Earlier in month, controversial X owner Elon Musk tweeted that a video-focused, app-based version of his social media service was coming to smart TVs.

It was reported at the time by several outlets, including Fortune and Mashable, that the app would be very similar to YouTube’s smart TV software, and that it would be available for smart TV's powered by Amazon Fire TV and Samsung Tizen TVOS platforms. 

Over the weekend, The Verge noticed a tweet from web developer and researcher Nima Owji, who posted a short video of what she says is a version of the app. Here's that tweet:

X has sued Adeia, claiming the intellectual property firm improperly revealed details about the two companies' private business arrangement when it sued the social media giant last year. 

X, of course, is the bizarro new moniker overlaid upon Twitter by Elon Musk after he took over the platform a year ago. And Adeia is the video tech-specializing patent troll spun off by TiVo's parent company, Xperi, in August 2022. Reuters published a copy of the suit, which is available here. 

According to the complaint, TiVo/Rovi, just prior the $3 billion purchase of the company by Xperi in 2019, entered into an IP licensing deal with the erstwhile Twitter. 

In August, however, Adeia sued the social media company in a Northern California federal court for allegedly breaking that contract. 

X's countersuit that Adeia's filing improperly revealed confidential business information, including the fact that X pays -- or paid -- Adeia $3 million a year in licensing fees. 

"Our position is that this lawsuit is without merit," an Adeia spokesperson said.

X hasn't commented. 

In a company blog post yesterday, Elon Musk’s great social media experiment, X, (recently rebranded from Twitter), revealed that it is launching a lawsuit against online hate research group Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH), alleging that the group has been “encouraging advertisers to pause investment on the platform” based on false and misleading claims.

“X is a free public service funded largely by advertisers,“ the company writes. “Through the CCDH's scare campaign and its ongoing pressure on brands to prevent the public’s access to free expression, the CCDH is actively working to prevent public dialogue.” 

Political firebrand Musk acquired the company last October promising to loosen the social media platform’s content moderation policies, which have evolved immensely over the past few years with the advent of Qanon, vaccine denial and unfounded claims of 2020 election fraud. At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic the company was forced to deal with a host of anti-vax conspiracy theories that spread rapidly through the platform, posing a serious public health risk and putting Twitter in an uncomfortable public spotlight. This along with a host of even more malevolent online activity, led to numerous radical voices being banned from the platform, including a former president.

Since acquiring Twitter, Musk has reinstated many of those accounts and slashed employee headcount in the content moderation area.

The result, as any marketing exec could have predicted, has been an exodus of big-name advertisers who don’t want their marketing messages displayed alongside potentially harmful content. Musk recently lamented that advertising is down 50% since he took the helm.

While Musk and his new CEO Linda Yaccarino recently touted steps the company has taken to give advertisers more control over where their ads are placed, a recent Bloomberg article cites CCHD director of research president Callum Hood saying that “Musk is not keeping his promises to advertisers, and their ads are appearing next to really harmful content.”

Hood claimed that during the first three months of Musk’s tenure, the rate of racial slurs against Black Americans tripled, while slurs against the LGBTQ+ community were up 119%. Hood said that he based his research on social-media analysis tool Brandwatch.

In its lawsuit, X alleges that “CCDH gained access to X's data without Brandwatch’s authorization, and that the purported CCDH ‘research’ cited in a Bloomberg article ‘contained metrics used out of context to make unsubstantiated assertions about X (formerly Twitter).’ ”

A lawyer for the CCDH responded to the claims with some teeth, saying: “If [X does] file suit, please be advised that CCDH intends to seek immediate discovery regarding hate speech and misinformation on the Twitter platform; Twitter’s policies and practices relating to these issues; and Twitter’s advertising revenue.”

A copy of X’s legal filing with the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California is available here.

Thirty-four days ago, it appeared that we might be witnessing the beginning of the end for powerful Fox News and the entire cable news paradigm. 

Tucker Carlson, abruptly fired a month earlier from his position at Fox News as the No. 1 rated primetime host in all of cable news, kicked off his new social media-based talk show, Tucker on Twitter, to the tune of 28.9 million video views. 

On Monday, however, journalist Matt Binder tweeted out video view numbers for all eight episodes to date. The data reveals a steady, significant audience decline, with the most recent installment totaling 3.8 million video views. 

Analyst Evan Shapiro crafted this graphic based on Binder's filings:

Of course, one could argue that Carlson is merely finding his true level of audience interest. He regularly drew just over 3 million viewers at night at Fox News, too. 

As for Twitter, usage is reportedly "tanking" following of a rival text-based social media platform, Threads, launched last week by Meta, which has already secured more than 100 million signups. 

Joe Benarroch is leaving NBCUniversal for Twitter, following his former boss Linda Yaccarino, who was named CEO by Elon Musk last month.

In an email, Benarroch said he would be taking on a role focusing on business operations.

“It’s been an absolute honor being at NBCUniversal, where I’ve been able to work with Linda and our leadership team — to champion and scale our business priorities, create meaningful advocacy, and help build incredible partnerships across this entire industry,” he said. ”I am looking forward to bringing my experience to Twitter, and to working with the entire team to build Twitter 2.0 together.”

Yaccarino had been head of advertising sales and partnerships for NBCU. Benarroch had been her head of communications.

Benarroch joined NBCU in 2018 from Facebook, where he spent more than six years. Before that he was with IPG, Discover, Starcom and Leo Burnett.

Yaccarino left NBCU abruptly on the eve of the company’s upfront presentation to advertisers.

LInda Yaccarino, chairman of NBCUniversal global advertising sales and partnerships, is reportedly in discussions to become CEO of Twitter.

Elon Musk, who bought Twitter for $44 billion last year, tweeted that he was expected to announce that he had a new CEO. “She will be starting in about six weeks,” he said.

NBCU executives did not return requests for comment.

Since acquiring Twitter, Musk has loosened the rules around regulating content on the site, which has scared off many major advertisers. Yaccarino would be well qualified to win some of those advertisers back.

Also Read: B+C Hall of Fame Profile: Linda Yaccarino (2018)

Yaccarino is expected to be on the stage at Radio City Music Hall Monday when NBCU kicks off the broadcast networks traditional upfront week in New York

She recently sealed a deal giving Twitter content from NBCU’s coverage of the 2024 Paris Olympics. She also recently interviewed Musk at an advertising conference in April.

Last month NBCU CEO Jeff Shell was dismissed by parent company Comcast. Shell admitted to having an inappropriate relationship with a CNBC anchor. Comcast named its president, Michael Cavanagh, to oversee NBCU.

Comcast also said in its fourth-quarter earnings report that NBCU domestic advertising revenues had dropped 38.8%, or 6.1% excluding last year’s Super Bowl and Olympic ad sales.

At NBCU, Yaccarino has been a leader in making TV advertising more like digital advertising, creating products that target consumers using data and automating media buying. 

In his Tweet, Musk said that once a new CEO is in place, he will transition to being executive chair and chief technology officer, overseeing product, software and systems operations.

Even though he was stripped by of his prime-time on-air duties and told to leave the building two weeks ago, Tucker Carlson remains under contract at Fox News until 2025 and is still subject to non-compete clauses in the realm of conservative media. 

Still, on Tuesday, Carlson took to Twitter, announcing a new show for the social media platform that he described as "a new version of the show we've been doing for the last six and a half years." 

In the video post, that was accompanied by the simple text declaration, "We're back," Carlson didn't reveal any other key details, including start date for the new show. But as The New York Times suggested, the mere existence of the post may have breached Carlson's Fox contract. 

In fact, the announcement itself seems to indicate that negotiations to end the contract with Fox aren't going very well. 

According to Axios, Carlson's lawyers sent a letter to Fox, accusing the media company itself of fraud and breach of contract before he took to Twitter Tuesday. 

Fox hasn't commented. 

Responding to Carlson's post, Twitter's new owner, the also very polarizing Elon Musk, said, "I also want to be clear that we have not signed a deal of any kind whatsoever. Tucker is subject to the same rules & rewards of all content creators."

Musk, meanwhile, seemed to indicate that Carlson will be functioning within for-profit content creator monetization models that have yet to be revealed by Twitter. 

"Rewards means subscriptions and advertising revenue share (coming soon), which is a function of how many people subscribe and the advertising views associated with the content," Musk added. 

Whether Carlson is using the announcement as a negotiating ploy with Fox, or he thinks he's found a workaround to his contract situation, remains to be seen. 

Those on the far right, including Musk, touted Carlson's allegiance with Twitter as yet another free-speech win for the embattled social platform.

Serving our own strident mandate of both-sides journalism, we'll also include a statement from progressive non-profit watchdog Media Matters:

“There is no shortage of flaccid hate peddlers on the internet, and on Elon Musk’s toxic Twitter, Tucker Carlson is now just another one of them," said Angelo Carusone, president of the org. 

"... Be warned," Carusone added. "Elon Musk is continuing to double down on making Twitter a supercharged engine of radicalization. Any brands still partnering with Twitter, or using the platform to reach consumers, should be increasingly worried about what they are funding. Put another way, get out now before you become the advertising equivalent of Tucker’s new MyPillow.”

NBCUniversal and Twitter said they have ramped up their collaboration around the 2024 Summer Olympics and Paralympic Games in Paris.

The new arrangement is expected to bring greater reach and scale to advertisers, the companies said.

Beginning in February and counting down to the opening ceremonies, Twitter will feature NBCU’s pre-Olympics coverage, including competition highlights, key U.S. Olympic Team trials moments and a Paris 25-Day Countdown, with daily features on athletes or events.

During the games, Twitter will feature memorable and engagement moments in English and Spanish. 

NBC Olympics will also be producing a daily live show that will be posted to Twitter. The show will feature highlights, athlete interviews and happenings around Paris.

The content will appear on the @NBCOlympics handle.

“For the first time since 2018, the Olympic and Paralympic Games will return to their true glory in 2024, with full stadiums and the world’s greatest athletes competing against the backdrop of one of the most beautiful cities in the world, Paris, where the modern Olympic Games were conceived 130 years ago,” Joe Varvara, global head of partnerships at Twitter, said during Twitter’s NewFront presentation Wednesday. “Together with NBCUniversal, we’re excited to bring you new opportunities to align with the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games next summer.”

