its site reading, “Effective November 23, 2022, Twitter is no longer enforcing the COVID-19 misleading information policy.”

December 12, 2022: Twitter Blue relaunches, with the stipulation that accounts will be reviewed before getting a blue check. Additionally, gold checks are rolled out for some businesses. Twitter’s Trust and Safety Council is also disbanded because, according to an email obtained by CNN, Twitter is “reevaluating how best to bring external insights into our product and policy development work. As part of this process, we have decided that the Trust and Safety Council is not the best structure to do this.” The dissolution of the council comes less than an hour before members were scheduled to meet with Twitter executives, according to The Washington Post.

December 14, 2022: Twitter launches a new policy that users “may not publish or post other people's private information without their express authorization and permission. We also prohibit threatening to expose private information or incentivizing others to do so.” The new policy is used as justification to ban an account, @ElonJet, that tracked the location of Musk’s private jet, and those of journalists whom Musk accused of “doxxing” him by reporting on the @ElonJet account.

December 16, 2022: Musk briefly disables the Twitter Spaces feature after some of the suspended journalists were still able to access the feature and press him about why they were targeted. Twitter also announces that it is reinstating a number of accounts “where permanent suspension was a disproportionate action for breaking Twitter rules.”

December 17, 2022: Musk reinstates most of the journalists he accused of “doxxing” him after issuing a poll that asked if they should be brought back to the platform. Later that day, Washington Post journalist Taylor Lorenz is suspended for allegedly violating a policy that was not yet introduced. Twitter also removes the feature that showed from which type of device a tweet was sent.

December 18, 2022: Twitter announces — and then revokes — a policy that prohibited users from promoting other social media platforms. Later in the day, Lorenz is reinstated and Twitter Safety launches a poll to see if an altered version of this policy should be reintroduced.

January 3, 2023: Musk announces that he will revoke Twitter’s years-old policy against political and issue-based advertisements. Politico later reports that in the two months following that reversal, no paid political ads were taken out on the platform.

February 3, 2023: Journalist Matt Navarra confirms that corporate Twitter accounts would have to pay $1,000 a month to keep their previously free verification status, leading a number of media organizations to reject the new verification scheme.

February 8, 2023: Musk oversees the expansion of a tweet’s size limit from 280 up to 4,000 characters for Twitter Blue subscribers to end the practice of posting screenshots of longer statements, which he called an “absurdity.” Upon implementation, users report that Twitter’s main functions had crashed, leaving them unable to tweet, retweet, follow users, or send direct messages.

February 9, 2023: Following an announcement that Twitter would end free access to its application programming interface (API), journalists, researchers, advertisers, and users raise concerns over the ramifications that removing API access would have on user experience, including important and potentially lifesaving public service announcements. Despite Twitter delaying when access to API would be rescinded, multiple organizations are still unable to provide automated updates about issues including weather and transportation alerts.

February 14, 2023: After Musk’s own Super Bowl tweet earns lower engagement than President Joe Biden’s, he directs engineers to artificially inflate his presence on users' feeds to correct an “engagement issue.” This comes after Musk reportedly fired top engineers because of his declining views and supposedly threatened to fire others unless they would show more people his tweets.

February 8, 2023: Musk oversees the expansion of a tweet’s size limit from 280 up to 4,000 characters for Twitter Blue subscribers to end the practice of posting screenshots of longer statements, which he called an “absurdity.” Upon implementation, users report that Twitter’s main functions had crashed, leaving them unable to tweet, retweet, follow users, or send direct messages.

March 10, 2023: After stating that it would no longer be granting free access to Twitter’s application programming interface on February 2, Musk announces that users of Twitter’s then-free API service would have to pay $2.5 million per year to retain full access.

April 2, 2023: After learning that The New York Times would not pay to keep its verification status, Musk reportedly orders that Twitter engineers remove the paper’s verification mark. Musk's decision to target the Times, one of Twitter's largest accounts, is seemingly made in response to prodding by a meme account and resulted in the Times operating several accounts under conflicting verification standards simultaneously.

