Bethenny Frankel claims has been "shadow banned" on TikTok following comments about the Kardashians and celebrity brands.

The Real Housewives of New York City alum, 51, spoke out against the reality TV clan on Just B with Bethenny Frankel.

"We need a Kardashian intermission," she said, before admitting she was not sure if she should continue commenting on the family.

"And I've honestly been afraid to say it. It's not because Kris [Jenner] is the mafia and controls a lot of the media, because I don't give a f**k, cancel me."

In her anti-Kardashian rant, Frankel wondered about the influence they had on younger generations.

"What are we saying to our kids? What is the message? Take it all? Be as rich as possible? Filter as much as possible? Be as fake as much as possible. Brag as much as possible?" Frankel questioned.

"Get plastic surgery and lie about it as much as possible? What the f**k are we doing? Then do a charity donation to like rinse it over as much as possible? What are we doing?"

Frankel then took her complaints to the next level saying she felt "waterboarded" over the excessive amount of "Kard-data" in the media.

"Kard-data" was a term she came up with to describe what she saw as relentless media images of the Kardashian-Jenners, saying "please stop shoving [the Kardashians] down my throat."

Frankel also claimed she was getting fewer views on TikTok, slamming the popular app for "shadow banning."

"Since I seem to have been "shadowbanned" on Tik Tok, since posting about celeb brands, & get only 10 percent of normal views on this reel, hmmmm (my smart followers pointed this out) it seemed like this should be posted here.... Coincidence maybe? Or is censorship real?" Frankel wrote on Instagram alongside a video of her Kardashian diatribe.

"Shadow banning" refers to the practice by social media brands to partially blocking a user who has fallen out of favor by reducing how much of their content is seen by other users.

It might not be immediately apparent to the user they have been shadow banned, but the aim of the practice is the hope they will become tired or bored of the app if not getting the usual amount of interactions.

Newsweek has been unable to verify Frankel's claims about shadow banning. We have reached out to TikTok for comment.

Frankel is no stranger to controversy.

Last year she came under fire for her comments about a "person with a penis, who identifies as being a girl."

"We have to go into the fact that I did a Zoom for my daughter's school and [had] the pronouns conversation with each teacher, each parent, each child," she said about her daughter Bryn.

"And my daughter says in school, too, that everybody has to say their pronouns. And my daughter didn't even know what hers were."

She continued about a "person with a penis, who identifies as being a girl" sharing a room with other girls at school camp.

"So, the other girls saw a penis," the TV personality said. "They're 9, 10 years old, so the parents obviously weren't that happy ... A penis often goes into a vagina so they might not want that visual so soon."

Frankel added that if she had a transgender child, she would "want my child to go to another camp where there were kids in the same situation."

"Not every situation is set up to make someone thrive," she said. "I know parents who won't send their children to very athletic school because they're not jocks so they're gonna set them up for not feeling successful. You can't make every situation fit. The camp didn't think it through."

She then turned her attention to gender-inclusive bathrooms.

"What happens if a child isn't ready to make a decision?" Frankel asked. "Don't a lot of girls in college have a lesbian phase and then they realize that they're not?

"Maybe they're going through something, maybe they want attention, maybe they're going through a bad break-up. What is the age that someone's absolutely positive who they are? There's got to be gray area."

"I've heard of situations when [people] unmake that decision," she went on. "What does that mean for that camp? What does that mean for that bunk? Maybe a mother isn't ready for her child to see a penis in a bunk and understand that child identifies as a girl."

Frankel praised her "amazing" daughter for her knowledge of the subject, saying Bryn "understands all this" and has "different language" to discuss it.

She added: "She also hasn't seen a penis. In a camp, she would see girl parts."

Her podcast statements provoked fury online, with a number of Twitter users branding Frankel transphobicbut she quickly hit back.

She tweeted to one detractor: "Listen to the podcast. Then comment. I was absolutely not wrong. And I'm going to discuss this again this week. Thankfully I have a platform to clarify what the media loves to distort... ps. I'm not afraid of cancelation so not afraid of charged discussions."

See original here:

Bethenny Frankel Alleges TikTok 'Shadow Banning' After Slamming Kardashians

As kids return to school, districts are having to deal with a flurry of book challenges to their libraries, mostly from conservatives.

In March,The Houston Chroniclecompiled a detailed listof the challenges that were being made to school libraries. Starting in 2019, when the term critical race theory became a catch-all used to oppose teaching about racism, the labor movement, gender identity, and sexual orientation, challenges and bans sharply skyrocket. In 2017, only five books were challenged and none removed. By 2021, the challenges had reached 29 and the removals 19.

