Mario Nawfal

🚨BREAKING: UKRAINE ATTACKS KEY RUSSIAN BRIDGE AND CLAIMS RESPONSIBILITY | U.S INVOLVEMENT? The longest bridge in Europe, a major strategic asset for Russia connecting them to Crimea, was attacked early in the morning, and Ukrainian Intelligence has acknowledged that Ukraine was responsible for the attack. In 2016, Putin celebrated the opening of the bridge by calling it “a miracle”. Ukraine attacked the Kerch Bridge overnight using unmanned drones on the water surface. UKRAINE PUBLICLY TAKES RESPONSIBILITY: The Ukrainian admission of the attack is surprising, as it could result in a brutal retaliation by Russia. Putin called the attack on the bridge "an act of terror" by Kyiv. In the past, when Russia has referred to any attack as 'terrorism', it has been indicative of a strong response including mass rocket and missile attacks. US & BRITISH INVOLVEMENT? The Russians also claimed that the attack involved the "direct participation" of American and British intelligence and politicians. The aircraft tracking website FlightRadar appeared to show a U.S reconnaissance aircraft in Black Sea waters around the time of the attack. In a video, Donetsk People's Republic advisor Yan Gagin stated “this happened with the help of fire ships. These are boat drones. Most likely produced in NATO countries ...During the attack a US reconnaissance drone was in the sky over the Black Sea, most likely guiding the drones" GRAIN DEAL ENDED: GLOBAL INFLATION AND FAMINE The Black Sea grain deal is an agreement between Russia, Ukraine, Turkey, and the United Nations to allow the safe export of grain from Ukraine. The deal was brokered in July 2022, after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine blocked the export of grain from Ukraine’s Black Sea ports. The deal allows for the export of grain from three Ukrainian ports: Odesa, Chornomorsk, and Yuzhny. The deal had been credited with helping to reduce global food prices, which have been rising since the start of the war in Ukraine. After the attack, the Russians announced it will be TERMINATED with no indication if there will be talks to renew it. The impact of losing the grain deal will be significant, as it will lead to higher food prices, food shortages, and even famine in some parts of the world. MY THOUGHTS: This is serious for 4 reasons: 1. The attack was in Crimea, a RED LINE for Putin 2. Ukraine publicly claimed responsibility, very rare 3. The U.S could be directly involved 4. Sweden about to join NATO It is well known that the US and the UK have been actively providing intelligence that allows the Ukrainians to conduct attacks on the frontlines. At the same time, it is no secret that Putin made it clear that attacking Crimea or attempting to retake it are a RED LINE that should not be crossed. And Ukraine promptly admitting they are behind the attack demonstrates yet another escalatory step and confidence from Kiev. I’m not saying Ukraine doesn’t have the right to attack Crimea. I understand that Russia invaded Ukrainian territory and illegally annexed Crimea, something I would never condone. But remember, Putin is getting INCREASINGLY CORNERED by NATO and likely fuming after Sweden got the green light to join NATO. He also clearly stated Crimea is a RED LINE for him and that Russia would "never give up" Crimea. Because of these reasons, I think Ukraine and NATO should seriously consider some compromise to avoid this war spilling into a global nuclear conflict. I have called for URGENT DE-ESCALATION for months, by BOTH SIDES, but things seem to only be getting worse. Just yesterday Putin said Russia has ‘sufficient’ cluster munitions and may retaliate if Ukraine uses them, only days after Ukraine received a delivery cluster munitions from the U.S. WHY IS THE WORLD OK WITH THIS?? HOW DO YOU EXPECT PUTIN WILL RESPOND NOW?

🚨BREAKING: META'S TWITTER CLONE DYING A FAST DEATH Usage of the app falls drastically, faster than anyone expected: 1) Daily Active Users dropped from a peak of 45 million when it launched on July 6 to 28 million on July 13. That's approximately 38% lower. 2) Time spent per user has tanked from 20 mins on July 7 to around 5 mins by July 11. That's a 75% reduction in usage over 4 days! During the same period, Twitter metrics remained virtually unchanged. The exodus many feared yet again did not materialize. On Friday I tweeted “on Tuesday and Wednesday, the app's daily active users (the metric that matters) were down about 20% from Saturday, and the time spent per user was down 50%, from 20 minutes to 10 minutes.” These numbers were concerning for Meta at the time, and today things have gotten a lot worse. This is getting embarrassing for Meta as their app is fast becoming a background download that hardly anyone uses. This is the exact concern many voiced: Some of Instagram’s 2.3 billion users will download the app, yet no one will end up using it. I stand by what I think are the main reasons for the Meta app flopping: 1) CENSORSHIP: Meta’s experience is fundamentally different to @elonmusk's vision for Twitter due to their excessive and biased censorship, impeding one’s right to Free Speech. 2) PREMATURE APP LAUNCH: The app’s experience is a VERY bare-bones version of Twitter with limited functionality, limited features and, in my opinion, a very ‘meh’ experience. 3) BRIDGE FOR INSTAGRAM USERS TO JOIN TWITTER: I predicted that Instagram users who download and use the app, and actually enjoy it, will then migrate to the ‘Real Thing’, and that’s Twitter. However, I don’t think POINT 1 even had time to materialize as all users left the app due to POINT 2 😅 Also it’s still to early to assess my third prediction, however I doubt we'll have to wait long. Interesting to see in the chart below, Instagram's Daily Active Users even dropped slightly while Twitter remained unchanged 😂 To me, Meta’s failure shows how sticky Twitter is and the strength of the platform’s community, a bullish sign as Elon and the team work on expanding the ecosystem into ‘X’, the EVERYTHING APP. DO YOU AGREE? WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON ELON’S TWITTER SO FAR?

