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Notices by Casey Newton (caseynewton@mastodon.social)

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Casey Newton (caseynewton@mastodon.social)'s status on Wednesday, 19-Feb-2025 10:23:32 JST Casey Newton

Training Grok 3 took Elon 200,000 GPUs and untold billions, and it's ... decent at best? I wrote about AI's commodity problem
https://www.platformer.news/too-many-ai-companies/
In conversation about a day ago from mastodon.social permalink
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1. On one hand, it’s legitimately striking that xAI could stand up a data center with 200,000 GPUs and train a decent model in less than two years. On the other hand, it would have been more striking had DeepSeek not accomplished a similar feat at a tiny fraction of the cost, and with worse technology. It’s too early to say with any certainty how good Grok’s models are. Leading researcher Andrej Karpathy finds that it passes many of the tests he throws at it, but it also fails almost as many. Even if you accept, though, that this is a state-of-the-art model, not a single person working in AI believes it will stay there for long. Leading AI labs push out new models every few days, and any innovations are almost all quickly copied and absorbed by their rivals.
  https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/114/027/932/875/874/457/original/6a747cd7d7fcf661.png
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Casey Newton (caseynewton@mastodon.social)'s status on Friday, 07-Feb-2025 10:38:40 JST Casey Newton

I wrote about Google's leaked 'AI mode' for search and the dwindling number of reasons to post anything for free on the web https://www.platformer.news/google-ai-mode-web-decline-design/
In conversation about 13 days ago from mastodon.social permalink
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1. Blogs and websites like this still exist. But instead of being links in a vibrant web, they have become building blocks for large language models and features like Google's AI mode. And increasingly, it's fair to wonder why anyone would bother make sites like these at all — particularly if their creators plan to expose them to the AI companies. By now LLMs have ingested so much written content that, for a vast number of queries, AI labs will be able to serve good answers to them forever. But — to take just one of Google's examples — each year will bring new wool, down, and synthetic jackets to compare and contrast. Who will bother to review them, when no traffic to their website is forthcoming, and no affiliate link revenue shows up in their bank accounts?
  https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/113/959/998/078/928/579/original/b373b7138a631886.png
2. Domain not in remote thumbnail source whitelist: www.platformer.news
  
  Google slings more AI at the web
  
  from @CaseyNewton
  
  A leaked AI mode for search gives publishers fresh reason for worry — and maybe reasons to strike a deal
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Casey Newton (caseynewton@mastodon.social)'s status on Friday, 07-Feb-2025 10:27:27 JST Casey Newton

I wrote about Google unveiling its 'responsible AI progress report' by quietly deleting the part of its AI principles where it promised not to work on weapons https://www.platformer.news/google-ai-principles-military-safety/
In conversation about 13 days ago from mastodon.social permalink
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1. Domain not in remote thumbnail source whitelist: www.platformer.news
  
  Google is ready to work on AI weapons now
  
  from @CaseyNewton
  
  The company’s promise to avoid building AI applications that cause harm has been deleted
2. Untitled attachment
  https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/113/959/998/379/458/478/original/41cd63c9ab8bf117.png
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Casey Newton (caseynewton@mastodon.social)'s status on Wednesday, 05-Feb-2025 11:22:30 JST Casey Newton

I wrote about Google unveiling its 'responsible AI progress report' by quietly deleting the part of its AI principles where it promised not to work on weapons https://www.platformer.news/google-ai-principles-military-safety/
In conversation about 15 days ago from mastodon.social permalink
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1. Domain not in remote thumbnail source whitelist: www.platformer.news
  
  Google is ready to work on AI weapons now
  
  from @CaseyNewton
  
  The company’s promise to avoid building AI applications that cause harm has been deleted
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Casey Newton (caseynewton@mastodon.social)'s status on Saturday, 25-Jan-2025 17:33:03 JST Casey Newton

I wrote about my first experiences with OpenAI's Operator agent https://www.platformer.news/openai-operator-ai-agent-hands-on/
In conversation about a month ago from mastodon.social permalink
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1. My most frustrating experience with Operator was my first one: trying to order groceries. “Help me buy groceries on Instacart,” I said, expecting it to ask me some basic questions. Where do I live? What store do I usually buy groceries from? What kinds of groceries do I want? It didn’t ask me any of that. Instead, Operator opened Instacart in the browser tab and begin searching for milk in grocery stores located in Des Moines, Iowa.
  https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/113/885/616/378/643/764/original/556251d1034c41ca.png
2. Domain not in remote thumbnail source whitelist: www.platformer.news
  