A look at the titles that have been targeted reveal a sinister culture war being waged in public schools.Recently in Katy ISD, a parent complaint actually led to a police officer physically removing a book from the shelves after a parent complained it was harmful. The book in question wasFlamerby Mike Curato, a critically acclaimed and award-winning coming of age story of a gay boy. The parent claimed that depictions of sex in the book made it pornographic. After a review of the material, KISD high school libraries will continue to makeFlameravailable to students.

Katy has hada number of disturbing challenges from conservative parents. A biography of Michelle Obama was challenged for promoting reverse racism.

In Keller ISD, a graphic novel version ofThe Diary of Anne Frankwas temporarily removed from shelves, though the prose version remained available. Once again, a complaint of pornography was behind the challenge. Anne Frank describes her genitals in her tale of living in hiding during the Nazi occupation of Amsterdam. Once again, cooler heads prevailed and te book was unbanned.

Some schools, such as Cy Fair ISD, have attempted to reach a compromise with the angry parents demanding that books be banned from shelves. In that district, parents have the option to prohibit their child from checking out books from the library entirely, though they have ti opt-in specifically for that.

Since last fall, teachers and school librarians have been living under a shadow when it comes to what books can be allowed in schools. The state government essentially put out a hit list targeting books. Those titles are almost exclusively based around diversity. In Prosper, a parent wanted a title about a Black Olympiad who dealt with racism in 1940s Tennessee off the shelves. Eanes ISD was attacked for stickingHow to be Antiracistby Ibram X. Kendi on the shelves. A parent group wanted it replaced with copies ofThe Bible.

Many of the challenges tie in with another conservative crusade, that of accusing LGBT people of grooming children for sexual activity and deviant lifestyles. Many texts about growing up queer on trans have been accused of being pornography, with almost no depictions of heterosexuality in books receiving the same amount of resistance. Coupled with the states recent anti-trans initiatives such as sports bans and investigating parents for child abuse if they provide their children with gender afforming care, it appears that conservatives are trying to wipe the existence of trans people from public schools entirely.

Originally posted here:

Book Banning By Conservatives Spreading Across Texas - Reform Austin

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) warns of a rising trend of cybercriminals using residential proxies to conduct large-scale credential stuffing attacks without being tracked, flagged, or blocked.

The warning was issued as a Private Industry Notification on the Bureau's Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) late last week to raise awareness among internet platform admins who need to implement defenses against credential stuffing attacks.

Credential stuffing is a type of attack where threat actors use large collections of username/password combinations exposed in previous data breaches to try and gain access toother online platforms.

Because people commonly use the same password at every site, cybercriminals have ample opportunity to take over accounts without cracking passwords or phishing any other information.

"Malicious actors utilizing valid user credentials have the potential to access numerous accounts and services across multiple industries to include media companies, retail, healthcare, restaurant groups and food delivery to fraudulently obtain goods, services, and access other online resources such as financial accounts at the expense of legitimate account holders," details the FBI's announcement.

Because credential stuffing attacks carry specific characteristics that differentiate them from regular login attempts, websites can easily detect and stop them.

To override basic protections, the FBI warns that threat actors are using residential proxies to hide their actual IP address behind ones commonly associated with home users, which are unlikely to be present in blocklists.

Proxies are online servers that accept and forward requests, making it appear like a connection is from them rather than the actual initiator (attacker).

Residential proxies are preferable over data center-hosted proxies because they make it harder for protection mechanisms to discern between suspicious and regular consumer traffic.

Typically, these proxies are made available to cybercriminals by hacking legitimate residential devices such asmodems or other IoTsorthrough malwarethat converts a home user's computer into a proxy without their knowledge.

Using these tools, cybercriminals automate credential stuffing attacks, with bots attempting to log in across numerous sites using previously stolen login credentials.

Moreover, some of these proxy tools offer the option to brute-force account passwords or include "configs" that modify the attack to accommodate particular requirements, like having a unique character, minimum password length, etc.

The FBI says credential stuffing attacks are not limited to websites and have been seen targeting mobile applications due to their poor security.

"Cyber criminals may also target a companys mobile applications as well as the website," warns the FBI advisory.

"Mobile applications, which often have weaker security protocols than traditional web applications, frequently permit a higher rate of login attempts, known as checks per minute (CPMs), facilitating faster account validation."

In a joint operation involving the FBI and the Australian Federal Police, the agencies investigated two websites that contained over 300,000 unique sets of credentials obtained through credential stuffing attacks.

The FBI says these websites counted over 175,000 registered users and generated over $400,000 in sales for their services.