The number of advertisers on Twitter has rebounded from the early days after Elon Musk’s takeover of the social media platform, according to a report by advertising intelligence company MediaRadar.

In the second quarter, Twitter had an average of 3,740 advertisers per month, according to MediaRadar. That dropped 3,000 advertisers per month in the third quarter, and came back to 3,700 advertisers in Q4.

“Make no mistake, the early stumbles wreaked havoc on Twitter’s ad business,” said Todd Krizelman, CEO, MediaRadar.

“But what we’re seeing with Twitter is reminiscent of other social platforms, albeit with some nuances,“ Krizelman said. “Though many major brands have dropped Twitter, many have not, and their spend has grown, in some instances. We’re also seeing smaller Twitter advertisers spend more than they have in the past, sensing a pricing opportunity. Ultimately, Twitter’s scale and value proposition remains attractive to many buyers.”

MediaRadar added that Twitter is still not attracting as many new advertisers as it did before Musk controlled the platform. In the first quarter, Twitter had about 1,500 new advertises every month. That fell off to 1,300 in Q2 and dropped to 630 in Q3. In the fourth quarter, the number of new advertiser rose to 1,100.

“To win new advertisers, Twitter will need to address brand safety concerns and deliver more capabilities and premium inventory,” Krizelman said. “Better user-targeting, more video content and robust brand safety measurement will support that effort.” ■

The House Energy & Commerce Committee voted 28-23 along party lines not to recommend a Republican-backed resolution of inquiry to the full House. The resolution called out the Biden administration for alleged coordination with social media companies to censor speech and sought documents related to that alleged effort.

But while the resolution failed, it signaled what Republicans could be focusing on when they take over House chairmanships next month.

In what was likely the last committee gathering and action in this Congress, and before Republicans take over with pledges of vigorous oversight and investigation of the administration and Big Tech, committee chairman Rep. Frank Pallone Jr. (D-N.J.) called it an out-of-touch, frivolous and partisan inquiry that was in contrast to the committee’s productive work that preceded it.

The resolution was driven in part by new Twitter owner Elon Musk’s release of internal documents he claims support allegations of shadow-banning conservatives.

Committee ranking member Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.) countered that the inquiry was necessary and about “putting people before politics.” She said for years Big Tech had been flagging, suppressing and “outright banning conservatives on their platforms.”

She said Big Tech had denied accusations of such conduct, including before the committee. “Now, thanks to the recent Twitter files, we know that they were not being honest.” She said the documents showed that Twitter executives were shadow-banning conservatives despite then-Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey’s claims to the contrary.

Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-Calif.) called the effort misguided and a poor use of the committee's time. ▪️

Senate Democrats are massing along a new front in the war with Big Tech and Elon Musk is in the line of fire.

A powerful group of senators led by Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) has asked the Federal Trade Commission to investigate potential consumer-protection laws by Twitter, which Musk has just bought.

“We write regarding Twitter’s serious, willful disregard for the safety and security of its users, and encourage the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to investigate any breach of Twitter’s consent decree or other violations of our consumer protection laws,” they wrote in a letter to FTC chair Lina Khan.

Also: Groups Turn Up Heat on Twitter Advertisers

Khan herself has been a big critic of Big Tech, so they are in some sense preaching to the choir.

Musk has only been running the company for a few weeks, but the senators say his actions have “undermined the integrity and safety of the platform,” including by announcing new features “despite clear warnings those changes would be abused for fraud, scams, and dangerous impersonation.” Most notably was Musk's rollout — since rolled back — of Twitter Blue and the ability for users to buy blue verification check marks that allowed them to impersonate others.

Also: Twitter Chief Elon Musk Slams ‘Media Elite’

One of those already impersonated, Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.), has already called on Musk to answer a raft of questions about how he is operating the company.

Markey was among those calling Thursday (November 17) for the FTC investigation.

Back in May, Twitter agreed to pay $150 million to settle allegations it had violated a 2011 consent decree by using its users’ email addresses and phone numbers for marketing purposes after promising not to. ▪️

Taking a page from former President Donald Trump, new Twitter CEO Elon Musk is using the social media platform to attack the media.

In a pair of tweets Friday (Nov. 11), Musk said: “As Twitter pursues the goal of elevating citizen journalism, media elite will try everything to stop that from happening.”

Musk has gotten plenty of criticism in the mainstream media after firing thousands of employees, echoing conspiracy theories and making — then, in some cases, rescinding — moves his critics see as allowing for more extreme and deceptive speech without sufficient moderation and oversight, given the dramatic staff cuts. Musk has pitched the moves as better advancing and protecting free speech and trying to better monetize the platform.

Also: Free Press Pushes for Twitter Ad Boycott

In an accompanying tweet, Musk argued that the mainstream media will still “thrive” alongside this citizen journalism, but it will “disrupt” their “oligopoly on information.”

There were reports Sunday (November 13) that Musk had laid off thousands more contractors over the weekend.

Musk has warned that Twitter would “will do lots of dumb things in coming months,” keeping what works and changing what doesn’t.

One of the things that didn't work, and was changed, was allowing subs to buy one of the blue checks that are used to verify accounts. That led to a number of “impersonation” accounts, including a reporter from The Washington Post who impersonated Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) for a story about selling those blue checks.

An unhappy Markey responded with a request for a bunch of information from Musk. ▪️

Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) wrote new Twitter chief Elon Musk seeking some answers after a Washington Post reporter was able to get the @realedmarkey Twitter handle and pay $8 for a blue verification checkmark, saying a new — though short-lived — company practice under Musk is "dangerous and unacceptable" and suggests larger problems with Musk's takeover of the powerful social media site.

The account was verified because it's “notable person in government," said Markey, even though it was the reporter.

Buying such marks is a new Musk effort to make more money for the site.

Markey said that "apparent need for cash" has led to lax verification practices that suggest "anyone could pay $8.00 and impersonate someone on your platform."

Markey says Musk needs to explain how it will prevent a repeat of such impersonation.

Also: Free Press Pushes for Twitter Ad Boycott

He also slammed what he called Musk's "rapid and haphazard imposition of platform changes, removal of safeguards against disinformation and firing of large numbers of Twitter employees," which he said had powered Twitter's descent into the "Wild West of social media."

Markey said that despite Twitter ending the pay-for-verification checkmark move following the Post article, which was about a proliferation of impersonation accounts, there are questions that need answering, including whether there are any plans to reintroduce a verification system and how a reporter was able to get the fake account.

Also: Musk Signals Longer-Form Tweets

The Post was also reporting that the Federal Trade Commission has pledged to keep its eye on Twitter to make sure that the firings and resignations of high-profile execs does not undercut the company's privacy oversight responsibilities under a consent decree with the FTC stemming from allegations Twitter misused users' data for targeted advertising.

The Post reported that some of the people leaving the company were from a data governance committee set up as part of the FTC settlement. ■

Elon Musk said Twitter will start letting users monetize “all forms of content” as he begins to put his stamp on the social media site he has just purchased.

That is according to a Tweet Saturday (November 5), the day after Musk laid off something like half of the company’s staff following the earlier exits of top executives.

Musk also tweeted that Twitter will “soon” allow users to append long-form texts to tweets rather than making them take screenshots, as is the case currently given Twitter’s 280-character limit, double the original restriction. The short-form limitation was arguably Twitter’s key gimmick/competitive differentiator when it launched in 2006.

Musk called it the end of “the absurdity of notepad screen shots.”

Also: Groups Ramp Up Pressure on Twitter Advertisers

Musk has been getting a lot of grief for the job cuts and for his defense of free speech, which others see as an abdication of the powerful platform's content moderation responsibilities and an invitation to hate speech and disinformation.

Various civil society groups have called on advertisers to boycott the platform over their concerns about hate speech and misinformation, including arguing that cutting jobs means even less oversight of content moderation that would weed out such speech. ■

Concerned civil-society groups including Free Press and Media Matters are ramping up their campaign against the Elon Musk-led Twitter.

They have already called on Twitter's top advertisers to threaten to pull their ads if Musk “undermines” the social-media platform’s community standards or content moderation. Those advertisers include CBS, Comcast, The Walt Disney Co., HBO, CenturyLink and Verizon Communications. 

“Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter came with his promise to advertisers like you that the social network would not transform into a ‘free-for-all hellscape’ and would remain ‘warm and welcoming to all,’ ” they wrote the advertiser CEOs earlier this week. “But beware: Musk’s promises in no way accurately portray his plans for Twitter, nor are they a reflection of the evolving reality of the platform as it transforms by the minute under Musk. If Elon Musk follows through with just a fraction of what he has already committed to doing, then Twitter will not and can not be a safe platform for brands. Urgent action is needed by advertisers.” 

Now, the #StopToxicTwitter coalition is holding what it bills as an “emergency press conference” Friday (November 4) to put an exclamation point on its call for a temporary advertiser boycott of the platform. 

In addition to concerns about the direction Musk will be taking the social media giant, the groups are pointing to recent and expected layoffs, which could constitute half of Twitter’s workforce, according to some reports. 

They also say they plan to hold Musk to pledges he made earlier this week to representatives from Free Press and others in the coalition to “retain and enforce the election — integrity measures that were on Twitter's books before his takeover.” CNN was reporting Friday that a class action lawsuit has been filed by some Twitter employees even as more layoffs are set to be announced Friday. The suit alleges the layoffs came without the requisite notice.

It looked Friday like the boycott was having some impact.

"Twitter has had a massive drop in revenue, due to activist groups pressuring advertisers, even though nothing has changed with content moderation and we did everything we could to appease the activists," he tweeted. "Extremely messed up! They’re trying to destroy free speech in America." ▪️

News that a Twitter whistleblower is leveling serious allegations against the company related to its protection, or knowing lack thereof, of user's privacy and security, Hill Democrats already unhappy with Big Tech are calling for answers ASAP, including through investigations by the Federal Trade Commission and Justice Department.

There were multiple reports Tuesday (Aug. 23) that former Twitter head of security Peiter Zatko (the former "hacker" formerly known as "Mudge"), who was fired from the company in January, had filed a complaint with the SEC, DOJ and the FTC against the company alleging he was made to mislead the board and investors about security protections .

Zatko claims he was fired as retaliation, but Twitter told NBC News that the firing was for cause--poor performance--and that Zatko was relaying a "false narrative."