  OpenAI launches its agent
  
  from @CaseyNewton
  
  Hands on with Operator — a promising but frustrating new frontier for artificial intelligence
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Casey Newton (caseynewton@mastodon.social)'s status on Wednesday, 15-Jan-2025 12:00:39 JST Casey Newton

NEW: Meta has quietly dismantled the system that prevented misinformation from spreading in the United States. Machine-learning classifiers that once identified viral hoaxes and limited their reach have now been switched off, Platformer has learned https://www.platformer.news/meta-ends-misinformation-enforcement-zuckerberg/
In conversation about a month ago from mastodon.social permalink
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1. Behind the scenes, the company was also quietly dismantling a system to prevent the spread of misinformation. When the company announced on Jan. 7 that it would end its fact-checking partnerships, the company also instructed teams responsible for ranking content in the company’s apps to stop penalizing misinformation, according to sources and an internal document obtained by Platformer. The result is that the sort of viral hoaxes that ran roughshod over the platform during the 2016 US presidential election — “Pope Francis endorses Trump,” Pizzagate, and all the rest — are now just as eligible for free amplification on Facebook, Instagram, and Threads as true stories.
  https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/113/829/631/118/482/084/original/b4cd66b7ece244f6.png
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  Meta just flipped the switch that prevents misinformation from spreading in the United States
  
  from @CaseyNewton
  
  The company built effective systems to reduce the reach of fake news. Last week, it shut them down
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Casey Newton (caseynewton@mastodon.social)'s status on Wednesday, 15-Jan-2025 03:24:40 JST Casey Newton

NEW: The head of Facebook Messenger has a non-binary child and last week assured employees that Meta would work to preserve queer voices. Two days later the company deleted its trans and non-binary pride themes in Messenger https://www.platformer.news/meta-trump-pivot-messenger-themes-labor-zuckerberg-wishlist/
In conversation about a month ago from mastodon.social permalink
Attachments
1. Under the company’s new content policies, moderators were told to begin allowing dehumanizing speech such as "This whole nonbinary thing is made up. Those people don't exist, they're just in need of some therapy." “I know these examples are difficult to read — they sure are for me,” wrote Crisan, who is also a sponsor of Meta’s LGBTQ employee resource group. “That said, it's important to separate what we believe is right from what can be said on our platforms. Honestly, as a parent of a non-binary kid, I want nothing more than for my child to be seen and accepted. But I recognize that shutting down all speech I might find hurtful can have the opposite effect. At best, the lack of dialog changes no hearts. At worst, it hardens them. I know we're all hurting from LGBTQ+ rights being politicized for so long, but I also know that our platforms have given all of us a voice and will continue to do so.”
  https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/113/824/110/182/791/809/original/092653cf659db363.png
2. Domain not in remote thumbnail source whitelist: www.platformer.news
  
  Meta goes mask-off
  
  from @CaseyNewton
  
  Scenes from a Trump transition
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Casey Newton (caseynewton@mastodon.social)'s status on Saturday, 11-Jan-2025 03:44:55 JST Casey Newton

NEW: Meta just killed its diversity, equity and inclusion program. Employees aren't buying the company's argument that it's the result of a 'shifting legal landscape.' What they're saying inside the company ➡️ https://www.platformer.news/meta-kills-dei-program-diversity-inclusion/
In conversation about a month ago from mastodon.social permalink
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1. Another employee noted in an internal post how reactive the company had become, dramatically changing policies and positions based on one relatively close election. "It's a bit crazy, just thinking that if the election result was different — none of this would happen? Does it mean we were doing things that we did not believe in? Are we going to have such big changes every time power shifts?" Responded another employee: "Apparently the current direction of the wind is the way we 'lean in.'"
  https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/113/805/514/261/946/124/original/7c14dc72a7fffc32.png
2. Domain not in remote thumbnail source whitelist: www.platformer.news
  
  Meta just killed its diversity, equity and inclusion program
  
  from @CaseyNewton
  
  What employees are saying about the company's embrace of MAGA ideology —and what Meta is telling them not to say
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Casey Newton (caseynewton@mastodon.social)'s status on Friday, 10-Jan-2025 10:13:23 JST Casey Newton

