Jack Dorsey apologizes for his Twitter moderation choices, saying he did the 'wrong thing for the internet and society' despite calling his decisions the 'right thing' at the time
In a Tuesday blog post, Dorsey condemned attacks on his former Twitter colleagues and laid out his thoughts on the future of social media.
news.yahoo.comJESSE WATTERS: Our democracy was poisoned by a $40 billion tech company that censored conservatives
Jesse Watters criticizes former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey for purportedly lying to Congress about Twitter censoring conservatives and for helping the Democratic Party on "Jesse Watters Primetime."
foxnews.comIt's long been an open secret in Silicon Valley that Twitter is a poorly run mess. Now a whistleblower is blowing the lid off and giving Elon Musk ammo for his legal battle.
Twitter's Jack Dorsey has long been called an absent, indecisive, and uncommunicative leader. A whistleblower's new claims strengthen that reputation.
news.yahoo.comTwitter jumps after Musk increases commitment in takeover bid to $33.5 billion, in talks for other funding
Elon Musk, during an event at SpaceX headquarters in Hawthorne, California, U.S., on Thursday, Oct. 10, 2019. A new filing reveals that Elon Musk plans to front $33.5 billion in his bid to take over Twitter. Musk is in talks with Twitter founder and former CEO Jack Dorsey and others to help finance, or roll their shares over, to complete the deal. As CNBC's David Faber previously reported, Elon Musk is expected to serve as a temporary CEO of Twitter for a few months after he completes the $44 billion acquisition. Shares of Twitter rose 7% on the news.
cnbc.comElon Musk revises Twitter financing plan; shares jump
Elon Musk on Wednesday revised the financing plan for his proposed $44 billion purchase of Twitter, raising investor hopes that the unpredictable billionaire still intends to pull off a deal roiled by market turbulence and Musk's own unpredictable fixation with the number of fake accounts on Twitter.
Twitter says it's testing an 'edit' button
Twitter tweeted Tuesday that it is indeed working on a way for users to edit their 280-character messages, although it says the project has nothing to do with the fact that edit-function fan Elon Musk was just revealed as the company’s largest shareholder and now sits on its board.
Prince Harry says he warned Twitter CEO of U.S. Capitol riot
Britain’s Prince Harry has sharply attacked the failure of social media companies to challenge hate online, revealing that he warned the chief executive of Twitter ahead of the Jan. 6 Capitol riots that the site was being used to stage political unrest.
Foundations, new donors build $51M fund to support workers
A fund created by a group of social-justice-minded foundations including Ford and Rockefeller and donors like Jack Dorsey and MacKenzie Scott shortly after COVID hit has more than quadrupled in size to $51 million and is now pouring money into activities and advocacy to strengthen the social safety net and increase worker pay.
The Latest: Twitter grilled about blocking a NY Post article
Scott Applewhite)WASHINGTON – The latest news from a House committee questioning the CEOs of Facebook, Google and Twitter. ___2:30 p.m.Rep. Steve Scalise, a Louisiana Republican, raised the long-running conservative talking point that Twitter, Facebook and Google are biased against conservative viewpoints and censor material based on political or religious viewpoints. Scalise highlighted Twitter’s blocking of a New York Post article on Hunter Biden, which CEO Jack Dorsey said was a mistake that the company corrected within 24 hours. AdThis would include product vice presidents of integrity, trust and safety and vice presidents of platform policy — at Facebook, Twitter, YouTube (rather than Google, which owns YouTube) and perhaps an upstart like TikTok. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey and Sundar Pichai, CEO of YouTube parent Google, are facing questioning at a hearing by the House Energy and Commerce Committee.
Lawmakers press Big Tech CEOs on speech responsibility
Republicans raised long-running conservative grievances, unproven, that the platforms are biased against conservative viewpoints and censor material based on political or religious viewpoints. There is increasing support in Congress for legislation to rein in Big Tech companies. The tech CEOs defended the legal shield under Section 230, saying it has helped make the internet the forum of free expression that it is today. Trump enjoyed special treatment on Facebook and Twitter until January, despite spreading misinformation, pushing false claims of voting fraud, and promulgating hate. The tech blog Gizmodo eventually revealed the device was a “BlockClock” that shows the latest prices of cryptocurrencies like bitcoin and ethereum.
Report: Extremist groups thrive on Facebook despite bans
More than two-thirds of the groups and pages had names that aligned with several domestic extremist movements, the report found. Facebook acknowledged that its policy enforcement “isn't perfect,” but said the report distorts its work against violent extremism and misinformation. In October, it banned QAnon groups across its platform. It has also banned extremist and militia movements and boogaloo groups with varying degrees of success. ___This story has been corrected to show that the groups were still active on the platform as of Feb. 24, not March 18.