🚨PARENTS ENDANGER MILLIONS OF KIDS BY POSTING THEIR PHOTOS ONLINE | Paedophiles & Criminals Use A.I Parents who share their kids’ photos on social media are unwittingly exposing their children to serious dangers from child traffickers, paedophiles, criminals and cyber gangs armed with A.I tools. There are many SERIOUS RISKS involved, including: 1) Identity theft from photos and videos 2) Sexual exploitation and grooming 3) Cyberbullying 4) Doxing and Kidnapping Risk Shocking statistics from the Identity Theft Resource Center reveal that 1.3 million childrens' records are stolen each year in the US. The problem is getting worse with a 63% increase in cases from 2021 compared to 2019. And based on reports to authorities, these figures are just the tip of the iceberg! Tracy Kitten, an expert on online safety: “the picture our findings paint quickly becomes dark, grim, and scary.” Sexual predators are increasingly using AI to create CHILD SEX ABUSE CONTENT by applying deep-fake image generators. They use real pictures taken from social media and place these on child pornography from paedophile gangs. A.I can also be used to impersonate an individual’s voice which can be used for fraud, extortion and cyberbullying. Imagine your child’s voice being used to say embarrassing things, and then this is used to extort or bully them. Another risk is doxing (revealing one’s address or other personal details), something I have spoken about at length. A video or image can provide geolocation A.I tools with enough unique information to very accurately reveal the location where pictures or videos were taken. This data can then be used by human traffickers to plan a kidnapping of the child. Remember WSJ’s report last month about Instagram’s “VAST PAEDOPHILE NETWORK" seeking underage sexual content and activity? MY FRIEND AND HER 7 YEAR OLD SON: As I was writing this tweet, a close friend and employee sent me a message that made me sick. She saw her son (who I know extremely well) taking his t-shirt off while chatting online. When she checked his phone, he was in a Telegram group with other children and was being asked by a '6-year old girl' to send her nudes. The girl sent him nudes as well. Based on the chat and the style of writing, it was obvious to her this was an adult impersonating the girl in order to get naked photos of her son. She also told me about a common scam in which criminals use A.I voice generators to impersonate children, and call the grandparents pretending the child is in trouble (robbed/imprisoned/kidnapped), then requesting money to be transferred. Paedophelia, to me, is one of the most serious problems we face. Mix this with A.I. and we have a VERY MAJOR problem, one we are not yet ready for. The short video below sums up the tweet very well. Viewer discretion is advised. WHY IS THIS ISSUE NOT BEING TAKEN SERIOUSLY?

🚨BREAKING: HOLLYWOOD GRINDS TO A HALT | Movies & Shows Paused | Fears A.I Will Replace Jobs | Disney, Netflix, Amazon Suffer More than 170,000 Hollywood actors and writers go on strike against studios including Disney, Netflix, Amazon and Sony. Here’s a list of movies and shows affected by the strike: - Beetlejuice 2 w/ Tim Burton and Michael Keaton - Deadpool 3 w/ Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman - Gladiator 2 w/ Denzel Washington and Paul Mescal - Juror #2 w/ Clint Eastwood - Lilo & Stitch by Disney - Minecraft - Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part Two w/ Tom Cruise - Mortal Kombat 2 - Venom 3 w/ Tom Hardy A-lister actors such as George Clooney, Matt Damon, Robert Downey Jr, Emily Blunt, Margot Robbie, Florence Pugh, Jason Sudeikis and Susan Sarandon are among the stars supporting the strikes. Christopher Nolan stated he will not produce any films during the strikes. The strikers grievances included increased pay, guarantees of work, and most interestingly, assurances their work WON’T BE REPLACED BY A.I. The studios argue that the unions' demands are unrealistic, given the challenges the entertainment industry faces, from streaming to fallout from the pandemic. “This is the worst time in the world to add to that disruption,” - Disney's CEO. The studios have vowed to "stand firm" in the face of the strike. Janice Min, an industry expert, stated “If this goes on for a long time, you will feel it across the whole internet.” Despite these warnings the unions have said that they are ready and willing put up a fight for their members' rights and demands. MY THOUGHTS: While this is the first major strike in Hollywood since 1980, I don’t find it concerning. Worst case we might feel it for a while, but these things tend to work themselves out. BUT, I have one MAJOR CONCERN HERE: Workers are already worried about A.I replacing their jobs, and the technology is barely getting started! A 2021 report by McKinsey found that up to 800 million jobs could be lost to automation by 2030. That same report also claims that 950 million new jobs could also be created in that period. Former Presidential Candidate Andrew Yang argued that A.I could lead to a "massive wave of job displacement" that could leave millions of people without work. This could lead to increased poverty, inequality, and social unrest. If A.I’s benefits are not widely shared, and they don’t lead to more jobs, a dystopian future in which A.I essentially runs the world, dictating our lives and employing humans , would no longer be science fiction. This will lead to even more inequality and centralization of power among people and organizations who control those A.I programs. I do not see civilization accepting such a world, meaning mass unrest is inevitable unless a solution is implemented, and implemented FAST. This is one reason total figures in the A.I space, including @elonmusk, are calling for regulation to move faster. I’m optimistic, but very cautiously optimistic. I’m just surprised not enough people are treating this matter seriously. Am I alone in sharing this concern? ARE YOU MORE WORRIED ABOUT YOUR MOVIES OR NETFLIX BEING DELAYED, OR YOUR JOB BEING REPLACED BY A.I?

