The ongoing conflict between Musk and Brazil’s authorities is rooted in issues of misinformation and legal compliance.

The feud escalated in April when Justice Alexandre Moraes ordered the suspension of several X accounts accused of spreading disinformation, many of which were linked to supporters of former President Jair Bolsonaro.

X’s failure to appoint a new legal representative in Brazil by a court-imposed deadline only exacerbated the situation, leading to the platform’s suspension.

Justice Moraes justified the ban by citing X’s non-compliance with Brazilian law, specifically its failure to curb the spread of disinformation.

Musk, who positions himself as a staunch defender of free speech, responded by accusing Justice Moraes of undermining democracy.

Free speech is the bedrock of democracy and an unelected pseudo-judge in Brazil is destroying it for political purposes https://t.co/eqbowALCeu

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 30, 2024

X has long been one of the most popular platforms in Brazil, serving as a key space for political discourse, social movements, and everyday communication.

With X now in jeopardy, millions of Brazilian users seek alternatives, with Bluesky emerging as a leading contender.

What is Bluesky?

Bluesky, often shortened to Bsky, is a relatively new decentralised social-blogging platform and public-benefit corporation based in the United States.

The app has seen an unprecedented surge in users following X’s suspension; it gained half a million new users in Brazil within just two days.

While Bluesky and X share some similarities in their basic functionality, they differ significantly in their content moderation and user experience approach.

Bluesky’s decentralised model allows for greater user control over their data and content, contrasting with X’s more centralised structure.

Additionally, Bluesky’s content moderation policies are seen as more transparent and community-driven, a key factor in attracting users disillusioned with X’s practices.

Are users migrating to Bluesky?

Google Trends data shows a sharp increase in searches for “Virtual Private Network” on August 30^th.

However, the ruling also fined individuals and businesses that used virtual private networks (VPNs) to access X. This may explain the surge in searches for “Bluesky” the following day, evidence of Brazilian users’ eagerness to find an alternative to X quickly.

The rapid influx of new users has posed challenges for Bluesky, particularly regarding technical infrastructure. The platform’s servers have experienced unprecedented traffic, leading to occasional slowdowns and connectivity issues.

Despite these challenges, Bluesky’s development team has proactively scaled up their systems to accommodate the growing user base, with reports of 15 times the usual daily peak traffic.

For anyone interested in how it’s going with the Brazil migration to Bluesky, we’re consistently at 15x our normal daily peak traffic

This graph is just kinda crazy, 4 days ago we couldn’t imagine the amount of load we’re seeing on our systems right now

The team is holding it down and doing great

[image or embed]

— Jaz (@jaz.bsky.social) Aug 31, 2024 at 17:36

The future of social media in Brazil

As more users migrate to platforms like Bluesky and Threads, the dominance of traditional social media giants like X and Facebook may be challenged.

This shift could lead to a more diverse and decentralised social media landscape in Brazil, with users enjoying greater freedom and privacy.

While Musk argues that free speech is essential to democracy, Justice Moraes and his supporters contend that freedom of expression must be coupled with a “duty of responsibility”.

The situation in Brazil has attracted global attention, with many wondering whether other countries might follow suit in regulating social media platforms more aggressively.

This comes after the founder of Telegram was arrested in France in relation to various organised crimes carried out within the cloud-based messaging app.

The post Musk moves out as Bluesky rises to fill Brazil’s Twitter void appeared first on TechInformed.

Nearly two years later, the social media firm, now rebranded as X, is embroiled in more controversy. It has reportedly experienced a 24% YOY decline in advertiser support in the first half of 2024.

What was once a bustling marketplace for brands is quickly becoming a vacuum, with companies withdrawing their advertising dollars, leaving X struggling to maintain its relevance and profitability.

Musk’s controversial policies and their impact on brand safety

Elon Musk’s acquisition of Twitter was far from a smooth transition. After initially agreeing to purchase the platform, Musk tried to back out of the deal, citing concerns over the prevalence of fake accounts.

