Elon Musk: Always A Douche

[Grey Fox]

Musk is also floating the idea of charging $1 a year to new xwitter users - "to fight bots".

Also, report claims that Twitter traffic is down 14% YoY a year after Musk's takeover, and monthly active users down 17%.

https://techcrunch.com/2023/10/17/one-year-post-acquisition-x-traffic-and-monthly-active-users-are-in-decline-report-claims/

Also also:

https://www.reuters.com/technology/musk-considers-removing-x-platform-europe-over-eu-law-insider-2023-10-18/

Musk considers removing X platform from Europe over EU law - Insider

Oct 18 (Reuters) - Elon Musk, owner of social media platform X, is considering removing the service formerly called Twitter from Europe in response to a new internet platform regulation in the region, news site Insider reported on Wednesday.

The billionaire has discussed removing the app's availability in the region, or blocking users in the European Union from accessing it, a person familiar with the company told the publication.

The European Union in August adopted the Digital Services Act (DSA), which sets forth rules for preventing the spread of harmful content, banning or limiting certain user-targeting practices, and sharing some internal data with regulators and associated researchers, among other things.

X did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

(On that note, Meta's Threads is still not available in the EU because they want to make sure that if they launch they follow DSA and data protection rules - Meta got burned on that before - though not sure if they're seriously pusuing this at the moment.)

I used to use tweetdeck everyday to browse Twitter but Elmo took that away. Of course, I don't visit twitter anymore.

[Sheilbh]

Particularly fucked up is the device profiles they make to track you even if you  aren't logged into FB.

Everyone does/is trying to do that.

I guess the UK launch is because getting a fine in the UK isn't so bad as getting a fine EU-wide....Plus they probably gamble our government will not be particularly eager to enforce a law carried over from the EU, and they're incompetent.

It's worse to get a fine in the UK. The fining power is exactly as it was under European law - so depending on the breach a max of €10-20 million or 2-4% of global turnover. The UK now has the same fining power as the EU.

The law is being enforced. I think I said earlier across Europe, that in terms of actual enforcement data protection is sort of the dog that didn't bark. Some of it has happened but not as much as I think people expected and there are still some bits of the law and, for example, the rules on cookies go back to the early 2000s and haven't been updated so generally the maximum fine there is a lot, lot lower (around €500k). The UK and EU are updating that bit of the law too. Although on the EU side, I wouldn't hold your breath - the first draft was 6 years ago and they've been in trilogue for 2 years. Obviously we don't really know why/what the outstanding issues are.

But the UK regulator's had some issues with its enforcement - and I think this is possibly similar to issues across Europe. In European terms, the UK regulator is one of the best resourced and when we were in the EU had a reputation as very useful and communautaire. They'd take the lead on drafting guidance etc. That side of things and, I think, the individual rights bit is going well (I can't remember where I saw it but the UK regulator gets vastly more individual complaints than most European ones, I think with the exception of Germany - if there is someone Brits can complain to, they will ).

But I think there are two big problems which are that I think they're struggling to provide the right sort of support and resources for SMEs and they're not strong enough to deal with the big tech companies. These are not regulators like in, say, competition or financial regulation who are used to fighting with big companies and necessarily have the resources, experience or expertise to do that. So the UK regulator is re-launching their whole enforcement strategy. They announced two big fines but both ended up settling for about 10% of what they'd initially proposed - from my reading of the public initial fine and settlement that's because they made lots of procedural mistakes and hadn't necessarily copper-bottomed everything. Companies would just accept a fine from regulators when it was just up to €500k, now they're hundreds of millions or billions they will fight, they'll take it to the courts and judicial review if necessary. I've heard the former regulator in the UK (formerly from BC) say the biggest thing they weren't prepared for was litigation costs.

I think there is similar in Ireland. They have announced a big fine of Meta which was really forced on the Irish regulator by everyone else in Europe (and they're going to the European courts over some other points), but it was 5 years from when they started that investigation. Things are taking a long time because it's now serious enough for companies to fight every step.