🚨BREAKING: META'S TWITTER CLONE DEAD? Ignore the barrage of biased legacy media headlines on how many Instagram users are downloading Meta’s Twitter Copycat. On Tuesday and Wednesday, the app's daily active users (the metric that matters) were down about 20% from Saturday, and the time spent per user was down 50%, from 20 minutes to 10 minutes. Google Search results, a great early indicator of a trend, shows a 75% drop in searches, an astonishing and rapid drop. David Webb from Similarweb said “while there was intense interest in checking out the app initially, not every user has made a habit of visiting the app as often as they might other social apps.” Zuckerberg may as well drop the clone as he did with all his other clones over the years. No one knows for sure why the engagement is dropping so catastrophically, but I’m not surprised. Here’s an exert from my previous tweet, and the prediction seems to be materializing: "Zuckerberg's Twitter clone is riding on Instagram to attract new downloads, but there are major issues with this new app" that could lead to high churn: 1) CENSORSHIP: Meta’s experience is fundamentally different to @elonmusk's vision for Twitter due to their excessive and biased censorship, impeding one’s right to Free Speech. 2) PREMATURE APP LAUNCH: The app’s experience is a VERY bare-bones version of Twitter with limited functionality, limited features and, in my opinion, a very ‘meh’ experience. 3) BRIDGE FOR INSTAGRAM USERS TO JOIN TWITTER: I predicted that Instagram users who download and use the app, and actually enjoy it, will then migrate to the ‘Real Thing’, and that’s Twitter. However, to be honest, I didn't anticipate it would be THIS EPIC OF A FLOP. Other analysts have identified that some users have already reported shadowbanning and algorithmic downgrading of non-mainstream content. What a surprise… MEDIA WRONG AGAIN: We have been swamped with jubilant headlines from mainstream media. Enjoy the laugh: The Guardian 'Twitter killer' app hits 100m sign-ups in less than five days Forbes Twitter Rival Now Fastest-Growing App In History With 100 Million Users The Economic Times Meta's Twitter rival overtakes ChatGPT as fastest-growing platform Yahoo Finance Meta's app hits 30 million sign ups: Is it a threat to Twitter? MY THOUGHTS: I’ve been pretty clear from the beginning: Meta’s attempt to copy Twitter seems very rushed and half-assed. They leverage Instagram’s 1+ billion users to get downloads rather than focusing on a Unique Selling Point over Twitter. While I didn’t expect such a rapid collapse, I am not surprised. What I’m waiting to see though is whether all these users will migrate from Meta’s clone onto Twitter. DID ZUCKERBERG’S COPYCAT FAIL? DID YOU USE IT?

