X

WASHINGTON (AP) — Former Twitter employees are expected to testify next week before the House Oversight Committee about the social media platform’s handling of reporting on President Joe Biden’s son, Hunter Biden.The scheduled testimony, confirmed by the committee Monday, will be the first time the three former executives will appear before Congress to discuss the company’s decision to initially block from Twitter a New York Post article on Hunter Biden’s laptop in the weeks before the 2020 election.Republicans have said the story was suppressed for political reasons, though no evidence has been released to support that claim. The witnesses for the Feb. 8 hearing are expected to be Vijaya Gadde, former chief legal officer; James Baker, former deputy general counsel; and Yoel Roth, former head of safety and integrity.The hearing is among the first of many in a GOP-controlled House to be focused on Biden and his family, as Republicans wield the power of their new, albeit slim, majority.The New York Post first reported in October 2020 that it had received from former President Donald Trump’s personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani, a copy of a hard drive of a laptop that Hunter Biden had dropped off 18 months earlier at a Delaware computer repair shop and

Twitter has made its first interest payment under Elon Musk after the billionaire took the social media company private last year using about US$12.5 billion of debt, Bloomberg News reported on Monday (Jan 30), citing people with knowledge of the matter. Twitter paid a group of seven banks, led by Morgan Stanley, which became stuck with the debt after they were unable to sell it to outside investors, the report added. Twitter, Musk and Morgan Stanley did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment. Apart from the funds borrowed from a syndicate of banks including Morgan Stanley and Bank of America, the Tesla boss has also offloaded shares in the electric-vehicle maker to fund his US$44 billion takeover of Twitter. Since Musk took charge of the social media platform in October, he has focused on reducing costs by laying off half the workforce and introducing new plans for Twitter Blue subscription service, which offers the sought-after "verified" badge. Twitter has also seen advertisers flee amid worries about Musk's approach to content moderation rules, impacting its revenue. Musk in November also pointed out that Twitter had seen a "massive" drop in revenue and blamed activist groups for pressuring advertisers.

NFL Twitter roasts Empire State Building for using Eagles colors originally appeared on NBC Sports BayareaThe entire city of Philadelphia is celebrating after the Eagles' 31-7 triumph over the 49ers in the NFC Championship Game to advance to Super Bowl LVII.So is the Empire State Building, apparently.After the final whistle sounded at Lincoln Financial Field, the Empire State Building -- standing 102 miles away in New York City -- lit up in green and white colors to commemorate the Eagles' win.As you'd expect, NFL Twitter was befuddled by this move. The state of New York not only has one team within its borders -- the Buffalo Bills -- but also another two teams located in New Jersey that take its name, the Jets and Giants. The Giants happen to be the Eagles' archrival in the NFC East and were eliminated by Philadelphia last week in the divisional round.New York City Councilmember Keith Powers tweeted his thoughts on the matter, as did many others in the landmark's mentions.Details later emerged that the Empire State Building planned celebrate the AFC and NFC Championship Game winners in this fashion. The building made a similar move in January 2017 when it took up the

The Kansas City Chiefs hang on to avenge their loss last year, winning the AFC Championship 23-20 over the Cincinnati Bengals. A tremendous finish from Kansas City as all three facets of the game proved crucial in securing the trip to Arizona and the Super Bowl. Twitter users captured the highlights and lowlights of the game.Here are some of the best Twitter reactions from the AFC Championship Game win:Chris Jones secures first career postseason sackDenny Medley-USA TODAY SportsThe Chiefs All-Pro pass rusher has made a career off of sacking quarterbacks and finally achieved a long-awaited milestone. Jones got his first sack in his 14th career postseason game, taking down Joe Burrow in the first quarter. Twitter observers immediately expressed their feelings on Jones’ accomplishment.Patrick Mahomes connects with Travis Kelce for a late first-half touchdownJay Biggerstaff-USA TODAY SportsThe Chiefs, faced with fourth and one late in the first half, decided to go for it and score a touchdown. On a bad ankle, Mahomes improvised enough in the pocket to find Kelce in the back of the endzone. Twitter spectators marveled at the touchdown pushing the Chiefs lead at the end of the first half.Jaylen Watson’s second consecutive week with an interceptionJay

AP Photo/Mark J. TerrillIt's a rare sight when fans of both the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers agree on something, yet, here we are.The Lakers fell to the Celtics 125-121 in overtime on Saturday night at TD Garden to kick off a five-game Eastern Conference road trip. However, the game probably should have never gone to the extra period.In a game the Purple and Gold could have won in regulation, the referees missed a blatant foul by Jayson Tatum on LeBron James with time winding down in the fourth quarter.With mere seconds on the clock and a chance to win the game, James drove to the basket and was swarmed by Tatum, Grant Williams, Malcolm Brogdon and Al Horford. As the 38-year-old went in for the layup, Tatum got a piece of James' arm as he attempted to swat the ball away.There was no foul called on Tatum, which sent the game to overtime. Had a foul been called, James would have likely won the game for L.A. from the stripe.ESPN @espnLeBron was not happy after this play to win the game. pic.twitter.com/FNMPBQTHoxBleacher Report @BleacherReportPat Bev really picked up a camera to troll the ref over his missed call