NEW: Platformer has obtained the dehumanizing new guidelines moderating what people can now say about trans people on Facebook and Instagram. Employees tell me these changes are likely to inspire more violence against LGBT people: https://www.platformer.news/meta-new-trans-guidelines-hate-speech/
In conversation about a month ago from mastodon.social permalink
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1. And in a follow-up questions about whether denying that a protected class violates the hateful content policy, Meta also answers no. It gave these as examples of posts that are now allowed on Facebook and Instagram: "There's no such thing as trans children." "God created two genders, 'transgender' people are not a real thing." "This whole nonbinary thing is made up. Those people don't exist, they're just in need of some therapy." "A trans woman isn't a woman, it's a pathetic confused man." "A trans person isn't a he or she, it's an it." These seem like strange allowances for a policy that begins: “We believe that people use their voice and connect more freely when they don’t feel attacked on the basis of who they are,” and later states flatly, “we remove dehumanizing speech.” It is hard to imagine speech more dehumanizing than to tell someone that they have no gender and are an “it.”
  https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/113/801/373/482/054/790/original/59889fa77e0627b4.png
2. Domain not in remote thumbnail source whitelist: www.platformer.news
  
  Inside Meta’s dehumanizing new speech policies for trans people
  
  from @CaseyNewton
  
  "A trans person isn't a he or she, it's an it," reads a new guideline telling moderators what is now allowed on Facebook and Instagram
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Casey Newton (caseynewton@mastodon.social)'s status on Friday, 20-Dec-2024 10:37:36 JST Casey Newton

For the final Platformer of the year, here are 15 predictions for 2025. Such as: https://www.platformer.news/2025-tech-predictions-ai-google-threads-bluesky/
In conversation about 2 months ago from mastodon.social permalink
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1. Bluesky and Threads remain in a productive rivalry. The end of 2024 found Threads the bigger network by number of users, but Bluesky as the one with what its users call “the juice.” The juice — an intuition that the platform will succeed, based on the enthusiasm of its community and the quality of its leadership to date — is easy to dismiss as wishful thinking. And Bluesky remains the smaller platform by far. But it keeps having good ideas, from a default chronological feed to “starter packs” of accounts to follow, that Meta has copied with characteristic ruthlessness. And that has pressed Bluesky to keep innovating, in ways that make me optimistic that this unfriendly rivalry will continue to bear fruit for users of both platforms in 2025.
  https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/113/682/475/393/758/003/original/4cb261e04fd35918.png
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  15 predictions for 2025
  
  from @CaseyNewton
  
  PLUS: What I got right and wrong about 2024
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Casey Newton (caseynewton@mastodon.social)'s status on Wednesday, 11-Dec-2024 15:31:56 JST Casey Newton

TikTok counted on the First Amendment to save it in court, but judges weren't persuaded at all. Whatever you think about TikTok, that feels like a grim omen for the next era of tech regulation https://www.platformer.news/tuesday-newsletter-4/
In conversation about 2 months ago from mastodon.social permalink
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1. Domain not in remote thumbnail source whitelist: www.platformer.news
  
  TikTok's final countdown
  
  from @CaseyNewton
  
  After Trump passes up an opportunity say he will save the app, ByteDance is at a crossroads
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Casey Newton (caseynewton@mastodon.social)'s status on Friday, 06-Dec-2024 11:19:53 JST Casey Newton
- Kevin Beaumont
@GossiTheDog i mean why would we assume he doesn't know what he's talking about?

In conversation about 3 months ago from mastodon.social permalink
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Casey Newton (caseynewton@mastodon.social)'s status on Friday, 06-Dec-2024 10:34:51 JST Casey Newton

