Will Musk be the next Trump?

[Strontium Dog]

When the thing in question is integral to their being, that is invalidating their humanity.

It isn't, and no it isn't. Hope that helps.

Well it's bigoted, that's for sure.

Then it's bigoted when you say it too.

[L'Emmerdeur]

Is there any way they can both lose?

'Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg say they're ready for a cage fight'

Business rivalry seemingly isn’t enough for two of the tech industry’s most powerful billionaires. Now Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg say they want to settle their scores in a cage fight.

Twitter owner and Tesla (TSLA) CEO Musk recently tweeted that he would be “up for a cage fight” with Zuckerberg, the CEO of Meta. In an Instagram story Wednesday, Zuckerberg fired back by posting a screenshot of Musk’s tweet overlaid with the caption: “Send Me Location.”

Musk then responded to a tweet about the fight by Alex Heath, editor of tech news website Verge, with “Vegas Octagon” — a reference to the Las Vegas arena that hosts the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

“I have this great move that I call ‘The Walrus,’ where I just lie on top of my opponent & do nothing,” he added in a separate tweet.

CNN has contacted Meta for comment. A spokesperson for the company told Verge: “The [Instagram] story speaks for itself.”

It remains unclear whether Zuckerberg and Musk are serious or having a laugh.

The putrefying pustule Andrew Tate has offered to train Musk. Y'know, when he gets a chance to escape house arrest for human trafficking charges.

[Brian Peacock]

The fight won't go ahead unless one of them slaps the other across the face with a kid glove and says, "I demand satisfaction Sir."

[NineBerry]

Musk has killed Twitter

[Svartalf]

given the way old twitter killed my account without even proper explanation of why and the unmeetable conditions they placed on getting it back, I'm not going to cry.

[Tero]

Musk has shut off a lot of access.

Not logged in..no viewing.

[NineBerry]

I'm logged in and still no viewing...

[Brian Peacock]

Twitter's lost half its ad revenue since Elon took over. He's going to sell some of his stake to raise funds.

[L'Emmerdeur]

... And it's all the fault of the (((ADL))) !!!1!

'Elon Musk Takes Aim at Anti-Defamation League, Threatens Lawsuit'

Twitter/X owner Elon Musk threatened to sue the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) on Monday night, hours after accusing the civil rights organization of causing advertisers to flee his struggling platform.

“To clear our platform’s name on the matter of anti-Semitism, it looks like we have no choice but to file a defamation lawsuit against the Anti-Defamation League,” Musk posted, “oh the irony!”

Musk has blamed the ADL and other groups for the exodus in advertisers that the platform formerly known as Twitter has experienced since Musk took charge last year. On Monday, he accused the ADL of “trying to kill this platform by falsely accusing it & me of being anti-Semitic,” adding that, “our US advertising revenue is still down 60%, primarily due to pressure on advertisers by @ADL (that’s what advertisers tell us), so they almost succeeded in killing X/Twitter!”

Twitter sued the Center for Countering Digital Hate in July, accusing the nonprofit of trying to hurt Twitter’s advertising business. Musk recently amplified posts from a far-right “#BanTheADL” hashtag. Earlier on Monday, Musk suggested that the ADL (a Jewish civil liberties organization) is “ironically the biggest generators of anti-Semitism on this platform” because “they are so aggressive in their demands to ban social media accounts for even minor infractions.” Musk was replying to a Twitter user who has previously tweeted antisemitic cartoons.

He's the 'free speech absolutist' who invited the bigots and edgelords back with open arms. But no, it's the people who're pointing out that he's happily giving implicit encouragement to malignant shitposters; it's their fault!

That rancid-looking fuzz on his chin.

[L'Emmerdeur]

A reminder of the 'free speech' bona fides--

'Left-Wing Voices Are Silenced on Twitter as Far-Right Trolls Advise Elon Musk'

[Brian Peacock]

His defence of free speech absolutely doesn't seem to extend to people with 10 followers if they criticise the Saudi Royal Family on Twitter/X, perhaps because the Saudi sovereign wealth fund now has a massive stake in Elon's pet project.

Saudi man sentenced to death for tweets in harshest verdict yet for online critics

A retired teacher in Saudi Arabia was recently sentenced to death for his tweets criticizing the country's leadership to his handful of followers, according to rights advocates and his family.

