Social Media

USA Today reports: After Robert F. Kennedy Jr. suggested without evidence that baseball legend Hank Aaron’s death in 2021 was caused by a COVID-19 vaccine, the Biden administration pounced. “Wanted to flag the below tweet and am wondering if we can get moving on the process for having it removed ASAP,” the digital director for the White House’s COVID response …

USA Today reports: A unanimous Supreme Court on Friday defined when the personal social media account of a public official is a government action, trying to settle whether constituents can be blocked from commenting or from following those accounts. A public official may block constituents, the court said, unless the official had the power to speak on the government’s behalf …

CNBC reports: Former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin is building an investor group to acquire ByteDance’s TikTok, as a bipartisan piece of legislation winding its way through Congress threatens its continued existence in the U.S. “I think the legislation should pass and I think it should be sold,” Mnuchin told CNBC’s “Squawk Box” on Thursday. “It’s a great business and I’m …

Mediaite has the transcript: LEMON: Hate speech on the platform is up. Do you believe that X and you have some responsibility to moderate hate speech on the platform, that you wouldn’t have to answer these questions from reporters about the great replacement theory as it relates to– MUSK: I don’t have to answer these questions. LEMON: –great replacement theory …

Engadget reports: The SEC officials investigating Elon Musk over his handling of the Twitter takeover seem to be growing more and more impatient with his legal antics. The two sides have been locked in a dispute over Musk’s refusal to testify in the investigation. Now, in a new filing, the SEC accuses Musk of trying to “misrepresent” the regulator’s investigation. …

Axios reports: Former CNN anchor Don Lemon said on Wednesday Elon Musk canceled his new show on X, formerly Twitter, after he interviewed the multi-billionaire last week. Lemon claimed Musk, a self-proclaimed free speech “absolutist,” was “mad” at him over the “tense” interview, which will be included in the premier episode of “The Don Lemon Show” next week. “Apparently, free …

Bloomberg News reports: The prospect that the app will be banned has thrust Jeff Yass, the trading mastermind behind market-maker Susquehanna International Group, into an uncomfortable spotlight. That’s because he owns a stake in TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, that’s worth $15 billion. Yass has used that wealth to become the biggest donor in the 2024 election cycle, with $46.4 million …

CNN reports: The bill’s fate is less than clear in the US Senate, where there is no companion bill. The Democratic chair of the Senate Commerce Committee, Sen. Maria Cantwell, has made no firm commitment to advance the proposal. “I will be talking to my Senate and House colleagues to try to find a path forward that is constitutional and …

The Hill reports: The House is expected to pass a bill Wednesday presenting an ultimatum to the ByteDance, the Chinese company that owns TikTok. Under the measure, the company would have to sell the popular video platform or else face a ban in the U.S. Former President Trump, who attempted to ban TikTok in 2020, has nonetheless come out against …

The Washington Post reports: Former president Donald Trump asked Elon Musk last summer whether the billionaire industrialist would be interested in buying Trump’s social network Truth Social, according to two people with knowledge of the conversation. The overture to Musk, whose business empire includes SpaceX, Tesla and the social networking site X, did not lead to a deal. But the …

CNN reports: The House is expected to vote Wednesday on a bill that could lead to a nationwide ban against TikTok, a major challenge to one of the world’s most popular social media apps that comes as former President Donald Trump has signaled opposition to a ban. The bill would prohibit TikTok from US app stores unless the social media …

Bloomberg Law reports: A California federal district court judge has recused himself from hearing a lawsuit four former Twitter Inc. executives brought against Elon Musk for allegedly refusing to pay them severance. Judge Gilliam Haywood said he is “disqualified” from the case led by Parag Agrawal, who served as the chief executive officer of the social media site that Musk …

The Hill reports: “Shark Tank” investor Kevin O’Leary suggested that he will buy social media platform TikTok if a proposed ban goes ahead. “Not going to get banned, ‘cause I’m gonna buy it,” O’Leary said on Fox News. “Somebody’s going to buy it, it won’t be Meta and it won’t be Google, ‘cause…regulator [will] stop that.” “This is worth billions, …

The Hill reports: The House Energy and Commerce Committee unanimously advanced a bill Thursday that would require TikTok’s China-based parent company ByteDance to divest the app or face a U.S. ban. The bill advanced out of committee with overwhelming bipartisan support just two days after it was introduced by Reps. Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.) and Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.), the top lawmakers …

The Christian Post reports: A coalition of 16 attorneys general has demanded that YouTube remove information labels attached to videos discussing chemical abortions that they argue are “misleading” to viewers. In a letter sent to YouTube CEO Neal Mohan on Monday, the attorneys general argued that the information panels the company included below videos on the popular video-sharing platform “misleads …

Topeka’s ABC affiliate reports: The Kansas Attorney General’s Office announced his office has filed a lawsuit on Wednesday, March 6 in Shawnee County District Court against social media company TikTok for misrepresenting its age-appropriateness in app stores, deceiving parents about the effectiveness of its parental tools and creating and aggressively promoting an addictive app that erodes the mental health of …

Ars Technica reports: Elon Musk and X Corp. were sued yesterday by four former Twitter executives who say they were cheated out of more than $128 million in severance when Musk bought the social network and fired them. Former Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal, former CFO Ned Segal, former Chief Legal Officer Vijaya Gadde, and former General Counsel Sean Edgett filed …

The Daily Mail reports: Meta’s Facebook, Threads, Messenger and Instagram are down worldwide, leaving thousands of users unable to access the social media platforms. The issues appeared around 10:20am ET and are impacting both social media sites’ apps and website. Rather than showing a skeleton version of the site, Facebook will automatically kick you out. An error message saying that …

Florida Politics reports: The Senate has passed a replacement bill regulating social media use by minors. After a 30-5 vote, the measure now heads back to the House. Days after Gov. Ron DeSantis vetoed legislation barring anyone under age 16 from most social media platforms, lawmakers brought new language to the floor giving more say to parents. Sen. Erin Grall, …

Politico Europe reports: Elon Musk’s X, formerly known as Twitter, may face tough new restrictions under the European Union’s new digital antitrust rulebook, the European Commission said after the company told regulators they could come under the scope of the rules. X, TikTok-owner Bytedance and travel website group Booking told the Commission on Friday that they run digital services that …