FBI's advisory urges administrators to follow certain practices to help protect their users from losing their accounts to credential stuffing attacks, even when they use weak passwords.

The key points include:

Regular users can protect themselves by activating MFA on their accounts, using strong and unique passwords, and remaining vigilant against phishing attempts.

Read more:

FBI warns of residential proxies used in credential stuffing attacks - BleepingComputer

Sandra Jeppesen, Lakehead University

On Aug. 5, 2022, digital trans activist Clara Sorrenti found herself arrested at gunpoint at her home in London, Ont. Anti-trans trolls had falsely reported she had killed her mother and was planning a shooting at city hall.

Sorrenti had been swatted.

Swatting involves calling 911 to falsely report a high-risk emergency at their victims home, triggering deployment of a SWAT team. In some swatting cases, victims have died at the hands of police.

Sorrentis experience is consistent with my findings in long-term research with intersectional global media activists.

She is a new type of intersectional digital activist. These activists work on intersectional issues, drawing connections between systems of oppression including race, gender, sexuality, and so on. And a great deal of their activism takes place online.

Digital campaigns such as #MeToo and #BlackLivesMatter have been successful partially because young women, Black people and LGBTQ+ are the power users of social media they are online more often and particularly adept at using social networks.

But despite successes in social justice campaigns, intersectional activists are increasingly at risk both online and off.

The online trolling and offline swatting of Sorrenti illustrate how intersectional activists face an emotional tax emotional stress over and above everyday norms mostly from dealing with violent attacks by online trolls.

Intersectional activists are also doxxed at higher rates, meaning personal information is dumped online, such as their address, phone number or workplace. Sorrentis swatting is a textbook example there are ongoing emotional impacts of her doxxing, including confronting transphobic police behaviours such as using her deadname (the name used before transitioning) and incorrect gender.

A deeper problem is that internet users are not all treated equally by the internets technical codes.

Research has repeatedly demonstrated that algorithms the computer codes that program the internet are biased.

Algorithms and the big data that drives them are often racist, gendered or transphobic.

One type of algorithmic bias is shadowbanning, which happens when a platform limits the visibility of specific users without outright banning them. Activists have noted that social media content about intersectional issues is often shadowbanned.

For example, on May 5, 2021 Red Dress Day in Canada almost all posts on Instagram related to missing and murdered Indigenous women disappeared . Instagram claimed it was a technical issue, whereas users claimed it was a shadowbanning of intersectional female, Indigenous activist content. But shadowbanning is often difficult to prove.

There is also evidence that the popular video-hosting platform TikTok has shadowbanned intersectional LGBTQ+, disability, size activism and anti-racist content.

Algorithmic bias and shadowbanning of marginalized users can make intersectional activists feel invisible, with their posts facing challenges to achieve the virality crucial to activist campaigns.

One tactic activists have used to address intersectionality online is to create a breakaway hashtag. The #MeToo movement is a powerful example of hashtag activism that drew global attention to sexual harassment and abuse. However, for Egyptian-American writer Mona Eltahawy, #MeToo did not feel like the right space for her as a Muslim woman. She created #MosqueMeToo to draw attention to sexual assault in the Muslim community, focusing on the intersectional context of gender, Islamophobia and racism.

Breakaway hashtags like #MosqueMeToo add intersectional dimensions to the premise of a mainstream hashtag, both relying on the original hashtags virality and challenging its limitations.

Young feminist women who are trolled online use the tactic of digilante justice, or digilantism, which involves using digital means to fight for justice, in this case against trolls. They learn how to hack social media platforms to reveal the identities of trolls and confront them in real life. Activists have also excluded trolls from their personal social networks through hackback tactics, which are hacker tactics used against hackers.

In another example, feminist game developer Randi Harper was intensely trolled by misogynists in an incident known as GamerGate. In response, Harper developed Good Game Auto Blocker (ggautoblocker) that blocks users who follow misogynist Twitter accounts, the digital equivalent of walking out of a room when someone spews hateful speech.

Digital activists understand that social media platforms are designed for the capitalist exploitation of content and data produced by everyday users. Countering this, intersectional hacktivists (hacker activists) have designed technologies for solidarity rather than exploitation.

For example, activists in Athens designed an app to share text message costs so media activists within a group would not have to foot the whole bill. The program itself was designed with sharing in mind, illustrating that technologies do not have to be exploitative.

Intersectional activists aim to empower both givers and receivers of support, acknowledging that all citizens play both roles, sometimes needing support and other times contributing it. This is sometimes called mutual aid.