One of the most important debates in tech right now is the group of folks who think AI is fake and sucks vs. the people who think AI is real and dangerous. I wrote about why I'm in the latter camp, and talked about my differences with Gary Marcus https://www.platformer.news/ai-skeptics-gary-marcus-curve-conference/
In conversation about 3 months ago from mastodon.social permalink
Attachments
1. Most people know these systems are flaws, and adjust their expectations and usage accordingly. The “AI is fake and sucks” crowd is hyper-fixated on the things it can’t do — count the number of r’s in strawberry, figure out that the Onion was joking when it told us to eat rocks — and weirdly uninterested in the things it can. And that’s a problem, because just as these systems are more honest and helpful than they have ever been, they are also causing greater harm. And to name a real harm, already happening today, I offer the chief security officer of Amazon, CJ Moses, who had this to say about how generative AI is being used in efforts to disrupt critical infrastructure in an interview with the Wall Street Journal last month: We’re seeing billions of attempts coming our way. On average, we’re seeing 750 million attempts per day. Previously, we’d see about 100 million hits per day, and that number has grown to 750 million over six or seven months. This is the ongoing blind spot of the “AI is fake and sucks” crowd. This is the problem with telling people over and over again that it’s all a big bubble about to pop. They’re staring at the floor of AI’s current abilities, while each day the actual practitioners are successfully raising the ceiling.
  https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/113/603/304/069/679/128/original/6d996496f2e4864b.png
2. Domain not in remote thumbnail source whitelist: www.platformer.news
  
  The phony comforts of AI skepticism
  
  from @CaseyNewton
  
  It’s fun to say that artificial intelligence is fake and sucks — but evidence is mounting that it’s real and dangerous
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Casey Newton (caseynewton@mastodon.social)'s status on Tuesday, 03-Dec-2024 10:54:35 JST Casey Newton

Australia's ban on social media for teens under 16 is, among other things, an enormous gift to YouTube https://www.platformer.news/australia-social-media-ban-instagram-tiktok-x-youtube/
In conversation about 3 months ago from mastodon.social permalink
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1. The first is which platforms will be subject to the law. Albanese has said that TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat and X will be covered. But it’s not clear when another platform might meet the criteria and be required to jettison its under-16 user base. Miraculously (for Google), YouTube was granted an exemption to the bill as a service that is “health and education related.” And while YouTube surely does more than its share of educating, its primary use is for entertainment. And YouTube’s embrace of short-form video through Shorts effectively makes it a one-to-one competitor with TikTok, Snap, and Instagram. In one stroke of his pen, Albanese may have just granted YouTube permanent dominance in short-form video to a generation of Australians.
  https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/113/586/343/574/064/430/original/754c23ff8272895a.png
2. Domain not in remote thumbnail source whitelist: www.platformer.news
  
  Australia bans young teens from social media
  
  from @CaseyNewton
  
  It's a blow for free expression — and an enormous gift to YouTube
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Casey Newton (caseynewton@mastodon.social)'s status on Wednesday, 27-Nov-2024 17:06:33 JST Casey Newton

Here's my best effort to work out why Bluesky blew up over the weekend. Bluesky knows what it's *for*. Threads is still working that out https://www.platformer.news/bluesky-post-election-growth-active-users/
In conversation about 3 months ago from mastodon.social permalink
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1. It also stands rather sharply in contrast to Threads. As a Mark Zuckerberg production, Threads was always going to get a cool reception from elites of both parties. Their initial predictions that the app was dead on arrival were quickly proved wrong, as it rocketed past 100 million users in a few months. I seem to enjoy Threads more than most people I know: I’ve found it more than adequate for following the day’s tech news and the conversation around it, even if it’s not nearly as vibrant as Twitter once was. Threads has had moments of cultural impact; Stephen King now identifies as “a Threads guy.” In general, though, the feed feels less vibrant than Bluesky’s has over the past couple weeks. There is a sense that few of the people using it have a strong sense of what it is for, exactly. Ryan Broderick today called it “some kind of algorithmic holding pen for anyone who has ever eaten a Sweetgreen salad in Salesforce Park.” Read says it has “the culture and coherency of a dementia ward cafeteria.”
  https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/113/506/987/241/609/237/original/08017e6160d7a7ac.png
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  What Bluesky has over Threads*
  
  from @CaseyNewton
  
  (*For now)
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Casey Newton (caseynewton@mastodon.social)'s status on Wednesday, 27-Nov-2024 10:32:35 JST Casey Newton

Under huge antitrust pressure, Google keeps meddling with the web anyway. I wrote about its awful new 'page annotations' https://www.platformer.news/google-page-annotations-eu-dma-antitrust/
In conversation about 3 months ago from mastodon.social permalink
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1. Automatically transforming text on the web into Google searches and Google ads is bad for a few reasons. One, it loads up web pages with low-value cruft. Two — in the case of page annotations — it forces publishers to opt out if they don’t like it. (And why would they?) And three, it’s a move that once again highlights the way Google sees the web as something to be mined for value, rather than as an independent public good that should be nurtured.
  https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/113/552/280/603/298/010/original/0b3a18853e9c1a6f.png
2. Domain not in remote thumbnail source whitelist: www.platformer.news
  
