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.

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.