However, the courts forced him to proceed with the purchase. Under Musk’s leadership, X has undergone significant changes — one of the most consequential being the platform’s approach to content moderation.

Musk’s decision to re-platform previously banned users, such as former US President Donald Trump and UK far-right activist Tommy Robinson, has raised concerns among advertisers about the safety and appropriateness of the content their ads might appear alongside.

Additionally, the decision to ban the word “cisgender” as hate speech has further fuelled the controversy, alienating certain user groups and advertisers alike.

Controversial content vs. ad revenue

The changes in X’s content moderation policies have profoundly impacted the platform’s ad revenue. Advertisers are increasingly wary of their brands appearing next to hate speech, offensive content, or misinformation.

Brenda Imeson, director of strategy at digital advertising firm Brave Bison, explains, "Clients are cautious about exposing their most valuable asset — their brand — to unnecessary risks."

"Musk's well-known scepticism towards the advertising sector, coupled with his penchant for sharing controversial content, left many marketers uneasy about the future of Twitter," she says.

According to a survey conducted by the Kantar Group, many advertisers cite a lack of innovation and trustworthiness as primary reasons for their departure.

The survey found that X's trust score has dropped from 28% in 2021 to just 16% in 2023.

This decline in trust reflects a net 14% of marketers planning to decrease their investment in X in 2024.

In contrast, platforms like TikTok and YouTube continue to attract advertising dollars. TikTok sees a net 77% of marketers planning to increase their budget for the platform in the coming year.

Changing demographics and advertising strategies

Karim Salama, director at e-innovate, highlights that the platform's instability under Musk's leadership has driven advertisers towards more reliable platforms like TikTok and Instagram.

"There's been a noticeable drop in user interaction, as well as controversial policy changes," Salama explains. "This unstable atmosphere for ROI drives advertisers towards platforms where they can expect consistent results."

X is predominantly used for news consumption, with 60.6% of users reporting utilising the platform to stay informed. However, the influx of "fake news" and misinformation on the app has likely contributed to its decline in popularity.

Moreover, X's user demographics present another challenge. The platform's audience is 61.2% male. In contrast, platforms like Instagram and LinkedIn have a more balanced gender distribution, which may make them more attractive to advertisers looking to reach a diverse audience.

Additionally, X's younger user base, with 58.38% of users between 18 and 34, may have a higher propensity for platforms like TikTok and Instagram, which, according to Kantar's survey, are perceived as more innovative and trustworthy.

Salama explains, "TikTok and Instagram are far more appealing — younger audiences thrive on platforms that promote genuine storytelling and community connections. This just doesn't exist on Twitter.

"Twitter's text-driven nature is outdated for today's consumer — advertisers will instead redirect their campaigns to TikTok to take advantage of its organic reach potential."

GARMS's dissolution: legal battles and their broader implications

GARM, a voluntary initiative created in response to high-profile cases of harmful content next to brand ads, was crucial in ensuring safe and responsible ad placements.

However, GARM recently found itself in a legal battle with X after advising businesses to reconsider advertising on the platform due to concerns over brand safety.

X responded by suing GARM, accusing the organisation of colluding with businesses "to collectively withhold billions of dollars in advertising from Twitter".

GARM has over 100 members. Four of which — CVS, Unilever, Mars and the Danish energy company Ørsted — were named defendants in the suit filed in federal court in Texas.

In a statement on its website, GARM announced, "Recent allegations that unfortunately misconstrue its purpose and activities have caused a distraction and significantly drained its resources and finances. WFA [World Federation of Advertisers], therefore, is making the difficult decision to discontinue GARM activities."

As Sarah Aird-Mash, CMO of Adludio, notes, "GARM used the ad collective might to rally against questionable activity, and its absence raises concerns about the future of brand safety in digital advertising."

The future of brand safety without GARM

Peter Ibarra, head of media and AdTech solutions at Amperity, adds that the dissolution of GARM marks a turning point for advertisers. "The proliferation of advertising channels makes it difficult for advertisers to know where to make the next investment," he says.

