[liberationtech] Saudi Prince invests $300mn in Twitter

Mon Dec 19 11:53:25 PST 2011

I'm sorry, but I call bullshit on the targeting of #Occupy.  I haven't seen
one legit incident yet, and this is something that a) I'm sensitive to and
b) I track closely.

The Trending Topics algorithm is, in my opinion, wonky and in need of
serious rethinking, but blatant censorship it is not.

On Mon, Dec 19, 2011 at 11:50 AM, planetary <planetary at plntry.net> wrote:

> There are certainly fewer visible incidents one could point to with
> Twitter, but are they really more virtuous, or better at concealing
> suppressive behavior?
>
> There is considerable sentiment within the #Occupy* movement that Twitter
> has targeted its users, with increasing reports of incidents on
> hair-trigger account bans and the ongoing concern about the trending topics
> representation.   Considering the difficulty of substantiating any bias
> there, one tends to wonder, how much of that difficulty really provides
> cover for a cleaner public image for Twitter?
>
> These are potentially explicable as functions of complex policies and
> algorithms, but if it has the same effect of suppressing visibility of
> certain grassroots movements, how intentional does it have to be?
>
> Would love to get some real comparative data on this. A project we're
> contributing to for #Occupy might just help...
>
> On Dec 19, 11, at 11:43 AM, Jillian C. York wrote:
>
> Well, because Facebook has a fairly poor track record on privacy and free
> expression.  They've earned the scrutiny.  Thus far, Twitter has not.
>
> On Mon, Dec 19, 2011 at 11:38 AM, Luke Allnutt <AllnuttL at rferl.org> wrote:
>
>> Bet there would be a lot more outrage if it was Facebook though. :)
>>
>>
>>
>> On 19 Dec 2011, at 20:34, "Jillian C. York" <jilliancyork at gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>>
>>  Oh also?  This is--on the surface--just as alarming and I don't
>> remember half the fuss:
>> http://venturebeat.com/2011/08/01/twitter-dst-confirm/
>>
>> On Mon, Dec 19, 2011 at 11:32 AM, Jillian C. York <jilliancyork at gmail.com
>> > wrote:
>>
>>> Ha, you think that's bad, you should see how many calls I've gotten
>>> asking what effect Kim Jong-Il's death with have on the North Korean
>>> Internet!
>>>
>>>
>>> On Mon, Dec 19, 2011 at 11:30 AM, Brian Conley <brianc at smallworldnews.tv
>>> > wrote:
>>>
>>>> I agree with Jillian. Slow news day on the markets?
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> On Mon, Dec 19, 2011 at 11:21 AM, Jillian C. York <
>>>> jilliancyork at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> Honestly?  I trust that this will have less than zero effect on
>>>>> Twitter's policy.  Twitter has stood up to a whole lot of other powerful
>>>>> players, including the US and UK governments.  Saudi's powerful, but we're
>>>>> talking about a share of under 5%. Try as they might, Kingdom Holding will
>>>>> likely have minimal effect.
>>>>>
>>>>> Is it icky?  For sure, but so are a lot of deals.
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> On Mon, Dec 19, 2011 at 3:26 AM, Daniel Isaiah Ong <
>>>>> danielo at cs.stanford.edu> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>> Thoughts?
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2011/12/19/saudi-prince-invests-300-million-in-twitter/?hp
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Saudi Prince Invests $300 Million in TwitterBY MARK SCOTT<http://dealbook.nytimes.com/author/mark-scott/>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> LONDON — The Saudi Prince Walid bin Talal and his investment company,
>>>>>> Kingdom Holding, said Monday they had bought a “strategic stake” in the
>>>>>> social media site Twitter for $300 million.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> The investment represents roughly 3 percent stake of the company,
>>>>>> based in San Francisco, which was valued at $8 billion in August.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> In a statement, Prince Walid, who owns 95 percent of Kingdom Holding,
>>>>>> said the purchase was part of a strategy “to invest in promising,
>>>>>> high-growth businesses with a global impact.”
>>>>>>   Article Tools
>>>>>>
>>>>>>    -  E-mail<http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2011/12/19/saudi-prince-invests-300-million-in-twitter/?hp>
>>>>>>    - Print<http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2011/12/19/saudi-prince-invests-300-million-in-twitter/?pagemode=print>
>>>>>>    - Recommend
>>>>>>    - Share
>>>>>>       - TUMBLR
>>>>>>       - DIGG
>>>>>>       - LINKEDIN
>>>>>>       - REDDIT
>>>>>>       - PERMALINK
>>>>>>       -
>>>>>>    - Twitter
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Despite ongoing volatility in the financial markets, investors have
>>>>>> shown continued interest in Internet companies. Last week, the social
>>>>>> network gaming company Zynga raised $1 billion in an initial public
>>>>>> offering, while Groupon, the daily deals site, raised $700 million from the
>>>>>> markets in early November.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Kingdom Holding stock was up about 6 percent in midday trading in
>>>>>> Riyadh.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Prince Walid, who also own stakes in U.S. blue chip companies such as
>>>>>> Citigroup, General Motors and Apple, is the nephew of Saudi Arabia’s King
>>>>>> Abdullah. He also is one the of the Arab world’s richest men, with assets
>>>>>> worth an estimated $21 billion, according to Arabian Business magazine.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> The investment in Twitter comes after the company’s co-founder Biz