The wrestling world has erupted with frustration after Sami Zayn didn't enter the Men's Royal Rumble. For weeks, Sami Zayn has been involved in an angle with The Bloodline, trying to prove to faction leader Roman Reigns that he is indeed loyal to the group. The Men's Rumble was won by the returning Cody Rhodes, who entered at #30. Fans were hopeful of witnessing an appearance from The Honorary Uce, but that wasn't the case. Check out the Twitter reactions from the WWE Universe: Sami Zayn not being in the Rumble and winning is a wildly poor story choice by HHH. #RoyalRumble No Sami Zayn in the Royal Rumble match was the right call. His elimination would’ve hurt the vibe/flow of the match. Now all the Bloodline drama is in store for us in the main event. Good stuff @WWE https://t.co/QKDg8xHBoy Sami Zayn, one of the leading choices for many people to win the Rumble wasn't even in the match. Oh you thought Sami Zayn and The Rock were going to be in the Rumble but you got Logan Paul https://t.co/IKya9KYqlf Sami Zayn wasn't even in the Royal Rumble match.😭😭 Disappointed by no Sami in the Rumble, Roman Reigns vs

Jan 27 (Reuters) - Twitter users will be able to appeal account suspensions and be evaluated under the social media platform's new criteria for reinstatement, starting Feb. 1, the company said on Friday.Under the new criteria, which follow billionaire Elon Musk's purchase of the company in October, Twitter accounts will only be suspended for severe or ongoing and repeat violations of the platform's policies.Severe policy violations include engaging in illegal content or activity, inciting or threatening violence or harm, and engaging in targeted harassment of other users, among others.Twitter said that going forward, it will take less severe action, in comparison to account suspension, such as limiting the reach of tweets that violate its policies or asking users to remove tweets before continuing to use the account.In December, Musk came under fire for suspending accounts of several journalists over a controversy on publishing public data about the billionaire's plane. He later reinstated the accounts.Reporting by Juby Babu in Bengaluru; Editing by Leslie AdlerOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Dr. Gleb Tsipursky joins "Forbes Talks" to discuss Elon Musk's change of perspective on remote work, and how other CEOs are approaching the ...

During the Tesla Q4 and FY 2022 earnings call, Elon Musk highlighted the value of Twitter to businesses, automotive or otherwise. Musk’s statement followed a question about whether Tesla was tracking how its favorability was damaged due to the CEO’s political posts on the social media platform.  Last month, UK-based research firm YouGov published the results of its survey, which indicated that Tesla’s approval rating had fallen quickly amidst the CEO’s political statements on Twitter. YouGov noted that at the start of 2022, Tesla had a net positive score of 5.9%, but by early November, the company’s approval rating had fallen to -1.4%. USA-based Morning Consult posted similar findings.  It was then no surprise that a Tesla investor specifically asked the EV maker if the company tracks its favorability. Musk did not directly address the question, but he did note that the size of his following on Twitter suggests that he is reasonably popular. He also took the time to plug Twitter’s value for Tesla, which Musk noted could also be utilized by other businesses for their benefit.  “Well, let me check my Twitter account. Okay, so I’ve got 127 million followers. It continues to grow very rapidly. That suggests

A new whistleblower has told Congress that Twitter Inc. continued to violate privacy and data security protections into the Elon Musk era, potentially risking legal action including hefty penalties.As many as 4,000 company employees could access an internal function nicknamed “GodMode” that allows them to take over private accounts and tweet – or delete tweets from them, according to a whistleblower complaint filed in mid-October, two weeks before Musk took over the company. It’s not clear if the problem has been resolved since the complaint was filed.Twitter didn’t respond to a request for comment.The complaint was shared with the Justice Department, the Federal Trade Commission and some members of Congress. A congressional staffer shared the complaint with Bloomberg News, requesting anonymity due to the sensitive nature of the anonymous complaint. The Washington Post previously reported the emergence of the new Twitter whistleblower and that person’s complaint.“Twitter does not have the capability to log which, if any, engineers use or abuse GodMode,” reads the complaint, which was filed by Whistleblower Aid, a nonprofit law firm, on behalf of the anonymous whistleblower. Since the complaint was filed, several top executives overseeing cybersecurity and privacy, in addition to teams responsible for government compliance