Twitter shareholders sue Elon Musk, Amazon shareholders reject resolutions targeting worker wellbeing, and the FTC fines Twitter $150 million for misusing user data.
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That’s all the tech news that’s trending right now, welcome to Hashtag Trending. It’s Friday, May 27, and I’m your host, Tom Li.
Twitter shareholders have handed Elon Musk a lawsuit alleging that the Tesla CEO is messing with its stock prices. Musk’s deal to purchase Twitter remains in limbo as he waits for proof that fewer than 5 per cent of its users are bots. However, Twitter shareholders believe that Musk is attempting to drive down Twitter share prices with negative statements to create leverage for a cheaper re-negotiation. The lawsuit alleged that Musk’s actions were illegal and breaks the contractual terms he had agreed to. While the deal doesn’t seem to be progressing, it doesn’t seem to be regressing either. Musk still hasn’t announced that he’s backing out from buying the platform.
Source: The Verge
Amazon shareholders rejected 15 resolutions proposed by investors aimed at reshaping the company’s environmental and worker policies. In a vote on Wednesday, the shareholders rebuffed all the proposals, including ones targeting the report on worker wellbeing, and a review of how the company uses plastics. Amazon’s board of directors had recommended shareholders vote against the resolutions as it believes the company is already rectifying these issues. Amazon did not disclose the result of the voting and by what percentage the proposals were rejected.
Source: The Guardian
The Federal Trade Commission has fined Twitter $150 million for wrongfully using consumer information. Between 2013 and 2019, Twitter began asking users for their email and phone numbers, supposedly to secure their accounts. But according to the FTC, the company did not inform the users that it would also use this information to deliver targeted ads. The FTC estimates that more than 140 million users gave Twitter their information for security purposes. In addition to the fine, the FTC has prohibited Twitter from using phone numbers and emails it illegally collected to serve ads. This case also serves to enforce the FTC’s regulatory authority.
Source: FTC
Raven Software, a subsidiary of Activision Blizzard, has voted to unionize. The workers, many of whom are quality assurance testers, united under the Game Workers Alliance banner, and called for better working conditions. According to reports, they often had to work 12 to 14 hours in the final months of a game’s release, and often had to wrestle with contract reapplications. Responding to the movement, Microsoft has confirmed that it will recognize the union after it acquires Activision Blizzard.
Source: Jacobin Mag, Gamer Rant
That’s all the tech news that’s trending right now. Hashtag Trending is a part of the ITWC Podcast network. Add us to your Alexa Flash briefings or your Google Home daily briefing. Make sure to sign up for our Daily IT Wire newsletter to get all the news that matters directly in your inbox every day. Also, catch the next episode of Hashtag Tendances, our weekly Hashtag Trending episode in French, which drops every Thursday morning. If you have a suggestion or a tip, drop us a line in the comments or via email. Thank you for listening, I’m Tom Li.