Digital mutual aid can take place through mentorship and skillshare workshops that might teach new marginalized activists how to code computers, promote social media posts, produce radio shows or write media releases. Workshops are conducted by individuals sharing some aspect of their identities with participants to create a safer space through a shared experience of lived oppression.

Digital solidarity and mutual aid are important strategies of support and care that can work toward countering the negative emotional tax of being trolled, doxxed, shadowbanned or subjected to algorithmic bias.

Beyond intersectional digital activism, more work needs to be done by the tech industry, police services and broader social movements to eliminate the colonialism, racism, sexism and transphobia of online interactions and the devastating offline impacts they can have in peoples everyday lives.

This work is important to a well-functioning, inclusive and diverse democracy, as it aims to ensure that online participation is available equally and safely to all citizens.

Sandra Jeppesen, Professor of Media, Film, and Communications, Lakehead University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Image: Rod Long

Here is the original post:

Digilantism, hackbacks and mutual aid are used by online activists to fight trolls - GlobalComment.com

Social networks are not static. Its functionalities and algorithms are evolving. Their rules are also changing to achieve an ecosystem in which they keep us hooked for more and more time. When new changes are applied to a social network like Instagram, there are always users who do their best to skip them. If we violate Instagram rules, the network will end up deleting our account, which is what is known as a ban. However, there is another measure that is becoming more and more popular, and it is known as shadowban. Is it real or is it an urban legend?How is a ban different from a shadowban?

In computing jargon, the fact that an account or profile ends up being removed for breaking the rules. This term does not only apply to social networks, as it already existed in forums and even in online games. The word comes from the English banwhich means prohibition.

In a lifetime ban, your account is locked or removed from the server. There can be many reasons why a moderator or moderation automatism decides to kick you out of a community. From breaking the rules to receiving a massive report by people who dont like you.

However, some social networks penalize practices that are not lawful, but that are not serious enough to expel the user. This is when we start talking about shadowbana concept that many say is a myth.

Shadowban is a type of silent ban that applies to those who are breaking some rules or are misusing the tools of a platform to take advantage.

Basically, the shadownban turns the user into a kind of ghost. Your publications will no longer have such an impact and almost all is lost engagement.. Your interactions with other users will drop drastically. And the worst thing is that the user will never be notified that they have a shadowban. This condition can apparently be reversed with time and good behavior.

There are several reasons that many users have been discovering. Instagram has never commented on shadowbanning, so there is no official guide to shed any light on it either. However, these are some practices that can lead to a shadowban:

Some experts in social networks affirm that this shadowban on networks like Instagram is a myth. According to them, an account that has thousands of followers and less than 100 likes in a publication does not have any special condition, but rather that the social network is not working well. However, here we could enter the debate about whether they are right or if what they want is for us to hire them so that they are the ones who resolve the ballot for us.

In any case, in other social networks, the shadowban exists and you can see it with your own eyes. Twitter, for example, often hide replies in threads when the profile usually comments on irrelevant things. And surprise, you have never heard the official team talk about the shadowban technique.

Continued here:

What is the shadowban on Instagram? - Gearrice

On-and-on the commentary around Andrew Tate goes. Granted, his rhetoric is dangerous, but bearing witness to all this backlash and blocking is his audience.

Andrew Tate (Source: Sunday)

Today I want to ask, are we considering how they will see this?

ICYMI: Facebook and Instagram - sorry, Meta - booted Tate from its platforms.

We know who his audience is, because the impact he has on the world is primarily through his impact on their views: impressionable young men.

The beliefs he spews are vile and numerous. They include - but are certainly not limited to - women belonging in the home, women being unable to drive and that a woman is a man's property.

He's quoted as saying it's easier to get off rape charges in Eastern Europe, which was "40% of the reason I moved to Romania".

So upfront, I want to be explicit; this isn't a defence of him. But I'm not here to indict him either. The danger his views pose are well-documented by others.

No, I want to discuss the role the platforms - Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok and YouTube - have had in his meteoric rise to internet stardom before they kicked him to the curb. Far, far too late if I may add.

Facebook and Instagram - sorry, Meta - say Tate was banned for violating its policies on dangerous organisations and individuals. But that had been the case for a long time.

For that reason, Tate was called out from many corners of the internet at once, and that should've been enough.

Communities should be able to moderate themselves because the moderate view should naturally be the most common, it being moderate and all. But very often, they aren't - and that's thanks to algorithms.

Social media algorithms are complicated, but anecdotally, we can all attest to a simple fact - it shows us more of what we consume.