"The recent lawsuit by X leading to GARM's dissolution signals a new era where unwavering platform allegiance is no longer a reality."

This isn't the first such legal battle for X. Last year, X sued the Center for Countering Digital Hate, another non-profit, when it wrote about hate speech on the platform and blamed it for driving away advertisers.

The case was thrown out by a federal judge in March, claiming it was an attempt to punish CCDH for protected speech.

In November last year, X also began litigation against Media Matters, a watchdog group that highlighted antisemitic and pro-Nazi content appearing next to ads on X. The case is set to go to trial next April.

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!

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 4, 2023

The tweetings on the wall

Gonca Bubani, global thought leadership director at Kantar, emphasised the broader implications of X's decline, noting that "marketer sentiment around X has been continuously declining."

Bubani pointed out that while X's decline began before Musk's takeover, the current social and political climate has exacerbated the platform's troubles. "Musk's politicisation of the platform is adding fuel to the fire, which will have an impact.

"What's clear is that the decline in spend isn't only coming from the direction institutions like GARM give the industry."

Advertisers are not just concerned with brand safety; they are also wary of the platform's declining performance.

Mark Bellamy, strategy director at NewGen, emphasises that the reduced power of user acquisition on X is not solely due to Musk's controversial remarks. "The increasing power to hold attention through short video on TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube has also pushed brands to look elsewhere for ROI as much as peace of mind," Bellamy explains.

"The love for a product or a brand's personality from existing fans hasn't waned on X, even if the ability to find a new audience has due to the reduced number of users going there for discovery purposes. But this reduced power of acquisition on X is a pre-Elon trend."

Data-driven strategies for optimising ad campaigns

As advertisers navigate this changing landscape, many turn to data-driven strategies to optimise their campaigns in real time.

Peter Ibarra underscores the importance of first-party data and advanced analytics in this context: "By using the power of first-party data and advanced analytics, brands are not just adapting to change — they're proactively shaping their advertising future.

"This data-driven agility allows for rapid pivots across media channels, ensuring optimal returns on ad spend by fostering deeper, more personalised customer connections."

Interestingly, despite the exodus of advertisers, user engagement on X has remained relatively stable, with users reportedly spending an average of 30.9 minutes daily on the platform.

However, this increased engagement has yet to translate into advertiser confidence.

User engagement vs. advertiser confidence on X

Brenda Imeson points out that "the perception of the platform as a high-risk environment for brands has driven advertisers away, highlighting a critical disconnect between user engagement and advertiser confidence."

"With GARM's shutdown, advertisers are once again facing uncertainty regarding the safety of their ad placements," she says.

"In the short term, this uncertainty is likely to lead advertisers to stick with media partners and platforms where they have built trust over the past few years. The marketing community views this shift not as a "boycott," as X might perceive it, but rather as the exercise of "freedom of choice."

While the platform still enjoys user engagement, the disconnect between users and advertisers suggests that X may struggle to regain its position as a leading social media platform for advertisers.

Ironically, advertisers leaving X could see consumer patterns change in the other direction — after all, most social media users are deterred by a greater number of ads.

We reached out to GARM for comment, but they have not yet responded at the time of publication.

The post Here today, Elon tomorrow: are advertisers abandoning X? appeared first on TechInformed.

Apple CEO Tim Cook has said that ChatGPT will be integrated into the manufacturer’s primary operating system, iOS 18, “by the end of 2024”.

During Apple’s latest earnings call, Cook confirmed that ChatGPT integration will be available as part of Apple’s new Apple Intelligence offering.

He also revealed features such as support for languages beyond US English would be staggered over the course of the year.

At Apple’s last developers conference, it announced plans to integrate ChatGPT with its own chatbot, Siri.

Read more…

TikTok agrees to withdraw Lite feature but still faces US lawsuit

Video-sharing app TikTok has agreed to cull its rewards program, TikTok Lite, in Europe following pressure from the European Commission.