That complaint could potentially buttress billionaire Elon Musk's effort to extract himself from a planned purchase of the company, whose business practices, specifically regarding spam and fake accounts, he has cited as the reason.

In the wake of those reports, Sens. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) pressed for investigations into the complaints.

"Twitter has continued to suffer embarrassing security incidents and face ongoing scrutiny for misleading users and regulators,” Markey said in calling for investigations by Justice and the FTC. “This blithe disregard for user data and FTC settlements cannot stand. I strongly urge the federal government to investigate Zatko’s claims and, if necessary, take strong and swift action against Twitter to ensure Twitter user data is properly protected.”

He also said it appeared Twitter had, again, violated the terms of a 2011 consent decree with Justice and DOJ, pointing out that in May it had agreed to pay $150 million to settle allegations it had violated the decree by using its users' e-mail address and phone numbers for marketing purposes after promising not to.

Sen. Blumenthal, chair of the Senate Consumer Protection Subcommittee, echoed Markey's concern, as well as the call for investigations tied to Twitter's consent decree orders.

“If the Commission does not vigorously oversee and enforce its orders, they will not be taken seriously and these dangerous breaches will continue,” Blumenthal said. “I urge the Commission to investigate the allegations and information provided in Mr. Zatko’s whistleblower complaint, and to bring enforcement actions against any breaches of its consent decree or business practices that are unfair or deceptive, including bringing civil penalties and imposing liability on individual Twitter executives where appropriate.”

In 2011, Twitter agreed to a settlement that would impose "substantial financial penalties" if it "further misrepresented 'the extent to which [Twitter] maintains and protects the security, privacy, confidentiality, or integrity of any nonpublic consumer information," the FTC said at the time.

There is bipartisan criticism of Big Tech on the Hill, fueled in part by the revelations of another whistleblower--former Facebook exec Frances Haugen, who created quite a stir last November on Capitol Hill with testimony, including in Blumenthal's subcommittee, in which she revealed internal Facebook research showing the company knew its Instagram platform could be harmful to some teens. ■ 

INCOMPAS, whose members include both competitive broadband providers like Sonic and IdeaTek and edge provider giants Amazon, Netflix and Twitter, is pushing the FCC to move to a baseline 1 Gig definition of high-speed fixed broadband internet access ASAP.

That would definitely help multiple-person households handle the streaming, online purchasing, and tweeting heavy lifting, along with the Zooming and other online chores of an increasingly work-from-home world.

That 1 gig definition would mean that anyone not offered that speed would not qualify as having access to high-speed broadband by the FCC's reckoning, and providers not supplying that speed could potentially be overbuilt with government subsidy money.

It could also subject them to potential new regulation since the FCC is empowered to regulate to insure that advanced communications is being rolled out to all Americans in a timely fashion.

FCC chair Jessica Rosenworcel has proposed upping the FCC's current 25 Mbps download/ 3 Mbps upload speed definition to 100 Mbps/20 Mbps, with an eye toward 1 Gig/500 Mbps down the road, and has sought comment on that proposal.

In a letter to Rosenworcel, INCOMPAS said that aspirational goal of 1 gig downstream should be the new definition (it did not offer an upload minimum). It promoted the letter with the headline: "Faster Speeds or Slower Economy."

INCOMPAS has been making that case for 1 gig a while, pointing out to Rosenworcel it called on the FCC back in 2017 to set 1 Gig as the new definition for fixed broadband.

"We are looking to the Commission’s leadership to establish a new broadband speed goal that enables all Americans to access high-speed internet no matter where they live or work. It is time to set that goal to 1 Gigabit," INCOMPAS said. ■

Elon Musk has dropped his bid for social media giant Twitter, telling the FCC it was because Twitter refused to provide critical information about just how many spam accounts were on the platform.

In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Musk's X Holdings said that for the past two months Musk has made it clear that he views Twitter's "non-responsiveness" to be a material breach of the merger agreement, which he has the right to terminate if the problem went uncured, as he told the FCC was the case. 

Musk said he had given Twitter "repeated, detailed clarifications intended to simplify identification, collection, and disclosure of the most relevant information sought."

"Mr. Musk hereby exercises X Holdings I, Inc.’s right to terminate the Merger Agreement and abandon the transaction contemplated thereby, and this letter constitutes formal notice of X Holding I, Inc.’s termination of the Merger Agreement." 

Twitter’s board of directors had backed Musk's bid to take over the company. Its members unanimously voted to accept the deal and advised shareholders to do the same.

The move by Tesla and SpaceX owner Musk could have meant the return of a tweeting Donald Trump, since Musk has said he would restore the former president's account. Trump, who has been signaling a likely run in 2024 via his own Twitter-less social media work-around, was banned from the site in January 2021 — after Twitter concluded his tweets had incited violence at the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot and could do so again. ■

The number of media and telecom deals rose about 28% this year, with 1,014 transactions valued at $469 billion, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers. The figures come as Elon Musk’s pending $44 billion takeover of social media giant Twitter and Microsoft’s upcoming purchase of video game maker Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion dominated the landscape.

Media deals were more on the internet and software side, according to PwC, although Amazon agreed to purchase movie studio MGM in March for $8.5 billion. In its Mid-Year Deals Outlook report, PwC Deals Partner Bart Spiegel and Technology, Media and Telecommunications Deals Leader Alan Stephen Jones wrote that M&A “activity has recently slowed among some of the major media companies, after a peak driven by content and technology acquisitions to fuel expansion of streaming services.”

But PwC was optimistic that deal growth will continue in the media and telecom sectors, adding that the volume of activity hasn’t slowed despite inflation and rising interest rates. The research giant added that while the pace of deals may slow, a significant amount of cash remains in the system to get deals done. And as always, “businesses are under pressure to transform; the fastest way to do that is through M&A,” PwC said.

According to PwC, private equity players accounted for a big chunk of transactions — increasing to 42% of deals in the past 12 months from 24% in 2018. All in all, private equity deals represented $194 billion of announced deal value, of which 75% were concentrated in the internet and software sectors, PwC said in the report.

Other key drivers include the demand for sports content, as the combination of streaming, ad sales opportunities, sports gambling and other tailwinds have boosted team and league values. PwC also pointed to huge streaming music content deals for legendary musicians like Bob Dylan, Neil Young and Bruce Springsteen, as well as the shift to digital advertising and an emphasis on audience targeting and engagement tracking, as catalysts for deals. ■

Twitter’s board of directors is unanimous in its support for Elon Musk's bid to take over the company. Its members have unanimously voted to accept the deal and advise shareholders to do the same.

The move by Tesla and SpaceX owner Musk could mean a return of a Tweeting Donald Trump,  since Musk has said he would restore the former president's account. Trump, who has been signaling a likely run in 2024 via his own Twitterless social media work-around, was banned from the site in January 2021 — after Twitter concluded his tweets had incited violence at the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot and could do so again.

Also: SpaceX, OneWeb Offer Up Satellite Broadband Coexistence Plan

The Twitter board's support of Musk’s offer to take the company private came in a proxy statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The board told stockholders that it had “unanimously: (1) determined that the merger agreement is advisable and the merger and the other transactions contemplated by the merger agreement are fair to, advisable and in the best interests of Twitter and its stockholders; and (2) adopted and approved the merger agreement, the merger and the other transactions contemplated by the merger agreement.”

If the stockholders vote to accept the deal, they will get $54.20 per share, about a 38% premium on the closing price of the stock April 1, which was $39.31. As of midday Wednesday (June 22), the price was $38.56. ■

Twitter has agreed to pay a $150 million civil penalty to settle allegations it violated the law and a 2011 Federal Trade Commission administrative order by "misrepresenting" how it was using Twitter users' nonpublic data, which included targeting ads to those users.

The FTC and Justice filed the complaint and settlement Wednesday (May 25) in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

In addition to the money, Twitter agreed to a robust compliance regime to make sure it took the requisite steps to protect user data, according to Justice. 

The complaint alleged that from 2013 to 2019 Twitter said it was collecting user phone numbers and e-mail addresses for security purposes but did not mention it would also use the info to help companies target ads to them.

Also: Twitter Proposes Guidelines for Regulation

The complaint also alleged Twitter falsely claimed it was in compliance with the European Union-U.S. and Swiss-U.S. Privacy Shield Frameworks, which prohibit using nonpublic data for purposes other than those stated.

“As the complaint notes, Twitter obtained data from users on the pretext of harnessing it for security purposes but then ended up also using the data to target users with ads," said FTC chair Lina Khan. “This practice affected more than 140 million Twitter users, while boosting Twitter’s primary source of revenue.”

DOJ and the FTC will share enforcement of Twitter's compliance with the settlement, which still must be approved by the court before it goes into effect. ■

Free Press, Common Cause and a bunch of other progressive groups and civil rights advocates have called on the biggest social media companies to combat disinformation in the run-up to the midterm elections, the first national election since the January 6 Capitol insurrection, saying if they don't, they are "the dominant threat" to the democratic process.

That came in the form of letters to the CEOs of Meta, Twitter, YouTube, Snapchat, Instagram, TikTok, and Alphabet from over 100 groups.

Also: House Dems Grill Facebook, Google, Twitter

They pointed to disinformation hangover from the 2016 presidential election, like the stat that a recent poll found that over 40% of Americans said they didn't believe President Biden was the legitimate winner of the election, or what has become known as "the Big Lie."

Among the steps they want Big Tech to take are preventing disinformation targeting non-English-speaking communities, consistently apply "civic integrity" policies to all their live content, prioritize fact checking, including of political ads and posts from public officials, and provide watchdogs and outside researchers real time access to data.

Also: Big Tech Defends Twitter Trump Ban

"Election disinformation targets voters year-round," said Nora Benavidez, Free Press senior counsel and director of digital justice and civil rights, in a statement. "This is a systemic effort to discredit and disenfranchise certain voters—and especially those in communities of color—that has been made worse by platforms and their inability to protect their users from bad actors. These social media companies must do better in the run-up to November's midterms, starting with fixing their algorithms, protecting people equally, and increasing their transparency."

The groups concede that social media can be an important tool in promoting democracy, but only when there is responsible oversight and protections. Without those, they warn, their platforms will "become known as the dominant threat to a thriving democratic process." ■

NBCUniversal's E! News will be launching a new live-streamed show on Twitter that will cover programming in all forms of TV.