April 4, 2023: Musk changes Twitter’s corporate identity to “X Corp.” as part of his still-unclear plan to have the social media platform serve as a hub for crypto exchanges, stock trading, and social media.

April 5, 2023: Musk’s Twitter falsely brands NPR and BBC accounts as “state-affiliated media” and “government-funded media,” respectively, leading to NPR leaving the platform and the BBC having its designation removed after significant protest.

April 6, 2023: Amid Musk’s personal feud with the newsletter site Substack, Twitter begins limiting accounts from engaging with tweets featuring links to Substack.

April 17, 2023: After quietly removing its hate speech policy against the “targeted misgendering or deadnaming of transgender individuals,” Twitter announces that it will no longer remove certain tweets that “potentially” violate its rules against hateful conduct. Instead, it will merely apply warning labels to such tweets.

April 20, 2023: Twitter begins removing blue check verification badges from the profiles of celebrities, news outlets, and other high-profile accounts across the platform, making it difficult for users to determine which sources are reputable. As those legacy blue checks expired, Twitter continues to sell verification badges to just about anyone willing to pay a monthly fee. A couple of celebrities, including LeBron James who said he would not pay for Twitter Blue, receive a “complimentary subscription … on behalf of Elon Musk.”

May 9, 2023: Former Fox News host Tucker Carlson announces that he plans to relaunch his show on Twitter, sending a shockwave through the U.S. political and media class.

May 12, 2023: A day after proclaiming that a new Twitter CEO would be starting in roughly six weeks, Musk announces Linda Yaccarino would be filling the role. Hours earlier, NBCUniversal had announced that Yaccarino, formerly the company’s chairman for Global Advertising and Partnerships, was leaving “effective immediately.” Musk continues to use the platform to push dangerous conspiracy theories and racist dog whistles.

May 24, 2023: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announces his 2024 GOP presidential campaign during a disastrous Twitter Spaces event with Musk and right-wing investor David Sacks.

June 5, 2023: Yaccarino officially becomes CEO, after lawyers for the company admitted in a June 1 federal court filing that her hiring “will not result in a different content-moderation strategy” — contradicting the notion that the new CEO will solve the platform’s advertising issues.

June 8, 2023: Musk hosts a Twitter Spaces event with anti-vaccine influencer Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and admits that Twitter revenue is down by half since his takeover.

June 21, 2023: Musk tweets a new Twitter policy, claiming that “cis” or “cisgender” are “considered slurs on the platform,” and that “Repeated, targeted harassment against any account will cause the harassing accounts to receive, at minimum, temporary suspensions.” The new policy comes as Musk has repeatedly claimed in response to questions about moderation of hateful content that he is adamant about defending free speech.

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mma 6 23

Ads for major brands including Dish, Samsung, and The Wall Street Journal have been appearing on the verified Twitter account of VDare, a leading white nationalist group.Those companies are associating with a site that is largely dedicated to complaining about the alleged danger and inferiority of nonwhites, especially immigrants.

Musk has turned Twitter into a nightmare for advertisers, with accounts featuring antisemitism, racism, anti-LGBTQ hate, and misinformation thriving on the platform. Media outlets and researchers, including Media Matters, have documented that corporate ads have appeared next to toxic accounts, including those that promote Holocaust denialism, and major advertisers have left Musk’s platform.

The advertisers remaining on Twitter are having their ads placed directly on the accounts of white nationalists, including VDare’s verified account. Information on that account states that it’s been “verified since February 2023.” (Musk stated in June that “Twitter will start paying creators for ads served in their replies. First block payment totals $5M. Note, the creator must be verified and only ads served to verified users count.”)

VDare is a white nationalist site and organization. Headlines on its site have included:

Tags on the site include: “Immigrant Mass Murder,” “Anti-White Hate Crimes,” “White Guy Loses His Job,” “Birthright Citizenship Reform,” “Minority Occupation Government,” “Disgruntled Minority Massacre,” “Death Of White America,” “Black Serial Killers,” “War On Whites,” “Jewish Fear and Loathing of Donald Trump,” and “Immigrants And Disease.”