They provide a way to sort our feeds by relevance, and they decide what's relevant based on what you're interested in.

So if you consume Tate's videos you're going to get more, and more, until eventually, you're a student of the hustle (If you don't understand the end of that sentence, just hold on for three more). Thanks to the algorithm, dissenting content struggles to reach these young men.

Now that's one side of the coin; the other is Tate himself, and how ingeniously he's played the hand he was dealt.

A huge part of his rise is that Hustler's University, the get-rich-quick course (and alleged Ponzi scheme) was built around the goal of making him popular (It's so meta I almost called it Facebook and Instagram again).

At its height, this unaccredited online 'academy' boasted at least 140,000 people on its Discord servers. And the job of this legion for the last little while has been to publish videos of Tate everywhere. They're incentivised to do that because until recently, they got a meaningful commission on anyone they brought into the 'university' through the link attached to the video.

But now, he's gone.

Meta and Twitter have used the 'break glass in case of emergency' option of banning him from their platform, and for a very simple reason - the platforms' algorithms, designed to spread his messages, means that's the only tool they have left to combat harmful rhetoric.

But when it comes to Tate, banning him is only half the job. That rhetoric survives online in countless videos on countless accounts. In the shadow of his banning, this content becomes the only way to keep his rhetoric alive, a mission many have taken up.

We need to show young men why these messages are wrong, not what happens to them if they think they're right.

But because of the way our social media ecosystem is set up, we are now in triage, harmful views spreading as quickly as a novel coronavirus. And now - like a lockdown - eliminating them is all the option we have left. There's a reason they call videos 'viral'.

This won't work forever though.

Take TikTok. Its banned an account related to him, but his hashtag has still racked up 13 billion views and counting.

It's the best move we can make in the present situation, but now we need to cure the misinformation that's already in the community.

If we don't, community transmission will continue, and in a bit of a Covid role-reversal, it is youngsters who are now most at risk.

The sites that have banned him are the very platforms which let it get to this point.

This ecosystem is in their control, and an inability to moderate itself does not excuse it of the need to be moderated.

See more here:

Opinion: Don't let the banned Andrew Tate be a martyr - 1News

Scores from the CIF Southern Section and L.A. City Section high school football games Friday, Aug. 26.

CIF SOUTHERN SECTION

NONLEAGUE

Aliso Niguel 26, Rancho Mirage 0

Alta Loma 34, Don Lugo 20

Anaheim Canyon 28, Irvine 22

Arrowhead Christian 21, Riverside Notre Dame 16

Ayala 28, Etiwanda 7

Baldwin Park 55, South El Monte 20

Bellflower 28, Beckman 6

Bishop Amat 42, La Habra 7

Bishop Montgomery 26, Bolsa Grande 12

Brentwood 33, Salesian 14

Buena Park 29, Savanna 0

Burbank Burroughs 17, Fillmore 7

Cajon 34, Jurupa Hills 0

Canyon Country Canyon 28, Hueneme 7

Canyon Springs 60, Banning 12

Cerritos Valley Christian 42, Gahr 9

Chaffey 46, San Gorgonio 18

Chaminade 24, JSerra 21 (OT)