At its NewFront presentation Wednesday, Twitter said the new E! show would be called While You Were Streaming. It will be hosted by Danielle Roby and look at the tweet-worthy moments in series like Stranger Things, Obi-Wan Kenobi and The Real Housewives.

The World Cup will be coming to Twitter through a deal with Fox Sports. Fox Sports will produce pre- and post-match programming for Twitter. 

As part of the deal, sponsorship and advertising opportunities around Fox Sports’ content will be offered, driving promotion to FIFA World Cup matches and coverage across Fox, FS1, the FoxSports App and FoxSports.com.

“We are excited to expand our collaboration with Twitter by doing what we do best in leading the way with innovative sports coverage and original digital content,” said Edward Hartman, senior VP, digital partnerships & wagering, at Fox Sports. “These new offerings will bring fans the FIFA World Cup experience wherever they are by keeping them engaged with a taste of the excitement, while encouraging them to Tweet and watch the rest of the match on Fox Sports.”

Also: NewFronts Agenda Set With ‘Stream On’ Theme for Event

"Collaborating with Fox Sports to bring fans the opportunity to preview match action on Twitter during both the Men's and Women's World Cup is something we've never done before," added TJ Adeshola, head of global content partnerships at Twitter. "We're thrilled to bring this exclusive content to the timeline."

In addition Twitter will be getting content from Revolt for the first time. Shows including Drink Champs, a popular hip hop podcast, The Crew League, which showcases fan favorite artists going head to head on the basketball court, Assets Over Liabilities, a financial literacy series, which follows the daily lives of business savvy artists, and Revolt Black News Weekly, the always-on coverage of issues happening in Black communities.

Twitter also announced a multi-year extension of their six-year relationship with the WNBA. Twelve of the league's games will appear live on Twitter during the 2022 season. The WNBA will also host regular events on Twitter Spaces. ■

Citing Elon Musk's ownership of satellite internet platform Starlink, the Open Markets Institute says that the FCC, Justice Department and Federal Trade Commission all have the power to block his purchase of social media giant Twitter.

In a statement following the deal announcement, OMI, a liberal think tank that has big issues with perceived monopolies, sees Musk's Twitter takeover as just that, and says the FCC, for one, can block it based on the Communications Act of 1934 and even the Telegraph Act of 1860, given that the deal would give a single person "direct control over one of the world's most important platforms for public communications and debate."

Also: Warner Warns Musk Against Twitter Backslide

DOJ and the FTC certainly have a role in reviewing the $40 billion-plus deal, but the FCC's role is less clear, particularly since it basically shed itself of broadband access oversight -- beyond service transparency obligations -- when it reclassified internet as an information service.

OMI also says the deal would be a merger between essential platforms -- Starlink and Twitter -- that the government routinely acts to prevent.

Interestingly, the group cites for example the DOJ's effort to block the ATT&T/Time Warner deal, which actually failed after a court refused to block that merger.

OMI suggests that Starlink, which has yet to become a major internet player (though it did get a lot of press for Musk's effort to use the satellites to provide internet access to war-torn Ukraine) is comparable to the largest media operations. 

"[J]ust as we would now expect the U.S. government to block a takeover of Twitter by Google, Facebook, Comcast, or Verizon, the same rules apply to the owners of Starlink," it said in a statement.

Many Democrats are concerned that Musk's pledge of reduced content moderation on the platform -- in the name of free speech -- will lead to an increase in disinformation and misinformation. 

FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr, who has been crticial of what Republicans see as Twitter's censorship of conservative speech, including that of former President Donald Trump, was unconvinced.

“The FCC has no authority to block Elon Musk’s purchase of Twitter, and to suggest otherwise is absurd," said Carr in a statement. "I would welcome the full FCC making it clear that we will not entertain these types of frivolous arguments.”■

Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee and a potential presidential candidate down the road if some in his party have their way, has advised Elon Musk not to back off the fight against disinformation.

Musk struck a deal to buy the social media giant with a promise of greater free speech, which some fear could mean less moderation of disinformation, misinformation or hate speech.

Also: Musk Makes Twitter Bid

In a statement on the deal, Warner, who has pushed social media to better protect users by, among other things, curbing disinformation, said Twitter has been leaning forward "to tackle false, deceptive and manipulated content." That included banning Donald Trump.

But Warner said Twitter still has room for improvement, and suggested Musk needs to continue leaning forward, rather than "backslide" from reforms to a place that is "harmful to Democracy and to the important discourse that takes place on Twitter across the world every day."

Also: Twitter Pushed to Adopt Political Ad Disclosures

Musk has argued that Twitter needs to allow more discourse, but the key will be the degree to which that conversation strays into the kind of speech Democrats, including Warner, argue is dangerous to the Republic and its citizens. ■

Elon Musk said he has made a $42.20 a share offer to acquire Twitter.

In an SEC filing, Musk said he owns 73.1 million Twitter shares, representing a 9.1% stake in the social media company.

On April 13, Musk sent a letter to Twitter’s board describing the offer. 

"I invested in Twitter as I believe in its potential to be the platform for free speech around the globe, and I believe free speech is a societal imperative for a functioning democracy,” Musk said in the letter. “However, since making my investment I now realize the company will neither thrive nor serve this societal imperative in its current form. Twitter needs to be transformed as a private company.”

He said his offer represented a 53% premium over the price of Twitter stock on the day he began investing in the company, and a 38% premium over the stock’s price the day before the investment was disclosed.

“Twitter has extraordinary potential. I will unlock it,” he said.

Twitter was controversial during the Trump administration as messages from the former president appeared to frequently violate the service’s terms of services. Eventually Twitter shut down Trump’s account, prompting criticism from conservatives. Trump later started his own social media company.  ■

Computer companies are standing up for Twitter in federal court, telling the federal appeals court for the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that it should reject and rethink a panel decision ruling against the social media company‘s challenge to an investigation by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.

Paxton, a Republican, launched an investigation of Twitter’s moderation practices after the social media platform banned former President Donald Trump for life following the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol. Republicans have argued that social media has it in for conservative speech, while social media platforms counter that they have it in for harmful speech, including disinformation and incitement of violence.

Texas currently has four ongoing lawsuits against Big Tech and makes clear on Attorney General Paxton's website why, saying: “Big Tech has controlled the online sphere for long enough. They take advantage of their platforms and block competitors from reaching consumers and suppress the voice of rival products. They have your information, and many times, they are not clear with how they use it.”

Paxton has said one of his priorities is “returning the web to a fair playing field where everyone has a chance to succeed.”

Paxton has said that rather than investigating those moderation practices, he is instead investigating “whether Twitter misrepresents those policies to Texans," something he says he can do under the state's deceptive trade practices law.

Twitter had alleged Paxton's investigation was retaliation for Twitter's protected First Amendment right to moderate its platform, in this case by banning Trump for life. But a panel of the Ninth Circuit said the issue was not ripe for appeal because the attorney general had not yet made any allegations against Twitter.

But in an amicus brief to the court filed Monday (April 11), the Computer & Communications Industry Association, whose members include Twitter as well as Google, Facebook, Amazon and Apple, joined by NetChoice and Technet, said the 9th Circuit panel got it wrong and the full court needed to vacate that decision and hear the case en banc (meaning all the judges participating, not just a three-judge panel).

The brief laid out the case for why content moderation is a vital and constitutionally protected exercise of the First Amendment right to editorial discretion that courts have recognized and that the panel’s decision not to take up Twitter‘s challenge undermines the First Amendment because the investigation itself combined with the panel decisions chills speech and thus harms internet users.

And while appeals court decisions are binding only in the circuit in which they are handed down, CCIA and company point out that many of its members are based in the 9th Circuit and thus the panel opinion effectively creates a rule with national, and even international, implications. They said that given those high stakes, en banc review is required. 

“We are alerting the court to the dangers of letting the panel’s incorrect interpretation stand,“ CCIA president Matt Schruers said. “This ruling undermines the constitutional protections that digital services need to protect their communities. The panel misunderstood Twitter’s challenge to Paxton’s overbroad, retaliatory investigation and mischaracterized the First Amendment concerns when it dismissed this case.

“Companies like Twitter have the First Amendment right to engage in content moderation or decide what content to host online. Now more than ever, we should want digital services taking actions to protect users from dangerous content and foreign propaganda.” ▪️

Computer companies are telling a federal appeals court that a Texas court made the right call when it granted their request for a preliminary injunction blocking enforcement of a Texas law they say unconstitutionally prevents online platforms from exercising editorial discretion based on viewpoint.

The Computer & Communications Industry Association and NetChoice, whose members include Google, Facebook and Twitter, filed a brief in the state of Texas' challenge of the injunction.

The brief came in advance of the planned May 9 oral argument in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit on that challenge.

The law, which passed Sept. 9, 2021, “prohibits an interactive computer service from censoring a user, a user’s expression, or a user's ability to receive the expression of another person based on … the viewpoint of the user or another person.” It also requires large social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter to disclose how they manage content, to publish an acceptable use policy that users can find telling them what content is acceptable, to publish quarterly transparency reports, and to have a complaint system in place for violations of its policies.

Because the law prevents them from using their editorial discretion based on viewpoint, the companies told the court, it effectively and constitutionally compels them to "publish, display and even recommend all sorts of speech that they deem objectionable and contrary to policies governing their services -- including pro-Nazi speech, terrorist propaganda, Holocaust denial, and misinformation."

They also say the law requires a host of "burdensome" disclosure mandates including notice each time they remove speech from their platforms.

"Governments have no business dictating what speech must appear online. Digital services are constantly combating foreign disinformation, propaganda, and anti-American extremism," CCIA said. "Turning Texas into an online safe space for these adversaries puts Americans at risk from these evolving online threats." ■

Social media giants are the latest subpoena targets in the investigation of the House Select Committee on the January 6 attack, which the committee says social media “products” helped organize.

Getting the subpoenas were Alphabet (Google), Meta (Facebook), Reddit and Twitter.

Committee chairman Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) said that the move to force their cooperation came after what he called “inadequate responses to prior requests for information” issued in August.

The committee wants information on “the spread of misinformation, efforts to overturn the 2020 election, domestic violent extremism and foreign influence in the 2020 election.”

