Le Monde, France's newspaper of record, has announced its decision to leave the controversial social media platform X, due to concerns over its founders' political alliances with US President Donald Trump. In an editorial, Le Monde's editor-in-chief Jérôme Fenoglio explains that the move is a response to "a global threat to free access to reliable information" posed by social media behemoths such as X and Meta. The newspaper, which boasts 11 million followers on its French language account, will now focus on fast-growing rival Bluesky and increase vigilance on other platforms like TikTok and Meta, following Mark Zuckerberg's "worrying statements."
Following Elon Musk's speech at Donald Trump's inauguration, where he was accused of performing a Nazi salute, scores of former Twitter users have left the platform. Many cite Musk's ownership and recent changes to the app, such as the introduction of paid perks, as reasons for their departure. Some have even migrated to alternative platforms, such as BlueSky, while others have simply locked their accounts in protest.
In an interesting turn of events, users of X (formerly Twitter) discovered a "X Score" feature that was touted to provide an insight into their social credit standing on the platform. However, most users were shocked when the AI assistant gave them a paltry 38 out of 100. This led to speculations of a possible algorithm tweak by X's owner Elon Musk, but later it was revealed that this was not an official feature and no changes had been made to the algorithm. So, if you're wondering why your views are going down, Musk has a simple answer for you.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk made headlines for openly condemning President Joe Biden's decision to give billionaire philanthropist George Soros the highly prestigious Presidential Medal of Freedom. Musk expressed his disapproval on his social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, and called Biden's decision a "travesty." Biden announced the list of 19 honorees for this year, citing Soros' focus on global initiatives for democracy, human rights, education, and social justice as the reason for his selection. However, Musk's public criticism has sparked debate and raised questions about the controversial awardee.
X, formerly known as Twitter, has faced delays and challenges in its plans to launch X Money, a digital payment initiative, due to regulatory obstacles. Despite withdrawing its application in New York, the platform has obtained licences in 38 states and is now looking to launch in a limited capacity in the US this year. However, concerns have been raised about X's connections with Saudi Arabia and its controversial stances, which could hinder its expansion in international markets.
Once heralded as the hub of online discourse, Twitter's popularity is diminishing after billionaire Elon Musk acquired the platform and renamed it X. Following the US election, many users have abandoned the site, citing dissatisfaction with the new ownership. While Twitter claims to have dominated global conversation during the election, other social media competitors are gaining traction.
The influencial figure and cryptocurrency enthusiast, Elon Musk, has once again caused a stir on social media by changing his Twitter profile name to 'Kekius Maximus' and replacing his profile picture with the popular Pepe the Frog meme. This comes after he had previously changed his display name to 'Mr. Tweet' back in 2023. The meme-inspired cryptocurrency token, which operates on multiple blockchain platforms, has recently experienced a surge in value, reaching a high of $0.005667. In a post on X, Musk hinted at his love for video games, stating that 'Kekius Maximus' will soon reach level 80 in a game called 'hardcore PoE'.
Staunch right-wing anti-immigrant campaigners and powerful Silicon Valley leaders like Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy are locked in a fierce battle over the issue of immigration, spurred by the appointment of Indian-origin Sriram Krishnan to a senior White House role under the incoming Trump administration. While some argue that the US should prioritize hiring top talent from around the world, others believe that US-born engineers should be given opportunities first. Amidst the heated debate, differences in opinion over the country's engineering shortage and the role of culture have also emerged.
As Elon Musk's political affiliations and changing policies continue to drive users away, the social media platform X is seeing a decline in its userbase. Many are turning to Bluesky, a newly-emerging platform that has gained traction among publishers and journalists who no longer see X as a valuable space for objective reporting. Despite X's large worldwide userbase, its popularity may be dwindling as the competition heats up.
In response to X sharing its written submissions regarding the 2019 Delhi High Court global content blocking order with media outlets, including Bar & Bench, Yoga guru Baba Ramdev expressed disapproval. Ramdev's counsel argued that X should have only shared the submissions with them, not the media. Meanwhile, Facebook's advocate argued that Indian law should prevail over other international jurisdictions, but Ramdev's counsel countered that intermediaries such as X should just remove the content as directed without giving their opinion on the matter.