Chino Hills 54, Diamond Ranch 0

Citrus Valley 58, Rancho Verde 7

Colony 26, Corona Santiago 14

Compton 69, Compton Centennial 0

Corona Centennial 42, San Diego Cathedral 7

Corona del Mar 28, Los Gatos 14

Costa Mesa 21, Pioneer 20

Crean Lutheran 49, Mary Star 0

Culver City 35, West Torrance 13

Damien 34, Loyola 7

Dana Hills 28, Laguna Beach 24

Dos Pueblos 41, Nordhoff 7

Downey 47, El Toro 13

Eastside 35, Viewpoint 14

Edison 31, Leuzinger 22

Eisenhower 40, Temescal Canyon 27

El Rancho 42, Bell Gardens 22

Foothill 9, Tustin 7

Fullerton 39, Whittier 7

Garden Grove 61, Artesia 6

Garden Grove Santiago 41, Godinez 6

Glenn 49, Firebaugh 8

Golden Valley 42, Antelope Valley 6

Granite Hills 41, Rialto 14

Hacienda Heights Wilson 47, La Puente 6

Hemet 37, Indio 6

Heritage Christian 42, Riverside Prep 8

Hesperia 38, Victor Valley 0

Hoover 14, Ganesha 6

Indian Springs 42, Arroyo Valley 14

Jurupa Valley 35, Desert Hot Springs 12

Kaiser 36, Ramona 35

King 55, Redlands 14

Laguna Hills 49, Placentia Valencia 29

Liberty 42, Miller 0

Long Beach Jordan 41, Peninsula 35

Long Beach Poly 17, Gardena Serra 3

Los Amigos 22, Ocean View 6

Los Osos 41, Redlands East Valley 6

Maranatha 42, Beverly Hills 6

Mater Dei 24, Bishop Gorman (Nev.) 21

Mayfair 49, St. Anthony 6

Mission Viejo 42, Servite 23

Monrovia 49, Arcadia 14

Montebello 30, Cantwell-Sacred Heart 26

Mountain View 48, Workman 27

Murrieta Valley 52, Great Oak 14

North Torrance 20, St. Genevieve 6

Northwood 37, La Palma Kennedy 6

Oak Park 23, Calabasas 22

Oaks Christian 38, Sierra Canyon 21

Ontario Christian 45, Xavier Prep 15

Orange Lutheran 24, Upland 7

Oxnard 21, Hart 18

Palmdale 42, Ridgecrest Burroughs 6

Paloma Valley 42, Moreno Valley 20

Pasadena 35, Glendora 10

Patriot 49, Rubidoux 20

Pomona 47, Garey 14

Rancho Alamitos 10, La Sierra 7

Rancho Christian 43, San Bernardino 8

Rancho Cucamonga 13, Apple Valley 12

Redondo 33, Long Beach Wilson 0

Rim of the World 48, Littlerock 6

Rio Hondo Prep 29, El Monte 6

Rio Mesa 47, Camarillo 28

Royal 41, Castaic 20

Saddleback 27, Century 0

San Marino 14, Arroyo 13

Santa Margarita 36, Norco 14

Santa Monica 33, El Segundo 14

Santa Paula 26, Channel Islands 20

Santa Rosa Academy 54, Nuview Bridge 12

Saugus 41, Moorpark 13

Segerstrom 53, Santa Ana Valley 0

Shadow Hills 56, Citrus Hill 0

Silverado 28, Yucaipa 13

Simi Valley 51, Knight 0

South Hills 16, Covina 14

Read more from the original source:

High school football: All of the scores from Fridays games - The Whittier Daily News

Porsches IPO valuation may be as much as $85 billion, California officially approves new rules banning the sale of new gas powered cars by 2035, and new Mercedes-Benz electric vehicles have started rolling off the production line in the United States. All that and more in The Morning Shift for Friday, August 26, 2022.

Porsche has reportedly got investors lined up for its initial public offering at a valuation of nearly $85 billion, according to Bloomberg. The IPO right now is set for the first week of September, and some big name investors are on board. T Rowe Price and Qatar Investment Authority have already showed interest. From Bloomberg:

The high demand in the so-called shadow order book which is built up ahead of the formal bids collected during the IPO roadshow is a good sign for the listing that market observers hope will re-open Europes nascent IPO market.

Many European and U.S. institutional asset managers that typically invest in major German IPOs have so far shied away from making firm commitments due to corporate governance concerns, the people said. Still, Porsche has enough demand to nearly fill the shadow order book at the top end of the range and is oversubscribed at the lower end, the people said.

IPO investors will be sold preferred shares in Porsche that dont carry voting rights. The powerful billionaire Porsche and Piech clan, which controls VW through voting stock, would receive a special dividend to fund buying a blocking minority stake in Porsche.

The outlet reports that some fund managers are a bit weary that Oliver Blume, who once helmed the brand, will now be at the head of Volkswagen. That company will still have the bulk of the shares in Porsche. Volkswagens current market capitalization is ... $85 billion.

California has officially approved new regulations that are set to ban the sale of new gasoline-powered cars and trucks by 2035. The move is obviously being done to combat climate change and speed up the rest of the nations move toward electric vehicles.

G/O Media may get a commission

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Its reported that members of the California Air Resources Board (CARB) voted to formally adopt the rules at a meeting held yesterday in Sacramento.

Despite the move, many within the auto industry feel that it will be hard to get to Californias target, because of a slow build of EV charging networks and raw materials being scarce to make batteries. From the Wall Street Journal:

These are complex, intertwined and global issues well beyond the control of either CARB or the auto industry, said John Bozzella, president of the Alliance for Automotive Innovation.

The regulations, which apply to sales of new cars, pickup trucks and SUVs, would establish annual thresholds for the share of zero-emission vehicles auto makers must sell in the state each year, starting at 35% in 2026, and ramping up to 68% by the 2030 vehicle model year and 100% by 2035.

While EV sales still account for only around 6% of U.S. new-vehicle sales, they surpassed 16% in the second quarter in California, which has long been a pioneer in EV adoption.

