AFP

Since buying Twitter, Elon Musk has made radical changes that have sparked fears for the future of the platform, from firing half the staff to restoring ex-president Donald Trump’s account and suspending those of several journalists.

AFP looks back at a rollercoaster two months at the Silicon Valley giant.

– Enter Elon –

Musk, the world’s second-richest richest man and CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, buys Twitter in late October for $44 billion after months of on-off negotiations.

“Let the good times roll,” he tweets after the deal is sealed on October 28. He becomes the sole director of the company after dissolving its corporate board.

– ‘Content moderation council’ –

In one of his first moves, the self-declared free speech absolutist announces he will form a “content moderation council”, in a nod to concerns that Twitter could become a free-for-all platform for disinformation and hate speech.

– Monthly charge –

On November 1, Musk announces the site will charge $8 per month to verify the accounts of celebrities and companies — a service that used to be free. But the November 6 launch of the Twitter Blue subscription plan goes awry. Musk is forced to suspend the move after an embarrassing rash of fake accounts alarm advertisers.

– Brands step back –

Top global companies, including General Mills and Volkswagen, suspend their advertising on Twitter on November 3 as they monitor the new direction the company will take.

– Massive layoffs –

On November 4, half of Twitter’s 7,500-strong staff are made redundant, sending shockwaves through Silicon Valley.

Musk tweets that “unfortunately there is no choice when the company is losing over $4M/day”.

– Regulator’s ‘concern’-

The chaos draws a rare warning on November 10 from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the US authority that oversees consumer safety.

“We are tracking recent developments at Twitter with deep concern,” says an FTC spokesperson.

– Ultimatum to staff –

Musk delivers an ultimatum to Twitter staff on November 16, asking them to choose between being “extremely hardcore” and working long hours, or losing their jobs. He gives them a day to decide.

Large numbers of staff quit.

– Trump reinstated –

Musk reinstates the account of banned former president Donald Trump after conducting a poll of users, a narrow majority of whom support the move. 

A few days later he announces an “amnesty” for all banned Twitter accounts.

– ‘War’ with Apple – 

On November 29, Musk tweets that he is going “to war’ with Apple, claiming it has threatened to oust Twitter from its App Store. After meeting with Apple boss Tim Cook he later says the clash was a misunderstanding.

– Covid controversy  –

In late November, Twitter says it is no longer enforcing a policy of combatting Covid-19 disinformation. Musk had fiercely opposed Covid restrictions. Days later he is rapped by the White House for calling for President Joe Biden’s chief Covid adviser Anthony Fauci to be prosecuted.

– Kanye suspended –

Musk revises his promises of unfettered free speech after rapper Kanye West tweets a picture that appears to show a swastika interlaced with a Star of David. His account is suspended for “incitement to violence”.

– Twitter Blue take two –

In mid-December Musk relaunches Twitter Blue. This time, Twitter conducts a review of the account before giving it the coveted blue check mark.

– Journalists suspended, then reinstated –

On December 15, Twitter suspends the accounts of more than a half-dozen journalists, including reporters from CNN, The New York Times, and The Washington Post.

Musk accuses them of endangering his family through their reporting on Twitter’s shutdown of an account that tracked flights of his private jet. 

Media outlets criticise the move and say they are re-evaluating their use of Twitter. The EU threatens to sanction the company.

Twitter users in a poll conducted by Musk back restoring the accounts. 

On December 17 some of the accounts are reactivated, but some remain suspended. A CNN reporter says Twitter conditioned the restoration of his ability to tweet on his removal of a post about tracking Musk’s location. 

The UN’s human rights chief Volker Turk welcomes the reinstatement of the journalists but tweets that “serious concern” remains.

The former Rio de Janeiro governor accused of receiving huge bribes over construction work for the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Olympics will soon be free after six years in prison, following a ruling by Brazil’s highest court.

The magistrates of the Federal Supreme Court (STF) voted three to two late Friday to place Sergio Cabral under house arrest pending further appeals.

His lawyers said the 59-year-old former journalist would probably be released from prison on Monday. 

