List of All Articles with Tag 'son'

A popular left-wing Twitter account with thousands of followers, which often went viral and provoked the outrage of leading conservatives, may have been a fake all along, according to online researchers, using a provocative posts to generation attention in a tactic known as “rage-baiting.” Erica Marsh, a self-proclaimed “proud Democrat” from Washington, started her Twitter account in September of 2022, and quickly gained more than 130,000 followers, sometimes netting over 1,000 followers a day posting her quick-twitch takes on the day’s main political news. Her messages often read like a near-parody of an over-the-top, out-of-touch progressive. In a 29 June post, reacting to the recent Supreme Court decision striking down race-based affirmative action in college admissions, she wrote, “Today’s Supreme Court decision is a direct attack on Black people. No Black person will be able to succeed in a merit-based system which is exactly why affirmative-action based programs were needed. Today’s decision is a TRAVESTY!!!” The tweet quickly caught fire online, provoking the ire of leaders like Florida congressman Matt Gaetz, who told his followers, “I strongly disagree with this racist allegation.” However, despite her ability to win followers and stir the pot and attract online attention, Ms Marsh may never have been real, according to an analysis from The Washington Post. Ms Marsh doesn’t appear in phone or voting records, and past employers she claimed like the Biden campaign say they have no record of her. “I strongly suspect that this person doesn’t exist,” John Scott-Railton, a senior researcher at the Citizen Lab at the University of Toronto, told the paper. “It’s as if she dropped from the moon and arrived fully formed with this narrative that makes liberals look like idiots.” Twitter officially does not comment on press requests, and Ms Marsh’s account has been suspended. Before buying the social media site last year, Elon Musk argued fake accounts were a serious problem on Twitter, at one point threatening not to carry out his acquisition over the matter. Twitter said last July it removes over 1 million fake accounts per day. Fakes have been a persistent issue. In November, the company temporarily suspended its Twitter Blue subscription service, after users bought Twitter verification status and used it to impersonate celebrities, politicians and brands. Read More ‘Rate limits’ and Twitter chaos: What exactly is Elon Musk doing? Elon Musk supports eliminating voting rights for people without children Greg Abbott mocked after falling for hoax story about Garth Brooks being booed off stage Judge blocks Biden agencies from communicating with social media platforms Elon Musk supports eliminating voting rights for people without children Outrage erupts in South Africa over video of deputy president's security officers stomping on man

By Kanishka Singh WASHINGTON (Reuters) -A U.S. federal judge on Tuesday restricted some agencies and officials of the administration of

A federal judge has blocked key agencies within President Joe Biden’s administration from communicating with social media companies about certain online speech in an extraordinary ruling as part of an ongoing case that could have profound impacts on the First Amendment. The preliminary injunction granted by Donald Trump-appointed US District Judge Terry A Doughty in Louisiana on 4 July prohibits the FBI and the US Department of Health and Human Services, among others, from speaking with platforms for “the purpose of urging, encouraging, pressuring, or inducing in any manner the removal, deletion, suppression, or reduction of content containing protected free speech.” The ruling – which could obstruct the administration’s attempts to combat false and potentially dangerous claims about vaccines and elections – is a victory for Republican attorneys general in Louisiana and Missouri who have alleged that the federal government was overreaching in its attempts to combat Covid-19 disinformation and baseless election fraud narratives. Judge Doughty, who has yet to issue a final ruling, stated in his injunction that the Republican plaintiffs “have produced evidence of a massive effort by Defendants, from the White House to federal agencies, to suppress speech based on its content.” He did make some exceptions that would allow the government to warn platforms about national security threats, criminal activity or voter suppression. The legal challenge follows ongoing allegations from right-wing officials and Republican lawmakers that the federal government – specifically, Democratic officials – have conspired with “Big Tech” to silence conservative voices, a long-running conspiracy theory that proponents will argue is substantiated by the latest decision. GOP attorneys general in the case have accused government agencies of a “systemic and systematic campaign” to control speech on social media platforms that accelerated during the Trump administration and experienced a “quantum leap” under President Biden. Attorneys for the Biden administration have disputed such claims and warned that an injunction could undermine national security efforts, pointing to the programs developed among government agencies to combat disinformation in the aftermath of the 2016 election. The Independent has requested comment from the White House. Missouri’s Attorney General Eric Schmitt, who originally filed the lawsuit with Louisiana’s Attorney General Jeff Landry, called the ruling a “big win for the First Amendment on this Independence Day.” Though the case originated with those Republican officials, several additional plaintiffs added their name to the case, arguing that they also were unfairly targeted after spreading disinformation online. Plaintiffs also include vaccine conspiracy theorist and presidential hopeful Robert F Kennedy Jr and Jim Hoft, the founder of the far-right conspiracy theory-fuelled website The Gateway Pundit and a defendant in a defamation lawsuit filed by election workers who faced death threats over false reporting about them in the 2020 presidential election. This is a developing story Read More Twitter applies temporary reading limits amid ongoing problems with platform Biden renews call for assault weapons ban after ‘tragic and senseless’ spate of July 4 shootings Ex-New York congressman pardoned by Trump is planning to run again in Florida Suspicious powder found at the White House when Biden was gone was cocaine, AP sources say Biden renews call for assault weapons ban after spate of July 4 shootings Watch live: Joe Biden addresses National Education Association

