A 19-year-old woman named Chloe Cole, who was medically transitioned as a minor and has since detransitioned, was censored by Instagram over the weekend.
It&#8217;s unclear why Cole was censored, but the teen captioned a photo of her bio on the social media platform, wherein she identifies herself as a detranstioner.
Cole’s <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/Cw-sbWtuEze/?img_index=2" target="_blank" rel="noopener">bio</a> notes that she’s “female” with two X chromosomes and a “former trans kid.” It also says that she was started on testosterone and puberty blockers at age 13, underwent a double mastectomy at 15, and finally detranstioned at 16. 
&#8220;The big tech overlords think I’m too cute to be on here,&#8221; Cole quipped, captioning messages from Instagram, which is owned by Meta.
&#8220;Your account cannot be shown to non-followers,&#8221; the social media platform said, according to the screenshots. &#8220;Your account activity may not follow our Recommendations Guidelines.&#8221;
&#8220;What this means: Your account and content won’t appear in places like Explore, Search, Suggested Users, Reels, and Feed Recommendations,&#8221; the message continued.
Under Instagrams&#8217;s &#8220;guidelines on violence,&#8221; it reads as follows: &#8220;Our Recommendations Guidelines help promote content that fosters a safe community on Instagram. We try not to recommend content or accounts that show violence, such as people fighting. This includes: All accompanying text or imagery that encourage violence, include hashtags, terms, and bio.&#8221;  
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<a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/Cw-sbWtuEze/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A post shared by Chloe Cole 🩵 (@chooocole)</a>
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Cole is notably <a href="https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2023-03-02/transgender-patients-chloe-cole-lawsuit-against-kaiser-lgbtq-rights#:~:text=Cole's%20legal%20complaint%2C%20filed%20Feb,distrust%20of%20the%20medical%20system.%E2%80%9D">suing</a> the Kaiser Permanente healthcare system for her transgender treatment. Recently testifying before Congress, the teenager pleaded with lawmakers to let her story by the &#8220;final warning.&#8221; 
&#8220;Doctors are human, too, and sometimes they are wrong,&#8221; she <a href="https://www.c-span.org/video/?c5079802/chloe-cole-opening-statement-transitioning-detransitioning" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> before Congress. &#8220;My childhood was ruined – along with thousands of de-transitioners that I know through our networks – this needs to stop. You alone can stop it. Enough children have already been victimized by this barbaric pseudoscience; please let me be your final warning.&#8221;
Cole is certainly not alone in taking on medical professionals who perform irreversible transgender treatments on young people. A now-21-year-old Texas woman named <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/no-one-has-a-right-to-sterilize-a-child-two-detransitioners-sue-doctors-over-medical-interventions" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Soren Aldaco</a> is suing her doctors in excess of $1 million over transgender medical interventions she received as a teenager.
Soren and her lawyer, Ron Miller, are not only searching for accountability and justice in Soren’s particular case, but want to send a message to medical insurers. “It’s about catching the attention of insurance companies, that they might want to stop insuring this kind of practice,” Miller told The Daily Wire. “And if they stop insuring this kind of practice, practitioners tend to not like to take that risk on themselves, so they stop doing it.”
In the lawsuit, Soren claims that medical professionals in Texas were guided by their ideology and irresponsibly facilitated treatments and surgeries that have led to Soren’s “permanent disfigurement” and have caused “profound psychological scarring.”
“What happened to me was preventable,” Soren told The Daily Wire. “I wanna hold my providers accountable for what they did, and I feel very strongly that ideology was prioritized over my long-term mental and physical wellbeing.”
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/no-one-has-a-right-to-sterilize-a-child-two-detransitioners-sue-doctors-over-medical-interventions" target="_blank" rel="noopener">‘No One Has A Right To Sterilize A Child’: Two Detransitioners Sue Doctors Over Medical Interventions</a>

Screen Shot 2023-07-27 at 12.50.17 PM

Detransitioned Teen Chloe Cole Censored By Instagram

Instagram

Transgender

transgender surgery

Canadians’ access to news on Facebook and Instagram will be cut off in the coming weeks after Meta said Tuesday that a “fundamentally flawed” law is forcing the company to make the tough decision. 
Canada’s Online News Act, passed by its leftist legislature earlier this summer, requires Big Tech companies to negotiate agreements with Canadian news outlets and pay them for news content shared on social media platforms, Reuters <a href="https://ca.movies.yahoo.com/meta-starts-process-end-news-164645853.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>. Meta spokesman Andy Stone slammed the law in a tweet on Tuesday and said ending access to news on its platforms was the only option. 
“Today we&#8217;ve begun the process of ending news availability in Canada. Changes will roll out over a few weeks,” Stone said. “As we&#8217;ve always said, the law is based on a fundamentally flawed premise. And, regrettably, the only way we can reasonably comply is to end news availability in Canada.”
Both Meta and Google said in June that they would fight the law by blocking access to news in Canada. The country’s move is part of a global trend to force Big Tech companies to pay for news shared on their platforms, according to Reuters. Australia passed a similar law in 2021, while <a href="https://www.businesstoday.in/technology/news/story/deeply-irresponsible-canada-pm-justin-trudeau-slams-facebooks-flawed-argument-against-paying-for-news-380681-2023-05-10" target="_blank" rel="noopener">France and Spain</a> also have social media news laws on the books.
The trend is making its way to the U.S. as well, as lawmakers in California have advanced a bill with bipartisan support mirroring Canada’s Online News Act. Meta has also <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2023/06/01/meta-says-it-will-block-news-in-california-if-bill-becomes-law.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">threatened</a> to block news in California if the bill, dubbed the “Journalism Preservation Act,” passes the state Senate and gets signed into law by Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom.  
“If the Journalism Preservation Act passes, we will be forced to remove news from Facebook and Instagram, rather than pay into a slush fund that primarily benefits big, out-of-state media companies under the guise of aiding California publishers,” Stone said in a statement in May. “The bill fails to recognize that publishers and broadcasters put their content on our platform themselves and that substantial consolidation in California’s local news industry came over 15 years ago, well before Facebook was widely used.”
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In Canada, Meta argued that news articles made up less than 3% of the content in users’ feeds and said news lacks economic value, but Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau shot back, <a href="https://www.businesstoday.in/technology/news/story/deeply-irresponsible-canada-pm-justin-trudeau-slams-facebooks-flawed-argument-against-paying-for-news-380681-2023-05-10">saying</a> that Meta’s argument was “not just flawed, but dangerous to our democracy, to our economy.” Trudeau also accused the social media giant of being “deeply irresponsible and out of touch.” 
Google said that Canada’s law is even broader than those passed in Australia and Europe, as it also can apply to outlets that do not produce news. In June, the tech company <a href="https://blog.google/intl/en-ca/company-news/outreach-initiatives/an-update-on-canadas-bill-c-18-and-our-search-and-news-products/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> it “informed the Government that we have made the difficult decision that when the law takes effect we will be removing links to Canadian news from our Search, News, and Discover products and will no longer be able to operate Google News Showcase in Canada.”