🚨TWITTER PAYS CREATORS: HOW YOU CAN MAKE MONEY TOO! I’m sure you’ve seen by now accounts get up to $100k payouts from Twitter as part of Elon’s promise to share ad revenue with creators: “creators can get a share in ad revenue starting in the replies to their posts” Payments will be backdated to February, when Elon promised “Twitter will share ad revenue with creators for ads that appear in their reply threads”. With the first $5m block of payments coming out, creators are responding very positively praising Twitter for sticking to their promise and exceeding expectations. @elonmusk recently stated that Twitter will pay video creators 10% more than YouTube. He’s also made it clear that “creator monetization [will apply] for all forms of content”. YouTube, Twitter is coming for you! Below I'll break down HOW Twitter is allowing creators to monetize their tweets, WHAT to expect over the next few months, and how YOU can make money as well. HOW TO BE ELIGIBLE: 1. Subscribe to Twitter Blue (where are all the haters now?) or become a Verified Organization 2. Have at least 5M impressions on your posts in each of the last 3 months 3. Get a Stripe account 4. Must have a verified email address, two-factor authentication, a profile picture, bio, and a header image 5. Have at least 10,000 followers 6. Must have tweeted at least 25 times in the past month 7. Apply and pass a human review HOW IS AD REVENUE CALCULATED? If Twitter impressions are the basis for determining ad revenues, it will give creators a larger incentive to post regular, engaging content on Twitter that initiates discussions. Some argue that this may lead people to be more controversial in order to generate views and receive a larger share of the ad revenue. However, even in that case, this isn't an issue, as all platforms pay creators based on the level of engagement they receive. HOW they get that engagement is up to the content creator. The variation in the amount of money creators earn per impression suggests that ad revenue is not solely determined by the number of impressions. One theory is that ad revenue is based on the number of comments, as ads are placed within the comments section of tweets. However, this raises questions about how it is determined which posts receive ads and how it is determined if creators will subsequently benefit from those ads. Another possibility is that advertisers have the option to choose where their ads are placed. For example, they can target left-leaning accounts with their ads or choose to place them on more conservative accounts. If this is the case, it adds an interesting element to the type of content creators produce. HOW MUCH WILL YOU EARN? Although Twitter has not disclosed how they calculate the revenue creators earn, some have estimated $1,000 for every 100,000 followers, others calculated a rate of $3-$10 per 100,000 impressions, but there’s been cases of it being lower. When comparing this to YouTube, a platform that has been in the content creation business for a while, there are notable differences. On YouTube, you can earn $400 for 100,000 views on a video without ads, and with ads, the earnings can reach up to $2,400 for the same view count. In contrast, Rumble offers $25 for 100,000 views, but they provide an extra $50 for each approved video. TikTok, on the other hand, compensates content creators approximately $2 to $4 per 100,000 views. Therefore, Twitter's initial start appears to be quite lucrative for most creators. It is important to note that YouTube videos cannot be compared to tweets. A fair comparison can be made once Twitter introduces monetization for videos, which Musk hinted will be 10% more than YouTube, as well as Spaces. TOP EARNERS: Here are Twitter's top earners (only includes creators who Tweeted their earnings): @InternetH0F: $107,247 (1.9M followers) @BillyM2k: $37,050 (2.1M followers) @MrBeast: $25,801 (21.8M followers) @EdKrassen: $24,877 (978K followers) @krassenstein: $24,305 (752K followers) @Cobratate: $20,379 (7.1M followers) MY THOUGHTS: Elon is fulfilling all of his promises since he took over Twitter. He has revived free speech, democratized the blue verification checkmark, financially rescued Twitter by cutting costs, eliminated bots, expanded the features, implemented transparency, and opened up monetization through subscriptions and ad-revenue sharing. My team has contemplated whether to expand our show to other platforms, but our conclusion was simple: Twitter is becoming the 'Everything App' that Elon promised. We asked ourselves one simple question: Do we want YouTube/TikTok/Instagram, or a Twitter alternative focused on FREE SPEECH and CREATOR MONETIZATION? For me, the biggest lesson I've learned this month is that while Meta copies, Twitter innovates, and innovation will always be the winning strategy. Do you agree with my analysis? WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON TWITTER UNDER ELON?

🚨X .AI IS HERE! | Elon's Fight Against 'Woke A.I' Elon was an initial investor in OpenAI (the creator of ChatGPT) and served on its board. However, he eventually parted ways with the company in 2018 to avoid a conflict of interest. Now, Elon has launched his own A.I. company called "X. AI" with a vision to understand the "true nature of the universe." ‘X’ has a special place in Elon’s heart. It was the name of his first startup (later named PayPal), the name of his child, and the corporate name of Twitter. MUSK’S WAR ON WOKE A.I: @elonmusk has been critical of ChatGPT and other AGIs becoming "woke" and exhibiting biases on certain topics: “The danger of training AI to be woke - in other words, lie - is deadly.” The objective of X .AI is to essentially become "TruthGPT," an AGI language model that speaks based on facts and avoids political biases. In his Fox interview, Musk states that while ChatGPT and Bard are focused on being politically correct, he will build a "truth-seeking AI." Musk's concern with woke A.I goes deeper than culture. He highlights the risks of A.I ending humanity: “A path to A.I dystopia is to train A.I to be deceptive. A.I is more dangerous than, say, mismanaged aircraft design or production maintenance or bad car production... [It] has the potential for civilization destruction.” X .AI, TWITTER & TESLA: Elon has hired engineers with experience at top tech companies, including OpenAI, Google Research, Microsoft Research, etc., to build the best possible product. He has taken Dan Hendrycks on board, a researcher who currently leads the Center for AI Safety, a nonprofit that aims to “reduce societal-scale risks associated with AI.” Commentators on A.I claim that X .AI will most probably be trained on tweets from Twitter and data from Tesla. Remember that back in December, Musk learned that ChatGPT was using Twitter's database and he "put it on pause." Twitter's data is X .AI's moat. Tesla collects a vast amount of data about how their vehicles are driven, how they are used, and how they are maintained. This data would allow X .AI to learn how to interact with people in a way that is similar to how Tesla cars interact with their drivers. X .AI can be used to improve A.I systems in Tesla, Twitter, and possibly even SpaceX. This would also mean that Twitter's algorithm and its ability to combat bots will improve significantly. X .AI AND NEURALINK: Neuralink is another Musk-founded company that is trying to build a direct computer-to-brain interface via an implantable small device. It is quite possible that such an interface could then be enhanced or augmented by X .AI's processing power and intelligence. This is exciting and frightening since it could open up new boundaries, such as direct translation of different languages or maybe a hackable human? Who knows what the future could look like, but I’d be first to sign up! MY THOUGHTS: It’s no secret that A.I worries me, but at the same time I’m at the forefront of this technological revolution, hosting large A.I. spaces and incubating various start-ups in the industry. Elon’s focus on an ‘unbiased’ A.I is in-line with his values at Twitter, and goes against the current status-quo among big tech. Even yesterday we saw the dark side of censorship with the findings on the collusion between the FBI and Ukrainian intelligence with social media platforms. If AGI surpasses human intelligence, allowing it the ability to censor or have bias, it could lead to detrimental results. Strategically, Elon has an advantage with Twitter, Tesla and Neuralink. However his competition is fierce, and maintaining his moat by focusing on ‘unbiased truth’ makes X .AI a very exciting player in humanity’s biggest innovation in decades. WOULD YOU USE X .AI OVER CHAT-GPT? WHY OR WHY NOT?

