The largest automaker in the US has pulled paid advertising on Twitter after Elon Musk completed his takeover of the social media company.
Musk’s $44bn (£38bn) deal to buy Twitter completed on Thursday and he reportedly sacked the company’s chief executive and two other top bosses.
The world’s richest man tweeted “the bird is freed” and “let the good times roll” before a tweet on Friday announcing the setting up of the content moderation council.
Late on Friday, GM Motors Co said in a statement it had temporarily halted paid ads on the platform as a “normal course of business” after a significant change in a media platform.
The Detroit automaker said it was “engaging with Twitter to understand the direction of the platform under their new ownership”, adding its “customer care interactions on Twitter will continue”.
Ad sales made up more than 90% of Twitter’s revenue in the second quarter.
Some ad agencies and brands had expressed scepticism and concern over Twitter’s future at a presentation back in May.
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Tesla and SpaceX boss Musk, who has described himself as a “free-speech absolutist”, appealed directly to advertisers in an open-letter tweet on the eve of the deal’s closing.
He said: “Twitter obviously cannot become a free-for-all hellscape, where anything can be said with no consequences!… Twitter aspires to be the most respected advertising platform in the world that strengthens your brand and grows your enterprise.”
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Musk then tweeted on Friday saying the social media platform will form a moderation council “with widely diverse viewpoints” and that “no major content decisions or account reinstatements” will be made before it meets.
In a later tweet, he said the company had “not yet” made any changes to its content moderation policies.
Musk previously promised to overhaul the service by getting rid of fake accounts and ensuring it’s a place where a “range of beliefs can be debated in a healthy manner”.
Donald Trump – arguably once Twitter’s most famous user – is among those who could have their account reinstated.
The former president was banned after the siege on the US Capitol in January 2021 for allegedly inciting violence with two of his posts.
However, Musk earlier this year called the ban a “mistake” and “morally wrong”.
Musk’s purchase of Twitter was completed a day before the 28 October deadline to avoid the deal going to court. The company had taken legal action to force the deal through after Musk backed out in July over the number of fake and spam accounts.
Musk, who has updated his Twitter bio to “Chief Twit”, said on Thursday he did not buy the social media platform to make more money but “to try to help humanity, whom I love.”
For more on science and technology, explore the future with Sky News at Big Ideas Live 2022.
The style choices of politicians have long been scrutinised by voters and the media.
Women have historically been subject to more inspection for their looks than men.
But all politicians are communicating through their style, according to two experts.
“We receive most of our information, many of us, through screens and through the visuals,” says Hazel Clark, professor of design and fashion at the Parsons School of Design in New York.
Democratic candidate Kamala Harris has been leaning into trouser suits.
“The well-fitted suit, the more masculine suit, is telling voters that she is not a politician’s wife, she is not the president’s wife, she is the president,” says Deirdre Clemente, professor of history at the University of Nevada in Las Vegas.
She wore a dark suit to make her acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention.
The look “gives that sense of the legal profession, judges and authority. I think it was just saying ‘I’m here to be taken seriously, I can be your leader’,” says Ms Clark.
Many of the audience were wearing white, thought to be a reference to the suffragettes, who fought for women to have vote.
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“I think there’s a lot of weight in the choice of white in the audience of the DNC that night and her choice of a black suit was a power move,” Ms Clemente said.
Donald Trump has had a consistent style for many years – he’s known for his dark blue suit and silky red tie.
“He seems to have been wearing the same red tie since the 1970s. It seems to have gotten longer,” said Ms Clemente.
“It is his way of projecting power, confidence and stability.”
And his vice presidential pick JD Vance seems to have adapted his style to match.
“It’s putting on a uniform to say we are all one, we are all following this person. I think sameness, perhaps, with the party as well,” said Ms Clark.
“With Trump it’s almost become like a costume now.”
Harris often wears a pearl necklace, a reference to her college sorority Alpha Kappa Alpha, which was founded by black women at Howard University.
“Her wearing of the necklace is absolutely a shout-out to all the women who have supported her and that sorority is central to that,” said Ms Clemente.
The vice president is also known for her love of Converse shoes.
The trainers, which are associated with American basketball culture, “are a powerful cultural tool because what she’s saying is these shoes are just like the ones you have in your closet”.
Mr Trump and his supporters often wear the instantly recognisable red Make America Great Again baseball cap.
“The MAGA hat has an incredible amount of power, especially here in battleground states,” said Ms Clemente. “You see MAGA hats all around.”
Baseball caps are “ubiquitous in being used to signify something, it’s like having a slogan on your t-shirt”, says Ms Clark.
One accessory all US politicians are rarely seen without is an American flag pin badge on their lapel, which can be used to show patriotism.
It may also project a message that “we are all fighting for the same team” despite political differences, said Ms Clemente.
With seven weeks to go until the US goes to the polls, Sky’s dedicated team of correspondents goes on the road to gauge what citizens in key swing states make of the choice for president.
This week they focus on the second assassination attempt on Donald Trump.
Mark Stone travels to Florida where the foiled attack took place, while James Matthews has been finding out more about the suspected would-be assassin in his hometown of Greensboro, North Carolina.
Plus, Martha Kelner attended a Trump town hall in Flint, Michigan, to hear him speak for the first time after the attempt on his life, and asked voters if it will impact the way they vote in November.
A previous Titan submersible dive to the Titanic was aborted due to an apparent mechanical failure, one of the mission’s passengers has said.
Fred Hagen had paid a fee to go on a dive in the Titan in 2021, two years before it imploded and killed all five passengers onboard.
He told a US Coast Guard panel investigating the tragedy on Friday that his trip was aborted underwater when the Titan began malfunctioning and it was clear they weren’t going to reach the Titanic wreck site.
“We realised that all it could do was spin around in circles, making right turns,” Mr Hagen said. “At this juncture, we obviously weren’t going to be able to navigate to the Titanic.”
He said the Titan resurfaced and the mission was scrapped.
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