Canada/Facebook

Meta Begins Removing Canadians’ Access To All News On Facebook, Instagram

Meta Begins Removing Canadians' Access To All News On Facebook, Instagram

Big Tech

Canada

Facebook

News

Social Media

World

House Judiciary Committee Chairman <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/jim-jordan">Jim Jordan</a> (R-OH) released internal <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/meta">Meta</a> documents on Thursday that he said were evidence of the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/white-house">White House</a> improperly pressuring <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/facebook">Facebook</a> and Instagram into censoring posts.
The congressman said in a thread posted to X that he was unveiling &#8220;Part 1&#8221; of &#8220;The Facebook Files&#8221; — which appears to be a nod to the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/the-twitter-files-twitter-and-the-fbi-belly-button">&#8220;Twitter Files&#8221;</a> — obtained by his panel only after he <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/house-committee-moves-forward-with-plan-to-hold-meta-ceo-mark-zuckerberg-in-contempt">threatened to move forward</a> with holding Meta CEO <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/mark-zuckerberg" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Mark Zuckerberg</a> in contempt of Congress. Jordan said that plan is being placed on hold unless the Big Tech giant stops cooperating with his investigation.
Jordan&#8217;s thread, which he said involved &#8220;smoking-gun&#8221; documents that &#8220;prove Facebook censored Americans because of Biden White House pressure,&#8221; contained some screenshots of the documents, but not the full correspondence.
&#8220;Never-before-released internal documents subpoenaed by the Judiciary Committee PROVE that Facebook and Instagram censored posts and changed their content moderation policies because of unconstitutional pressure from the Biden White House,&#8221; Jordan <a href="https://twitter.com/Jim_Jordan/status/1684595375875760128">began</a>.
&#8220;During the first half of 2021, social media companies like Facebook faced tremendous pressure from the Biden White House — both publicly and privately — to crack down on alleged &#8216;misinformation,'&#8221; Jordan said.
&#8220;In April 2021, a Facebook employee circulated an email for Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and COO Sheryl Sandberg, writing: &#8216;We are facing continued pressure from external stakeholders, including the [Biden] White House&#8217; to remove posts,&#8221; Jordan said.
&#8220;In another April 2021 email, Nick Clegg, Facebook’s president for global affairs, informed his team at Facebook that Andy Slavitt, a Senior Advisor to President Biden, was &#8216;outraged . . . that [Facebook] did not remove&#8217; a particular post,&#8221; Jordan said.
&#8220;What did the Biden White House want removed? A meme,&#8221; Jordan said, posting a screenshot of a meme concerning COVID vaccines. &#8220;That’s right, even memes weren’t spared from the Biden White House’s censorship efforts.&#8221;
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What did the Biden White House want removed?
A meme.
That’s right, even memes weren’t spared from the Biden White House’s censorship efforts. <a href="https://t.co/6BhDxTHsUi">pic.twitter.com/6BhDxTHsUi</a>
&mdash; Rep. Jim Jordan (@Jim_Jordan) <a href="https://twitter.com/Jim_Jordan/status/1684595385199734784?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 27, 2023</a></blockquote>
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&#8220;When Clegg &#8216;countered that removing content like that would represent a significant incursion into traditional boundaries of free expression in the US,&#8217; Slavitt disregarded the warning and the First Amendment,&#8221; Jordan said.
&#8220;What happened next? Facebook panicked. In another April 2021 email, Brian Rice, Facebook’s VP of public policy, raised the concern that Slavitt&#8217;s challenge felt &#8216;very much like a crossroads for us with the [Biden] White House in these early days,'&#8221; Jordan said.
&#8220;But Facebook wanted to repair its relationship with the White House to avoid adverse action: &#8216;Given what is at stake here, it would also be a good idea if we could regroup and take stock of where we are in our relations with the [White House], and our internal methods too,'&#8221; Jordan said.
&#8220;This wasn’t the first time that the Biden White House was angry that Facebook didn’t censor more,&#8221; Jordan said. &#8220;According to these documents, the Biden White House demanded to know why Facebook had not censored a video from [journalist Tucker Carlson]. So, Facebook prepped its response.&#8221;
&#8220;To appease the Biden White House, talking points were drafted for Clegg. Facebook was ready to tell the White House that it had demoted a video posted by Tucker Carlson by 50% in response to the White House’s demands, even though the post didn’t violate any policies,&#8221; Jordan said.
&#8220;Public pressure mounted as well,&#8221; Jordan said, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/white-house-says-facebooks-steps-stop-vaccine-misinformation-are-inadequate-2021-07-16/">linking to a Reuters article</a>. &#8220;In July 2021, President Biden publicly denounced Facebook and other social media platforms, claiming they were &#8216;killing people&#8217; by not censoring alleged &#8216;misinformation.'&#8221;
&#8220;On August 2, 2021, Facebook admitted it was going to change its policies because of pressure from the Biden White House,&#8221; Jordan said. &#8220;August 2, 2021: &#8216;[Facebook’s] Leadership asked Misinfo Policy . . . to brainstorm some additional policy levers we can pull to be more aggressive against . . . misinformation. This is stemming from the continued criticism of our approach from the [Biden] administration.'&#8221;
&#8220;But it wasn&#8217;t just the White House. Facebook also changed its policies in direct response to pressure from Biden&#8217;s Surgeon General, censoring members of the &#8216;disinformation dozen,'&#8221; Jordan said.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
But it wasn&#39;t just the White House.
Facebook also changed its policies in direct response to pressure from Biden&#39;s Surgeon General, censoring members of the “disinformation dozen.” <a href="https://t.co/FvGuoqUlns">pic.twitter.com/FvGuoqUlns</a>
&mdash; Rep. Jim Jordan (@Jim_Jordan) <a href="https://twitter.com/Jim_Jordan/status/1684595401863614464?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 27, 2023</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;These documents, AND OTHERS that were just produced to the Committee, prove that the Biden Admin abused its powers to coerce Facebook into censoring Americans, preventing free and open discourse on issues of critical public importance,&#8221; Jordan said.
&#8220;Only after the Committee announced its intention to hold Mark Zuckerberg in contempt did Facebook produce ANY internal documents to the Committee, including these documents, which PROVE that government pressure was directly responsible for censorship on Facebook,&#8221; Jordan said.
&#8220;Based on Facebook’s newfound commitment to fully cooperate with the Committee’s investigation, the Committee has decided to hold contempt in abeyance. For now. To be clear, contempt is still on the table and WILL be used if Facebook fails to cooperate in FULL,&#8221; Jordan said.
The chairman concluded his thread by stating, &#8220;To be continued…&#8221;
Elon Musk, who just rebranded Twitter to &#8220;X,&#8221; <a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1684606168113815552">commented</a> on the thread by saying, &#8220;Extremely concerning!&#8221;
The Daily Wire reached out to Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, seeking comment on the new thread.
Earlier in the week, a spokesperson for Meta <a href="https://twitter.com/andymstone/status/1683904883194200067">said the company delivered</a> over 53,000 pages of documents — &#8220;both internal and external&#8221; — and made current and former employees available to talk with the committee. &#8220;Meta will continue to comply, as we have thus far, with good faith requests from the committee,&#8221; the spokesperson added.
Jordan posted &#8220;The Facebook Files&#8221; amid an <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/biden-administration-scores-victory-against-order-blocking-contact-with-social-media-companies" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ongoing lawsuit</a> brought by GOP state attorneys general over alleged collusion between the federal government and social media companies to censor speech in violation of the First Amendment.
Pushing back against the claims, a White House official <a href="https://apnews.com/article/social-media-protected-speech-lawsuit-injunction-148c1cd43f88a0284d5a3c53fd333727">told the Associated Press</a> that the Biden administration &#8220;has promoted responsible actions to protect public health, safety, and security when confronted by challenges like a deadly pandemic and foreign attacks on our elections.&#8221;