🚨BREAKING: FBI COLLUDED WITH UKRAINIAN INTELLIGENCE TO BLOCK FREE SPEECH Findings in a US House Judiciary Committee report found the FBI colluded with Ukrainian Intelligence (SBU) to censor social media accounts of US citizens and journalists. The FBI and SBU were so aggressive and unchecked in their censorship of free speech that even a verified Russian-language U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT ACCOUNT WAS FLAGGED FOR REMOVAL. WHO WAS CENSORED? The stated objective was to block Russian disinformation by blocking accounts sympathetic to the Russian narrative. In their zeal for censorship, they even ended up flagging Americans’ accounts and posts that were CRITICAL of Vladimir Putin and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. According to the report, the SBU had been infiltrated by Russian collaborators, sympathizers, and double agents, which could be why the FBI got censorship so wrong in some instances. FBI HAD NO LEGAL RIGHT: The Committee report noted that "the FBI had no legal justification for facilitating the censorship of Americans’ protected speech on social media.” In a damning indictment of the Illegal activities of the FBI, the report showed how representatives of Meta, Google and YouTube received "requests for censorship (from) the Ukrainian government, other Eastern European governments, the European Union, and the European Commission.” The requests were channeled via "the U.S. Department of Justice" MY THOUGHTS: As most of you know, I thoroughly covered the TwitterFiles that showed significant Government involvement in social media censorship. This new revelation demonstrates the involvement of foreign agencies that fit the US agenda, in the censorship of US citizens. No matter what your political stance, the ability of a foreign organization to infringe on your First Amendment right should be SERIOUSLY SCRUTINIZED and CHALLENGED. Do you think Big Tech censorship is currently OUT OF CONTROL?

🚨NATO REFUSES UKRAINE & ACCEPTS SWEDEN | How Will Russia Respond? President Biden confirmed in candid terms that Ukraine would not be invited to join "because there’s other qualifications that need to be met, including democratization and some of those issues.” This statement came as a blow to President Zelensky who stated with indignation: "It’s unprecedented and ABSURD when time frame is not set" for Ukraine's accession to NATO. However, NATO has committed its continued support for Ukraine in its war with Russia. SWEDEN TO JOIN NATO: Finland joined NATO in April, and it seems Sweden is about to follow. This is a SERIOUS BLOW to Russia as NATO will then share a 2,408 mile border with Russia, a significant increase from the previous 754 mile border. In March, the Russian Foreign Minister said that Finland and Sweden joining NATO would be a "serious mistake" and would "have serious military and political consequences." Russian Deputy Foreign Minister said that Finland and Sweden joining NATO would "not be without consequences" and that Russia would "take appropriate measures." Although Finland is now part of NATO, Turkey and Hungary have been blocking Sweden for months. But after concessions from the US, Sweden and NATO, Turkey today accepted Sweden. Here are the concessions: - NATO's Secretary General clarified that "Sweden has amended its constitution, changed its laws, significantly expanded its counter-terrorism cooperation against the PKK,” addressing a major sticking point for Turkey. - Sweden confirmed it “will actively support efforts to reinvigorate Türkiye’s EU accession process”, since Turkey wants to join the EU. - Biden added that “Turkey is looking for modernization of F-16 aircraft" which will indicate the US will approve Turkey's plans in exchange for its consent. Turkey is known to leverage every opportunity for personal gain, and we saw the same scenario play out before they accepted Finland to join NATO. With Sweden part of the NATO, Russia’s border is now at a bigger threat from the West. The question is: How will they respond? MY THOUGHTS: NATO not allowing Ukraine to join NATO, at least in the short term, is not only the right choice, but almost the ONLY choice. No matter who you back in this war, we all agree we do NOT want to seen an escalation. Finland and Sweden joining is already a massive blow to Russia, which is stuck in an unexpectedly prolonged conflict, and I feel every decision moving forward should be aimed at DE-ESCALATION. Do you agree with me? SHOULD UKRAINE JOIN NATO?

