Notices by Bret Carmichael (bretcarmichael@mastodon.social)

When asked who spreads disinformation on X, Grok responds in the same way that DeepSeek does when you ask it about Tiananmen Square. X claims the censorship was an error by an engineer who made the change unprompted.
https://www.theverge.com/news/618109/grok-blocked-elon-musk-trump-misinformation
#Musk #X #Grok

“The #AfD is already popular in several eastern states, but is rapidly growing in the west too, attracting support among younger Germans via TikTok.” Global Witness found that #TikTok serves AfD-leaning content 78% of the time. Algorithms manipulate free speech.
https://apple.news/Atiabld3cQzy7qRPtiKaerg

@Gargron That’s great. I’d might replace the second sentence with wording that explains those benefits, to maximize the number of people do it. “Make your post easier to find in search and more accessible to people who use screen readers.”

That’s another $25M from Meta to Trump. Time to break out your checkbooks, execs.

https://www.engadget.com/social-media/meta-will-pay-25-million-to-settle-a-lawsuit-with-donald-trump-over-his-2021-facebook-suspension-234046291.html
#Meta #Trump #politics #USpol

@dansup I'm looking forward to to this, Dan. 🤩 What's your intent for groups (maybe a long-term thing)? Do you envision that it might function like Twitter or Substack groups, more like Gup.pe, or smaller conversations like iMessage?

98% of Costco shareholders voted against a proposal to end its DEI initiatives, “The fact that 98% of investors voted against the proposal shows that almost all investors are not buying what the anti-ESG and anti-DEI organizations are selling.” Jamie Dimon and JPMorgan did the same. There’s been lots of press about companies jumping to appease the Trump admin. It’s not everyone. Companies like Costco and JPMorgan will have access to more top talent.
https://www.axios.com/2025/01/23/costco-dei-shareholders-reject-anti-diversity-proposal
#trump #DEI

@zleap Musk has said that he will abide by the laws of countries in which Twitter operates. He’s not. It’s probably safe to assume he wouldn’t obey future privacy regulations where he has objections. He’s getting the summons, because he owns Twitter, and he the public face of Twitter product and policy.

Of course #BlueSky will have ads. It’s not a nonprofit like #Mastodon. It’s funded by VC and crypto who expect a return on their investments. Most users won’t pay for social media. If they were willing, Mastodon wouldn’t have to do a go-fund-me for a trust and safety role. People impugn BlueSky for their incentives while not supporting Mastodon whose incentives align with their one. 🤷♂️
https://techcrunch.com/2024/12/05/bluesky-ceo-jay-graber-is-reshaping-social-media-but-advertising-isnt-off-the-table/

@madeindex @randahl There would need to be some reason-coding on account takedowns as well. For example, things hate speech, harassment, doxxing, and CSAM will still need to come down. On the plus side, foreign influence campaigns are less likely to gain viral popularity is left up, due to the absence of an algorithm.

The UK expressed intent to summon #Musk over disinformation spread in the UK via #X. In response, Musk, as head of DOGE in the US government intends to counter-summon the UK, so he can instead accuse them of censorship. Three things are true. Musk has a business operating and earning money in UK that is subject to its laws. Second, Musk believes he bought the US Government. Third, Musk is using his money and quasi-government role to regulate speech abroad like China does.

Another reminder that when #Musk talks of defending free speech, he’s only referring to speech with which he agrees. Musk is trying to elect a President. #Twitter / #X is his tool, and he can’t have content that would undermine his efforts to earn votes for #Trump.
https://www.theverge.com/2024/9/26/24255298/elon-musk-x-blocks-jd-vance-dossier

WordPress has confirmed that it terminated WP Engine's access to the plugin repo. Any legal consequences aside, this presents a lot like a malware attack. Instead of installing malware directly, WordPress is blocking WP Engine sites from receiving security updates that might prevent it, including critical severity ones.

https://wordpress.org/news/2024/09/wp-engine-banned/

#WordPress #WPEngine #infosec https://mastodon.social/@bretcarmichael/113200552326161842

@eaton @FeralRobots There are other ways for handle this for sure. For example, they could modify the open source license for future versions of WordPress. This punishes users though, because WP Engine's customers are all WordPress users.

@FeralRobots I don’t believe that’s the point though. I think the core grievance is that WP Engine is extracting large sums of money from other people’s work — like a parasite — while contributing little in return. I’m not saying that’s actually true. I have no idea. It’s how I interpret the complaint.

@BeAware I think that will change; that Thread will make good on its commitment to federation. Threads users will be able to follow Mastodon accounts. However, similar to how Mastodon works, the local timeline contains only posts from that instance. On Threads, the home feed is the local timeline, plus followed accounts. There are already >200M users, and notable figures have incentive to go there for audience. They're not incentivized to search off of Threads.

It’s more lucrative for content creators and outlets to be on Threads for more access to more followers through its algorithmic timeline.

This explains why some #Mastodon users have left for Threads to have their accounts followed by Mastodon users.

For users seeking a large follower audience, Threads algorithmic timeline represents more opportunity while also benefiting form access to Mastodon users with little cost to Threads. 2/🔚

#Meta #Threads

#Meta is willing to and unworried about federating #Threads both because it creates good will, and it’s good for business. This is not a “Meta is evil” argument.

Threads’ advantage is; its algorithmic timeline only includes user content from other Threads users. As a result, Threads users largely only follow other Threads users, because Threads content is all they see (with exception to quotes posts). 1/🧵

#Musk has little to lose by suing advertisers in GARN. He already told them to f**k off. They’re probably not coming back to #Twitter / #X regardless. CEO Linda Yaccarino does have something to lose. Advertising relationships have been critical to her career success. In vocally supporting the lawsuit, she’s hitching her wagon to Musk and setting those relationships on fire. If she leaves Twitter, her future career prospects are dim.
https://www.axios.com/2024/08/13/x-ceo-linda-yaccarino-ad-industry-reset

@pfefferle I didn’t delete mine either. Instead, I deleted all my tweets and likes. I kept my handle, even though I have no intent to go back. If X deletes, oh well.

This is good for #Ghost, its users, and readers. Newsletters will be accessible to #Mastodon users and 175 million #Threads users. They’ll be readable in user feeds. People who don’t want or pay attention to email will have a convenient way to access and bookmark content from writers they follow. For paid newsletters, it’s a lever to convert readers of free articles into paid subscribers, and it lets users chat directly with the content/authors.
https://mastodon.social/@Sarahp/112752215642744014