Jim Jordan

Jim Jordan Unleashes ‘The Facebook Files’: Social Media Giant ‘Censored Americans Because Of Biden White House Pressure’

Jim Jordan Unleashes 'The Facebook Files'

Censorship

Congress

U.S.

Months after <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/jim-jordan-subpoenas-big-tech-executives-in-collusion-investigation" target="_blank" rel="noopener">subpoenaing</a> Meta CEO <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/mark-zuckerberg" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Mark Zuckerberg</a> as part of a censorship investigation, a GOP-led House panel announced on Tuesday a plan to move forward with trying to punish the Big Tech executive for allegedly not complying with its demands.
The Judiciary Committee, led by Chairman <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/jim-jordan" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Jim Jordan</a> (R-OH), said a markup session is <a href="https://judiciary.house.gov/committee-activity/markups/markup-report-recommending-us-house-cite-mark-zuckerberg-contempt" target="_blank" rel="noopener">scheduled</a> for Thursday afternoon during which members will consider a report recommending the full House chamber vote on citing Zuckerberg for contempt of Congress.
&#8220;The Committee’s subpoena to Meta, issued on February 15, 2023, requires, among other things, that Meta produce material concerning its engagement with the Executive Branch and Meta’s decisions and policies regarding content moderation,&#8221; the <a href="https://judiciary.house.gov/sites/evo-subsites/republicans-judiciary.house.gov/files/evo-media-document/zuckerberg-contempt-report_ans.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">panel&#8217;s report said</a>. &#8220;Although directly responsive to the Committee’s subpoena, Meta has failed to produce nearly all of the relevant documents internal to the company.&#8221;
In a <a href="https://twitter.com/andymstone/status/1683904883194200067" target="_blank" rel="noopener">statement</a> posted to social media, Meta claimed to have operated in &#8220;good faith&#8221; to comply with &#8220;sweeping requests&#8221; from the committee for months, even before the subpoena was issued in February.
&#8220;To date we have delivered over 53,000 pages of documents &#8212; both internal and external &#8212; and have made nearly a dozen current and former employees available to discuss external and internal matters, including some scheduled this very week,&#8221; Meta added. &#8220;Meta will continue to comply, as we have thus far, with good faith requests from the committee.&#8221;
In addition to Zuckerberg, top executives from Google, Amazon, Microsoft, and Apple were also subpoenaed in February with a deadline set toward the end of March. While Republicans have set their focus on the issue of censorship, Democrats have generally been more concerned about the <a href="https://www.npr.org/2021/03/25/981203566/5-takeaways-from-big-techs-misinformation-hearing" target="_blank" rel="noopener">spread of false information and extremism</a> on social media platforms.
Twitter, which this week owner Elon Musk <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/elon-musk-announces-twitter-logo-change-plans-to-gradually-remove-all-the-birds" target="_blank" rel="noopener">rebranded to X</a>, did not appear on the subpoena list. At the time, Jordan <a href="https://judiciary.house.gov/sites/evo-subsites/republicans-judiciary.house.gov/files/evo-media-document/2023-02-15-jdj-to-jassy-amazon.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">touted how Twitter</a> &#8220;set a benchmark for how transparent Big Tech companies can be about interactions with government over censorship&#8221; following the release of The Twitter Files.
Meta, the parent company of Facebook that recently introduced its <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/meta-to-release-new-app-threads-to-compete-with-twitter" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Twitter-competitor app</a> called Threads, had as of Tuesday &#8220;produced only documents between Meta and external entities and a small subset of relevant internal documents&#8221; to the House Judiciary Committee, the panel&#8217;s report said.
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The committee &#8220;has a particular need for Meta’s internal documents, which would shed light on how Meta understood, evaluated, and responded to the Executive Branch’s requests or directives to censor content, as well as Meta’s decision-making process to censor viewpoints in the modern town square,&#8221; the panel added.
While alluding to an <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/biden-administration-scores-victory-against-order-blocking-contact-with-social-media-companies" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ongoing lawsuit</a> over alleged collusion between the federal government and social media companies to censor speech in violation of the First Amendment, the panel&#8217;s report indicated Congress may develop legislation to enact &#8220;new statutory limits on the Executive Branch’s ability to work with technology companies to restrict the circulation of content and deplatform users.&#8221;
Among the recommendations made in the report, beyond holding Zuckerberg in contempt of Congress, is to have the House speaker refer the matter to the U.S. attorney in Washington, D.C., and &#8220;otherwise take all appropriate action to enforce the subpoena.&#8221;