Sales of electrics have been growing faster than the broader vehicle market as auto makers introduce new models, even as EV prices have risen amid inflationary pressures.

The WSJ reports that the rules would avoid the equivalent of about 915 million barrels of oil between 2026 and 2040.

This is an actual, legally enforceable requirement, and it is incredibly ambitious, Liane Randolph, the chair of CARB, told the publication.

This is also a good reminder that when automakers complain about stuff like this usually they are being disingenuous, if not making up a bunch of worries outright.

Mercedes 6 million-square-foot factory in Vance, Alabama now has its first new EVs rolling off the production line. Specifically, the plant is making the EQS SUV, or Mercedes electric GLS.

In the next couple of years, the entire plant may be switching over to building EVs, according to Automotive News. Right now, the only electric vehicle its making is the EQS SUV, but soon thatll be joined by the EQE SUV, which is based on the smaller GLE crossover.

The plant in Vance will be making EQEs for all markets other than China, and its expected to produce over 100,000 electric vehicles next year. Thats still a lot less than its annual capacity of 305,000. From Automotive News:

Much is riding on the Alabama plant as Mercedes pivots into an all-electric brand around the world in markets that are ready for the switch.

It launched its all-electric EQ subbrand with the debut of a battery-powered S-Class sedan last fall.

The U.S.-built EQS SUV will be joined in the lineup this year by the EQB compact crossover and the EQE midsize sedan. Next year, the portfolio gets expanded with the arrival of the EQE midsize crossover.

Right now, Mercedes says it is still working on future EV sourcing plans.

Mercedes expects EVs to account for about half of its U.S. sales by 2030, executives revealed at the brands national dealer meeting earlier this year. And next year, Mercedes aims to sell up to 45,000 EQ-brand electric vehicles here.

Theres even a possibility Mercedes-Benz could start sourcing more and more EV powertrain components in the U.S. Its almost like big legislation like the Inflation Reduction Act matters.

Its now been well-documented that Elon Musk impregnated one of his top Neuralink executives, but a new report offers a wrinkle in the case, in that the pregnancy might not have occurred because of sex. Shivon Zilis, who reported directly to Musk, had twin babies last November. She has since told some colleagues that she wasnt involved romantically with Musk, according to Reuters sources. Instead, the children were conceived through in vitro fertilization.

Usually having a child with a subordinate would cause waves within a company for the CEO, but that doesnt seem to be happening this time. From Reuters:

Neuralinks 62-page employee handbook, a copy of which was seen by Reuters, prohibits dating, personal relationships and close personal friendships between employees in a direct supervisory relationship to avoid any conflicts of interest.

But the facts presented by Musk and Zilis relationship are so unusual that the corporate governance experts who reviewed the policy for Reuters expressed divergent views on whether they thought the entrepreneur had violated it by having children with his subordinate through IVF.

Whatever lawyer wrote this language did not contemplate this situation, said Nell Minow, vice chair of corporate governance consultancy ValueEdge Advisors, referring to the Neuralink code of conduct.

She added that the situation appeared to fall between the cracks of the policys intent to avoid conflicts of interest due to relationships between employees.

Its unclear whether Musk or Zilis disclosed their relationship whatever it was to the companys people operations manager.

Neuralink has accepted Zilis description of a non-romantic relationship, and she continues in her role as director of operations and special projects, a source familiar with the companys handling of the matter said. In the weeks since the disclosure of their having children, Musk and Zilis have also continued working together, taking the helm at internal and external company meetings, according to two people with direct knowledge of the matter.

I dont know. Whatever this whole thing is, it gives me the ick.

Apples latest version of CarPlay is meant to take over every screen on a cars dashboard, and because its Apple, CarPlay will also gain access to a river of data. Its being reported that car manufacturers may not be too keen on the idea. From Automotive News:

Where drivers view extending iPhone functions into the dashboard as a matter of convenience, automakers and tech companies see a big dollar battleground. McKinsey & Co. estimates vehicle data will be worth up to $400 billion annually by 2030. Fortune Business Insights predicts the global connected-car market will grow from nearly $60 billion in 2021 to more than $190 billion in 2028.

As cars have become more connected, automakers envision vehicle data as an essential and profitable component of their future business plans. They want to sell services such as pay-per-mile insurance and route-based offers from retailers.

Right now, experts believe that only smaller and newer automakers will be into giving Apple full control of the in-vehicle experience.