The UK regulator have just announced an initial finding against Snap over AI but they've only released a very light press release so it'll be interesting to follow that and see if they've learned their lessons. That may be more of a "stop doing this" order than a fine though.

And they have a really tough job. They receive (in the UK) tens of thousands of individual complaints, they're responsible for regulating the world's biggest companies, the public sector, charities and SMEs who all have different needs - and in the UK they're also they're also in charge of freedom of information legislation. I think their HQ is in a small Cheshire suburb about half-way between Manchester and Stoke but I think that indicates the importance people thought an information regulator might have in the mid-80s when they were set up v now (they have satellite offices now in Belfast, Cardiff, Edinburgh and London).

[Savonarola]

That reply on the voter suppression. Two counts of .
How can a guy so seemingly dumb be so successful?

I shall provide you with the god of Delphi as witness of my own wisdom, if indeed it is wisdom, and of the sort of wisdom it is. Indeed I presume you knew Chaerophon. He was my friend from my youngest years, and a friend of your democracy too, and he joined you in your recent exile and returned along with you. Well, you also know what Chaerophon was like, and how impulsive he was in anything he took on. And in fact he once went to Delphi and dared to consult the oracle about this, and – as I said, please do not raise a clamour, gentlemen – yes, he asked if anyone was wiser than me. So the Pythia answered that no one was wiser. And his brother, who is here, will be your witness of this, since the man himself is dead.

Now consider my reasons for saying all this, for I am going to set out for you the origin of the slander against me. Indeed when I heard this, I reflected upon it as follows. "What exactly does the god mean, and what on earth is the riddle he poses? For I myself am aware of being wise in nothing great or small, so what precisely does he mean when he says I am the wisest? Of course he cannot be lying, since that is not lawful for him." And I was perplexed for a considerable time as to what precisely he meant. Then, with much reluctance, I turned to a process of enquiry that went something like this. I went to one of the people who seem to be wise on the assumption that there, if anywhere,  I could refute the oracular utterance and show the oracle, "This person is wiser than me, but you said I was the wisest." Now I need not name the man, but it was one of our politicians I was examining, and my experience, men of Athens, was somewhat as follows. As I engaged him in discourse, it seemed to me that, although this man was thought wise by many other people and most of all by himself, he was not wise. So, I then attempted to show him that, although he believed himself to be wise, he was not wise. As a result, I was hated by him, and by many of those present. I reckoned as I was going that I am wiser than this man, for it is likely that neither of us knows anything noble and good, but he thinks he knows something, when he does not know, while I do not actually know. I do not even think that I know. So perhaps in this one minor respect, I am wiser than he is, because I do not think I know what I do not know. I then went to someone else, to one of the people who seemed wiser than that man, and I came to the very same conclusions, and in this case too I was hated by him, and by many others.

Now after this I kept on going, aware that I was hated, grieving and fearful, but it seemed necessary nevertheless to set the work of the god above all else. In considering the meaning of the oracle, I had to go to all those who seemed to know something. And by the Dog, men of Athens, for I must speak the truth to you, my experience was something like this. When it came to understanding, those with the most exalted reputations seemed to me, as I searched at the god's behest, well-nigh worse-off, while other men, of lower repute, were better off.

So I must recount my wanderings to you, and the labours I undertook, only to find the oracle irrefutable. For after the politicians I went to the poets – the tragedians, the dithyrambists and the rest – expecting in this case to show myself up, blatantly, as being more ignorant than they. So, selecting poems of theirs that in my opinion they had crafted most intricately, I would question them as to what they meant, in order to learn something from them in the process. Now, gentlemen, I am ashamed to recount the truth to you, but it must be spoken nevertheless. For in a sense, almost anyone who was present might have spoken better than the poets, about the poems they themselves had composed. So in the case of the poets too, I quickly realised that it is not by wisdom that they compose their works, but by nature, and by being inspired, just like the prophets and deliverers of oracles. For these people also say a great deal, and it is beautiful too, but they know nothing about what they are saying. It was evident to me that the poets were in a similar predicament, and I became aware at the same time that because of their poetry, they also thought themselves the wisest of men in general, when they were not. So I left their company too, thinking I was better off than they are, in the same way that I was better off than the politicians.