>>>>>> Stone announced in June that he would be stepping back from the
>>>>>> fast-growing social media. Twitter’s other co-founder, Evan Williams, was
>>>>>> replaced by the current chief executive Dick Costolo last year.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Despite the management shake-up, Twitter has continued to gain
>>>>>> traction, particularly in the Arab world, where it was credited with
>>>>>> playing a role in the recent popular uprisings across North Africa and the
>>>>>> Gulf.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Arabic is now the fastest growing language used on Twitter, according
>>>>>> to the data intelligence company Semiocast.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> The volume of Arabic messages, for example, has multiplied by 2,146
>>>>>> percent in the 12 months ending in October, according to figures from
>>>>>> Semiocast. That makes Arabic the eighth most used language on the site.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> “We believe that social media will fundamentally change the media
>>>>>> industry landscape in the coming years. Twitter will capture and monetize
>>>>>> this positive trend,” Ahmed Reda Halawani, Kingdom Holding’s executive
>>>>>> director of private equity and international investments, said in a
>>>>>> statement.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> The website currently has over 100 million active users, and raised
>>>>>> approximately $400 million of new capital last summer. That investment was
>>>>>> led by DST Global, the investment firm headed by the Russian billionaire
>>>>>> Yuri Milner.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>>> liberationtech mailing list
>>>>>> liberationtech at lists.stanford.edu
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Should you need to change your subscription options, please go to:
>>>>>>
>>>>>> https://mailman.stanford.edu/mailman/listinfo/liberationtech
>>>>>>
>>>>>> If you would like to receive a daily digest, click "yes" (once you
>>>>>> click above) next to "would you like to receive list mail batched in a
>>>>>> daily digest?"
>>>>>>
>>>>>> You will need the user name and password you receive from the list
>>>>>> moderator in monthly reminders.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Should you need immediate assistance, please contact the list
>>>>>> moderator.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Please don't forget to follow us on
>>>>>> http://twitter.com/#!/Liberationtech
>>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> --
>>>>> jilliancyork.com | @jilliancyork | tel: +1-857-891-4244 | google
>>>>> voice: +1-415-562-JILL
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>> liberationtech mailing list
>>>>> liberationtech at lists.stanford.edu
>>>>>
>>>>> Should you need to change your subscription options, please go to:
>>>>>
>>>>> https://mailman.stanford.edu/mailman/listinfo/liberationtech
>>>>>
>>>>> If you would like to receive a daily digest, click "yes" (once you
>>>>> click above) next to "would you like to receive list mail batched in a
>>>>> daily digest?"
>>>>>
>>>>> You will need the user name and password you receive from the list
>>>>> moderator in monthly reminders.
>>>>>
>>>>> Should you need immediate assistance, please contact the list
>>>>> moderator.
>>>>>
>>>>> Please don't forget to follow us on
>>>>> http://twitter.com/#!/Liberationtech
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> --
>>>>
>>>> Brian Conley
>>>> Director, Small World News
>>>> http://smallworldnews.tv
>>>> m: 646.285.2046
>>>> Skype: brianjoelconley
>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> --
>>> jilliancyork.com | @jilliancyork | tel: +1-857-891-4244 | google voice:
>>> +1-415-562-JILL
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> jilliancyork.com | @jilliancyork | tel: +1-857-891-4244 | google voice:
>> +1-415-562-JILL
>>
>>
>>
>>  _______________________________________________
>> liberationtech mailing listliberationtech at lists.stanford.edu
>>
>> Should you need to change your subscription options, please go to:
>> https://mailman.stanford.edu/mailman/listinfo/liberationtech
>>
>> If you would like to receive a daily digest, click "yes" (once you click above) next to "would you like to receive list mail batched in a daily digest?"
>>
>> You will need the user name and password you receive from the list moderator in monthly reminders.
>>
>> Should you need immediate assistance, please contact the list moderator.
>>
>> Please don't forget to follow us on http://twitter.com/#!/Liberationtech
>>
>>
>
>
> --
> jilliancyork.com | @jilliancyork | tel: +1-857-891-4244 | google voice:
> +1-415-562-JILL
>
>
>
>  _______________________________________________
> liberationtech mailing list
> liberationtech at lists.stanford.edu
>
> Should you need to change your subscription options, please go to:
>
> https://mailman.stanford.edu/mailman/listinfo/liberationtech
>
> If you would like to receive a daily digest, click "yes" (once you click
> above) next to "would you like to receive list mail batched in a daily
> digest?"
>
> You will need the user name and password you receive from the list
> moderator in monthly reminders.
>
> Should you need immediate assistance, please contact the list moderator.
>
> Please don't forget to follow us on http://twitter.com/#!/Liberationtech
>
>
>

-- 
jilliancyork.com | @jilliancyork | tel: +1-857-891-4244 | google voice:
+1-415-562-JILL
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mailman.stanford.edu/pipermail/liberationtech/attachments/20111219/ad7fce05/attachment.html>