Yet Apple said it was working with automakers around the world when it introduced the new version of CarPlay at its annual Worldwide Developer Conference in June. The tech giant displayed 14 major car companylogos including major brands such as Ford, Mercedes-Benz and Honda. It said the new version will be available in vehicles starting late next year.

Its reported that 98 percent of new vehicles now come with CarPlay. On top of that, 79 percent of buyers will only consider a vehicle if it comes with the feature.

There isnt very much summer left. Do your best to take advantage of the little warm weather weve got in front of us. Ill be inside packing up my shit ahead of moving, but thats just me. Do what Id rather be doing. Go to a beach. Touch grass. See some birds.

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Porsche Could Be Worth Up to $85 Billion - Jalopnik

One of conservatives major gripes is their shadow banning and suppression on the part of social media giants like Twitter and Facebook. Now, their complaints might have to extend to former President Donald Trump, whose own social media platform is apparently shadow banning people, too.

The non-profit group Public Citizen said the banning of certain types of content on Truth Social are at odds with the principles of free speech the very thing Trump said he intended to protect with the launching of his social media platform.

Our own research on the platform confirms that the site engages in shadow banning, which is fully or partially blocking users content without warning, notice, or recourse, the group said. This is prevalent with regard to both progressive subject matter and across various other topics.

Those other topics include any post containing the phrase abortion is healthcare, which would get users automatically shadow banned and the post hidden from view.

Additionally, a number of Truth Social users reported having their accounts permanently suspended after posting about the January 6th Committee hearings, said Cheyenne Hunt-Majer of Public Citizen. Other users have alleged that their posts were censored or their accounts were deactivated after sharing a video from the January 6th hearings of Ivanka Trump doubting her fathers claims that the election was stolen.

Similar allegations are being made against Truth Social among users who posted truths critical of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

(YWN World Headquarters NYC)

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CENSORSHIP: Trump's Truth Social Shadow Banning Users Talking About Jan ...

Palestinian-American supermodelBella Hadid has said she is willing to lose her modelling career to continue her support for the Palestinian cause.

In a jointinterviewwith Egyptian-American actor Ramy Youssef for GQ magazine, the 25-year-old opened up about her sadness for not being able to grow up in Muslim culture with her Palestinian father.

She further said that she is half Palestinian, but she did not have the opportunity to explore this aspect of her identity, as she moved to Santa Barbara after her parents divorce.

Bella also revealed that she was the only Arab girl in her class in the school, and she was subjected to racial bullying that made her feel sad and lonely.

She also said that for years she was compared to her older sister, Gigi. I was the ugly brown sister, I wasnt as cool as her, thats what people said about me, and unfortunately when you are told things so many times, you believe it, she added.

She continued, I suffer from insecurity, anxiety, depression, body image problems, and eating problems, I have severe social anxiety, I also had mental health problems during my childhood, and I developed anorexia in high school.

Bella previously said onRep podcastthat she has lost many modelling opportunities and friendships because of her advocacy for Palestine.

Bella told GQ about how her career is affected by her support for Palestine, I realized that Im not on this earth to be a model.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CVjdXhip4ZU/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

Noting that she is happy to be in a position where she can speak out and make peoples voices heard, Hadid said that she is not afraid of losing job offers.

She concluded by saying, Despite the passage of years, I still feel that all my problems are rooted in the separation of my parents and that I have been ripped from my real environment.

Bella Hadid, whose full name is Isabella Khair Hadid, is known for her support of the Palestinians on many occasions, as she uses her fame to introduce the Palestinian cause by sharing videos and photos, the last of which is a video clip of the funeralof Palestinian journalist Shireen Abu Aqleh, who was killed by an Israeli sniper, last May.

Bella Hadid was also among the participants in the protests organized by activists in the British capital, London, against Trumps decision to move the US embassy to Jerusalem in 2017.

Bella was the subject of an attack by Israels official social media account in 2021 after taking part in a rally in New York.

Earlier this year, Bella also spoke out againstIsraels storming of Al-AqsaMosque and accused Instagram of shadow banning her stories.

My Instagram has disabled me from posting on my story pretty much only when it is Palestine based I assume, the model, 25, said. When I post about Palestine I get immediately shadow banned and almost one million less of you see my stories and posts. I wonder what they are trying to hide by censoring me? I wonder what they are hiding when they try to [censor], harass, attack innocent journalists doing their job, she questioned.

Bella Hadid is the younger daughter of Palestinian American Mohamed Hadid, who is an architect and real estate developer, and Dutch-born model Yolanda Hadid.

Elder sister Gigi is a supermodel and younger brother Anwar is also a model.

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Bella Hadid is willing to lose modelling career to support Palestine - The Siasat Daily