Then finally I came to the craftsmen, for I myself was aware that I really had no knowledge, and yet I knew I would find that their knowledge was extensive and beautiful. Well, I was not deceived in this. They did know things I did not know, and in this respect they were wiser than me. But, men of Athens, it seemed to me that the pre-eminent craftsmen also had the same failing as the poets. Because they exercised their skill so beautifully, they each deemed themselves extremely wise in other matters too, matters of great importance, and this error of theirs obscured that wisdom. So I asked myself, on behalf of the oracle, whether I should accept my present condition, neither wise in any of their wisdom nor foolish in their folly, or possess their wisdom and their folly. So I responded to myself and the oracle that it was better for me to remain as I was.

-Plato "The Apology"

It's not unusual (and certainly not novel) for successful people to think they're experts on every subject.  (Perhaps you've even met people like that .)  A better question might be, why do we pay so much attention to the opinions of successful people in areas outside their area of expertise? 

[crazy canuck]

That reply on the voter suppression. Two counts of .
How can a guy so seemingly dumb be so successful?

Being in the right place at the right time before a company goes public has a lot more to do with luck than intelligence.

However, we often make the mistake of equating financial success with intelligence.

[garbon]

https://thehill.com/policy/technology/4270360-elon-musk-offers-1m-to-wikipedia-if-theyll-change-their-name/

Elon Musk offers $1M to Wikipedia if they'll change their name

Billionaire Elon Musk offered Wikipedia, the free online encyclopedia, $1 million under the condition that it would change its name to "Dickipedia."

The owner of X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, wrote his offer in a post on his new site. He quoted an earlier post with a screenshot of a personal appeal from Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales stating that the website is "not for sale."

"I will give them a billion dollars if they change their name to Dickipedia," Musk wrote.

"Please add that to the [cow and poop emojis] on my wiki page," he continued under the post. "In the interests of accuracy."

When one user, Journalist Ed Krassenstein, told the online encyclopedia to take the offer, saying that it can "can always change it back after you collect," Musk replied that the website must keep the name for "one year minimum."

"One year minimum. I mean, I'm a not fool lol," he said.

Musk's posts come after his earlier posts criticizing the Wikimedia Foundation, the non-profit that hosts Wikipedia, for asking for money.

"Have you ever wondered why the Wikimedia Foundation wants so much money? It certainly isn't needed to operate Wikipedia," he wrote on X. "You can literally fit a copy of the entire text on your phone! So, what's the money for? Inquiring minds want to know ..."

The app's "Community Notes," which allows users to sign up to become contributors and create notes on posts for context, left an explanation under his post initially stating that Wikipedia handles "over 25B page views per month and over 44M page edits a month, requiring substantial operating costs."

It also noted that the organization employs third-party financial auditors whose reports are made available to the public.

The note since noted the organization's expense, $146 million, and left a bullet list specifying where the money goes by percent.

Wales has been an outspoken critic of Musk. In May, Wales condemned Musk's decision to censor critics ahead of the Turkish presidential election.

"What Wikipedia did: we stood strong for our principles and fought to the Supreme Court of Turkey and won," Wales wrote in response to a post from Musk defending his decision.  "This is what it means to treat freedom of expression as a principle rather than a slogan."

Musk has come under withering criticism in some quarters for misinformation on X since he purchased the platform and instituted a number of changes.

[Grey Fox]

That man would be US President if he was allowed. Trump can't hold a candle to Musk's ankles.

[Syt]

Calling Ed Krassenstein a "journalist" seems ... generous.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/feds-seized-a-fortune-from-resistance-icons-accused-of-boosting-online-ponzi-schemes

[Syt]

https://www.theverge.com/2023/10/26/23934216/x-twitter-bank-elon-musk-2024

Elon Musk gives X employees one year to replace your bank

Elon Musk wants X to be the center of your financial world, handling anything in your life that deals with money. He expects those features to launch by the end of 2024, he told X employees during an all-hands call on Thursday, saying that people will be surprised with "just how powerful it is."