Stripe continues cash haul, now valued at $95 billion
The online payment company continues to attract investors, raising $600 million in funding to reach a company valuation of $95 billion, making it the most valuable private fintech company in the world. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)The online payment company Stripe continues to attract investors, raising $600 million in funding to reach a whopping company valuation of $95 billion. Stripe is by far the most valuable private fintech company in the world. Robinhood, the trading platform recently making headlines, just raised $3 billion to reach a valuation of around $11.2 billion. Companies that enable online payments have thrived in the pandemic.
Square, Inc. to buy majority of Tidal and put Jay-Z on board
FILE - In this July 23, 2019, file photo, Jay-Z makes an announcement of the launch of Dream Chasers record label in joint venture with Roc Nation, at the Roc Nation headquarters in New York.Financial technology company Square, Inc. says it has reached an agreement to acquire majority ownership of Tidal, the music streaming service partly owned by Jay-Z. (Photo by Greg Allen/Invision/AP, File)SAN FRANCISCO – Financial technology company Square, Inc. said Thursday that it has reached an agreement to acquire majority ownership of Tidal, the music streaming service partly owned by Jay-Z. Under the deal, Square will pay $297 million in cash and stock for Tidal, Jay-Z will be named to Square's board of directors, and he and other artists who currently own shares in Tidal will remain stakeholders. Tidal has presented itself as the artist-friendly alternative to other music streamers, and Square says it will take that phenomenon further for musicians just as it has for businesses with its financial systems. AdJay-Z said in the statement that the “partnership will be a game-changer for many.” I look forward to all this new chapter has to offer!"
English soccer at breaking point over abuse on social media
Racist abuse. And social media accounts allowed to stay active even after spreading bile. English football has reached breaking point with players, coaches, referees and officials aghast at the ongoing proliferation of hate aimed at them on Instagram and Twitter. This is being enforced almost two years after players in England boycotted social media for 24 hours. The government is also introducing legislation — the online safety bill — that could see social media companies fined for failing to protect their users.
English soccer heads ask Zuckerberg, Dorsey to act on racism
The leaders of English soccer have asked the heads of Facebook and Instagram to show basic human decency by taking more robust action to eradicate racism and for users identities to be verified. There has been growing outrage that players from the Premier League to the Womens Super League have been targeted with abuse on Twitter and Facebook-owned Instagram. “The language used is debasing, often threatening and illegal,” the eight English soccer leaders, including from the Football Association and Premier League, wrote to Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey and Facebook chairman Mark Zuckerberg. The letter was signed by the CEOs of the English Football Association (Mark Bullingham), Premier League (Richard Masters), English Football League (Trevor Birch), Professional Footballers’ Association (Gordon Taylor) and League Managers’ Association (Richard Bevan). Threats of violence on social media have also alarmed English soccer this week.
EXPLAINER: What is Clubhouse, the buzzy new audio chat app?
The icon for the social media app Clubhouse is seen on a smartphone screen in Beijing, Tuesday, Feb. 9, 2021. You can also download the app and get on a waiting list to be let into Clubhouse. Although Clubhouse hasn't divulged how many people are using its service, its app has been downloaded 5.3 million times, according to analytics firm App Annie. Thousands of Chinese users have flocked to the app in recent months, lured by the unfettered discussions it allowed with people abroad — particularly about democracy, Taiwan and other sensitive topics. Users still could download it if they had access to an Apple app store abroad.
Twitter posts strong Q4 results as user base, revenue jumps
Twitter posted solid results for the last three months of 2020, capping what CEO Jack Dorsey called an extraordinary year for the platform. Analysts, on average, were expecting earnings of 29 cents per share and revenue of $1.18 billion, according to a poll by FactSet. Twitter had 192 million daily users, on average, in the third quarter, up 27% year-over-year. By comparison, Facebook had 1.84 billion daily users on average in December 2020, an increase of 11% year-over-year. But he added that advertising revenue should remain strong as the company continues to invest in ad infrastructure.
Bezos and Bloomberg among top 50 US charity donors for 2020
Bezos is one of the 50 Americans who gave the most to charity in 2020, according to the Chronicle of Philanthropys annual rankings. “There has been change building among private donors.”All told, the 50 biggest donors contributed $24.7 billion in 2020, compared with $15.8 billion in 2019. The $1 billion-plus of giving by each of the top five on the Philanthropy 50 matches last year’s record. No more than three donors gave $1 billion or more in any of the previous years. Colleges and universities received $2.2 billion from Philanthropy 50 donors in 2020.
Facebook's oversight board to rule on Trump ban
But it said it's referring the matter to the oversight board for what it called an “independent judgment” on upholding the decision. The board does not set Facebook policies or decide if the company is doing enough to enforce them in the first place. The first four board members were directly chosen by Facebook. Facebook also pays the board members’ salaries. CEO Jack Dorsey defended his company’s Trump ban in a philosophical Twitter thread last week, saying that resulting risk to public safety created an “extraordinary and untenable circumstance” for the company.