Mark Zuckerberg

House Committee Moves Forward With Plan To Hold Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg In Contempt

Facebook founder <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/mark-zuckerberg" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Mark Zuckerberg</a> said Thursday that his new <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/twitter" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Twitter</a> competitor, Instagram&#8217;s Threads, attracted a whopping 30 million sign-ups in its first 24 hours.
Zuckerberg&#8217;s Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, launched Threads Wednesday night. Threads went live on Apple and Android app stores in 100 countries at 7 p.m. ET.
&#8220;Wow, 30 million sign ups as of this morning. Feels like the beginning of something special, but we&#8217;ve got a lot of work ahead to build out the app,&#8221; Zuckerberg <a href="https://www.threads.net/t/CuXCjGVrd6R/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">posted</a> on Threads Thursday morning.
Threads is likely to be Twitter&#8217;s most serious competitor yet. The platform features tweet-style posts, and users can comment on others&#8217; Threads posts, just like on Twitter.
Zuckerberg tweeted for the first time in over a decade to launch a playful missive at Elon Musk on Twitter, tweeting a meme of two matching Spidermans pointing at each other.
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<a href="https://t.co/MbMxUWiQgp">pic.twitter.com/MbMxUWiQgp</a>
&mdash; Mark Zuckerberg (@finkd) <a href="https://twitter.com/finkd/status/1676747594460962817?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 6, 2023</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&nbsp;
The goal is to get one billion people to sign up for Threads, Zuckerberg said. The Facebook founder also said they will hold off on ads for now and suggested Meta will grow Threads the same way he grew Facebook.
&#8220;Our approach will be the same as all our other products: make the product work well first, then see if we can get it on a clear path to 1 billion people, and only then think about monetization at that point,&#8221; Zuckerberg <a href="https://www.threads.net/t/CuW5-eWL34x" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> in another Threads post.
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Instagram head Adam Mosseri posted early Thursday morning after staying up all night and touted the app already reaching 10 million sign-ups, but he acknowledged Instagram still has a lot of work to do.
&#8220;Lots more to do. It&#8217;s easy to get a bunch of people to sign up, it&#8217;s hard to build something that people want to keep using, but quite the first day,&#8221; Mosseri <a href="https://www.threads.net/t/CuWOMBzgnto/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>.
A slew of celebrities have already signed up for Threads, including Jennifer Lopez, Shakira, Oprah, Kim Kardashian, Khloé Kardashian, Gordon Ramsay, and Hugh Jackman.
Several big brands also signed up early, including Netflix, Warner Bros. Discovery’s Shark Week, Animal Planet, Billboard, HBO, NPR, HGTV, The Washington Post, The Economist, and CBS News.
Threads still lacks many of the features Twitter includes, including direct messaging, a feed of only the accounts the user follows, hashtags, and a search feature. However, some of those features are in the works, <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/instagrams-threads-bursts-gate-millions-sign-ups-rcna92827" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to Instagram&#8217;s head.
Twitter responded Thursday by threatening legal action against Meta over Threads, accusing the company of poaching former Twitter employees to build a &#8220;copycat&#8221; app.
Twitter lawyer Alex Spiro <a href="https://news.yahoo.com/twitter-threatening-sue-meta-over-181843547.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">sent</a> Zuckerberg a letter accusing Meta of “systematic, willful, and unlawful misappropriation of Twitter’s trade secrets and other intellectual property.”
“Twitter intends to strictly enforce its intellectual property rights, and demands that Meta take immediate steps to stop using any Twitter trade secrets or other highly confidential information,” Spiro wrote. “Twitter reserves all rights, including, but not limited to, the right to seek both civil remedies and injunctive relief without further notice to prevent any further retention, disclosure, or use of its intellectual property by Meta.”