It also runs regular “great replacement” updates designed to warn white readers that they are being replaced by nonwhites. (The so-called “great replacement” conspiracy theory is a white supremacist trope that’s motivated violence, including mass murders.)

VDare has previously posted content praising Musk for calling out supposed “anti-white racism from U.S. Media” and responded to his complaint about the newLord of the Rings series on Amazon by tweeting, “Elon Musk is /ourguy.”

Numerous companies and even the U.S. government have been advertising directly in VDare’s Twitter account. Media Matters found ads for the following while looking at VDare’s feed:

The advertisement for CBP was an invitation to apply for jobs. Border Patrol has a history of problems with online racism and bigotry in its rankS[TWT]

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as Twitter’s advertising revenue plummets, owner Elon Musk has repeatedly claimed that advertisers are returning to the platform — a claim that mainstream media outlets have uncritically amplified even though data indicates that most of the advertisers publicly cited as returning to Twitter have either never left or still aren’t advertising on the platform.

Musk has repeatedly claimed that advertisers are returning to the platform, despite evidence to the contrary. Mainstream media outlets have amplified Musk’s claims. In a June 18 article, Business Insider parroted Musk’s claim and implied that major companies such as “Disney, ESPN, the NBA, Adobe, and Microsoft” have returned to advertising again on Twitter under new CEO Linda Yaccarino, who is a former NBCUniversal advertising executive.

For months following Elon Musk's takeover of Twitter last year — and his massive cuts to the site's content moderation teams — brands including GM, Audi, and General Mills pulled ads from Twitter, citing concerns over brand safety under the new billionaire owner.

Hate speech skyrocketed on the platform, and Musk said that the brands abandoning their advertisement campaigns in droves prompted "a massive drop in revenue" for the site.

However, those same brands are returning to market their products and services on Twitter with Yaccarino at the helm. This week The Wall Street Journal reported Musk said, “almost all of the advertisers have said that they've either come back or they said they will come back.”

According to a Media Matters analysis of advertising data from Sensor Tower, the companies implied to have returned to advertising on Twitter either never stopped advertising on the platform (Disney, Adobe Systems, ESPN,NBA, and Microsoft)or still aren’t advertising on Twitter (General Motors,Audi, and General Mills).

Advertisers have fled Twitter since Musk took over the company, with Musk confirming Twitter’s revenue has been cut in half since he took ownership — a result of Musk’s chaotic leadership and his troubling behavior on the platform.

Musk has desperately attempted to woo back blue chip advertisers and boost revenue with the help of Yaccarino even before she became Twitter’s CEO, a hiring choice seemingly intended to give the platform more legitimacy with advertisers. (Musk’s behavior on the platform has not changed and lawyers for the company told a San Francisco court that hiring Yaccarino “will not result in a different content-moderation strategy.”)

While a major advertising agency has removed Twitter’s “high risk” classification, and reporting indicates that at least three companies (Mondelez International, McDonald’s, and Nike) returned to advertising after brief initial pauses or spending reductions, the platform’s ad revenue continues to drop. Last month, the company earned almost $75 million in ad revenue — $9 million less than the $84 million the company earned in April and $34 million less than the $109 million it made in May of last year.

Additionally, the data indicates that advertising on the platform has not changed much in June. So far this month, the company has earned only $41 million in ad revenue, and 4 of the top 5 advertisers that have spent the most on Twitter ads this month were also among the top 5 advertisers in May — Mondelez International, HBO, The Wall Street Journal, and FinanceBuzz.io.

As there is no evidence that advertisers are returning to Twitter, those that have continued to run ads on the platform risk their ads appearing next to harmful content — including “neo-Nazi propaganda,” as Business Insider reported, and content from previously banned right-wing extremists, COVID-19 misinformers, anti-vaccine figures, and election deniers.

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