The Chinese-owned social media firm said it would withdraw TikToke Lite from the EU and axe the roll-out of similar rewards functionalities to settle an investigation opened by the regulator in April under the EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA).

It is the first settlement under the DSA, which took effect in August 2023.

TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, was ordered to suspend its app after it launched Lite in France and Spain earlier this year. Commissioners cited mental health concerns.

TikTok Lite allows users over the age of 18 to earn points under a reward program by performing tasks in the app, such as watching and liking content. These prizes can then be exchanged for rewards, such as TikTok’s coins currency or Amazon vouchers.

The announcement came as US regulators filed a new lawsuit against TikTok, accusing the firm of collecting children’s data and failing to delete it at parents’ requests.

The US Department of Justice claims the firm’s actions amount to a “massive scale” invasion of child privacy contrary to laws requiring parental permission to gather data on users under the age of 13.

TikTok has denied the claims.

Read more…

X to close San Francisco HQ to move in with Musk’s other projects

Billionaire Elon Musk has announced plans to shut down the San Francisco home of social media platform X.

The move comes less than two years after Musk acquired the firm, formerly known as Twitter. Musk claimed he had “no choice” but to close the office, citing financial regulations.

“It is impossible to operate in San Francisco if you’re processing payments,” he wrote in a post on X. “That’s why Stripe, Block (CashApp) and others had to move.”

Reports claim Musk is expected to move the social media firm to a new location in Austin, Texas, which is also home to some of his other businesses, including SpaceX.

According to the New York Times, California employees would be relocated to Silicon Valley, distributed between an existing office in San Jose and a new office to be built in Palo Alto, and shared with another of Musk’s companies, xAI.

Read more…

UK Government unveils £32 million in funding for AI projects to boost public services

The UK government has announced a £32 million investment in AI innovations aimed at improving safety on construction sites, reducing railway repair times, and cutting emissions across supply chains.

The funding supports 98 projects designed to boost productivity and stimulate economic growth through AI.

The 98 projects span from Southampton to Birmingham and Northern Ireland, involving over 200 businesses and research organisations across various sectors.

Minister for Digital Government and AI, Feryal Clark, noted that AI will “deliver real change for working people across the UK”, such as reducing train delays and streamlining NHS prescription deliveries.

This comes days after just days after Labour axed £1.3 billion of AI projects.

Read more…

The post iPhones get ChatGPT, Musk moves X to Texas, and more… appeared first on TechInformed.

Disney Corporation has revealed it was the target of a massive breach of internal documents. The breach was carried out by a hacking group that claimed to be defending artists’ rights.

The Nullbulge hackers said they had gained access to thousands of communications from Disney staffers.

The Mouse House confirmed it was investigating the breach to discover if any of the data accessed was commercially sensitive.

“Disney was our target due to how it handles artist contracts, its approach to AI, and its pretty blatant disregard for the consumer,” the hacking group told the BBC.

The leak was first reported in the gaming press and then picked up by the Wall Street Journal. According to WSJ, some of the leaked material was related to advertising campaigns and interview candidates, with some dating back as far as 2019.

Read more…

Musk plots to move SpaceX and X from California to Texas

Elon Musk has revealed plans to relocate the headquarters of two of his biggest companies: SpaceX and social media platform X.

Both companies are currently headquartered in California, but Musk claims he will move them to Texas, citing recent laws passed in the Golden State.

Musk opposes new Californian laws, in particular one which prevents schools from making rules requiring staff to tell anyone, including parents, information about a child’s gender identity.

Using X, which he bought as Twitter, Musk called it the “last straw” and said he would follow Tesla’s movement to Texas by bringing his other companies to the state, where he also lives.

Read more…

New Quantum chip could see mass production in just three years

Oxford Ionics has unveiled a new computer chip that experts claim could play a pivotal role in building useful quantum computers.

The chip can be mass-produced, the manufacturer said, meaning the first commercial quantum computer could hit the market in around three year’s time.