South Africa is the latest country to approve of the deal.

Instagram's 'Threads' will officially launch on July 6 and is a direct competitor for Twitter's userbase

The European Union must invest an additional €700 billion ($763 billion) a year if it’s to green the

Elon Musk spent the weekend further alienating Twitter users with more drastic changes to the social media giant, and he is facing a new challenge as tech nemesis Mark Zuckerberg prepares...

What are cases and capsules in CS:GO? Keep reading to delve deeper in the trade offer worth $118k

The rivalry between Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk has just kicked up a notch.

Elon Musk has taken part in a training session with former UFC champion Georges St-Pierre ahead of a potential bout with Mark Zuckerberg. The two tech billionaires agreed to a fight last month after Mr Musk accused the Meta chief of ripping off Twitter with a new platform called Threads. “Up for a cage match,” the Twitter owner wrote, to which Mr Zuckerberg replied: “Send me location.” Both men have since sparred with podcaster and jiu jitsu enthusiast Lex Fridman, who joined Mr Musk on Monday in his first training session with Mr St-Pierre. The Canadian fighter is considered to be one of the greatest ever mixed martial artists, winning titles in two weight divisions before retiring in 2019. They were also joined by John Danaher, a grappling coach who is among the best regarded trainers in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and has coached a number of world champions. “Had a great training session with Elon Musk, Georges St-Pierre, and John Danaher last night,” Mr Fridman tweeted. “Everything about this was epic!” Mr Musk replied: “Really fun!” The obvious conclusion is that I need a *lot* more training.” Prior to proposing the fight, Mr Musk claimed to “almost never work out”, while the Facebook founder has been practising jiu-jitsu since 2022. Earlier this year, Mr Zuckerberg competed in a martial arts tournament, winning “some medals” in his weight class. His potential opponent holds a height and weight advantage over him, however Mr Musk is also 13 years older than his tech rival. Following his training session with the SpaceX and Tesla boss, Mr Fridman said he was “extremely impressed” with his “strength, power, and skill, on the feet and on the ground”. Mr Fridman shared photos of his sparring session with Mr Musk, however no video of his training has yet emerged. UFC trainer Javier Mendez recently predicted that Mr Zuckerberg would win the fight, given his apparent fitness and experience. “The big advantage Zuckerberg has over Elon is that he’s actively training and he’s more of a dog right now, because he entered a jiu-jitsu tournament, so that tells me a lot about him,” he said. “All things considered, Zuckerberg is way ahead of Musk, but you won’t really know until you see what Musk possesses... I would want Musk to think about ways to prevent takedowns. But you can’t avoid a takedown just by trying to avoid it; you have to avoid it by striking.” No date or venue has been set for the fight. Read More Twitter to stop TweetDeck access for unverified users How Elon Musk finally broke Twitter – and why it might just be the start Twitter rival Bluesky halts sign-ups after huge surge in demand Elon Musk confirms cage fight with Mark Zuckerberg

China has imposed export curbs on two metals used in computer chips and solar cells, expanding a squabble with Washington over high-tech trade ahead of Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen’s visit to Beijing this week

Meta is poised to launch a new app that appears to mimic Twitter in a direct challenge to the social media platform owned by billionaire Elon Musk