Facebook Annouces A New Product

Zuckerberg Says Instagram Threads Has 30 Million Sign Ups

<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/meta">Meta</a>, the parent company to Mark Zuckerberg’s Facebook, will release a new microblogging app called Threads — as a potential competitor of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/twitter">Twitter</a> — on Thursday. 
Threads – which will be connected to Instagram, another Meta-owned company – is expected to mimic the Twitter product and draw from Meta’s Instagram user base.
Users will be able to use their Instagram accounts to log in to the new app, which self-describes on the App Store as “Instagram’s text-based conversation app” to “discuss everything from the topics you care about today.” 
Though Meta already owns Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, and WhatsApp, the company has long searched for a product to compete with Twitter’s popularity: A Twitter employee wrote in an internal post that “Twitter is in crisis and Meta needs its mojo back,” according to a December 2022 <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/07/technology/twitter-rivals-alternative-platforms.html">report by The New York Times</a>. The employee added, “LET’S GO FOR THEIR BREAD AND BUTTER.”
The Wall Street Journal <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/mark-zuckerberg-looks-to-deliver-hit-to-elon-musk-with-upcoming-twitter-clone-4a464407?mod=hp_lead_pos4">reported</a> that more than 50 million consumers use both Twitter and Instagram, and Meta likely hopes to capitalize on that base. The company has previously adopted similar tactics to combat competitors, such as introducing Stories to compete with Snapchat and Reels to rival Tiktok.
The announcement comes after months of publicity about a rivalry between <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/mark-zuckerberg">Mark Zuckerberg</a> and Twitter owner <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/elon-musk">Elon Musk</a>, culminating in a proposed boxing fight between the two, as suggested by Zuckerberg. 
Since Musk <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/breaking-elon-musk-officially-takes-over-twitter-as-sale-is-now-final-top-execs-fired-report-says">took over Twitter</a> in October 2022, the company has faced a bucket of controversies over significant cuts to its workforce, changes to its “blue check” verification process, and loosening moderation rules. The company also gained public attention following Musk’s decision to release the “<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/twitter-files">Twitter Files</a>” to several journalists, including Matt Taibbi and Bari Weiss. 
Most recently, Musk announced over the weekend that he would place “temporary limits” on how many Tweets accounts can view per day, citing “extreme levels of data scraping &amp; system manipulation,” according to his Twitter account. 
Twitter has also likely experienced a steep decline in advertising revenue: The company posted $4.5 billion in 2021, the last year its financials were public before Musk took the company private, but Twitter is predicted to garner only $3 billion in 2023 advertising revenue, according to <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/mark-zuckerberg-looks-to-deliver-hit-to-elon-musk-with-upcoming-twitter-clone-4a464407?mod=hp_lead_pos4">The Wall Street Journal</a>. 
Despite the struggles the company has faced, companies Mastodon and BlueSky, as well as Trump’s Truth Social, all of which have tried to rival Twitter, have not yet gained enough traction to compete with Twitter’s more than 350 million users. 
Meta reported a total of 2.99 billion monthly average users across its platforms in its <a href="https://investor.fb.com/investor-news/press-release-details/2023/Meta-Reports-First-Quarter-2023-Results/default.aspx">first-quarter earnings report</a>.

COMBO-US-TECHNOLOGY-META-TWITTER

Meta To Release New App ‘Threads’ To Compete With Twitter

Elon Musk

Twitter

Two of the world’s richest and most influential men could be squaring off soon after Twitter CEO <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/elon-musk" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Elon Musk</a> challenged Meta CEO <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/mark-zuckerberg" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Mark Zuckerberg</a> to a &#8220;cage match,&#8221; which the Facebook creator appeared to accept. 
Musk laid down the challenge when commenting on Twitter about the prospect of a Zuckerberg-backed Twitter rival. 
“I’m sure Earth can’t wait to be exclusively under Zuck’s thumb with no other options,” Musk said in response to reports of a potential Twitter rival being developed by Zuckerburg. “At least it will be ‘sane.’ Was worried there for a moment.”
In response, one Twitter user warned Musk to be “careful” because Zuckerberg does jiu-jitsu. 
“I’m up for a cage match if he is lol,” the billionaire replied. 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
I’m up for a cage match if he is lol
&mdash; Elon Musk (@elonmusk) <a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1671364992665264131?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 21, 2023</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Soon after the remark, Zuckerberg posted on his Instagram story the words “Send Me Location” over a screenshot of Musk’s cage match challenge. A spokesperson for Meta <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2023/6/21/23769263/mark-zuckerberg-elon-musk-fight-cage-match-worldstar" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told The Verge</a> that “the story speaks for itself” when asked to confirm whether Zuckerberg would face off against Musk. 
Musk <a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1671704483598925825?t=rOSDJta14Ol3aXbnNv6pZg&amp;s=19" target="_blank" rel="noopener">replied</a> to The Verge story on Twitter with the words “Vegas Octagon.” The SpaceX CEO also jokingly discussed his fighting skills. 
“I have this great move that I call ‘The Walrus’, where I just lie on top of my opponent &amp; do nothing,” Musk said. 
The verbal jousting comes after The Verge reported that Instagram would <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2023/6/8/23754304/instagram-meta-twitter-competitor-threads-activitypub" target="_blank" rel="noopener">work</a> on a text-focused Twitter competitor. It will be an app that is Meta’s “response to Twitter,” according to the company’s chief product officer Chris Cox.
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Zuckerberg, who has competed in martial arts competitions in the past, recently <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/joe-rogan-praises-fing-savage-mark-zuckerberg-after-the-super-nerd-wins-jiu-jitsu-gold-medal" target="_blank" rel="noopener">won a gold and silver medal</a> in two separate events at the BJJ Tour competition in Woodside, California.
“Competed in my first jiu jitsu tournament and won some medals 🥇🥈 for the Guerrilla Jiu Jitsu team,” Zuckerberg announced in May. “Thanks to Dave Camarillo, Khai Wu, and James Terry for training me!”
Camarillo, who was previously the head Brazilian jiu-jitsu coach for American Kickboxing Academy, <a href="https://www.espn.com/mma/story/_/id/37598929/coach-marvels-mark-zuckerberg-winning-bjj-tournament-one-best-students-ever-had" target="_blank" rel="noopener">praised</a> Zuckerberg as one of the best students he’s ever had. 
“He is an extremely hard worker, as everybody knows. But a lot of people have a business and they&#8217;re successful and they have that side of their life, and rarely do they dip into the physical side, especially with something like jiu-jitsu and MMA, and have the same amount of success or even go past Day 1 or Month 1.&#8221;

