🤔 Midweek Wiser! - Elon, Elon, Elon | Trump's NFT Cards | BigTech's Headwinds | What's ChatGPT? | TikTok Security | SBF Jailed
Trump has no shame. Big Tech face increasing headwinds from regulators, lawmakers and courts. SBF is in jail. TikTok is being censored. Elon Musk only lets you play by his rules. More about ChatGPT.
Hello Wiser! readers, here’s your mid-week reminder of the key stories from Wiser! #104 with updates and some new stuff.
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🦤 Elon’s increasingly bizarre management style
When Musk asks a question on Twitter, he knows what answer he wants. He uses every Twitter poll to gain public approval for what he’s already decided to do. His latest stunt is to ask Twitter if he should stay on as boss. Over 15 million Tweeters voted 57% in favour of Musk not being CEO! Is this what he wanted?
However, its a dumb question because he’s already broken a broken Twitter. Who could possibly run the platform under these conditions? And who would buy it for any more than $5—7 billion (Musk just paid $44 billion)?
Far from creating a public square and the home of free speech, Musk has recast public discourse to fit his own bias and political perspective. And if you disagree, off with your head (well, your access to Twitter to be precise!)
Over the weekend, Musk banned credible and high profile journalists who had written critically pieces about him. It started when he banned the account “@elonjets” that tweets his plane movements using publicly available data, even though he said he wouldn’t.
Musk also introduced a policy to block any accounts that promoted other social media accounts. This was a bizarre move because it is anti-competitive. It falls foul of the EU’s Digital Markets Act and alienates all the other social media platforms who all actively encourage the sharing of each others links.
The right question is not whether Musk should be CEO, but whether he should own Twitter at all. He’s spent more than $45 billion buying the platform that’s probably worth no more 10% of that right now. It was a $5 billion revenue business before the advertisers started walking away. It’ll be much smaller now and shrinking.
The question of whether an important global social media platform that gives voice to those who need it should be in the control of one person, let alone a narcistic authoritarian egomaniac like Musk, is not a new question.
Facebook and News Corp are each controlled by one man who wields enormous power and influence. But unlike Zuckerberg and Murdoch, Musk has not sat quietly in a darkened control room, pulling the levers from behind closed doors. Instead he’s laid out his playbook for all to see. And anyone who doesn’t like it, can play the game somewhere else.
The sad reality is that there is no alternative to Twitter, yet.
I moved to Mastodon and have given it a go, but frankly it’s an inferior home. It’s not the tech or even the decentralised nature of it..the problem with Mastodon is that it’s not Twitter. Nobody is there. It’s like being first to a party waiting for everyone to arrive…you just don’t if they’re coming.
As for Twitter, I maintain my POV that it’s broke under Musk. Whether he steps down now is anyone’s guess…
⚖️ Regulation headwinds are blowing harder for BigTech
Back Story: Last week I wrote about the impact of the European Union's Digital Markets Act on the fines levied on technology firms. These fines are intended to focus the attention of decision makers. And they are working.
Epic Games fined for breaching child safety rules
The FTC have charged Epic with a half a billion dollar million settlement for breaches of children’s privacy laws using “dark patterns”. This is a technique for duping users into making online purchases. The FTC also took issue with Epic’s live text and voice communication features, which were set to be turned on by default, regardless of the users age.
The FTC claims that children were exposed to harassment and abuse because of these features, especially since Epic had no way of making sure that children and adults would not be matched together in online play.
Apple's protection of its Walled Garden
In response of the requirements of the EU’s DMA and the ruling in the Epic Games case, Bloomberg reported that Apple is going to let developers sell their apps to iPhone users without going through the App Store.
Microsoft's acquisition of Activision
Meanwhile, Microsoft's $69 billion acquisition of Activision continues to draw considerable scrutiny from US, UK and EU regulators over competition concerns. The acquisition would make Microsoft the third-largest video game maker in the world after Sony and Tencent.
Google v Section 230
Social media is protected from scrutiny because of Section 230, a US law that dates back to 1996. Section 230 says that the platforms are not responsible for what you and I post on them.
This outdated law is going to be tested in the upcoming Supreme Court case Gonzalez v. Google, which questions whether social media platforms are protected by Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act.
Amazon's competitive advantage in its own marketplace
Amazon has finalised a deal with EU regulators to address concerns about Amazon playing both sides of the marketplace, drawing attention to its own products at the expense of its competition
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🕺🏻 Pressure is growing on TikTok in the USA
TikTok's popularity has US politicians worried about security. So much so, that 11 US states have banned TikTok, with Georgia being the latest state to join the list.
Forbes stated that "an all-out ban on TikTok in the US is plausible" but improbable.
👉 How dangerous is TikTok in the era of the black box of AI?
☕️ Starbucks kicks off its NFT-driven rewards
It might seem alien to older generations, but there’s good reason for consumer brands like Starbucks to explore the use of web3 technologies.
Here’s The Thing: Starbucks has a massive and hugely successful loyalty rewards program that drives as much as 50% of its revenues.
Expanding the loyalty scheme with NFT technology means that Starbucks will be able to create a new level of engagement amongst its customer base.
Customers will earn digital rewards in the form of limited-edition NFTS that they can then trade on a Starbucks NFT marketplace. The whole thing will be run on the Polygon blockchain network.
The tech will also allow Starbucks to dynamically roll out additional benefits and features to select NFT holders, such as invites to exclusive events.
🕸️ Brand Strategies For Web3 and the Metaverse
Drop 2 of the Brand Strategies Collection went live last week. I added another 30 consumer brands to the Collection that now comprises 110 brands and their use-cases in NFTs, blockchain, virtual reality and crypto.
The latest brands added to the Collection include: Foot Locker, Kia, Kellogg's JP Morgan, Kraft Heinz, KPMG, L'Oreal, Lamborghini, Louis Vuitton, Lavazza, Lego, LGMacy's, Mars, Mattel, McDonald's, Mercedes-Benz.
To access this unique Collection, buy a lifetime access via my page on Gumroad.
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🎙 Big Tech Little Tech Podcast
Episode #15 - Gadget gifts, ChatGPT, Apple Music Sing, and flying cars
For links to every major podcast platform, show notes and all the details about the last show, go to BTLTpod.com
Find the podcast on all the major platforms. Or listen here on Spotify.
🦸Donald Trump's NFT collection made $4 million in sell-out drop
Trump knows how to sell. The NFTs sold for $99 each with an offer of both status ("be part of my community") and exclusivity ("you could win lunch with me".
The collection sold out immediately, netting $4.4 million.
Watch the video for yourselves...
👮🏻♂️ “This is really old-fashioned embezzlement.”
It's all crashing down on FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried, having been arrested in the Bahamas this week and then denied bail. Prosecutors for the Southern District of New York have filed charges alleging money laundering, wire fraud and campaign finance violations.
The Securities and Exchange Commission charged him for allegedly defrauding investors. The Commodity Futures and Trading Commission filed its own complaint agaianst SBF and FTX.
On top of that, FTX's new CEO John J. Ray III, gave a four-hour testimony in front of a congressional committee, which he summed up the whole sorry affair as “old-fashioned embezzlement.”
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