University of Oxford Associate Professor of Quantum Computing Aleks Kissinger said the new chip was “very promising”.

The chip uses “trapped ion” technology to provide over twice the performance of previous quantum chips and offers what is needed to mass produce a quantum computer capable of real-world applications.

However, some — including Ravinder Singh, who heads up the UK Cabinet Office’s digital and systems team — have warned that quantum computing may not see full-scale deployment for at least another decade.

Read more…

Trump picks former tech VC JD Vance for VP

Former US President Donald Trump has named former tech venture capitalist JD Vance his running mate for the 2024 US election later this year.

Vance — who is also an author and currently serves as the Senator for Ohio — spent two years as a tech venture capitalist at Peter Thiel’s Mithril Capital between 2016 and 2017.

PayPal founder Thiel is one of Vance’s major financial backers, donating $15 million to support his senate campaign in the 2022 mid-terms.

In 2017, Vance joined the Steve Case-backed firm Revolution LLC in Washington as a partner focusing on startups

“His experience in tech has absolutely influenced his thinking,” Nathan Leamer, the chief executive of Fixed Gear Strategies, a tech policy consulting firm, told the NYT. “He built rapport with some important influencers now onboard with Trump.”

Read more…

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Musk launched the lawsuit in February, accusing the ChatGPT parent company of straying from its founding mission of creating AI for the greater good.

The dispute has since been a significant point of contention between two of the tech industry’s most influential figures, who were both involved in the founding of OpenAI in 2015.

The case had been progressing through the California court system until Musk suddenly requested a dismissal with no explanation for the decision yet.

Musk’s case alleged that OpenAI’s shift towards becoming a for-profit entity, including a partnership with Microsoft, violated the company’s “foundational agreement” to prioritise humanity’s greater good.

The case demanded that OpenAI be compelled to open up its technology and that it be prohibited from financially benefiting Microsoft, Altman, or OpenAI president Greg Brockman.

OpenAI and Altman firmly denied the allegations, arguing that no such “founding agreement” existed and suggesting that Musk’s support for the for-profit transition was documented.

In a blog post in March, OpenAI implied that Musk’s actions were driven by professional jealousy, stating, “We’re sad that it’s come to this with someone whom we’ve deeply admired.”

After co-founding the company alongside Altman, Brockman, LinkedIn co-founder Reed Hoffman and investor Peter Thiel, Musk left the board in 2018 amid a power struggle over the company’s direction. Since then, tensions between Musk and Altman have escalated.

Legal experts had expressed scepticism about Musk’s lawsuit, particularly questioning claims that OpenAI had developed AI matching human intelligence.

Despite the dismissal, Musk’s legal manoeuvres and public statements indicate ongoing discord rather than reconciliation.

Shortly after Apple announced its partnership with OpenAI, Musk threatened to ban Apple devices at his companies: “If Apple integrates OpenAI at the OS level, then Apple devices will be banned at my companies,” Musk wrote in a post on X.

And visitors will have to check their Apple devices at the door, where they will be stored in a Faraday cage

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 10, 2024

Apple’s assurances regarding user privacy protections, stating that OpenAI would not track users’ IP addresses or store their requests, have done little to alleviate Musk’s concerns.

Musk’s decision to withdraw the lawsuit may have been strategic, drawing attention to his grievances while avoiding a protracted legal battle.

David Hoffman, a contract law expert from the University of Pennsylvania, told Business Insider that these types of lawsuits “can air a lot of dirty laundry, and it can be a major distraction that could impact their day-to-day operations.”

Over the past few months, Musk has been positioning his companies to play a significant role in the AI industry, actively promoting Tesla as an AI or robotics company.

Moreover, Musk’s AI startup, xAI, announced last July, recently raised $6 billion in a Series B funding round, achieving a valuation of $24 billion.

This positions xAI as the second-most valuable AI company, second only to OpenAI, valued at approximately $80 billion. With these developments, Musk appears prepared to challenge OpenAI’s dominance in the AI sector.