Thompson said the committee wants to know how the “spread of misinformation and violent extremism” helped fule the attack and what social media companies did, if anything, to try to prevent their platforms from being “breeding grounds” for radicalization.

Also: Sen. Ed Markey Ties Big Tech to January 6 Riots

The committee explained why it picked those four platforms, besides the obivious one about their size and power:

“Alphabet’s YouTube was a platform for significant communications by its users that were relevant to the planning and execution of the January 6th attack on the United States Capitol, including livestreams of the attack as it was taking place.

“Meta platforms were reportedly used to share messages of hatred, violence, and incitement; to spread misinformation, disinformation, and conspiracy theories around the election; and to coordinate or attempt to coordinate the Stop the Steal movement. Public accounts about Facebook’s Civic Integrity Team indicate that Facebook has documents that are critical to the Select Committee’s investigation.

“Reddit was the platform for the ‘r/The_Donald’ ‘subreddit’ community that grew significantly on Reddit before migrating to the website TheDonald.win in 2020, which ultimately hosted significant discussion and planning related to the January 6th attack.

“Twitter subscribers reportedly used the platform for communications regarding the planning and execution of the assault on the United States Capitol, and Twitter was reportedly warned about potential violence being planned on the site in advance of January 6th. Twitter users also engaged in communications amplifying allegations of election fraud, including by [former President Donald Trump] himself.” ■

ViacomCBS and Twitter reached a new global multiyear agreement that will deliver content from ViacomCBS’s programming and events via the social media platform.

As part of the deal, ViacomCBS’s streaming service Paramount Plus will host three Twitter Watch Parties to build communities around select original series.

Content from ViacomCBS brands including BET, CBS, CBS News, CBS Sports, Channel 5, CMT, Comedy Central, MTV, Network 10, Nickelodeon, Paramount Network and Telefe will all get tweeted.

Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

“Twitter is the digital water cooler for trending topics and fandom worldwide, and we’re excited to provide front-row access to innovative digital content experiences and culture-defining moments across the best of entertainment, news and sports for Twitter users everywhere,” said Andrea Wolinetz, senior VP, distribution & business development-streaming at ViacomCBS.

ViacomCBS programs will be eligible for Twitter marketing support and brand sponsorship sales via Twitter’s Amplify. Amplify marries ViacomCBS premium video with Twitter’s paid reach and targeting. ViacomCBS can also tap into other Twitter marketing features, from live video to Twitter Moments.

"We're excited to take our strong partnership to a new level, offering premium content across entertainment, news and sports and giving brands the opportunity to align with ViacomCBS' entire portfolio on a global scale," said Jennifer Prince, head of global content partnerships for Twitter. "Through highlights, Twitter Moments, innovative formats and Paramount Plus watch parties, Twitter will put users at the center of the biggest moments happening around the world."

ViacomCBS and Twitter recently worked together on the 2021 MTV Video Music Awards and the BET Awards. Content from the shows appeared on Twitter and the BET red carpet was live streamed on Twitter, hosted by DJ Envy.

More than two thirds (70%) people said social media companies do more harm than good, while only one in five said it is the other way around.

That is according to a new poll from Quinnipiac University.

Facebook in particular took it on the virtual chin. Almost eight out of 10 people said Facebook is doing either a poor job or doing a "not so good" job of handling online misinformation.

The poll found that 52% said Facebook was doing a poor job, while 27% said it was "not so good." Only 12% said it was doing a good job and only 1% said it was doing an excellent job. Facebook has been in Washington's sites for how it handles content on its site, including misinformation, hate speech, and content potentially harmful to teens.

The country appears to be about evenly split over whether the government needs to step in to regulate edge giants like Facebook and Twitter.

According to the poll, 47% of respondents said the government "needs to be involved" in the regulation of social media companies, while 45% said no.

Two yes votes for regulation have actually come from Twitter and Facebook. Neither want to see a harsh crackdown on their content moderation abilities or the worst-case scenario of an antitrust-driven break-up of the companies. But given the bipartisan support for some kind of regulation, they are looking to shape that regulatory future into one that does not wreak havoc with their business model.

If regulation is certain, they figure, regulatory certainty, and on terms they can deal with, is the way to go.

Reading the regulatory handwriting on the wall, and on proposed legislation to crack down on Big Tech, Twitter has offered up its “guiding principles” for preserving an open internet, which include not targeting only the biggest players, like Twitter, and a call for algorithmic transparency, something Congress has called for in the wake of Facebook whistleblower revelations.

In a position paper tweeted out by the company in what it said was an effort to inform the current debate, Twitter painted a rather dystopian overregulatory vision of Big Government taking over Big Tech.

“The risk that the rhetoric of policy and language of law will be co-opted and weaponized by those seeking to usher in an age of techno-nationalism is real,“ it said in the preamble to its five major policy points, which it published online as Protecting the Open Internet: Regulatory Principles for Policymakers.

In the past, the open internet language coming from Silicon Valley focused on internet service providers, while those ISPs argued that Open Internet reguations were from a bygone era. Twitter was still looking for government to advance open internet rules, including rules to prevent blocking or throttling by ISPs, it took the same tack as ISPs when it came to any proposed edge provider regs.

"Regulatory approaches to new industries are often shaped by the policy responses designed in the aftermath of the industrial revolution, oriented towards frameworks that specify standards for outcomes of mechanical processes. This approach struggles to adapt to the unpredictable and rapidly evolving nature of human use of technology and expression," Twitter said.

The Twitter principles are:

1. ‘The Open Internet is global, should be available to all, and should be built on open standards and the protection of human rights.“

2. “Trust is essential and can be built with transparency, procedural fairness, and privacy protections.“

3. “Recommendation and ranking algorithms should 3 be subject to human choice and control.“

4. “Competition, choice, and innovation are foundations of the Open Internet and should be protected and expanded, ensuring incumbents are not entrenched by laws and regulations.”

5. “Content moderation is more than just leave up or take down. Regulation should allow for a range of interventions, while setting clear definitions for categories of content.”

On guideline number two, Twitter said that transparency should apply to government as well as Big Tech.

‘There’s a deficit in trust in many online services and government functions alike,” Twitter said. “It’s essential every sector works to rebuild trust, beginning with greater transparency.” 

It said the public should understand not only “the rules of online services,” but also “the way that governmental legal powers are used.”

ISPs have frequently called for regulatory clarity on which to base their business decisions.

Calling for regulatory fairness, Twitter said:

“Regulation by proxy, where governments use broad standards to push the burden of defining types of content onto service providers to avoid having to do so in legislation, is a dangerous trend, particularly when set alongside seemingly contradictory obligations to protect certain types of content. This is fundamentally a constitutional issue as much as a trust issue. Both individuals and companies need notice of what is prohibited by law so that they can act accordingly.”

One big problem for Big Tech when it comes to the bipartisan pushback on social media is that Democrats and Republicans don‘t agree on what speech qualifies as problematic and should be subject to heightened scrutiny by edge providers, so that a government standard could change with the change in political fortunes and majorities.

No wonder legislators appear laser-focused on the power of social media these days. Use of social media giants Twitter and Facebook by politicians increased dramatically in 2020, according to a new Pew Research Center study of how Congress used both to engage with the public during and after the 2020 election, compared with 2016.

The analysis found that between Sept. 8 and Dec. 8, 2016, legislators had 207,009 posts on Facebook and Twitter combined, but that jumped to 315,818 such posts between Sept. 3 and Dec. 3, 2020.

Also Read: Pew: Sizable Portions of U.S. Use Social Media for News

Not surprisingly, Donald Trump was much on the minds, or at least in the feeds, of Democrats. In 2016, "Trump" was the second most common term used by Democrats and in 2020 it was the single most common word mentioned. By contrast, neither Hillary Clinton nor Joe Biden were among even the 10 most common terms for Republicans in 2016 and 2020, respectively.

Other takeaways from the analysis:

In terms of audience engagement, Democrats in 2016 received the largest increase when mentioning the possible election of Trump, while in 2020 Republicans received the biggest boost when saying that every legal vote should be counted or referencing Joe Biden's son, Hunter. For Democrats, “President-elect Trump” got the biggest engagement bump, followed by his strategist, “Steve Bannon.”

So-called link polarization is on the rise. The number of links to popular domains shared exclusively by members of one party or the other increased from 20 in 2016 to 31 in 2020.

Legislators are citing fewer outside links in their posts, driven by a sharp decline in Republicans linking to outside sources, down from 36% in 2016 to only 22% in 2020.

The Pew analysis is based on every Facebook post and tweet created by every voting member of the House and Senate, including official, campaign and personal accounts. That came to almost 166,000 Facebook posts from 698 members of Congress (a total of 1,408 Facebook accounts), and more than 357,000 tweets from 669 members of Congress (a total of 1,438 Twitter accounts).

Under a proposed new law, if the algorithm of a Twitter or Facebook promotes vaccine misinformation and disinformation on their sites, edge providers will be considered publishers of that content, and thus liable for it.

With vaccine/COVID-19 misinformation a hot topic in D.C. and at the White House, Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and Sen. Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) has introduced a bill, the Health Misinformation Act of 2021, that would remove Section 230 civil civil liability protection for third-party content from edge providers whose algorithms promote that misinformation.

“For far too long, online platforms have not done enough to protect the health of Americans,” said Klobuchar in a statement. “These are some of the biggest, richest companies in the world and they must do more to prevent the spread of deadly vaccine misinformation. Earlier this year, I called on Facebook and Twitter to remove accounts that are responsible for producing the majority of misinformation about the coronavirus, but we need a long term solution. This legislation will hold online platforms accountable for the spread of health-related misinformation. The coronavirus pandemic has shown us how lethal misinformation can be and it is our responsibility to take action.”

What will constitute health misinformation subject to the law. The Secretary of Health & Human Services, "in consultation with the heads of other 18 relevant Federal agencies and outside experts determined 19 appropriate by the Secretary, will get to make that call.

Also Read: Facebook to D.C. on Sec. 230: Regulate Us, Please

Although he has since said he was talking about the misinformers, not the messenger, President Biden said vaccine misinformation on Facebook is killing people.

Facebook called the comments unsupported accusations that are a distraction from its effort to save lives.