Cabral was sentenced to more than 425 years in prison in 23 corruption cases, but no higher court has yet heard his appeals.

Prosecutors say he purchased jewelry and other luxury items with embezzled money — even paying for a horse-riding lesson for his son.

STF Judge Gilmar Mendes, whose vote proved decisive Friday, said Cabral could not be held “indefinitely” under a preventive measure taken to avoid any possible destruction of evidence should he be allowed to await trial in freedom.

But Mendes added that his decision did not in any way amount to Cabral’s acquittal.

Cabral served as Rio governor from 2007 to 2014, years in which Brazil was picked to host both the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Summer Olympic Games.

Revelations of large-scale corruption involving Cabral shocked public opinion in Brazil.

The diversion of millions of dollars of funds directly affected the public finances of Rio, leaving it near bankruptcy just months after the Olympics.

The Twitter accounts of several journalists suspended after Elon Musk accused them of endangering his family were reinstated Saturday, but some said the billionaire owner offered full use of the platform only if they deleted posts about tracking his location.

Musk had drawn anger and warnings from the European Union and United Nations after suspending the accounts of more than a half-dozen prominent journalists from The New York Times, CNN, The Washington Post and other outlets.

“The people have spoken. Accounts who doxxed my location will have their suspension lifted now,” the Twitter owner tweeted late Friday.

Doxxing generally means publishing private information on the Internet to harass or embarrass someone.

Musk carried out a Twitter poll asking whether he should restore the suspended accounts now or in a week’s time. Nearly 59 percent of the 3.69 million who took part said he should restore the accounts now.

Some of the suspended accounts were reactivated, with former Vox journalist Aaron Rupar, Mashable reporter Matt Binder and freelancer Tony Webster tweeting again Saturday.

Speaking later on MSNBC, Rupar warned that Twitter’s crackdown, even if temporary, would have a “chilling effect on coverage of Elon Musk” and make reporters think twice about running afoul of the company’s new owner.

The accounts of some other journalists remained suspended early Saturday, including those of Business Insider’s Linette Lopez and former MSNBC anchor Keith Olbermann.

CNN’s Donie O’Sullivan, who has reported at length on Musk, said that while his suspended account became viewable Saturday, Twitter has imposed a condition for him to be able to tweet again.

He said Twitter demanded he remove a post that it says violates its rules against posting private information.

“Right now, unless I agree to remove that tweet at the behest of the billionaire, I won’t be allowed to tweet on the platform,” O’Sullivan told CNN.

The latest controversy began Wednesday when Musk suspended @elonjet, an account that tracked flights of his private plane.

Musk said the move was necessary after a car in Los Angeles carrying one of his children was followed by “a crazy stalker”; he seemed to blame the jet tracking for the incident.

Some of the suspended journalists had reported on the affair, including tweets linking to the suspended @elonjet account, which Musk said amounted to offering “assassination coordinates” against him and his family.

In a chat hosted live on Twitter, Musk provided no evidence for his claim but told suspended reporters that on Twitter “everyone’s going to be treated the same… they’re not special because you’re a journalist.”

Pressed further on his allegations, Musk ended the conversation. Twitter Spaces, the feature where the chat took place, was then suspended. The live audio service was back up Friday, with Musk saying the platform had been fixing a bug.

As of Saturday, the Musk plane-tracking account remained suspended.

Musk’s deactivations have drawn sharp criticism from media organizations, the EU and the United Nations.

UN rights chief Volker Turk welcomed Musk’s decision to reinstate the accounts, “but serious concerns remain,” he posted on Twitter.

He also urged Musk to “commit to making decisions based on publicly-available policies that respect rights, including free speech. Nothing less.”

Earlier, the spokesman for UN chief Antonio Guterres called the suspensions a “dangerous precedent at a time when journalists all over the world are facing censorship, physical threats and even worse.”

The EU had warned that Twitter could face fines through European laws.

“News about arbitrary suspension of journalists on Twitter is worrying,” EU commissioner Vera Jourova tweeted after the move.

