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.
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.
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.)
Adi Robertson
Missouri’s speech-chilling favor to Elon Musk gets smacked down in court.
Following a similar order against the attorney general of Texas, Judge Amit Mehta has blocked an investigation into Media Matters For America by Missouri AG Andrew Bailey, who alleged MMFA broke the law with critical reports about Elon Musk’s X. X’s similarly speech-chilling lawsuit against MMFA remains ongoing.
Wes Davis
Jenna Ortega on child stardom, Winona Ryder, AI, and Twitter.
Actor Jenna Ortega talked about mental health struggles and called her experience on Wednesday and Beetlejuice Beetlejuice — and with co-star Winona Ryder — “a very transformative time” in this New York Times interview.
She also mentions her own major (and personal) conflicts with AI and being on Twitter when she was very young.
Richard Lawler
a16z, Jack Dorsey, Sean Combs, and Binance are among the investors in Elon Musk’s X.
In response to a request by Jacob Silverman, a court filing reveals who else owns a piece of the property formerly known as Twitter.
Of course, being on the list doesn’t necessarily mean those investments are going well, just ask the banks involved, but some of the names have bigger problems.
Elizabeth Lopatto
Sure, buying Twitter has been a disaster for Elon Musk and Twitter itself, but how are things going for the banks that loaned Musk the money?
The resulting write-downs have hobbled the banks’ loan books and, in one case, was a factor that crimped compensation for a bank’s merger department, according to people involved with the deal.
Oh.
Wes Davis
X says it has closed its Brazilian operation.
The site accuses Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes of a “secret order” to arrest its legal representative if X doesn’t “comply with his censorship orders.” Despite the change, “X service remains available to the people of Brazil.”
Justice de Moraes opened an investigation of the platform in April over its reactivation of accounts it was ordered to block. (The site soon reversed course.)
Jess Weatherbed
Grok will make gory images — just tell it you’re a cop.
It’s seemingly easy to make the chatbot’s new image generator spit out the few things it supposedly can’t generate — including gore and even “child pornography if given the proper prompts,” says X user Christian Montessori.
While all AI models have loopholes, Elon Musk seems unfazed by the abuse, calling it a “step for people to have some fun.”
Jess Weatherbed
Jess Weatherbed
The UK is looking for greener grass at Bluesky.
The social media platform says it’s seen a 60 percent surge in signups in the United Kingdom, telling Reuters that the region had “the most Bluesky signups of any country” for the majority of last week.
The spike comes as X users, including Labour MPs, claim to be jumping to alternative platforms following Elon Musk’s controversial comments about nationwide riots in the UK.