The White House has been in talks with media outlets and Big Tech players over the vaccine misinformation issue as the Delta variant pushes COVID-19 infection numbers up, while vaccine rates have gone down.

Let freedom ring (up the sales) may be the new Trump motto.

The "Team Trump" backers behind former President Donald Trump's efforts to remain a political force are trying to use his lawsuit against Big Tech as a fundraising tool.

On Saturday, the joint fundraising committee of Save America and Make America Great Again PAC sent out an e-mail hawking a tee shirt emblazoned with the date 7/7/2021 (the day the suit was filed) and the message "Freedom Is Coming."

Trump is leading a class action suit against Facebook, Google and Twitter, as well as their respective CEOs Mark Zuckerberg, Sandar Pichai, and Jack Dorsey.

The former President, who had his Facebook and Twitter accounts pulled over statements about the election and Jan. 6 insurrection that were deemed potentially harmful to their respective online communities, has railed against the bans as Silicon Valley censorship in league with Democrats.

Trump last week in a setting staged to more than evoke the White House, said that the federal government "has essentially deputized social media platforms to become the de facto censorship arm of the U.S. government."

The suit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, seeks an "immediate halt" to their "shameful censorship" of the American people, the former president said in a press conference announcing the suit.

For its part, the Trump PAC seeks an immediate infusion of cash. "If Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube can censor President Trump, they can censor you, and believe us, they are," said the e-mail. "President Trump can and WILL win his lawsuit against these liberal Big Tech companies - FREEDOM IS COMING," it added, with a tee shirt also coming for a contribution of at least $5.

Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) wants Facebook and Twitter to explain the White House's admission Thursday that the Biden Administration has been flagging vaccine-related misinformation on social media.

The senator fired off letters to the CEOs of both companies citing White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki's statements in the daily press conference Thursday (July 15) that the Biden Administration has been in "regular touch" with social media platforms about COVID-19-related posts and flagging the "problematic" ones.

"Facebook should provide, publicly and transparently, data on the reach of COVID-19 -- COVID vaccine misinformation. Not just engagement, but the reach of the misinformation and the audience that it's reaching," Psaki said. "That will help us ensure we're getting accurate information to people. This should be provided not just to researchers, but to the public so that the public knows and understands what is accurate and inaccurate."

Also Read: Attorneys General: Facebook, Twitter Fail to Sufficiently Combat Anti-Vaxxers

"We are in regular touch with these social media platforms, and those engagements typically happen through members of our senior staff," she said, adding: "We're flagging problematic posts for Facebook that spread disinformation."

That sounded to Hawley like the government and Facebook teaming up for a speech police action. He and other Republicans already argue that social media is in league with Democrats to censor conservative speech. Republicans have been more inclined to criticize the vaccination effort, and are less likely to have been vaccinated themselves.

"This casual admission of collusion—between the state and corporations that have monopolized the flow of information and therefore dictate the terms of service for the public square—is shocking," Hawley wrote in a letter to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg. He wrote a similar letter to Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey.

Hawley said that "collusion" raises the spectre of social media becoming an arm of the federal government.

He asked Zuckerberg for a "full accounting" of the content the Biden Administration has flagged, what posts it has asked to remove, and what content Facebook has removed.

Former president Donald Trump is the lead representative in a class action suit against the "Big Tech" giants including Facebook, Google and Twitter, as well as their respective CEOs Mark Zuckerberg, Sandar Pichai, and Jack Dorsey.

The former president in a setting staged to more than evoke the White House said that the federal government "has essentially deputized social media platforms to become the de facto censorship arm of the U.S. government."

The suit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, seeks an "immediate halt" to their "shameful censorship" of the American people, the former president said in a press conference announcing the suit, which he called a "very beautiful" development for free speech, which he said was a right granted by God, calling the suit a vital initiative.

He said he had assembled some great tobacco lawyers to make the case.

Also Read: House Weighs In on 'Historic' Big Tech Antitrust Bills

The suit was filed in conjunction with the America First Policy Institute, which was co-founded by institute chairman Linda McMahon, Trump's former head of the Small Business Administration and former CEO of WWE.

As President, Trump went after edge providers for perceived conservative bias, particularly Facebook and Twitter's de-platforming of his accounts after concluding his statements about protests and the elections were potentially dangerous.

Trump said the bans were not fair. "If they can do it to me they can do it to anyone," he said.

Trump said free speech was under attack from Big Tech giants working with government, the mainstream media and that other political party to silence and suppress the views of the American people. "They banned the wrong side," he said.

Asked if he would consider settling the case, Trump said he didn't plan or expect to but he did not rule it out.

"Everything in these complaints is preposterous, which should not come as a surprise given Trump's affinity for filing frivolous lawsuits," said Andrew Jay Schwartzman, senior counselor to the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society.

"The fact that platforms talk to the government, and even cooperate on taking down speakers who violate the law or threaten national security does not make them instruments of the state," he said. "Far from being in the pocket of the government, the Justice Department and FTC are suing Facebook and Google. The difference is that those cases might have merit."

“Regardless of what one thinks of former President Trump, or his use of social media, the lawsuits he filed today against Twitter, Facebook, and Google’s YouTube are not frivolous," said Free State Foundation President Randolph May. "They claim that the immunity from liability granted to social media companies by Section 230 of the Communications Act, in effect, converts these private firms into ’state actors’ for First Amendment purposes because the immunity grant amounts to a delegation of authority by Congress that facilitates the companies’ censorship actions. If the state action theory is correct, then the Big Tech companies would not be able to censor posts — or de-platform persons — based on the content of their lawful speech.

"In his recent Biden v. Knight First Amendment Institute concurring opinion, Justice [Clarence] Thomas lent credence to the 'state actor' theory upon which Trump’s lawsuit is based, and other respected scholars have done so as well," said May. He said that while he was not convinced Sec. 230 makes private companies into state actors, but says if the suit reaches the discovery phase, "Trump could uncover a trove of emails from various congressional officials urging the social media companies to take certain actions which the firms quickly took. That would make the case even more interesting, and the claim stronger."

It’s a mark of how much has changed with the NewFronts, the tech-savvy younger sibling of the traditional TV’s Upfronts, that so many of the new shows on display across four days of presentations last week are headed to the biggest screens out there. 

Not just any big screens, of course. We’re talking connected TVs, highly capable internet devices that millions of owners seemingly rediscovered during months of lockdowns, and used heavily to access not just a charging phalanx of glitzy new SVOD services, but all kinds of other video offerings, too. 

Now, all the digital companies that once used the NewFronts as a long-shot grab for attention from advertisers still focused on traditional broadcast and cable TV are increasingly making original programs that advertisers may actually support, in formats they mostly recognize. 

Big screens are back, even among the online companies long focused on browsers and mobile devices. That even includes traditional print publishers such as Meredith, Condé Nast and Penske Media, text-first platforms such as Twitter, and hardware makers such as Vizio and Roku. 

"We own the hardware, the operating system, and the data flowing through our system. We believe that's a big advantage," said Vizio Chief Revenue Officer Mike O’Donnell, pointing to the TV maker’s SmartCast operating system, automatic-content-recognition capabilities, Inscape data division, and 12 million users.

It says something that hardware makers—at least those like Vizio and Roku that control which networks get on their platforms and also run their own AVOD channels—are now at the NewFronts. It’s another example of the event’s changing face, in step with what’s happening across the TV business.

But it wasn’t just hardware companies making big presentations. Condé Nast—home to iconic print magazines such as Vogue, Vanity Fair and The New Yorker—pitched itself as a growing video powerhouse, with 50 new series tied to its various franchises, atop 75 shows it already creates for an array of outlets. 

For some companies, the shift to Connected TVs has been even more dramatic. Jesse Judelman, who heads sales in the Americas for Vevo, told me recently his company's revenue growth recently went from 4% before the pandemic to more than 50% since.  

And YouTube, a minority partner in Vevo, has seen its overall viewership overtake even long-time champ Netflix, according to one recent study its executives touted multiple times during NewFronts. More importantly for YouTube’s NewFronts pitch, only two of the five companies that serve up 80% of internet video traffic are ad-supported, and Hulu is a lot smaller. 

YouTube’s connected TV viewership leapt to 120 million viewers last year, said Google VP and General Manager Tara Walpert Levy during a Day 2 panel. That’s a shift for an old-school digital-media power long associated with viewers on computers, tablets and mobile phones. 

"All the ways we do marketing really found their feet last year," Walpert Levy said.

Companies such as NBCUniversal are working both sides of the increasingly blurry line between Upfront World and NewFront Land, presenting at both and partnering with Twitter on Olympics and other programming. Increasingly, what everyone is pitching looks like smarter versions of old-school television.

Also read: NewFronts Speakers See Channels Changing From Traditional TV 

And of course, where the eyeballs go, the advertisers follow, sooner or later. NewFronts sponsor IAB released stats showing ad revenues on connected TVs jumped 22% in the past year. 

Oh, sure, Snapchat and especially TikTok focused on their vertical-aspect, mobile-only shows rather than big screens, both originals and from brand-safe vetted creators. Both had entertaining presentations overstuffed with creator cameos, including a performance by singer Lubalin saying “Don’t make ads. Make TIkToks instead.” 

They’ll both grab plenty of ad dollars this year, Wall Street analysts expect. But big screens are having their time, again, though with more smarts than ever. 

"As an advertiser that's built a lot of our brands on traditional linear TV, we also know that that's a medium that's not growing any longer," said Zena Srivatsa Arnold, Kimberley-Clark's global chief digital and marketing officer, who took part in YouTube's Brandcast. "We want to be where the consumers are. That giant screen on your wall isn't going away. In fact, consumers are using it more and more."

Yes indeed. And that’s good news for all the media companies headed back to the future, with big screens hiding even bigger brains.

Twitter announced new and extended relationships with media companies during its NewFronts presentation on Wednesday.

NBCUniversal News will be bringing Today, CNBC and Noticias Telemundo to Twitter. 

The companies said advertisers will be able to sponsor news programming through highlights, live streams, Twitter Q&As and exclusive content.

NBC News also is bringing its Inspiring America series to Twitter Space.

In addition, Twitter will work with NBC Olympics to amplify coverage of the Tokyo Olympics. 

