The Hypocrisy of Twitter/X; Trump’s Signs of Possible Cognitive Decline–Coachella Valley Independent’s Indy Digest: Aug. 8, 2024

Indy Digest: Aug. 8, 2024

So, Twitter/X is again in the news for doing something that is … uh, logic-defying.

The New York Times reports:

An influential advertising industry group said it would shut down after being sued this week by X, Elon Musk’s social media company, according to an email sent to its members and obtained by The New York Times.

The Global Alliance for Responsible Media, a nonprofit coalition of major advertisers led by the World Federation of Advertisers, told its members it would cease operations two days after Mr. Musk accused the group of orchestrating a boycott against X. The lawsuit claimed that the group, known as GARM, had violated antitrust laws by coordinating with brands to dissuade them from spending money on the social media platform.

While the World Federation of Advertisers denied that GARM’s work had run afoul of the law, it said that the nonprofit did not have the financial resources to continue operating while it fights X in court. …

The dispute stemmed from Mr. Musk’s $44 billion purchase of X, then known as Twitter, in 2022. Mr. Musk promised a new era of unrestricted speech and annulled many of the platform’s rules against hateful content and misinformation. In response, many brands pulled their ads from X, fearing that they would damage their brands by appearing alongside unsavory posts.

The claim that Twitter/X is a haven for free and unrestricted speech was echoed in a video posted by Twitter/X CEO Linda Yaccarino on Aug. 6 that, seriously, is a must-watch, both for its audacity and awkwardness. (At least one media source said it looked like she was in a hostage video.) At one point, Yaccarino referred to Twitter/X as “the one place you can express yourself freely and openly,” which is one of the most laughable statements I’ve heard in years.

Consider:

• On July 4, Twitter/X suspended all of Pink Media’s #ILoveGay accounts, as well as the Gay Desert Guide account, suddenly and without giving a reason. Most of the accounts remain suspended to this day.

• X now treats the terms “cis” and “cisgender” as slurs, limiting the visibility of posts that use the terms.

• Twitter has a history of suspending the accounts of journalists and political groups—including, recently, White Dudes for Harris. Sometimes the accounts are reinstated; other times, they are not.

“The one place you can express yourself freely and openly.” What a joke.

Furthermore, this lawsuit is hilariously inappropriate given that, at an event last November, Musk said, regarding advertisers who were leery of Twitter/X: “Don’t advertise. If someone is going to try to blackmail me with advertising, blackmail me with money, go fuck yourself. Go fuck yourself. Is that clear? I hope it is.“

Here’s hoping Mr. Musk takes his own advice.

—Jimmy Boegle

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More News

• An outbreak of a more virulent strain of mpox in Africa continues to spread and worsen. The Associated Press reports: “The head of the World Health Organization said Wednesday he will convene an expert group to determine if the increasing spread of the mpox virus in Africa warrants being declared a global emergency. At a press briefing in Geneva, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that given the increasing spread of mpox cases beyond Congo, he has decided to ask independent experts to advise WHO ‘as soon as possible.’ Last week, the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that mpox, also known as monkeypox, has now been detected in 10 African countries this year including Congo, which has more than 96% of all cases and deaths. Compared with the same time period last year, the agency said cases are up 160% and deaths have jumped by 19%.”

• The Los Angeles Times reports that a left-leaning watchdog group wants Rep. Ken Calvert investigated for pushing earmarks that could personally benefit him: “The campaign finance reform group End Citizens United filed a complaint Tuesday with the Office of Congressional Ethics alleging that Calvert failed to disclose information about various rental properties that he owns in Riverside County. The complaint follows a Times story on Calvert’s use of the legislative process known as earmarking to secure more than $100 million in taxpayer funds for his district, including more than $16 million for transportation projects within a few miles of his own rental properties. ‘This is a meritless complaint from a far-left super PAC that’s endorsed Ken’s opponent, and worse—one that gets the facts wrong,’ said Calvin Moore, a spokesman for Calvert’s reelection campaign.”