Musk Vs. Zuckerberg: Tech Titans Prepare For ‘Cage Match’ After Musk Challenge

Musk Vs. Zuckerberg: Tech Titans Prepare For 'Cage Match' After Musk Challenge

Celebrities

Texas Senator <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/ted-cruz" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Ted Cruz</a> sent a letter to Meta CEO <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/mark-zuckerberg" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Mark Zuckerberg</a> on Monday asking for answers from the social media giant in relation to the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/instagram-accused-of-connecting-vast-pedophile-network-in-new-report" target="_blank" rel="noopener">bombshell report last week accusing Instagram of facilitating</a> a “vast pedophile network.” 
Cruz, the ranking member on the Senate Commerce Committee, said in the <a href="https://www.commerce.senate.gov/services/files/1CEAE1E3-2AA0-44F7-B54F-FB9F9B79FC1D" target="_blank" rel="noopener">letter</a> that he intended to investigate the report and requested documentation regarding <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/meta" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Meta</a>’s handling of child sexual abuse material that made its way onto Instagram, which is owned by Meta.
“It is shocking and disturbing that Instagram may be actively facilitating the sexual exploitation of children. This horrifying report certainly calls into question whether platforms like Instagram should continue receiving civil liability immunity in cases where the design of their own systems proactively facilitates illegal and harmful activity,” Cruz said in a statement to The Daily Wire.
“Given this example and Meta’s past refusal to adequately answer my questions about Facebook and Instagram’s recommendation algorithms, I think it’s time for the Commerce Committee to hear directly from Mark Zuckerberg why his company’s products are allegedly enabling pedophiles,” the Texas Republican added.
The letter was written in response to a <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/instagram-vast-pedophile-network-4ab7189" target="_blank" rel="noopener">report from The Wall Street Journal</a> alongside researchers at Stanford University and the University of Massachusetts Amherst that said that Instagram allowed and promoted accounts that openly purchased and commissioned “underage-sex content.”
Accounts on Instagram have posted “menus” that offered inappropriate content, including “imagery of the minor performing sexual acts with animals,” according to researchers from the Stanford Internet Observatory. Other “menus” reportedly offered videos of children hurting themselves or “meet-ups” with kids.
Cruz’s inquiry into Meta’s handling of abusive material is part of another investigation he launched in February to look into the <a href="https://www.commerce.senate.gov/index.php/2023/2/sen-cruz-launches-sweeping-big-tech-oversight-investigation" target="_blank" rel="noopener">treatment</a> of conservative content by tech giants Google, Twitter, TikTok, and Meta.
“As the U.S. Senate Commerce Committee may soon move to consider children’s online safety legislation, this disturbing report further calls into question whether platforms should enjoy Section 230 immunity from civil liability in cases where the design of their own systems proactively [facilitates] illegal and harmful activity,” Cruz wrote in the letter.
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Cruz asked Meta to provide a list of sexually abusive hashtags that Meta blocked and how many times they were promoted by the network’s algorithm. He also asked how many times a user account believed to be under 18 was accessed from one of the abusive hashtags.
Additionally, the Texas Senator asked how many resources were being devoted by Meta to child safety and told the company to preserve all documentation of its communications and policies on the issue.
In response to the Journal’s report, Meta said that it was continually fighting against the proliferation of abusive material.
“Child exploitation is a horrific crime,” said Meta, the parent company of Instagram. “We’re continuously investigating ways to actively defend against this behavior.”

Former FBI Director James Comey Testifies Before Senate Judiciary Committee On Russia Investigation

Ted Cruz Grills Mark Zuckerberg Over Alleged Instagram Pedophile Network

Child Abuse

Ted Cruz

<a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/meta" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Meta</a> was slammed Monday by the European Union with a $1.3 billion fine and ordered to cease transferring user data to the United States over <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/technology" target="_blank" rel="noopener">privacy</a> concerns.
The decision, revealed by the Data Protection Commission of Ireland, marks the largest penalty since the <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/european-union" target="_blank" rel="noopener">European Union</a> created the restrictive General Data Protection Regulation five years ago. Authorities said that <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/facebook" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Facebook</a>, the flagship social media network owned by Meta, breached a <a href="https://gdpr-info.eu/art-46-gdpr/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">statute</a> that mandates certain safeguards for international data transfers.
Meta was provided with a grace period of five months to implement the suspension, according to the <a href="https://www.dataprotection.ie/en/news-media/press-releases/Data-Protection-Commission-announces-conclusion-of-inquiry-into-Meta-Ireland" target="_blank" rel="noopener">decision</a>, which was adopted by the European Data Protection Board last month.
Executives from the firm issued a <a href="https://about.fb.com/news/2023/05/our-response-to-the-decision-on-facebooks-eu-us-data-transfers/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">statement</a> on Monday contending that American and European regulators must resolve the “fundamental conflict of law” with respect to data access and privacy. There will be “no immediate disruption” to Facebook users in Europe as the company, which also owns Instagram and WhatsApp, appeals the decision and the fine.
“The ability for data to be transferred across borders is fundamental to how the global open internet works. From finance and telecommunications to critical public services like healthcare or education, the free flow of data supports many of the services that we have come to rely on,” the company said. “Without the ability to transfer data across borders, the internet risks being carved up into national and regional silos, restricting the global economy and leaving citizens in different countries unable to access many of the shared services we have come to rely on.”
Meta added that Ireland&#8217;s Data Protection Commission had acknowledged that Meta continued the transfers between the United States and European Union in “good faith” and that a fine would be “unnecessary and disproportionate.” The firm asserted that the European Data Protection Board overruled the decision, which “also chose to disregard the clear progress that policymakers are making to resolve this underlying issue.”
The decision from European authorities comes as Meta launches significant restructuring efforts to reverse declining profits and reduce managerial complexity: the company <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/heads-roll-at-meta-as-zuckerberg-announces-massive-layoffs" target="_blank" rel="noopener">dismissed</a> more than 11,000 employees at the end of last year, announcing a further headcount <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/meta-lays-off-thousands-more-employees-as-zuckerberg-urges-return-to-physical-offices" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reduction</a> of 10,000 employees two months ago and the conclusion of efforts to fill 5,000 open positions.
“As I’ve talked about efficiency this year, I’ve said that part of our work will involve removing jobs, and that will be in service of both building a leaner, more technical company and improving our business performance to enable our long term vision,” Meta chief executive Mark Zuckerberg told employees in a memo.
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Meta and other tech behemoths have been the subject of several <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/privacy-win-facebook-settles-decade-old-90-million-lawsuit-alleging-it-tracked-users-data-without-consent" target="_blank" rel="noopener">lawsuits</a> and regulatory actions over their handling of user data. Lawmakers have also considered several proposals that would increase privacy standards: the American Data Privacy and Protection Act, for instance, proposed a “data minimization” approach toward the collection of user information last year such that technology companies only <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/lauded-federal-data-privacy-bill-has-a-carveout-for-government-surveillance" target="_blank" rel="noopener">procure</a> the data points “reasonably necessary and proportionate” to specific applications, including user authentication, fraud prevention, and transaction execution. The bill would have also banned advertising directed toward children or based on “sensitive covered data,” including health information and precise geolocation.