BREAKING: Twitter Metrics Could Hit All Time Highs | Instagram Users Migrating to Twitter? Twitter CEO Linda Yaccarino just announced the highest Twitter usage since February, and Elon announced that Twitter screen time usage could hit an All Time High this week. Let’s explore what the hell is going on, as the media is trying to paint a very different picture… Meta tried to copy Twitter, flaunting their number of sign ups. BUT, what if I told you this is NOT the metric one should be looking at. Meta has 3.59 billion users across all their platforms (2 billion on Instagram), more than 77% of Internet users. For them to get a few million users on any new app they launch is a very easy feat. The challenge is: DAILY ACTIVE USERS It is one thing to convince someone to download a new app and connect to their Instagram, but it’s a much TOUGHER challenge to convince them to use it regularly, and for that we need to wait for Meta to release the data. Investors and analysts always focus on Daily Active Users (DAUs) whenever trying to value a social media platform or determine it’s success. TWITTER BENEFITING FROM META’S CLONE? I tweeted 2 days ago that Meta’s copycat could end up being a blessing in disguise for Twitter. My reasoning was relatively simple: Instagram users who never used Twitter will download their Twitter clone (this is Meta’s marketing strategy) 1. They will use the new Twitter copycat, which is limited and not much different to Instagram 2. If they enjoy it, they will know it’s a Twitter clone, and decide to download and try the ‘real thing’: TWITTER 3. Meta’s clone ends up becoming bridge to Twitter, a fundamentally different experience with more features and a focus on Free Speech 4. @elonmusk confirmed the theory’s logic, replying with “accurate assessment. Threads is just Instagram minus pics, which makes no sense”. Whether this theory ends up materializing, only time will tell, but I find it more plausible than Twitter users migrating to a copycat with less features and limited free speech. TWITTER METRICS IMPROVING? Twitter CEO announced today that “last week we had our largest usage day since February,” and Elon replied that ‘cumulative user-seconds per day of phone screen time may hit an all-time record this week’ These are the metrics that matter, more than app downloads or mentions in the media. Do you agree with my assessment? Will Meta end up creating a bridge for Instagram users to EVENTUALLY download and use TWITTER?

🚨BREAKING: PUTIN & WAGNER'S BOSS PRIGOZHIN MET AFTER MUTINY Just in case things are not confusing enough, we now learn that Putin met with Wagner’s boss Yevgeny Prigozhin 5 days after the failed mutiny. The meeting is rumored to have lasted three hours and Wagner commanders also attended. The meeting took place in the Kremlin, and it is unclear what was discussed. However, it is clear a lot of confusion and intrigue surrounds the events. You read this right, the man that seemingly became the biggest threat to Putin’s grip on power is not only alive, but is reportedly in Russia at the moment, and even met Putin. WHAT WE KNOW: On Friday we reported that Prigozhin was believed to have been in Russia. It was Belarusian President Lukashenko and Pavel Felgenhauer, a defense and military analyst, who had stated Prigozhin was in Russia after coming to Belarus. In recent days, the Russian state media has been working overtime to discredit Prigozhin. We posted about the wigs, gold, guns and other items found at his residences last week. This meeting only makes the whole saga even more surreal: Why would authorities raid Prigozhin’s residences and publish it in the media days after he met with Putin? Remember, the Kremlin also claimed it "does not follow the movements of Prigozhin, has neither the ability nor the desire." I was correct when I disagreed with this as Prigozhin is far too important, as an ally or foe, to simply ignore. The same Kremlin spokesman now said “the president gave an assessment of the company's actions on the front," and about Wagner’s future he stated "Putin listened to the commanders' explanations and suggested variants of their future employment and their future use in combat." UNCLEAR FUTURE: It remains unclear what will actually happen to Prigozhin and his Wagner fighters. According to the deal that ended the mutiny, they were supposed to leave Russia for Belarus. However, the leader of Belarus has said that they are not there. This is a developing story, will update LIVE below in the thread MY THOUGHTS: Not much, I genuinely have no idea what’s going on and struggle to logically speculate. - Is Prigozhin’s grip on Wagner getting gradually dismantled? - Is Putin worried about Prigozhin and Wagner? - Do both men have a peace deal and plan? - Was this all a staged psyop?

