The social network formerly known as Twitter has very quietly announced that it will allow paid political ads on X, reversing the ban imposed by founder Jack Dorsey.
Dorsey said in 2019 that “political message reach should be earned, not bought” and said that it was not credible for a social network to claim to be fighting disinformation while allowing political parties to buy ads to make unchecked claims …
Political ads on X
X made a quiet announcement six paragraphs into a blog post about its anti election interference measures. The company claims that ads will be fact-checked.
Building on our commitment to free expression, we are also going to allow political advertising. Starting in the U.S., we’ll continue to apply specific policies to paid-for promoted political posts. This will include prohibiting the promotion of false or misleading content, including false or misleading information intended to undermine public confidence in an election, while seeking to preserve free and open political discourse.
However, it then seemingly contradicts that in a section on Community Notes.
X shouldn’t determine the truthfulness of disputed information; rather, we should empower our users to express their opinions and openly debate during elections, in line with our commitment to protecting freedom of expression.
The company also announced a transparency policy which is required to comply with a new European law, the Digital Services Act.
We’ll also provide a global advertising transparency center so that everyone can review political posts being promoted on X, in addition to robust screening processes to ensure only eligible groups and campaigns are able to advertise.
The company says that it is expanding the safety and elections team, which was gutted shortly after Musk’s purchase of the company.
Chinese sextortion scammers
Rest of World reports that X is being flooded with fake accounts with purchased verified badges in order to target Chinese users with sextortion scams.
Scammers target the Chinese community’s most prominent voices, alienating many users who had turned to the platform as a crucial news source outside the Great Firewall […]
Posing as young, lonely women, they posted sexually suggestive messages on popular posts and invited users to contact them through the Telegram links in their bios. A Shenzhen-based man in his 20s reached out to Wang anonymously after falling victim himself, according to an audio interview between the two that Wang had shared on his podcast. The scammers persuaded the man to download special video-chat software for “safety reasons,” lured him into a chatroom, recorded footage of him unclothed, and then blackmailed him for money.
Hundreds of these accounts appear to be specifically targeting political dissidents and influential opinion leaders.
Severance lawsuit
Former Twitter employees fired by Musk are saying that the company has not only failed to pay their promised severance, but also the court filing fees for the arbitration process the company’s employment contracts oblige them to follow.
Because X has not paid its share of the fees, reports CNBC, the arbitration cannot proceed, and former employees cannot sue without permission from a judge to skip the arbitration step.
Former X engineer Chris Woodfield is now taking the company to court, stating that his is one of 2,200 such cases.
Woodfield, a former senior staff network engineer who had worked at Twitter’s Seattle office, alleges in his suit that Musk’s Twitter (now known as X) had promised then failed to pay his severance, and later delayed alternative dispute resolution by failing to pay the necessary fees required for him to move ahead in the JAMS arbitration system.
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