Meta Hit With Massive Fine Over Data Privacy

Meta Hit With Massive Fine In Europe

Business

European Union

Privacy

<a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/meta" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Meta</a> CEO <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/mark-zuckerberg" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Mark Zuckerberg</a> and other senior executives at the <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/social-media" target="_blank" rel="noopener">social media</a> firm are spending “most” of their time on various initiatives related to <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/artificial-intelligence" target="_blank" rel="noopener">artificial intelligence</a>, according to the company&#8217;s chief technology officer.
Meta CTO Andrew Bosworth remarked in a Wednesday <a href="https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Technology/Meta-to-debut-ad-creating-generative-AI-this-year-CTO-says" target="_blank" rel="noopener">interview</a> with Nikkei Asia that the company would soon respond to the release of ChatGPT, a mass-market AI system that can draft emails or write code in a matter of seconds, with innovations of their own. Google and Meta are the vanguards of AI research with respect to the number of studies published.
&#8220;We&#8217;ve been investing in artificial intelligence for over a decade, and have one of the leading research institutes in the world,&#8221; Bosworth told the outlet. He added that Meta employs “hundreds” of AI researchers and is confident they are “at the very forefront” of AI innovation.
Meta expects to commercialize elements of its generative AI capabilities by the end of this year. Companies that advertise on Instagram and Facebook, both owned by Meta, could soon ask an AI system to develop images for their campaigns and thereby save “a lot of time and money.”
The technology will also be used to develop portions of the Metaverse, a virtual reality that Meta is currently building, which inspired the company to change its name from Facebook. &#8220;Previously, if I wanted to create a 3D world, I needed to learn a lot of computer graphics and programming,” Bosworth said. “In the future, you might be able to just describe the world you want to create and have the large language model generate that world for you. And so it makes things like content creation much more accessible to more people.&#8221;
The development of AI capabilities at Meta comes at a tumultuous moment for the social media firm. Zuckerberg <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/meta-lays-off-thousands-more-employees-as-zuckerberg-urges-return-to-physical-offices" target="_blank" rel="noopener">dismissed</a> 27,000 employees in recent months as the company seeks to cut costs and improve profitability. Even amid the economic uncertainty which partially inspired the layoffs, investors have encouraged Zuckerberg to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/investor-tells-zuckerberg-to-cut-headcount-cool-down-metaverse-push-since-no-one-knows-what-it-even-means" target="_blank" rel="noopener">continue</a> funding AI innovation.
Technology companies otherwise battered by economic volatility have similarly rushed to incorporate AI solutions into their products. Microsoft, which has invested billions of dollars into ChatGPT creator OpenAI, announced last month that the system would be <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/microsoft-unveils-new-version-of-bing-powered-by-artificial-intelligence" target="_blank" rel="noopener">integrated</a> into search engine Bing and internet browser Edge, allowing users to locate information or understand websites more easily. Google <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/google-search-will-soon-receive-ai-upgrade-as-company-scrambles-to-release-chatgpt-competitor" target="_blank" rel="noopener">revealed</a> one day earlier that Bard, an experimental conversational AI service, would soon be added to the company’s search engine, which has dominated the sector for two decades.
The breakneck rollout of mass-market AI prompted some technology leaders, including Elon Musk and Steve Wozniak, to endorse an <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/musk-wozniak-other-tech-leaders-call-for-six-month-pause-on-ai-development" target="_blank" rel="noopener">open letter</a> calling for a six-month moratorium on AI development as lawmakers and society at large consider the impact of AI on employment and information channels. Bosworth disagreed with the sentiment of the letter.
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&#8220;I think it&#8217;s very important to invest in responsible development, and we do that kind of investment all the time,” Bosworth continued. “However, it&#8217;s very hard to stop progress and make the right decisions on what changes you would make. Very often you have to understand how technology evolves before you can know how to protect and make it safe. And so I think, not only is it unrealistic, I don&#8217;t think it would be effective.&#8221;

Mark Zuckerberg Spends ‘Most’ Of His Time On Artificial Intelligence, Fellow Executive Reveals

