Tag: twitter
Tech Digest daily roundup: China brings forward plans for solar plant in space
China has brought forward by two years its programme to launch a solar power plant in space that will beam energy back down to Earth. A similar energy project had been proposed by NASA more than two decades ago but was never developed, while the UK government commissioned independent research supporting a £16bn British version…
Tech Digest daily roundup: Twitter in the US must pay a $150m fine
Twitter in the US must pay a $150m (£119m) fine after law enforcement officials accused it of illegally using users' data to help sell targeted ads. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Department of Justice say Twitter violated an agreement it had with regulators, court documents showed. Twitter had vowed to not give personal…
Tech Digest daily roundup: Elon Musk puts Twitter deal on hold over fake accounts
Elon Musk has said his $44bn (£35bn) deal to buy Twitter is temporarily on hold after he queried the number of fake or spam accounts on the social media platform. He said he was waiting for information "supporting [the] calculation that spam/fake accounts do indeed represent less than 5% of users". Following the announcement, Twitter…
Tech Digest daily roundup: What will Elon Musk takeover mean for Twitter?
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has asked whether Elon Musk's deal to buy Twitter will give China "a bit of leverage" over the platform. Twitter is blocked in China but Mr Musk's electric car business Tesla is dependent on the company's plant in Shanghai and sales across the country for its global profits. Explaining the motivation behind his $44bn takeover, Mr…
Billionaire Elon Musk to buy Twitter for $44bn
Elon Musk has won his $44bn (£35bn) takeover battle for Twitter after the social network dropped its opposition to the Tesla billionaire’s bid. Mr Musk, who made the shock bid less than two weeks ago, said Twitter had "tremendous potential" that he would unlock. He also called for a series of changes from relaxing its…
Tech Digest daily roundup: NSPCC says Online Safety Bill must be strengthened
The Government must go further in its Online Safety Bill to better tackle grooming and child abuse, the NSPCC has said in a new report. The children’s charity made the plea in the wake of new data which shows that reports of online child sexual abuse to police have risen by more than a quarter…
Tech Digest daily roundup: Elon Musk offers to buy Twitter for $41.39bn
Billionaire Elon Musk has offered to buy Twitter for $41.39bn, according to a regulatory filing. The Tesla chief executive's offer price of $54.20 per share was 38% higher than the closing price of Twitter's stock on 1 April, the last trading day before his investment of 9.2% in the company was publicly announced. "I invested…
Tech Digest daily roundup: Driverless car in ‘getaway attempt’
A video which has gone viral shows a driverless car start to pull away after being stopped by police, at least initially - raising questions about how authorities can handle autonomous vehicles. The car, owned and operated by a company called Cruise in San Francisco, is based on a Chevy Bolt chassis - although the…
Elon Musk pays nearly $3 billion for 9.2% Twitter stake
Elon Musk has taken a 9.2% stake in Twitter, according to a US securities filing. The news sent Twitter shares soaring about 25% in pre-market trading. The Tesla founder bought 73,486,938 Twitter shares on 14 March, according to the Securities and Exchange Commission. The stake is worth $2.89bn (£2.20bn), based on Twitter's closing price on…
Tech Digest daily roundup: Twitter launches Tor service to bypass Russian block
Twitter has launched a privacy-protected version of its site to bypass surveillance and censorship after Russia restricted access to its service in the country. Russia has blocked access to Facebook and has limited Twitter in an attempt to try to restrict the flow of information about its war in Ukraine. Both companies have said they are working on restoring access…