– Controversies –

Twitter has lurched from one controversy to the next since Musk took control of the company in October.

The billionaire’s talk of unfettered speech, coupled with the instability surrounding the company, has scared off major advertisers and caught the attention of regulators.

Musk has reinstated the account of former US president Donald Trump and lashed out against the outgoing key US advisor on Covid-19, Anthony Fauci, a frequent target of vitriol in right-wing media.

CNN has reported that Twitter’s former head of trust and safety fled his home after baseless attacks on Twitter content moderation, endorsed by Musk.

Meanwhile, a purge initiated by Musk at Twitter left more than half of its 7,500 employees out of work.

Germany on Saturday inaugurated its first liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal, built in record time, as the country scrambles to adapt to life without Russian energy.

The rig in the North Sea port of Wilhelmshaven was opened by Chancellor Olaf Scholz at a ceremony on board a specialist vessel known as an FSRU, named the Hoegh Esperanza.

“It’s a good day for our country and a sign to the whole world that the German economy will be able to remain strong,” Scholz said from the boat.

The Hoegh Esperanza sounded its horn as the chancellor, dressed in a high visibility jacket, approached.

The ship has already been stocked with gas from Nigeria that could supply 50,000 homes for a year, and the terminal is set to begin deliveries on December 22.

Germany plans to open four more government-funded LNG terminals over the next few months as well as a private terminal in the port of Lubmin.

Together, the terminals could deliver 30 billion cubic metres of gas a year from next year, or a third of Germany’s total gas needs — if Berlin can find enough LNG to service them.

LNG terminals allow for the import by sea of natural gas which has been chilled and turned into a liquid to make it easier to transport.

The FRSU stocks the LNG, then turns it back into a ready-to-use gas.

Until now, Germany had no LNG terminals and relied on cheap gas delivered through pipelines from Russia for 55 percent of its supply.

– Supply worries –

But since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, gas supplies to Germany have been throttled and Berlin has been forced to rely on LNG processed by Belgian, French and Dutch ports, paying a premium for transport costs.

The government decided to invest in building its own LNG terminals as quickly as possible and has spent billions of euros (dollars) on hiring FSRUs to service them.

However, Germany has not yet signed a single major long-term contract to begin filling the terminals from January.

“The import capacity is there. But what worries me are the deliveries,” Johan Lilliestam, a researcher at the University of Potsdam, told AFP.

A contract has been signed with Qatar for LNG to supply the Wilhelmshaven terminal but deliveries are not set to begin until 2026.

Suppliers want long-term contracts, while the German government is not keen to be locked into multi-year gas deals as it wants the country to become climate-neutral by 2045. 

“Companies need to know that the purchasing side in Germany will eventually diminish if we want to meet climate protection targets,” economy minister Robert Habeck has said.

Environmental campaigners have criticised the LNG project, with the DUH association announcing it will take legal action. A handful of protestors turned out in Wilhelmshaven with placards demanding an “End to gas”.

– Cold winter –

Germany could initially be forced to buy LNG from the expensive spot markets, which would lead to higher prices for consumers.

The market could also be squeezed next year by renewed demand in China as it emerges from strict Covid-19 curbs, Andreas Schroeder, an expert at the ICIS energy research institute, told AFP. 

“If Europe has been able to receive so much LNG in recent months, it is because Chinese demand was low,” Schroeder said. 

China recently signed a deal to buy gas from Qatar for 27 years — the longest such deal in history, according to Doha.

Germany has also had a cold winter so far, meaning the gas tanks have been emptying faster than expected.

“Gas consumption is increasing. This is a risk, especially if the cold spell continues,” said Klaus Mueller, the head of the country’s Federal Network Agency regulatory body, in a recent interview.

As a result, there is a real risk that Germany could experience temporary supply disruptions next winter, according to Schroeder.

Gas usage is currently down 13 percent compared to last year but the government wants that figure to be closer to 20 percent.

In Europe, the gap between supply and demand could reach 27 billion cubic metres (950 billion cubic feet) in 2023, according to an IEA report — equivalent to 6.5 percent of the European Union’s annual consumption.