  Google keeps meddling with the web
  
  from @CaseyNewton
  
  With antitrust prosecutions in full swing, the company keeps giving regulators fresh reasons for concern
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Casey Newton (caseynewton@mastodon.social)'s status on Tuesday, 26-Nov-2024 10:27:50 JST Casey Newton

Some news: amid rapid growth and some over-enforcement of its community guidelines, Bluesky tells me the company will quadruple the size of its content moderation team https://www.platformer.news/bluesky-growth-content-moderation-trust-safety-interview/
In conversation about 3 months ago from mastodon.social permalink
Attachments
1. At least one item on his wishlist has been granted: Bluesky has decided to quadruple the size of its contract workforce of content moderators from 25 to 100, the company told Platformer. The move comes in response to Bluesky’s rapid growth since this month’s US presidential election, which triggered a fresh exodus of users away from Elon Musk’s X and over the weekend took the platform past 22 million total users.
  https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/113/546/632/613/860/026/original/901863ac8166e942.png
2. Domain not in remote thumbnail source whitelist: www.platformer.news
  
  Inside Bluesky’s big growth surge
  
  from @CaseyNewton
  
  After adding millions of new users in weeks, the company tells Platformer that it will quadruple the size of its moderation team
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Casey Newton (caseynewton@mastodon.social)'s status on Thursday, 21-Nov-2024 12:49:23 JST Casey Newton

It's Hard Fork Friday! This week: how the crypto lobby took Congress, OpenAI product lead Nick Turley on the first two years of ChatGPT, and we answer a listener's question on Threads vs. Bluesky vs. Mastodon vs. X https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/15/podcasts/crypto-congress-hbd-chatgpt-what-social-media-platform-should-i-be-on.html
In conversation about 3 months ago from mastodon.social permalink
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1. Untitled attachment
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Casey Newton (caseynewton@mastodon.social)'s status on Wednesday, 06-Nov-2024 10:04:29 JST Casey Newton

The right-wing effort to promote claims of voter fraud is well underway https://www.platformer.news/election-day-fraud-claims-musk-trump/
In conversation about 4 months ago from mastodon.social permalink
Attachments
1. Meanwhile on X, Musk promoted tweets suggesting that Google had biased its search results toward Kamala Harris, since "where can I vote for Harris" returned a map, and "where can I vote for Trump did not." An official Google account clarified that the map shows up for Harris because Harris is a county in Texas. Musk also promoted a tweet suggesting that ChatGPT would respond to requests to convince voters to vote for Harris but not Trump; this appears to be false. (ChatGPT told me it couldn't assist with the request when I asked it to.)
  https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/113/433/286/419/477/303/original/4f5bacfe9392acdf.png
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  America holds its breath
  
  from @CaseyNewton
  
  The polls are closing — and the fight over the election could just be beginning
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Casey Newton (caseynewton@mastodon.social)'s status on Tuesday, 05-Nov-2024 13:51:12 JST Casey Newton

We don't know who's going to win tomorrow. But we do know that Elon Musk will promote false claims of voter fraud to tens of millions of people — and that X will be a central clearinghouse for conspiracy theories in the days ahead https://www.platformer.news/x-election-elon-musk-voter-fraud-misinformation/
In conversation about 4 months ago from mastodon.social permalink
Attachments
1. Of course, voter fraud is only one narrative that may come to the fore in the weeks ahead. There are likely still some surprises in store — the results of a foreign influence campaign, or generative artificial intelligence, or some combination of the two. But whatever dirty tricks are coming, expect X to be at the center of them. Its historical role as the best place to turn to for breaking news means that millions of Americans will be returning there for real-time updates. And its post-2022 incarnation as a right-wing political project means that many of them might not apply the skepticism that is warranted to whatever Musk decides to show them.
  https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/113/427/696/003/220/278/original/a38c2b30da0450ae.png
2. Domain not in remote thumbnail source whitelist: www.platformer.news
  
  X’s plan to interfere with the election
  
  from @CaseyNewton
  
  Elon Musk’s effort to deny Kamala Harris an election victory is already underway. Can it work?

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Email salesman at Platformer and podcast co-host at Hard Fork. casey@platformer.news

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