🚨MAINSTREAM MEDIA'S ASSAULT ON CITIZEN JOURNALISM I was warned by many: ‘Mario, the more of a threat you become, the bigger you are as a target’. I scoffed at this statement, dismissing it as dramatic exaggeration. I WAS WRONG. While I’ve been critical of mainstream media, I’ve also been very balanced and understanding. But last week I became the victim of their dark side as they began to tarnish my image, and reality kicked in! Media is dying, and due to their desperation, many are resorting to dirty tactics. Bias, conflicts of interest, and cancel-culture is becoming the norm, eroding the public’s trust in one of the most important pillars of a democracy: journalism. NOTABLE VICTIMS OF MAINSTREAM MEDIA: 1) ELON MUSK: The media’s attack on Musk hits close to heart for two reasons: I’ve been watching it closely, and I was personally dragged into it. I saw first hand how the media attacked Elon’s Twitter Blue strategy, yet praised Instagram for copying the strategy. They ignored or dismissed SpaceX’s successes and praised NASA’s. They pounced on a glitch in DeSantis’ presidential announcement on Twitter Spaces, but ignored the record audience numbers. And it got personal: Journalists started digging into my life, trying to find dirt, and then trying to link it to Elon with NO BASIS WHATSOEVER. One example is Crickey, an Australian outlet that doesn’t like Elon. They wrote a hit piece on me and called me "Elon Musk’s go-to guy”, then labelled my health and wellness company I launched a decade ago: a “surprisingly controversial kitchen appliance company”. Want to know why? Because we got fined $8,000 USD 8 years ago for keeping a product discounted too long. Yep, because my company kept ONE product on sale for too long, we got fined, and that makes my business “controversial”. An $8,000 fine for a company turning over millions a year is NEGLIGIBLE. A worse example is NBC News, a media outlet I held to a higher standard over others, yet they sank the lowest. Their headline against me read: “FBI and SEC respond to complaints about Twitter audio star Mario Nawfal”. Yep, some random person complained (I know the person, an unstable individual with a grudge, and I know the complaint, a laughable allegation I know is untrue), the FBI or SEC “replied”, maybe asking questions, and suddenly this is a headline. There is NO INVESTIGATION, the authorities NEVER CONTACTED ME, but yeh, the journalist (who also HATES Elon) thought this was a good enough story to publish, and took a jab against Elon in his subheading: “Nawfal, who has rapidly gained online fame and been boosted by Elon Musk” The attacks against Elon shouldn’t come as a surprise, but Elon has been actively hitting back. Here’s a few examples of Elon hitting back on the media: - "The mainstream media is essentially the propaganda arm of the establishment." (2018) - "The media is so biased against me and my companies that it's not even funny." (2018) - "The media is more concerned with clicks and views than with the truth." (2020) - "The media is the enemy of the people." (2021) 2) TUCKER CARLSON: When Tucker, the host of the biggest show on Fox, was fired, mainstream media was out for blood, tarnishing Tucker’s image and adding salt to the wound: - "Carlson's firing is a sign that Fox News is finally taking steps to address its culture of misogyny and toxicity." (The New York Times) - "Carlson's firing is a victory for decency and a rebuke to the far-right extremism that he has helped to normalize." (The Washington Post) Ironically, Tucker relaunched his show on Elon’s Twitter, and his numbers have eclipsed those of the same media that enjoyed cancelling him. 3) JOE ROGAN: Rogan’s past comments were used to try and cancel him and his podcast. The media used a compilation of him using the N-word to frame him as a racist. Things got worse during Covid as the media lambasted Spotify for what they called ‘misinformation’ being spread by Rogan. Here’s a few headlines: - "Joe Rogan's Spotify Deal Sparks Backlash Over Spread of Misinformation" (The New York Times) - "Joe Rogan's Coronavirus Misinformation Is a Threat to Public Health" (The Washington Post) - "Joe Rogan's Spotify Deal Is a Disaster for the Company and for Public Health" (The Atlantic) - "Joe Rogan's Coronavirus Misinformation Is a Threat to Public Health" (Fox News) 4) THE TATE BROTHERS: While the phrase "presumption of innocence" is not in the Constitution, the 5th and 14th Amendments both touch on "due process". This means you are innocent until proven guilty. The legacy media decided that without any due process they could create a presumption of guilt against the Tates. I am not going into whether the Tates are innocent or guilty, but if I read media articles without questioning them, I would be almost certain they are guilty. - “Tate has long been accused of violence against women, and in 2020, he was banned from Twitter for violating the platform's policy on "hateful conduct." (The Daily Beast) - “Tate has built a large following on social media, where he has posted videos in which he promotes violence against women and makes misogynistic comments. He has also been accused of running a website that pimped out women.” (The Guardian) They have essentially undergone a public lynching fueled by the media, even though they have not yet stood trial for the accusations against them. MY THOUGHTS: What I’m going through is a small taste of what RFK, Jordan Peterson, Bernie Sanders, Anthony Scaramucci, Eric Weinstein, celebrities and politicians experience when they get on the wrong side of mainstream media. BUT, I still have hope. I understand and respect the importance of journalists in our world, and instead of further eroding the last bit of trust that remains, I prefer to play a role in finding a solution. Issue is… WHERE TO BEGIN? Do you agree with my stance? CAN LEGACY MEDIA GAIN BACK OUR TRUST?

