Nilay Patel
Free speech warrior bans bold and italic fonts.
He’s also removed about 78 percent of X’s value since he bought it. (You all know what I’m going to say.)
Twitter - X
Twitter was never the largest social network, but it remained one of the most influential as a home to celebrities, journalists, and influencers of all sorts and the go-to network for breaking news. Since Elon Musk purchased it, Twitter’s employee count has dropped by more than half, advertisers have tightened budgets, and it’s charging money for access to verified checkmarks and Tweetdeck. Oh, and now it’s called X instead of Twitter.
Thomas Ricker
Musk’s $44 billion Twitter now valued at just $9.4b as X.
The markdown comes courtesy of Fidelity which now values its initial $19.66 million investment in X at just $4.18 million.
The asset manager, which helped Musk acquire the social network formerly known as Twitter, has further reduced the value of its holding in X to a total markdown of 78.7 percent as of August’s end, based on newly released disclosures from Fidelity’s Blue Chip Growth Fund.
Wes Davis
Brazil orders X to pay one more fine before it can go live.
Following X’s request to come back to the country, Brazil’s Supreme Court said it won’t lift its ban on the social media platform until X agrees to pay “just over $5 million in pending fines,” writes Reuters.
That reportedly includes a new $1.8 million fine for X having briefly gone live for some users in the country last week.
Elizabeth Lopatto
Jay Peters
X has reportedly requested to be able to return to Brazil.
The company already said it would abide by Brazilian Supreme Court orders. Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes ordered the X ban on August 30th.
Jess Weatherbed
X obeys more government takedown requests under Elon Musk’s leadership.
The social platform has released its first transparency report in over three years, and we’ve linked the full document below so you can compare it against the last report from 2021.
Notably, X has suspended more accounts and obliged 20 percent more legal requests to take down or withhold user content since Musk purchased the platform.
X: Global Transparency Report
[DocumentCloud]
Emma Roth and Kylie Robison
Elizabeth Lopatto
SEC seeks to sanction Elon Musk.
Turns out the SEC doesn’t like it when you no-show on them. Now the regulator is seeking to penalize Musk for refusing to appear and testify in a probe into his $44 billion acquisition of Twitter.
Adi Robertson
Moo Deng says check your smoke alarm.
The Twitter that spawned it may no longer really exist, but the absurdist US Consumer Product Safety Commission account is still going strong on X. Of course it’s getting in on Moo Deng.
Adi Robertson
Elon Musk is evading Brazil’s X ban.
By routing traffic through Cloudflare, for now:
A person close to Cloudflare confirmed that X had recently switched to using the company’s services but said that it was not actively trying to help X evade the block in Brazil. The person, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss business with a client, suggested that regulators would most likely eventually be able to figure out how to block X again.
Musk Finds a Way Around Brazil’s X Ban
[The New York Times]
Richard Lawler
Emma Roth
Brazil unfreezes X and Starlink’s bank accounts.
Brazil Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes lifted the restrictions after transferring more than $3 million to the government to cover fines owed by X. Despite this, X still remains blocked in Brazil.
Gaby Del Valle
Trump’s mysterious ‘crypto platform’ launches next week.
Trump will roll out “World Liberty Financial” on X Spaces, at 8pm ET on September 16th.
The former president announced the project last month, providing virtually no details about what it actually is. We’ll find out next week — assuming the stream doesn’t crash like Trump’s interview with Elon Musk.
Elizabeth Lopatto
Gaby Del Valle
Kylie Robison
X’s top policy leader quits.
X’s head of global affairs, Nick Pickles, announced he’s leaving the company after a 10-year run. Pickles recently became X CEO Linda Yaccarino’s right-hand man and was one of the few remaining senior leaders from Twitter’s pre-Musk era. His departure comes right after Brazil banned X due to its refusal to block certain accounts and designate a legal representative in the country.
Emma Roth
X’s TV app is out in beta.
The app, which you can use to watch content on X, is now available on LG TVs, Fire TV, and Google TV. You can also find it on the Google Play Store.
Image: X
Tom Warren
You can now edit DMs on X.
X started rolling out the ability to edit DMs over the weekend. It’s only available on iOS right now, with “other platforms coming soon.” There is no time limit on editing DMs, but you’re only allowed up to five edits per message. Editing images and encrypted DMs aren’t supported just yet, though.
Sarah Jeong
Does Threads have the wrong vibe for the displaced Brazilian internet?
In today’s issue of Garbage Day, Ryan Broderick argues that the lively Brazilian community of X users may find a home on Bluesky, but not so much on Threads, whose heavy-handed algorithmically sorted user interface doesn’t click with Brazilian internet culture.
A caveat from The Verge: we still don’t have official numbers on Brazilian sign-ups for Threads over the weekend.
Elon Musk Vs. Brazil
[Garbage Day]
Sarah Jeong
Nevertheless, they persisted.
After announcing last week that it would have to “temporarily cease operations” due to the ban of X in Brazil, popular celebrity-watching account @21metgala — which is apparently run entirely by Brazilian admins — is back, with the caveat that its connection is “unstable.”
Brazilian fans play an outsized role in online fandoms for actors, musicians, and other celebrities.
21 on Twitter / X
[Twitter]
Wes Davis
Bluesky has gained a million new users in the last three days.
The platform posted about the milestone this afternoon, which it crossed after Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes ordered a ban on Elon Musk’s X yesterday as part of an ongoing feud with the platform.
Apparently, enough are headed to Bluesky to drive its iOS app to the top of the Brazilian App Store, as TechCrunch writes.
Mia Sato
COME (BACK) TO BRAZIL!!!!!
Brazilian fans of musicians, actors, and other celebrities play a huge role in cultivating fandoms online — and it’s unclear what will happen to stan Twitter (X) now that a judge in Brazil has ordered a ban on platform. A Timothée Chalamet updates account has already announced it’ll cease operations, and I bet this won’t be the only unexpected collateral damage.
Emma Roth
Jess Weatherbed
Brazil threatens to suspend X.
Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes presented Elon Musk with an ultimatum last night: appoint a new legal representative in Brazil within 24 hours or X will be banned.
The ongoing dispute follows X closing its office in Brazil after being ordered to remove several accounts for allegedly spreading hate speech and misinformation. The service remains available to Brazil’s estimated 40 million monthly users... for now.
Jay Peters
X is working on a video conferencing platform.
Given the past history of X Spaces, I’m sure it will be easy to trust X Conference for your next important business meeting. (Well, assuming X Conference is released publicly.)