"When I say payments, I actually mean someone's entire financial life," Musk said, according to audio of the meeting obtained by The Verge. "If it involves money. It'll be on our platform. Money or securities or whatever. So, it's not just like send $20 to my friend. I'm talking about, like, you won't need a bank account."

X CEO Linda Yaccarino said the company sees this becoming a "full opportunity" in 2024. "It would blow my mind if we don't have that rolled out by the end of next year," Musk said.

The company is currently working on locking down money transmission licenses across the US so that it can offer financial services. Musk told employees Thursday that he hopes to get the others X needs in "the next few months."

Musk has discussed his plans to turn X into a financial hub before. He even renamed Twitter after his dot-com-boom-era online bank, X.com, which eventually became part of PayPal. He previously said the platform would offer high-yield money market accounts, debit cards, checks, and loan services, with the goal of letting users "send money anywhere in the world instantly and in real-time."

The original plan for X.com is clearly on Musk's mind. "The X/PayPal product roadmap was written by myself and David Sacks actually in July of 2000," Musk said on Thursday's internal X call. "And for some reason PayPal, once it became eBay, not only did they not implement the rest of the list, but they actually rolled back a bunch of key features, which is crazy. So PayPal is actually a less complete product than what we came up with in July of 2000, so 23 years ago."

Turning X into a rich hub for financial services ties directly into Musk's goal of making the platform into an "everything app," akin to super apps like WeChat in China that offer access to shopping, transportation, and more.

Musk faces major challenges to get there, though. Convincing people why they need such a platform is one. Getting them to trust X with their entire financial life is another.

Currently I wouldn't trust Musk to hold my drink while I tie my shoes, let alone my money.

[Jacob]

Yeah that's what he said he was going to do. It makes sense. And if he pulls it off, he'll be sitting pretty... and it explains why he doesn't really care that much about curating the social media platform and is okay using it as primarily an ego boost. He doesn't care for it as a social media platform, he only purchased it as an initial user base/ marketing case for his upcoming financial product.

... and yeah, I'm with Syt. I wouldn't entrust anything that mattered to me to something with Musk in charge.

[Sheilbh]

Yeah - also apparently turning Twitter into a dating app (can you imagine? )....

Having spent the last year firing compliance and information security teams should certainly help smooth the way into launching consumer financial services products

[Jacob]

Yeah - also apparently turning Twitter into a dating app (can you imagine? )....

 

Having spent the last year firing compliance and information security teams should certainly help smooth the way into launching consumer financial services products

          

[Jacob]

In separate news, Musk has started a fight with a Scandinavian union and seems set on escalating it: https://www.thelocal.se/20231027/tesla-threatens-to-bring-in-strikebreakers-as-swedish-workers-strike

Tesla threatens to bring in strikebreakers as Swedish workers strike

Members of Sweden's IF Metall metalworkers' union working at Tesla service centres went on strike on Friday morning following a breakdown in negotiations over a collective bargaining agreement.

Around 90 percent of employees in Sweden are covered by a collective bargaining agreement, and the metal workers' union, IF Metall, has long tried to negotiate one with Tesla without success.

The union wants Tesla to sign an agreement offering the same working conditions to Tesla's mechanics as those offered to mechanics at other companies.

The company is refusing to sign one, IF Metall has reported, saying that company claims that it doesn't sign collective bargaining agreements anywhere in the world.

Tesla's Nordic lead, Kim Jensen, said in an internal meeting that the company is considering employing strikebreakers, Dagens Arbete has reported.

"If they bring in strikebreakers then that's completely unique," IF Metall's bargaining agreement secretary, Veli-Pekka Säikkälä, told the newspaper. "That would be crossing all boundaries. That kind of thing happened in Sweden in the 1920s and 30s."

"If they start employing strikebreakers and actively try to break the strike, then they have mobilised the entire union movement against them. Not just the Swedish Trade Union Confederation, but all of them. Then the issue at hand becomes less important."

Tesla Sweden's head of communications, Maria Lantz, did not wish to comment when approached by the TT newswire.