🚨US TO SEND CLUSTER MUNITIONS TO UKRAINE, VIOLATING INTERNATIONAL LAW | NATO OPPOSES Cluster munitions are controversial weapons that have been banned by many countries. They are indiscriminate and can cause widespread civilian casualties, with unexploded clusters lingering for many years. Biden says sending cluster munitions to Ukraine was ‘difficult decision’ but ‘they needed them’ US STANDS BY ITS DECISION: The US says that it will only send cluster munitions that have a low dud rate, meaning that there will be fewer unexploded rounds that can pose a danger to civilians. However, some experts have criticized the decision, saying that even low-dud rate cluster munitions can still cause significant civilian casualties. NATO OPPOSITION: The decision to send cluster munitions to Ukraine is no doubt a controversial one. Even the British, who are staunch allies of the US, have voiced opposition and "discourage" the use of cluster munitions. In fact Canada, Germany, Spain, and France, who are also signatories of 'The Convention on Cluster Munitions', have voiced their disapproval and urged the US to reconsider. The use of cluster munitions is a violation of international law. The Convention on Cluster Munitions, which came into force in 2010, prohibits the use, production, stockpiling, and transfer of cluster munitions. The US, Russia, and Ukraine are not parties to the treaty and never signed as they believe that in certain circumstances they should be allowed to utilize cluster munitions. RUSSIAN RESPONSE: The Russian Foreign Ministry made a statement yesterday saying that the use of cluster bombs by Ukraine would be a "serious violation of international humanitarian law" and that Russia would "respond accordingly.” EXAMPLES OF CLUSTER BOMB USE: Afghanistan, 2001-2021: The US dropped about 10 million cluster bombs, killing/injuring over 20,000 people. Syrian Civil War: Both sides used cluster bombs, killing/injuring over 10,000 people, mostly civilians. Kosovo, 1999: NATO dropped about 1.3 million cluster bombs on Kosovo, killing/injuring 1,500 people Lebanon, 2006: Israel dropped about 4 million cluster bombs on the country, killing/injuring over 1,200 people. MY THOUGHTS: Cluster munitions can be devastatingly effective when used against dug-in soldiers in trenches and fortified positions, but at what cost? As always, I worry about Russia’s response to the continuous escalations by the West. There is a line, and once crossed, I fear Putin will resort to nuclear weapons. I don’t know where that line is and I definitely don’t want to find out. With all the escalations we've seen over the past year, HOW do you see the Ukraine War ENDING?

🚨META'S HALF-BAKED TWITTER COPYCAT: Threat, or Blessing in Disguise? Zuckerberg's Twitter clone is riding on Instagram to attract new downloads, but there are major issues with this new app, as well as an interesting twist to this saga... CENSORSHIP: Meta was caught out today when it demonstrated its partisan political bias by censoring content from people Zuckerberg doesn't like. Its justification is that 'terms and conditions' agreed upon under Instagram have been migrated over. Wait, what!? Why can't they simply change them? Some conservatives had 'misinformation' warning messages attached to their accounts. When challenged by the victims of Meta's censorship, Meta tried to backtrack by claiming that "it was an error." Despite this, several posts have been censored. BRIDGE FOR INSTAGRAM USERS TO JOIN TWITTER? Meta's clone app could backfire on Zuckerberg since most of its users are from INSTAGRAM, and NOT from Twitter as many assume. By moving to Meta's inferior imitation of Twitter, these users will be cannibalized from Instagram. In other words, they'll swap out Instagram for the Twitter rip-off that Meta has created. Then, when they realize Twitter is a better version with more features, better privacy, and censorship-free, Meta’s clone will become a bridge for more people to move to Twitter rather than the other way around. Not sure if this will actually materialize, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it is. A PREMATURE APP LAUNCH: Upon using the platform, it's clear Meta released the app prematurely. They've shamelessly copied so much of Twitter's user experience that it looks like a stripped-down version. Twitter clearly has a better product in terms of usability, functionality, responsiveness, security, and reliability. Meta created a weak imitation of Twitter 2010. EXAMPLES OF MISSING KEY FEATURES: Below are just five of the many issues I have identified: 1) No web interface This is a major drawback as a significant number of people use web browsers on PCs, but they cannot interact with the app. Being unable to migrate across various platforms is a major deficiency. 2) Account Dependency Accounts linked to Instagram cannot be deleted without deleting both. This inability to decouple is frankly unacceptable; surely you should be as free to leave as you are to join. 3) No search function I actually feel embarrassed for Meta. You are unable to search key terms. I know their app is new, but this seems like a very basic feature. 4) Unresolved non-compliance with privacy laws The app is simply not available in the European Union as the privacy issues have not been resolved. Europeans value their privacy, but Meta values exploiting user data. 5) Censorship, Censorship, Censorship Do I really need to explain? MY THOUGHTS While the features, the functionalities and the community are important, they are NOT the reason I use Twitter. I use it as I stand for something. I’ve been vocal in my concerns around CENSORSHIP and the MONOPOLIZATION OF POWER, and Meta perfectly fits both these concerns. Meta’s censorship policy has crossed the line from ‘the greater good’ to ‘benefiting the few’, and their Twitter clone is an attempt to expand their monopoly and essentially DOMINATE the narrative. I’m not concerned though, and the reason is simple: Meta and Twitter are FUNDAMENTALLY DIFFERENT. It’s not a battle of social media platforms, it’s a battle of CENSORSHIP versus FREE SPEECH. Do you think Meta's clone will HELP or HARM Twitter? Do you agree Meta and Twitter are FUNDAMENTALLY different, beyond features & functionalities?