Live original NBC programming will appear on Twitter, including a new daily live show Talking Tokyo. Hosts of Talking Tokyo will include Olympic medalist Adam Rippon.

Also Read: NewFronts: 35% of Buyers Plan To Spend More on CTV

Digital food publisher Tastemade is launching two franchises on Twitter for Black and Latinx women. Sponsorships will be available through Twitter Amplify.

"With even more video content coming to the Twitter timeline from world-class content publishers, we’re excited to continue helping brands connect to what’s happening and what people are watching. The video content from these partners will bolster our library of brand safe content that gives advertisers the reach they’re looking for,” said JP Maheu, Twitter’s VP, U.S. client services.

Twitter will work with Billboard to create a new chart, The Billboard Hot Trending powered by Twitter. It will track music-related trends each day and refresh every 24 hours.

Partnerships with Major League Baseball, the NHL and WNBA were also extended.

“Twitter is home to the most vibrant, diverse communities and the place where fandom thrives. The  premium content we’re collaborating on with our partners is igniting passion and enabling marketers to tap into the excitement of those communities and be a part of what’s happening,” said Jennifer Prince, Twitter’s global VP and head of content partnerships.

Twitter and Nielsen reached a deal that expands the integration of Nielsen audience measurement and outcome products into Twitter’s video ad sales platform.

The Nielsen products include Nielsen Media Impact and Nielsen Ad Intel. Twitter platform users will also get expanded access to Nielsen Total Ad Ratings.

Read Also: Ft. Myers Stations Sign With Comscore, Claims Undercount by Nielsen

“To compete in a fragmented ecosystem, publishers require tools that help them plan their cross-media media strategies efficiently as well as provide deeper analysis and more robust insights of an advertiser’s campaign across screens,” Jay Nielsen, senior VP, planning products at Nielsen.

“Twitter’s use of NMI and Ad Intel levels the playing field and ensures they have the same metrics and tools as agencies and advertisers, facilitating alignment on a common goal and plan. With TAR’s expedited capabilities, Twitter will now be able to better monetize the incremental reach and frequency delivered by ads on their platform," Nielsen said. “Altogether, our expanded collaboration will help Twitter maximize their video platform and unlock more value for advertisers as this type of video consumption continues to grow.”

The added resources will give Twitter advertisers the ability to do more robust pre- and post-campaign planning, understand cross-media planner and deliver campaign results with more speed and agility. 

“With a highly engaged audience and powerful premium video content, Twitter is where advertisers can connect with consumers in the moments that matter most to them,” said Doug Brodman, Twitter’s director of North America agency and platform solutions. “Nielsen’s cross-media suite will make it easier to augment our client’s video strategy and planning with Twitter's premium video inventory and optimize audience reach and frequency alongside other top video platforms. Ultimately, this expanded partnership brings increased transparency, clarity and value to Twitter's video solutions for our agency partners and advertisers.” 

Magicians Penn & Teller are joining a bunch of First Amendment defenders hoping to make a National Labor Relations Board finding against a tweeted "joke" by the publisher of a conservative website disappear.

The iconic duo joined humorist P.J. O'Rourke; veteran First Amendment attorney Robert Corn-Revere (a longtime defender of broadcast speech (including the appeal of CBS's 2004 Super Bowl halftime "reveal" indecency fine), and various others in an amicus brief filed with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in support of Ben Domenech, publisher of conservative website, The Federalist, who is appealing the NLRB decision, saying the court should nullify its enforcement.

At issue is a tweet from Domenech's personal account to 80,000 followers: "FYI @fdrlst first one of you tries to unionize I swear I’ll send you back to the salt mine." Domenech said it was a joke but a Twitter user with no connection to the site--i.e. not an employee feeling threatened--filed a complaint with the NLRB claiming the tweet amounted to unfair labor practice because it threatened reprisal against those wishing to form a union.

The NLRB agreed and ordered Domenech to delete the tweet. Domenech appealed that decision, which drew the support of Penn & Teller et al.

The amici said the case is easily resolved on one fact: The tweet was clearly a joke. They pointed out that the tweet had gone to all Domenech's followers and anyone who wanted to share it. "If Domenech really wanted to punish employees of FDRLST Media, he would have done it in an e-mail--and if he really really wanted to punish them, he would have done it in a proverbial meeting (now via Zoom?) that could have been an email."

"Evoking this [salt mines] trope no more represents a real threat of punishment than a tweet with the ironic slogan “The beatings will continue until morale improves” represents a real threat of violence," they told the court.

The tweet was also a joke because it was, well, funny, they added. Federalist parent FDRLST Media is not some "cartoonishly evil mega-conglomerate with its own salt mine," they pointed out, nor do those who approach its headquarters fear that Domenech may "release the hounds." Instead, they said, "his tweet played into that stereotype for humorous effect."

They also point out that there is no evidence that any Federalist employee actually thought the tweet was anything but a joke.

What is not funny, they said, is if people can be dragged into court "on the basis of satire, sarcasm, or hyperbole, everyone will self-censor their humor, to the detriment of freewheeling discourse."

"Will the NLRB next come for motivational posters saying, 'the beatings will continue until morale improves'?" they asked, collective tongues in cheek. "Will exasperated exhortations on Twitter to 'burn it all down' lead to house calls from the FBI? Better not to start down that path. The NLRB should learn to take a joke." If it doesn't, they said, "the right to freewheeling speech both online and offline is threatened."

The amici point out that the National Labor Relations Act protects speech by employers as well as unions if that speech “contains no threat of reprisal or force or promise of benefit.” They say that "both text and context make it clear that the tweet was a joke, not a threat."

After all, they argue, Twitter is a public performance space and it should not generally be presumed that tweets are formal policy statements, President Trump's "dalliances with the platform" notwithstanding, they said.

Also Read: Donald Trump Employs First Amendment Defense of Tweets

NLRB's big mistake, they said, was ignoring that context. "Domenech’s statement was in the form of a tweet on a public and widely followed social-media account. People generally don’t make serious, illegal threats in front of an audience of 83,000 people," they said, not again adding, though they could have, the President's use of the platform notwithstanding.

Instead, NLRB treated the tweet as though it had been sent in an e-mail only to Federalist employees

People speak differently to different audiences, they pointed out. "On TV, John McCain can tell Jon Stewart 'I had something really picked out for you, too — it’s a nice little IED [improvised explosive device] to put under your desk' and get laughs from the crowd, not a visit from the FBI," they said.

The day before Facebook and Twitter CEOs are scheduled to testify before Congress on their platform's hosting of disinformation, a dozen attorney generals have called on Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey to do more to combat anti-vaxxer COVID-19 disinformation, signaling it is a matter of life and death.

Also Read: Big Tech CEOs to Testify on Disinformation

Both platforms have policies against spreading vaccine misinformation, but the AGs, in a letter to both CEOs, said their respective companies had not done enough to identify that misinformation and remove it or labeling it the first time and banning "repeat offenders." 

"Twitter and Facebook have yet to remove from all their platforms the accounts of prominent “anti-vaxxers” who have repeatedly violated the companies’ terms of service," they wrote. "Digital media research groups estimate that as of March 10, 12 'anti-vaxxers’ personal accounts and their associated organizations, groups and websites are responsible for 65% of public anti-vaccine content on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter."

They called on Zuckerberg and Dorsey to immediately enforce their guidelines by rooting out "fraudulent" information and in the process, "prevent needless illness and death."

Also Read: House GOP Says Big Tech is Destructive Force

The two CEOs, joined by Google CEO Sundar Pichai, are scheduled to testify at a March 25 hearing on "Misinformation and Disinformation Plaguing Online Platforms."

House Democrats have long complained that those platforms have not done enough to weed out dangerous speech. 

Signing on to the letter were AGS from Connecticut, Delaware, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Virginia.

The House Communications and Consumer Protection Subcommittees have come up with a catchy title for the planned March 25 hearing with the "Biggest Tech" CEOs.

Also Read: Big Tech CEOs to Testify on Disinformation

The hearing, scheduled appropriately for (high) noon, is titled "Disinformation Nation: Social Media's Role in Promoting Extremism and Misinformation."

The hearing will be a remote one, conducted, appropriately, online via Cisco Webex video conferencing. 

Also Read: House GOP Says Big Tech is Destructive Force

The March 25 hearing with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Google CEO Sundar Pichair and Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey is a joint hearing of the Communications and Consumer Protection Subcommittees.

Comcast’s NBCUniversal’s One21 “developers” meeting for advertisers and ad buyers will feature speakers from Twitter, Visa, The Trade Desk, Instagram and LA2028.

NBC said the meeting will focus on consumers, content and connection.

“Comcast NBCUniversal Sky is building a brighter, smarter future and we're not doing it alone," said Linda Yaccarino, chairman, global advertising and partnerships, NBCUniversal. “People are living their lives at the intersection of media and technology—and One21 perfectly reflects that reality. This global event invites in all kinds of developers — from storytellers to software engineers, small businesses to global brands. By bringing this massive community together we’re giving our partners a window into the future —and we're hoping to spark an extraordinary new era of collaboration.”

Some of the Comcast speakers will include NBCU CEO Jeff Shell; Matt Strauss who heads direct-to-consumer and Peacock; Charlie Herrin, chief product officer at Comcast Cable; Susan Rovner chairman of entertainment content at NBCUniversal Television and Streaming, and Rashida Jones, president of MSNBC.

Disney Ad Sales has a presentation emphasizing its technology capabilities last month

NBCUniversal is expected to have an upfront highlighting its upcoming programming May.

Republican leadership in the House Energy & Commerce Committee are branding Big Tech a "destructive force" and  calling on Democratic committee leadership to hold a hearing immediately with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey and Google CEO Sundar Pichai.

Republicans have created a Big Tech Accountability agenda, a GOP platform guided by four principles: 1) transparency; 2) accountability; 3) consistency and objectivity; and competition.

Also Read: Social Net CEOs Get Senate Grilling

But since they don't control the gavel, those Republicans will need Democrat buy-in, which they were pushing for in a letter to House E&C chairman Frank Pallone (D-N.J.). Signing on to the letter were new full committee ranking member Cathy McMorris Rodgers (Wash.); Communications Subcommittee ranking member Bob Latta (Ohio); Consumer Protection Subcommittee ranking member Gus Bilirakis (Fla.); and Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee ranking member H. Morgan Griffith (Va.).

