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Category: Social media

How the roots of Musk and Thiel’s ‘PayPal mafia’ extend to apartheid South Africa

How the roots of Musk and Thiel’s ‘PayPal mafia’ extend to apartheid South Africa

Chris McGreal reports: When Elon Musk’s arm shot out in a stiff arm salute at Donald Trump’s inaugural celebrations, startled viewers mostly drew the obvious comparison. But in the fired-up debate about Musk’s intent that followed, as the world’s richest man insisted he wasn’t trying to be a Nazi, speculation inevitably focused on whether his roots in apartheid-era South Africa offered an insight. In recent months Musk’s promotion of far-right conspiracy theories has grown, from a deepening hostility to democratic…

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Head of Jewish Council for Public Affairs says Musk will spur violence with his ‘Nazi salute’

Head of Jewish Council for Public Affairs says Musk will spur violence with his ‘Nazi salute’

The Guardian reports: The head of a prominent US Jewish civil rights body said Elon Musk’s repeated fascist-style salute during Donald Trump’s inauguration could act as a spur for violent extremists. “The salute itself should be enough to warrant condemnation and attention,” said Amy Spitalnick, adding that so should “the ways extremists see an action like this and take it as license for their own violent extremism”. Spitalnick is chief executive of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, a progressive…

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TikTok short video use linked to lower academic performance in children, research finds

TikTok short video use linked to lower academic performance in children, research finds

PsyPost reports: Researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences recently published a study in PLOS ONE examining the effects of short video usage on elementary school students’ academic performance in China. The study found a negative relationship between short video usage and academic performance, mediated by reduced attention spans. The findings highlight the potential influence of digital media on young learners. Short video platforms such as TikTok and Kwai have become a significant part of young people’s lives, including elementary…

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Trump launches meme coin. Rakes in over $25 billion in value overnight

Trump launches meme coin. Rakes in over $25 billion in value overnight

Politico reports: President-elect Donald Trump late Friday launched a cryptocurrency token that exploded in value overnight, potentially increasing his net worth by tens of billions of dollars on paper just days before he is set to be sworn in as president. Trump launched the so-called memecoin — a digital token with no intrinsic real-world value that is traded on a digital ledger technology called blockchain — with posts on his social media site and X after 9 p.m., prompting the…

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How Zuckerberg, in obeisance to his overlord, secretly conspired to make Meta even more MAGA-friendly

How Zuckerberg, in obeisance to his overlord, secretly conspired to make Meta even more MAGA-friendly

The New York Times reports: Mark Zuckerberg kept the circle of people who knew his thinking small. Last month, Mr. Zuckerberg, the chief executive of Meta, tapped a handful of top policy and communications executives and others to discuss the company’s approach to online speech. He had decided to make sweeping changes after visiting President-elect Donald J. Trump at Mar-a-Lago over Thanksgiving. Now he needed his employees to turn those changes into policy. Over the next few weeks, Mr. Zuckerberg…

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Zuckerberg says most companies need more ‘masculine energy’

Zuckerberg says most companies need more ‘masculine energy’

Who's actually surprised that this little asshole was basically just a fascist incel hiding in plain sight? not me. Remember that Facebook was originally just a website created by a sexually frustrated Zuckerberg to rate the bangability levels of female students at his college. [image or embed] — ❄️Hugo the pink snow cat❄️ (@hugothepinkcat.bsky.social) January 10, 2025 at 2:13 PM Bloomberg News reports: Mark Zuckerberg lamented the rise of “culturally neutered” companies that have sought to distance themselves from “masculine…

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Zuckerberg hopes Trump will enable Meta to violate antitrust laws

Zuckerberg hopes Trump will enable Meta to violate antitrust laws

Politico reports: The U.S. government under incoming President Donald Trump should intervene to stop the EU from fining American tech companies for breaching antitrust rules and committing other violations, Meta chief executive Mark Zuckerberg said late Friday. “I think it’s a strategic advantage for the United States that we have a lot of the strongest companies in the world, and I think it should be part of the U.S. strategy going forward to defend that,” Zuckerberg said during an appearance…

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How Mark Zuckerberg threatens democracy

How Mark Zuckerberg threatens democracy

Yaёl Eisenstat writes: Mark Zuckerberg announced a spate of changes in Meta’s approach to speech and moderation issues this week, part of his longstanding effort to dominate the information landscape while resisting responsibility for his company’s contributions to political violence, extremism, and other antidemocratic activities in the United States and around the world. Let’s talk about the most serious implications. Two of the key changes are that Meta will end fact-checking and roll back content moderation. According to reporting from…