• Having rocket-fuel chemicals for dinner tonight? CBS News reports that the answer could be “yes,” despite your best efforts: “A chemical used in rocket fuel and fireworks is also found in an array of food products, particularly those popular with babies and children, according to findings released Wednesday by Consumer Reports. The tests by the advocacy group come decades after the chemical, called perchlorate, was first identified as a contaminant in food and water. The Environmental Working Group in 2003 found perchlorate in nearly 20% of supermarket lettuce tested. Linked to potential brain damage in fetuses and newborns and thyroid troubles in adults, perchlorate was detected in measurable levels of 67% of 196 samples of 63 grocery and 10 fast-food products, the most recent tests by Consumer Reports found. The levels detected ranged from just over two parts per billion (ppb) to 79 ppb. Foods often consumed by children had the highest levels of perchlorate, averaging 19.4 ppb, while fresh fruit and vegetables as well as fast food also contained elevated amounts.”

• Our partners at Calmatters examine the possibility that younger voters, inspired by Kamala Harris’ presidential candidacy, could influence elections in the state: “Christian Figueroa isn’t jumping on the Kamala Harris bandwagon. He doesn’t need to: The San Gabriel Valley native has been on board ever since her first presidential campaign sparked his passion for politics when he was 13. ‘To say it had an impact on me is definitely an understatement,’ Figueroa said, recalling his trip to Los Angeles Southwest College in 2019 to hear the then-U.S. senator speak. ‘My life is politics. I feel like I sleep, eat and breathe politics.’ Even for young people who aren’t as politically aware, the presidential race—particularly Harris, who officially secured the Democratic nomination this week—has been front and center in the social feeds of young voters through memes and other fan edits featuring her speeches and signature laugh. Democrats are hoping, whether it’s because of her record or the good vibes online, that young voters will turn out at higher rates and boost Democrats in competitive House races, including in California.”

• STAT News, a health and medicine publication, asked cognition experts about former President Trump’s frequent tangents during speeches: “This shifting from topic to topic, with few connections—a pattern of speech called tangentiality—is one of several disjointed and occasionally incoherent verbal habits that seem to have increased in Trump’s speech in recent years, according to interviews with experts in memory, psychology, and linguistics. Back in 2017, Trump’s first year in the White House, a STAT analysis showed Trump’s speaking style had deteriorated since the 1980s. Seven years on, now that Trump has the GOP presidential nomination, STAT has repeated the analysis. The experts noted a further reduction in Trump’s linguistic complexity and, while none said they could give a diagnosis without an examination, some said certain shifts in his speaking style are potential indications of cognitive decline.” The piece is very fair and reasoned, and definitely worth a read.

• In other news about the presidential election: If you were considering a vote for Robert F. Kennedy Jr., you should definitely watch Last Week Tonight‘s deep dive on him; it was posted on YouTube today. If you don’t have a half-hour to watch the segment, here’s a piece from The Guardian regarding the report. Key quote: “(RFK Jr. was also accused by a former babysitter of sexual assault, a claim that had him respond by speaking of his ‘rambunctious youth’ and that there were many more skeletons in the closet. While Kennedy goes ‘out of his way to seem reasonable and open-minded’ on more mainstream podcasts, he still has a lot of extreme views, such as refusing to drop an early theory of how AIDS began, blaming it on the use of poppers and gay men ‘burning the candle at both ends.’”

• And finally … what will be the result of the big antitrust ruling against Google? Big changes could be coming … but those’ll take a while. Perhaps a long while. Wired explains: “Unbox a new phone in the U.S. and it’s almost certain to have Google as the default way to search the web. Federal judge Amit Mehta on Monday ruled in favor of the US Department of Justice that the contracts Google uses to secure that position violate fair competition laws. Now Mehta must decide what to do about it. The jurist could order big changes to the unboxing experience, with users having to select their default search provider. He also could go as far as to force Google to sell parts of its business. Mehta scheduled a hearing for September to begin the process of deciding the penalties, but with Google appealing the verdict, it could be years—if ever—before the search giant must comply.”

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