The post Elon Musk suddenly drops lawsuit against OpenAI appeared first on TechInformed.

New York City has launched a lawsuit against Google, Meta, Snapchat, and TikTok, accusing the tech giants of “fueling a nationwide youth mental health crisis.”

Last month, the New York mayor’s office designated social media as a “public health hazard”. Mayor Eric Adams revealed the state’s health commissioner, Dr Ashwin Vasan, had described apps like TikTok and Instagram as “environmental toxins” that impose harm onto young teens and adolescents.

New York has now launched a lawsuit accusing the Big Tech firms of three counts: public nuisance, negligence, and gross negligence.

The suit alleges these counts are achieved by way of harmful algorithms, gambling-like mechanisms, and manipulation through reciprocity — making the user “feel compelled to respond to one positive action with another positive action.” The Adams regime believes there to be a correlation between the increase in social media usage and the decline in local youth mental health over “more than a decade.”

Google and Meta told CNBC that they have always worked with youth safety experts and provided parental control tools.

Read more…

SpaceX moves its legal home from Delaware to Texas

Elon Musk has started moving his businesses away from Delaware following a judge’s decision in the state to invalidate his $56b Tesla pay package.

In a post on X, Musk announced that SpaceX has moved its corporate home to Texas, along with a copy of the certificate of conversion it received from the Texas Secretary of State. “If your company is still incorporated in Delaware, I recommend moving to another state as soon as possible,” the executive added.

It comes after a Delaware judge invalidated Musk’s $56b Tesla compensation package following a lawsuit from a shareholder. In January, the judge found that Musk’s compensation was inappropriately set by the electric vehicle maker’s board and struck down the package.

Musk’s brain-chip implant company, Neuralink, also changed its location of incorporation from Delaware to Nevada last week.

Read more…

EU ratifies deal on AI regulations

Lawmakers in the European Parliament have struck a provisional agreement on landmark AI legislation ahead of an April vote on rules to govern the technology.

The European Union’s AI Act aims to set guardrails for emergent AI technologies across a broad range of industries while also outlining regulations for foundation models or generative AI, such as ChatGPT.

“AI Act takes a step forward: MEPs in @EP_Justice & @EP_SingleMarket have endorsed the provisional agreement on an Artificial Intelligence Act that ensures safety and complies with fundamental rights,” one of the two European Parliament committees said on X.

It comes as a number of regions and countries look to position themselves as leaders in the AI space.

Read more…

Romanian hospitals hit by ransomware attacks

Over one hundred hospitals and medical facilities in Romania have become victims of a major ransomware attack, with several sites forced to go completely offline in order to protect patients.

Cyber extortionists demanded 3.5 Bitcoin — worth over £130,000 on the current market — to unlock files which they had encrypted in the attack. But Romanian officials said data had been recently backed up, reducing the impact.

A statement from the Romanian Ministry of Health revealed the scale of the attack — which took place on Monday — revealing the hackers had targeted a widely used medical information system. The group responsible has yet to be identified.

Read more…

Cisco to cut 5% of its workforce

Cisco has announced plans to cut around 4,250 jobs from its global workforce, representing about 5% of its total employee base.

The plan comes as part of company-wide restructuring, according to the networking hardware and software maker. The plans are to shift its focus to “key priority areas,” such as artificial intelligence. The layoffs are due to begin later this year, Cisco indicated.

“We continue to align our investments to future growth opportunities,” Cisco CEO Chuck Robbins said in the company’s second-quarter earnings release. “Our innovation sits at the centre of an increasingly connected ecosystem and will play a critical role as our customers adopt AI and secure their organisations.”

It comes as part of wider layoffs across the tech sector in recent years. Since the start of this year, cuts at tech firms have affected nearly 35,000 workers. Since the cuts began in 2022, the total number of layoffs globally, as reported by layoffs.fyi, has surpassed 462,000 job cuts.

Read more about tech layoffs…

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