Elon Musk buys a big chunk of Twitter

[Copper]

@Axtremus said in Elon Musk buys a big chunk of Twitter:

because Tesla relies on much of its production in China, the CCP can hold Tesla hostage to force Musk to make Twitter give China-related content special treatments.

China probably told Musk to buy Twitter.

I just made that up.

A good way to test the theory might be to tweet it.

[Horace]

And just like that, conspiracy theories became ok.

[jon-nyc]

@Horace said in Elon Musk buys a big chunk of Twitter:

And just like that, conspiracy theories became ok.

That is one of the prices we pay for free speech.

[jon-nyc]

Interesting comment but perhaps more interesting is Isaacson was with him. Is he doing a Musk bio?

[Horace]

I’ve heard a lot of people, seemingly intelligent and knowledgeable ones, claim that if you scratch the surface of Musk, he has at best mediocre technical chops. I wonder about the truth of that.

[jon-nyc]

Well I assume that’s true and that Isaacson being a journalist doesn’t really know the difference between him asking questions/running the meeting and trying to solve it himself.

[jon-nyc]

@Jolly said in Elon Musk buys a big chunk of Twitter:

$64 question: In 12 months, how much effect will Musk have on the Twitter profit/loss line?

He says it’s not about money for him but I think he will tire of subsidizing it at some point and try to improve the cash flow.

[Ivorythumper]

[jon-nyc]

Yes an no, he has a lot of assets but selling them results in a big tax liability which would probably grate over time.

[George K]

"If I had enough money, instead of buying Twitter, I'd buy a 3 bedroom, 1 bath house in San Francisco."

[Jolly]

@George-K said in Elon Musk buys a big chunk of Twitter:

"If I had enough money, instead of buying Twitter, I'd buy a 3 bedroom, 1 bath house in San Francisco."

All good comedy has an element of truth.

[George K]

@Jolly said in Elon Musk buys a big chunk of Twitter:

All good comedy has an element of truth.

...and pathos.

[jon-nyc]

[LuFins Dad]

One of the talking heads on CNN just lamented that Elon Musk could now influence elections by deplatforming candidates or by manipulating the algorithms to suppress news stories damaging to other candidates…

[Horace]

@LuFins-Dad said in Elon Musk buys a big chunk of Twitter:

One of the talking heads on CNN just lamented that Elon Musk could now influence elections by deplatforming candidates or by manipulating the algorithms to suppress news stories damaging to other candidates…

The fact that they unapologetically and righteously did exactly that, must make the fear all the more real in their minds. Terrified of their own shadow.

[George K]

@Axtremus said in Elon Musk buys a big chunk of Twitter:

2. Jeff Bezos brought up the possibility of the CCP leveraging Tesla to influence Musk on Twitter’s policies regarding China — the theory being that because Tesla relies on much of its production in China, the CCP can hold Tesla hostage to force Musk to make Twitter give China-related content special treatments.

Bezos launches China conspiracy theory

Bezos’ commentary on Tesla’s relationship with China is peculiar given a Reuters investigation in December that found Amazon had capitulated to demands from China to continue doing business and grow the company there.

In addition, some 38% of Amazon's top-selling brands are based in China, a report from the firm Daxue Consulting found late last year.

And, in 2019, the Washington Post – which Bezos bought in 2013 – included an eight-page "advertising supplement" touting the achievements and talking points of the Chinese government in a section that was off-limits to the paper’s editors.

Special Report: Amazon partnered with China propaganda arm

Amazon.com Inc was marketing a collection of President Xi Jinping's speeches and writings on its Chinese website about two years ago, when Beijing delivered an edict, according to two people familiar with the incident. The American e-commerce giant must stop allowing any customer ratings and reviews in China.

A negative review of Xi's book prompted the demand, one of the people said. "I think the issue was anything under five stars," the highest rating in Amazon's five-point system, said the other person.

Ratings and reviews are a crucial part of Amazon's e-commerce business, a major way of engaging shoppers. But Amazon complied, the two people said. Currently, on its Chinese site Amazon.cn, the government-published book has no customer reviews or any ratings. And the comments section is disabled.

"And the comments section is disabled."

At least Amazon doesn't die in darkness, right?

[jon-nyc]

George - how is that a conspiracy theory?

[Horace]

TSLA was down 12% today. That means Musk lost almost as much today as Twitter is costing him.

[George K]

@jon-nyc said in Elon Musk buys a big chunk of Twitter:

George - how is that a conspiracy theory?

In the article:

Amazon founder and former CEO Jeff Bezos on Monday mulled whether China has gained leverage over what happens on Twitter now that Tesla CEO Elon Musk has secured a $44 billion deal with the social media company.

"Interesting question. Did the Chinese government just gain a bit of leverage of the town square?" Bezos tweeted in response to a New York Times reporter who noted Tesla’s reliance on China for its large market and lithium batteries.

The reporter noted that Tesla's second-biggest market after the U.S. in 2021 was China and that Chinese battery makers are major suppliers for Tesla's electric vehicles. He also noted that when China banned Twitter in 2009, the government "had almost no leverage over the platform." He then suggested that, due to Musk's acquisition, "That may have just changed."

"Conspiracy theory?" Perhaps not. But, it reiterates what Ax said in his comment earlier.

[Aqua Letifer]