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Mark Zuckerberg lies about content moderation to Joe Rogan’s face

Mark Zuckerberg lies about content moderation to Joe Rogan’s face

Elizabeth Lopatto writes: I’ll spare you the experience of listening to one of the richest men in the world whine and just tell you straight out: Mark Zuckerberg’s interview on The Joe Rogan Experience is full of lies. Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook’s parent company Meta, sets the tone at the very beginning: “I think at some level you only start one of these companies if you believe in giving people a voice, right?” Unfortunately I wasn’t born yesterday, and I…

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Leaked Meta rules: Users are free to post ‘Mexican immigrants are trash!’ or ‘Trans people are immoral’

Leaked Meta rules: Users are free to post ‘Mexican immigrants are trash!’ or ‘Trans people are immoral’

The Intercept reports: Meta is now granting its users new freedom to post a wide array of derogatory remarks about races, nationalities, ethnic groups, sexual orientations, and gender identities, training materials obtained by The Intercept reveal. Examples of newly permissible speech on Facebook and Instagram highlighted in the training materials include: “Immigrants are grubby, filthy pieces of shit.” “Gays are freaks.” “Look at that tranny (beneath photo of 17 year old girl).” The changes are part of a broader policy…

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As Elon Musk embraces the far right, some of its prominent figures reject him

As Elon Musk embraces the far right, some of its prominent figures reject him

The New York Times reports: When Laura Loomer, a far-right activist, regained control of her Twitter account in late 2022, she knew whom to praise for her reinstatement. “Thank you, Elon!” she wrote to Elon Musk, who had recently bought the social network. In another post, Ms. Loomer, who had been booted from the platform in 2018 for writing an anti-Muslim message, complimented Mr. Musk’s commitment to “free speech.” Ms. Loomer is now sharing a different message about Mr. Musk….

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Mark Zuckerberg can finally stop pretending that he cares

Mark Zuckerberg can finally stop pretending that he cares

Mathew Ingram writes: Unless you’ve been living on the moon or under a rock, you probably know that on Tuesday, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced a major change in the company’s policy around free speech and fact-checking. Wearing his new uniform of curly hair and a gold neck chain (and a $900,000 watch) to address his subjects… er, users, Zuck described the changes as a restoration of “free expression” on the company’s platforms and a return to Facebook’s free-speech roots, but what it boils down…

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The internet functions as a justification machine

The internet functions as a justification machine

Charlie Warzel and Mike Caulfield write: Try to remember for a moment how you felt on January 6, 2021. Recall the makeshift gallows erected on the Capitol grounds, the tear gas, and the sound of the riot shields colliding with hurled flagpoles. If you rewatch the video footage, you might remember the man in the CAMP AUSCHWITZ sweatshirt idling among the intruders, or the image of the Confederate flag flying in the Capitol Rotunda. The events of that day are…

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Australia banned kids from social media. Now it has advice for the U.S.

Australia banned kids from social media. Now it has advice for the U.S.

Politico reports: As countries around the world race to counter the tech industry’s ever-expanding influence, one issue in particular has become a major rallying cry: protecting children online. And Australia just put itself out front. In late November, Australia became the first country in the world to ban minors under age 16 from social media. Oddly enough, it’s an American who will help enforce the unprecedented legislation: Julie Inman Grant, who has served as Australia’s eSafety Commissioner since 2017. The…

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Facebook and Instagram to unleash AI-generated ‘users’ no one asked for

Facebook and Instagram to unleash AI-generated ‘users’ no one asked for

Rolling Stone reports: Since burning through tens of billions of dollars on its flop “metaverse” concept and laying off thousands in the aftermath of that gamble, tech giant Meta has strained to reinvent itself as a company poised to capitalize on the overhyped AI revolution. Last year, for example, founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg unveiled animated AI chatbots modeled as alter egos of celebrities including Snoop Dogg, MrBeast, Paris Hilton, and Kendall Jenner. But licensing the voices and likenesses of famous people did little to endear Meta to the younger demographics it wants to turn…

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German politicians decry Elon Musk’s AfD support as election ‘interference’

German politicians decry Elon Musk’s AfD support as election ‘interference’

Reuters reports: U.S. billionaire Elon Musk drew criticism from German politicians from the government and opposition on Sunday for an opinion piece he wrote backing the right-wing Alternative for Germany (AfD) which they deemed “intrusive” outside influence. The support of the AfD from Musk, who is set to serve U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s administration as an outside adviser, comes as Germans are set to vote on Feb. 23 after a coalition government led by Chancellor Olaf Scholz collapsed. The commentary…

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