The sentencing of Mohammad Alghamdi, who is in his mid-50s, is the latest in an escalating crackdown on social media users in Saudi Arabia. While others are serving prison terms ranging from 20 to 45 years for their tweets and online criticism of the government, Alghamdi appears to be the first person to be sentenced to death based solely on his posts on X, formerly called Twitter, and YouTube activity.

The wide-scale targeting of critics has unfolded as Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman pushes sensitive reforms that have overhauled life and loosened restrictions for many in the country. These sweeping reforms, like allowing women to drive, ending strict gender segregation rules in public and opening the country to entertainment and tourism, have coincided with a similarly sweeping crush of dissent.

Alghamdi, a father of seven living in Mecca, had gained just 10 followers between the two anonymous accounts he ran on X.

According to Human Rights Watch, he used the social media site to rail against alleged government corruption, but was mostly resharing posts by more popular government critics.

Twitter accounts targeted

The platform, X, is among the most popular social media sites in Saudi Arabia. It was where Saudis would often go to vent their frustrations with government policies.

Lina Alhathloul, the head of monitoring and advocacy at the ALQST human rights group, says even as users were being targeted and detained for their tweets, the platform remained a kind of final frontier where Saudis could express their views, even if anonymously.

"It was the last space where people were actually discussing social issues," she said. "Everyone in the physical space, in real life, has self-censored themselves. They know they're in danger, but people thought that maybe on Twitter, especially with an anonymous account, they could be safe."

But not even anonymous accounts protected users from Saudi prosecution. It's unclear how Saudi authorities were able to verify Alghamdi's identity on X.

In other cases, it appears the identity of Saudi users may have been leaked, exposing them to arrest and long prison sentences. An FBI complaint and federal investigation in the United States led to the conviction last year of a former Twitter employee found guilty of failing to register as an agent for Saudi Arabia. He was also convicted of taking bribes in exchange for passing along the confidential user data of Saudi government critics.

Alhathloul said the message from all these cases is clear.

"You are not safe whatever you do, whoever you are. You just have to muzzle yourself," she said.

She spoke with NPR from exile in Europe. Her sister, Loujain, is a prominent Saudi women's rights advocate who was detained for nearly three years in connection to her activism until her release in 2021. Similar to other activists who've been released in Saudi Arabia, she remains under a travel ban.

Criticism met with counterterrorism law

Alghamdi's case is particularly striking because of the apparently very small reach of his accounts on X in contrast with the severe sentencing he was handed. He can appeal the verdict.

Court documents reviewed by rights activists and Human Rights Watch show Alghamdi was sentenced to death on July 10 under the country's vaguely worded counterterrorism law for using his social media accounts to commit crimes such as insulting the Saudi king or crown prince and supporting a terrorist ideology.

He was found guilty by the Specialized Criminal Court in Riyadh. The court was established 15 years ago to try terrorism cases, but has also been used to prosecute government critics.

What prosecutors often argue in these cases is that insulting or criticizing Saudi Arabia's leadership poses a threat to national security and can destabilize society. Many of these trials happen behind closed doors.

The Saudi government has not responded to an NPR request for comment about Alghamdi's case. However, when officials are asked in public forums about Saudi Arabia's legal and justice system, they've often said the courts are independent or argue that reforming the system as a whole will take time.

A wanted brother

Alghamdi's brother, Saeed Alghamdi, believes the case against his younger brother is actually meant to target him. Saeed Alghamdi is a well-known Islamic scholar connected to many of the kingdom's most prominent jailed critics. He left Saudi Arabia in 2013 and founded the Saudi rights group, SANAD. He now lives in exile in the United Kingdom.

He said Saudi authorities have tried to convince him to go back to the kingdom, promising money and a good life if he returns and stops his activism abroad.

"They want to spite me personally because they tried several times to convince me to return," he said. "When I refused, they resorted to this. That's my read on the situation."

While his claims could not be independently verified, there are known cases of retaliation against family members of dissidents abroad.

"I have absolutely no intention of returning [to Saudi Arabia] as long as the situation remains like this," Saeed Alghamdi said.

[NineBerry]

He's constantly retweeting the worst hate speech and conspiracy garbage...

[Sean Hayden]

They worship a terrifying god.

[Tero]

Musk and Putin
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eHLzlw7dcLM

[Tero]

At 6min Anne explains that Russia is warning Musk of nuclear war.

Musk and the US failure to put up the same Starlink type network. Anne says the drone attacks use satellites. The US has somehow taken over some of Musk's satellites.