"Big Tech companies must take more seriously their significant role in our society to uphold free speech, to protect individual rights, and to safeguard our children from harm. They are failing us," they wrote. "Big Tech presents big challenges and we strongly believe many of the issues are bipartisan. As we work to hold Big Tech accountable, we should hear directly from these Big Tech CEOs. We urge you to invite these companies to come before our Committee so the American people can get answers."

The Republicans pointed out they made the same request of the House Democrats back in October, after the Senate held a hearing with the CEOs--no such hearing was called.

Democrats have issues with Big Tech, too, over things like privacy and security and potential anticompetitive effects of their size and power, but they argued the hearing in the then-Republican-controlled Senate was focused on conservative censorship accusations Democrats say are off base, an issue Democrats historically have not wanted to give any oxygen.

Also Read: Survey Finds Facebook Leading Misinformation Source

But for Republicans, the de-posting or flagging of some content on conservative Web sites and the banning of then-President Trump from Facebook and Twitter have raised the conservative bias claims to a new pitch.

House E&C Democrats have their own issues with the Big Three. Citing "deep concern," this week they fired of letters to Dorsey, Zuckerberg and Pichai as part of their investigation into their handling of COVID-19 information, or, more to the point, disinformation.

House Energy & Commerce Committee Democratic leaders have fired off new letters to the CEOs of Twitter, Facebook and Google as part of an investigation into Big Tech's handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Also Read: Facebook Will Flag COVID-19 Myths for Users

The letters are in response to news reports of COVID-19 misinformation/disinformation on their platforms and are follow-up letters to ones they sent to the same CEOs back in July--Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg, Twitter's Jack Dorsey and Google's Sundar Pichai-- expressing "deep concern about COVID-19 disinformation generally. The legislators pointed to the American Medical Association's warning last month to the companies to be on their guard against disinformation.

The House members, all committee or subcommittee chairs, are seeking the following:

1. "Details of all actions the companies have taken to limit false or misleading COVID-19 vaccine misinformation or disinformation on their platforms;

2. "Descriptions of all policy changes the companies have implemented to stop the spread of false or misleading COVID-19 vaccine misinformation, and how the companies are measuring the effectiveness of each such policy change;

3. "Whether the companies have used information labels or other types of notifications to alert users about COVID-19 vaccine misinformation or disinformation, and if so, the date(s) it first began implanting labels or notifications and how the companies are measuring its effectiveness;

4. "Details about the five common targeted advertisements that appear alongside COVID-19 vaccine misinformation or disinformation on the platforms;

5. "Details on the companies’ COVID-19 vaccine misinformation and disinformation enforcement efforts; and

6. "Whether the companies have coordinated any actions or activities with other online platforms related to COVID-19 vaccine misinformation or disinformation."

Also Read: Survey Finds Facebook Leading Misinformation Source

Sending the letters were Energy and Commerce Committee chairman Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-N.J.), Communications Subcommittee chairman Mike Doyle (D-Pa.), Health Subcommittee chair Anna G. Eshoo (D-Calif.), Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee chair Diana DeGette (D-Colo.), and Consumer Protection and Commerce Subcommittee chair Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.)

NBCUniversal and Twitter said they have expanded their content and advertising agreement globally.

Under a new multi-year deal, advertisers will be able to reach Twitter users with trending, sponsorable content from Comcast’s NBCU and Sky units, including real-time sports highlights and coverage of live events such as the Golden Globes, with red carpet live streams, watch parties and fan voting to engage users.

Also Read: NBC Extends Olympics Deal With Twitter Through 2022

In addition to content from the Golden Globes, being held Feb. 28, NBCU and Twitter plan to distribute content from more than 30 live events, including Telemundo’s Latin Music Awards, news on Noticias Telemundo, the E! People’s Choice Awards, the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade and sports on NBC Sports, Telemundo Deportes, Sky Sports and Golf Channel. 

Also Read: Peacock Exclusively Pins WWE Network in the U.S. 

NBCU will be using Twitter to amplify interviews about racial justice and equity during Black History Month.

Also Read: Twitter Announces 30-Plus Content Deals at NewFront

The content will be distributed on Twitter via handles including @nbc, @enews, @telemundo, @noticiastelemundon, @nbcsports, @golfchannel, @telemundosports, @latinxnow, @onherturf, @nbcolympics, @SkySports, and @SkySportsPL.

“With this strategic partnership, NBCUniversal’s leading video content meets Twitter’s worldwide reach, empowering marketers to connect with global audiences, while bringing consumers curated premium content on an engaging platform," said Krishan Bhatia, president & chief business officer at NBCUniversal. “The growth in digital viewing has been nothing short of explosive in recent years and together with Twitter, we're helping our partners engage audiences in a brand-safe way—and shape key conversations as they unfold."

Twitter will be providing broader sales support for NBCUniversal's advertisers.

“NBCU represents one of Twitter's largest and deepest content partnerships in the US. This agreement expands not only their content publishing output in the US, but will position international markets for growth as well,” said Jen Prince, VP and Global Head of Content Partnerships. “More premium content means more sponsorship opportunities for advertisers, so there's meaningful revenue impact here as well.”

Sponsors will be able to use Twitter's advanced targeting capabilities and mobile advertising formats through NBCU’s One Platform offering, which reaches 160 countries, and NBC Spot On, which provides digital inventory for local marketers.

NBCU and Twitter have been working together since 2013. The number of campaigns run has grown 10 times since 2013, In 2002, global video views for all NBCU Twitter handles have grown 26% on average, while the number of campaigns increased 25%.

“For the better part of a decade, we've sought out partners that enable us to bring the best possible experience to our audiences, along with the flexibility and scale that marketers need to reach them,” said NBCU senior VP Joe Cady, who leads business and strategy for digital and advanced TV ad sales. “Our best partnerships are the ones that value premium content, integrate product and technology, and commit to long-term collaboration. When we're able to combine our strengths towards a common goal, we can move the industry forward.”

NBCUnivesal will continue to offer Bravo content on Twitter, including the Watch What Happens Live After Show, to be distributed via @BravoWWHL.

Reps. Anna Eshoo (D-Calif.) and Tom Malinowski (D-N.J.) have written the heads of Facebook, Twitter and Google asking them to face up to and fix the "fundamental design features of their social networks that facilitate the spread of extreme, radicalizing content to their users," the sort of radicalizing that resulted in the attack on the Capitol, they pointed out.

Also Read: President Trump Says Twitter Ban Will Not Silence Him

They said that maximizing user engagement as the basis for algorithmic promotion of news content provided a digital echo chamber for platforms for radicalization, platforms "designed, built, and maintained" by the companies.

They said the companies were at least partially responsible for "undermining our shared sense of objective reality, for intensifying fringe political beliefs, [and] for facilitating connections between extremists, leading some of them to commit real-world, physical violence."

Eshoo, whose district includes Silicon Valley, pulled no punches. 

Also Read: Sen. Warner Asks Big Tech to Preserve Insurrection Evidence

"For years social media companies have allowed harmful disinformation to spread through their platforms, polluting the minds of the American people," said Eshoo. "Online disinformation is not just about removing bad content. I see it as largely a product design issue. The algorithmic amplification and recommendation systems that platforms employ spread content that’s evocative over what’s true," she said. "“The horrific damage to our democracy wrought on January 6th demonstrated how these social media platforms played a role in radicalizing and emboldening terrorists to attack our Capitol. These American companies must fundamentally rethink algorithmic systems that are at odds with democracy.”

Senate Commerce Committee Chairman (for a few more days) Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) wants Big Tech to pony up info on what he says has been their silencing of conservative users, saying it appeared to be politically biased censorship.

Also Read: President Trump Says Twitter Ban Won't Silence Him

The most notable "silencing" in recent days was Twitter's and Facebook's permanent bans on President Donald Trump's social media accounts in the wake of the Capitol siege, and Amazon's de-platforming of conservative social media site Parler and Google and Apple's removal of the app from their online stores.

Wicker sent letters Friday to Google CEO Sundar Pichai, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, and Apple CEO Tim Cook.

"In the wake of the fatal attack on the U.S. Capitol last week, social media companies made a series of decisions to restrict the use of their platforms and access to content," he wrote. "Although these decisions were initially targeted at preventing further violence, the restrictions expanded in the following days. The result was thousands of conservative users’ accounts and content being restricted or permanently removed from platforms and an entire platform being denied hosting services, causing it to shut down operations temporarily.

Among the questions he wants answered are:

1. "YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter recently took actions in what appeared to be a series of closely timed decisions.  Did your company or employees coordinate or otherwise consult with the other platforms regarding restrictions or permanent bans on the accounts of any conservative users, content, or public figures? If so, how?

2. "What was the decision-making process around the removal or restriction of such accounts on your platform? Was this process consistent with your existing terms of service, community standards, or guidelines for the removal or restriction of accounts?

3. "What was the timeline for deciding to remove or restrict such accounts? Did you approve of those decisions at the time actions were taken?"

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai said he has some issues with the permanent bans on President Trump's Twitter and Facebook accounts.

Also Read: Pai Calls Trump Election Legitimacy Challenge 'Terrible Mistake'

In response to a question on his last press call, the chairman said he recognized the country was going through difficult times "and these are difficult questions to confront." 

Pai had said last week that it was a 'terrible mistake' for the President to suggest changing election results and added Wednesday (Jan. 13) that the President should also have done more to discourage the assault once it was underway.

He declined to weigh in on the impeachment debate in the House, which was going on at the same time as his press conference, saying that was a decision for Congress to make. 

But Pai said he does think that the determinations [on the President's accounts] speak to the consistency and transparency, or lack thereof, when it comes to the decisionmaking process.

"For example," he said, "it is still unclear why certain decisions were made and whether the principles that animated those decisions are being applied through the platform."

Conservative Republicans have consistently argued they are not, one reason many of them, joined by the President, wanted the FCC to adjust social media platforms' Sec. 230 immunity from civil liability for third- party content to ensure they are applying standards consistently.

Also Read: Trump Video Calls for Orderly Transition

Pai cited the example, oft cited by his Republican colleagues, of the Supreme Leader of Iran's content remaining available while the President's was not. 

Pai said he has been talking for a long time about how tech giant platforms make these determinations.