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PaperclipPerfector  7mo ago (text post)   27763 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of September 18, 2023

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https://www.independent.co.uk/space/elon-musk-russell-brand-caroline-dinenage-mps-twitter-b2415346.html

Social media site X has been asked by a senior MP if owner Elon Musk, who changed its name from Twitter, “has personally intervened in any decisions on Russell Brand’s status on the platform”. Following rape and sexual assault allegations being made against Brand, online content platforms that host his content including YouTube and podcasting company Acast said that he will not make money from advertisements on their sites and apps. Culture, Media and Sport Committee chairwoman Dame Caroline Dinenage has written to other video hosting sites and social media outlets on Wednesday to ask whether Brand can make “profit from his content” on their platforms.

In the communication to X chief executive Linda Yaccarino, Dame Caroline said: “We would be grateful if you could confirm whether Mr Brand monetises his content and, if so, we would like to know whether X intends to join YouTube in suspending Mr Brand’s ability to earn money on the platform.

“Given Elon Musk’s response to Mr Brand’s tweet regarding the allegations, where he wrote ‘Of course. They don’t like competition’, we are also keen to understand whether Mr Musk has personally intervened in any decisions on Mr Brand’s status on the platform.

“We would also like to know what X is doing to ensure that creators are not able to use the platform to undermine the welfare of victims of inappropriate and potentially illegal behaviour.”

https://twitter.com/CountDankulaTV/status/1704607541852844072/photo/1

I think that it is important. But I am at loss of words so I am not even sure where to begin to make it effortpost. It is outrageous, indefensible and at first I though it was satire.

Do think this is rogue action? (my guess no), Will there be punishment for the MP for overstepping greatly any boundaries? (also no).

Dear Dame Caroline,

I can confirm that Mr. Brand is able to monetize his content on our network and will continue to be able to do so unless his content is found to violate our terms and conditions as listed here: <link>

Please refer to the same document for <company>'s policy regarding inappropriate and illegal behavior on our site.

Sincerely,

Some Person, PR Drone, <company>

Was that so hard?

Here are the X rules for monetization. I see a few avenues of attack if parliament wants to throw the book at him.

Local law: You are responsible for complying with applicable local laws and regulations while earning revenue on X.

I'm not too familiar with the timeline, but if he committed sexual assault at the same time he was earning Twitter revenue, then technically he was in violation of the terms and conditions. (This one is extremely nitpicky.)

Enforcement philosophy: All creators monetizing content on X must comply with the requirements described and referenced on this page. Should you violate any one of these requirements, act in a manner directly counter to X’s purpose or principles, or otherwise act in a way we deem potentially harmful to X or its customers, we may take some or all of the enforcement actions outlined below.

Would you want to be the PR drone responsible for telling an MP that nothing Russell Brand did is directly counter to X's purpose or principles? I wouldn't.

Seems fairly easy. Just say if he is guilty of these charges then I trust you will prosecute him and he will be unable to earn revenue while imprisoned.

Local law: You are responsible for complying with applicable local laws and regulations while earning revenue on X.

Musk has appealed to this provision to justify cooperation with EU wrongthink laws, meaning Tweets that would be legal in the US but not in Germany are not protected by TOS- X can and has cooperated to help legal authorities punish those who engage in that even if it were completely legal in the US. I don't think this provision has ever been used to refer to behavior outside of Twitter.

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