Not all of the employees working at the affected service centres are IF Metall members and the union did not disclose how many of the workers were members, saying only that it was "a lot", and that more had joined in recent days.

If the union succeeds with its blockade, it could become more difficult for Tesla owners to get their cars serviced or repaired, despite the fact that some other workshops also service Tesla cars.

However, things could get worse if the union extends its strike.

IF Metall has given notice of its intention to extend the strike from November 3rd to apply to 20 further workshops, which would also put members there under a blockade, preventing them from carrying out any work on Tesla cars at all. This could also prevent owners of new cars from collecting them, as members would be barred from carrying out the work needed in order to register new cars.

There are no plans for new negotiations between the two parties.

"As recently as Tuesday, when we had our last meeting with Tesla, they made it clear that they have no intentions of signing a collective bargaining agreement with us," IF Metall's spokesperson, Jesper Pettersson, said.

When asked how long strike measures were going to continue, he replied they would be in place "until we have a collective bargaining agreement in place".

It'll be interesting to see how that goes.

[viper37]

Yeah - also apparently turning Twitter into a dating app (can you imagine? )....

That's a good platform for the Homelander and Stormfront of this world.

[The Minsky Moment]

Yeah - also apparently turning Twitter into a dating app (can you imagine? )....

Having spent the last year firing compliance and information security teams should certainly help smooth the way into launching consumer financial services products

Not to mention his history of SEC issues is not going to help in applying for any banking charters or brokerage licenses.

[crazy canuck]

In separate news, Musk has started a fight with a Scandinavian union and seems set on escalating it: https://www.thelocal.se/20231027/tesla-threatens-to-bring-in-strikebreakers-as-swedish-workers-strike

Tesla threatens to bring in strikebreakers as Swedish workers strike

Members of Sweden's IF Metall metalworkers' union working at Tesla service centres went on strike on Friday morning following a breakdown in negotiations over a collective bargaining agreement.

Around 90 percent of employees in Sweden are covered by a collective bargaining agreement, and the metal workers' union, IF Metall, has long tried to negotiate one with Tesla without success.

The union wants Tesla to sign an agreement offering the same working conditions to Tesla's mechanics as those offered to mechanics at other companies.

The company is refusing to sign one, IF Metall has reported, saying that company claims that it doesn't sign collective bargaining agreements anywhere in the world.

Tesla's Nordic lead, Kim Jensen, said in an internal meeting that the company is considering employing strikebreakers, Dagens Arbete has reported.

"If they bring in strikebreakers then that's completely unique," IF Metall's bargaining agreement secretary, Veli-Pekka Säikkälä, told the newspaper. "That would be crossing all boundaries. That kind of thing happened in Sweden in the 1920s and 30s."

"If they start employing strikebreakers and actively try to break the strike, then they have mobilised the entire union movement against them. Not just the Swedish Trade Union Confederation, but all of them. Then the issue at hand becomes less important."

Tesla Sweden's head of communications, Maria Lantz, did not wish to comment when approached by the TT newswire.

Not all of the employees working at the affected service centres are IF Metall members and the union did not disclose how many of the workers were members, saying only that it was "a lot", and that more had joined in recent days.

If the union succeeds with its blockade, it could become more difficult for Tesla owners to get their cars serviced or repaired, despite the fact that some other workshops also service Tesla cars.

However, things could get worse if the union extends its strike.

IF Metall has given notice of its intention to extend the strike from November 3rd to apply to 20 further workshops, which would also put members there under a blockade, preventing them from carrying out any work on Tesla cars at all. This could also prevent owners of new cars from collecting them, as members would be barred from carrying out the work needed in order to register new cars.

There are no plans for new negotiations between the two parties.

"As recently as Tuesday, when we had our last meeting with Tesla, they made it clear that they have no intentions of signing a collective bargaining agreement with us," IF Metall's spokesperson, Jesper Pettersson, said.

When asked how long strike measures were going to continue, he replied they would be in place "until we have a collective bargaining agreement in place".

It'll be interesting to see how that goes.

Musk once again forgets that US law does not apply.