Mark Zuckerberg Spends 'Most' Of His Time On Artificial Intelligence

Artificial Intelligence

Technology

Arkansas Gov. Sarah Sanders said Tuesday that state officials plan to file three separate lawsuits against TikTok and Facebook and Instagram owner Meta, accusing the social media giants of pushing addictive and damaging content on children.
The governor&#8217;s office said the lawsuits would fall under the state&#8217;s Deceptive Trade Practices Act, prohibiting unfair or deceptive acts or practices in or affecting commerce.
&#8220;We have to hold Big Tech companies accountable for pushing addictive platforms on our kids and exposing them to a world of inappropriate, damaging content,&#8221; Sanders said in a statement to <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/arkansas-sues-social-media-giants-addictive-effect-kids-rewiring-how-our-children-think?intcmp=tw_fnc">Fox News Digital</a>. &#8220;Arkansas is leading the charge on filing three lawsuits against TikTok and Meta, the owner of Facebook and Instagram.&#8221;
The governor&#8217;s office said the legal actions come after a decade of watching social media companies evade government oversight while exploiting children for profit, pledging her administration would not tolerate &#8220;the failed status quo.&#8221; Sanders further accused Meta of putting the company&#8217;s growth &#8220;at all costs&#8221; before the well-being of children.
One lawsuit has already been filed against Meta for &#8220;targeting young users of its products to the detriment of their mental and physical health,&#8221; Fox News reported.
Meta is &#8220;rewiring how our children think, feel and behave.&#8221; Sanders&#8217; office said, adding the company allegedly publicly misled consumers about the addictive nature of its products.
&#8220;The youth of Arkansas are the direct victims of Meta&#8217;s actions, and Meta should be held accountable.&#8221; Sanders&#8217; office said.
State officials have also filed two separate lawsuits against ByteDance, the Chinese parent company of TikTok, which has faced ongoing criticism in the United States for allegedly threatening national security. The app has been accused of driving narratives that divide Americans against each other.
According to the one lawsuit reported by Fox News, it pertains to the &#8220;abundance of posts dealing with mature themes, nudity and drugs viewed by minors despite TikTok&#8217;s claims that such posts are unavailable to maintain teenager-approved ratings on various application stores.&#8221;
While the other lawsuit relates to the &#8220;deception by TikTok that the user data of Arkansans is safe from access by the Chinese government and the Chinese Communist Party.&#8221;
&#8220;China is a foreign adversary that is targeting our children through social media in a serious challenge to American values,&#8221; Sanders&#8217; office said. &#8220;China is also threatening our nation&#8217;s security and our citizens&#8217; privacy by leveraging information technologies like TikTok against the United States.
President Joe Biden and several state officials have banned TikTok from government devices over data security and surveillance concerns after reports indicated that ByteDance staffers in China used the platform to monitor the locations of specific American users.
U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/lawmakers-to-advance-tiktok-bill-us-house-speaker-says">announced</a> Sunday that lawmakers would advance legislation proposing a nationwide ban on TikTok after the video-sharing app&#8217;s CEO testified before Congress last week.
House Energy and Commerce Committee officials called on TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew to testify before the panel over their national security threats, data privacy, and safety issues for the app&#8217;s 150 million American users.
During the hearing, Chew neglected to answer whether individuals associated with ByteDance, the social media platform&#8217;s Chinese parent company, helped him prepare for the hearing. Lawmakers further pressed Chew asking if the app has spied on Americans at the request of Bejing, which the CEO denied.
&#8220;It&#8217;s very concerning that the CEO of TikTok can&#8217;t be honest and admit what we already know to be true—China has access to TikTok user data,&#8221; McCarthy wrote in a tweet. &#8220;The House will be moving forward with legislation to protect Americans from the technological tentacles of the Chinese Communist Party.&#8221;

Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders Announces Education Proposal

Arkansas To File Lawsuits Against Social Media Giants For Pushing ‘Addictive, Damaging’ Content On Children

Arkansas To File Lawsuits Against Social Media Giants For Pushing 'Addictive, Damaging' Content On Children

Arkansas

Chinese Communist Party

Sarah Huckabee Sanders

TikTok

<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/meta" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Meta</a> has unveiled a verification system on <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/facebook" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Facebook</a> and <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/instagram" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Instagram</a> similar to the one created by Twitter.
Meta Verified was rolled out on the company&#8217;s social media platforms Friday. Instead of giving out blue checkmarks to accounts because the user is a prominent public figure, the checkmark is open to any user as a means to verify that the account is authentic. The system is similar to Twitter Blue, the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/elon-musks-new-twitter-verification-process-devolves-into-a-confusing-mess" target="_blank" rel="noopener">subscription service</a> unveiled by Elon Musk after he took over Twitter.
&#8220;The meaning of the verified badge has been updated to represent authenticity,&#8221; Instagram said on its <a href="https://help.instagram.com/854227311295302" target="_blank" rel="noopener">help website</a>. &#8220;An Instagram account with a verified badge next to its name now means that Instagram has confirmed that it is the authentic presence for that person or brand. Previously, the verified badge also required the person or brand to be notable and unique.&#8221; The company said that users who were verified under the old rules will still have their blue checkmarks.
&#8220;The verified badge is a tool to help people find the real accounts of people and brands,&#8221; Instagram added. &#8220;If an account has the verified badge, we&#8217;ve confirmed that it represents who it says it does. A verified badge is not a symbol to show importance, authority or subject matter expertise. We don’t use the verified badge verified to endorse or recognize public figures or brands.&#8221;
Like Twitter Blue, public figures who subscribe to Instagram Verified cannot change their username, or transfer their blue checks to a different account.
Facebook has not updated its help site in accordance with new policies yet, but <a href="https://about.meta.com/technologies/meta-verified?campaign_id=19725375025&amp;extra_1=s%7Cc%7C649036315322%7Ce%7Chow%20can%20i%20get%20my%20instagram%20verified%7C&amp;placement=&amp;creative=649036315322&amp;keyword=" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Meta</a> provided some additional details on its website. In addition to the blue check, users get proactive account protection from impersonation, exclusive features on Facebook and Instagram stories, and a direct connection to support teams on both platforms.
Meta Verified is much more expensive than Twitter Blue, however. Twitter Blue is $8 a month for web users, and $11 for iOS and Android. Meta Verified is $11.99 a month on the web and $14.99 on mobile; users must also pay to be verified on each platform separately.
Meta is not simply rolling out services comparable to Elon Musk&#8217;s Twitter. The parent company of Facebook and Instagram is considering a decentralized, text-based social media platform as an <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/meta-working-on-alternative-to-elon-musks-twitter" target="_blank" rel="noopener">alternative to Twitter</a> after some users, many of whom are Left-leaning, are seeking alternatives to the platform after Musk&#8217;s takeover.
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The initiative, codenamed P92, could be accessed by Facebook and Instagram users with their existing credentials. Adam Mosseri, who oversees Instagram, is leading the project.
The revelation comes weeks after Instagram introduced a notes feature through which users can create short posts using text and characters.
The new social media site would be centered upon verification badges, followers and likes, posts with previews, and other features similar to those currently offered by Twitter, according to a report from MoneyControl, which first broke the news of the initiative.
Meta revealed the plans for the new platform as disillusioned Twitter users seek alternatives. A handful have created accounts on Mastodon, which features a number of independently run nodes with their own codes of conduct, privacy policies, and content moderation standards.
Ben Zeisloft contributed to this report.

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Meta Rolls Out New Verified System Similar To Twitter Blue

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