CBS News quits posting on Twitter because of 'uncertainty' of Elon Musk's leadership, but continues to use Chinese surveillance app TikTok



CBS News has declared that it will cease posting on Twitter because of "uncertainty" under the new leadership of Elon Musk. However, CBS News continues to operate an account on TikTok – which the U.S. government has warned is a Chinese surveillance tool.

"CBS Evening News" ran a piece on Friday night titled: "Twitter Turmoil." The segment began with anchor Major Garrett saying – without evidence – that Musk is "scrambling, quite simply, to prevent the social media platform from collapsing."

CBS News national correspondent Jonathan Vigliotti claimed that Musk offered "little reassurance he has a permanent plan" for the future of Twitter because the Tesla CEO asked users of the social media platform what Twitter should do next. On multiple occasions since acquiring Twitter, Musk has asked Twitter users how the social media platform could be better going forward.

Vigliotti interviewed one former Twitter employee who worked at the company until Musk acquired the company. Coincidentally, the former disgruntled employee is a plaintiff in a class-action lawsuit against Twitter. The former employee claimed that Twitter under Musk was "definitely a culture of fear and uncertainty, of anxiety."

Justine De Caires worked at Twitter while Musk was the CEO for only a few days. Musk completed the acquisition of Twitter on Oct. 27, then quickly laid-off employees. Justine De Caires was one of five former Twitter employees who were immediately fired and swiftly filed a lawsuit on Nov. 4. The lawsuit filed in San Francisco federal court claims that Twitter violated the federal and California laws of the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN). The law requires employers to provide at least 60 days' notice before "plant closings" or "mass layoffs."

Vigliotti then announced that CBS News would quit posting on Twitter because of "uncertainty" on the social media platform.

"In light of the uncertainty around Twitter and out of an abundance of caution, CBS News is pausing its activity on the social media site as it continues to monitor the platform," Vigliotti said.

\u201c\ud83d\udea8#BREAKING: CBS News and local CBS-owned stations have suspended their use of Twitter. CBS has just confirmed that they are no longer posting updates on Twitter\u201d
— R A W S A L E R T S (@R A W S A L E R T S) 1668833209

At 9:40 p.m. on Friday, the CBS-owned news station KPIX in San Francisco shared a near-identical message on Twitter.

"In light of the uncertainty around Twitter and out of an abundance of caution, CBS News Bay Area is pausing its activity on the social media site as we continue to monitor the platform," the news network tweeted.

\u201cIn light of the uncertainty around Twitter and out of an abundance of caution, CBS News Bay Area is pausing its activity on the social media site as we continue to monitor the platform.\u201d
— KPIX 5 (@KPIX 5) 1668825628

At the time of publication, the official CBS News Twitter account with nearly 9 million followers has not posted on Musk's social media platform since Friday. The same goes for the CBS Twitter account with over 1 million followers, "CBS Mornings" Twitter account with nearly 500,000 followers, the "CBS Evening News" account with nearly 400,000 followers, and "CBS Sunday Morning" with over 260,000 followers.

CBS affiliates in Chicago, Colorado, Detroit, Los Angeles, and New York have not posted in nearly 24 hours.

The official CBS News Radio Twitter account continues to tweet.

However, CBS News continues to maintain an account on TikTok – which has often been described as possible Chinese spyware.

In October, Forbes reported that TikTok was planning to utilize location data collected on the app to track and monitor some American citizens.

A report by Forbes released in August found that "three hundred current employees at TikTok and its parent company ByteDance previously worked for Chinese state media publications." The report said that 15 employees worked simultaneously at ByteDance and Chinese state media.

In June, Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Commissioner Brendan Carr urged Apple and Google to remove the TikTok app from their online stores. Carr stated, "At its core, TikTok functions as a sophisticated surveillance tool that harvests extensive amounts of personal and sensitive data."

In June 2021, TikTok updated its privacy policy in the United States to give the app permission to collect biometric data of U.S. users, which includes faceprints and voiceprints.

In July 2020, then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo warned that TikTok puts "your private information in the hands of the Chinese Communist Party."

In December 2019, the Defense Department said TikTok has "potential security risks associated with its use."

The Transportation Security Administration, U.S. Army, and Navy previously prohibited TikTok from being used on government-issued phones.

CBS News has done extensive coverage of the potential security dangers of TikTok.

In November 2020, CBS News interviewed Klon Kitchen – who previously worked on cyber strategy at the National Counterterrorism Center, as a senior program assessment officer at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence in the Office of the Director of Central Intelligence, and as the lead analyst on al Qaeda senior leadership at the Defense Intelligence Agency.

Klon told CBS News, "What makes TikTok particularly concerning is its relationship with the Chinese Communist Party in Beijing, the government of China. The Chinese have fused their government and their industry together so that they cooperate to achieve the ends of the state."

Klon informed the outlet that TikTok uses phones to collect "your name, your home address, your personal network, who you're friends with, your online viewing habits," and keystroke data.

CBS News published another piece titled: "How TikTok could be used for disinformation and espionage."

In 2019, CBS News ran an article with the headline: "Senators say TikTok should be investigated by U.S. intelligence for potential 'national security risks.'"

You can watch the entire CBS News segment regarding Twitter below.

Elon Musk's Twitter ultimatum met with mass resignations www.youtube.com

VIDEO: Woman attacks, coughs on Uber driver after he refuses service to her, two other women for not wearing masks



A woman was caught on video attacking an Uber driver in San Francisco and coughing on him after he refused service to her and two other women riders for not wearing masks Sunday afternoon, KPIX-TV reported.

What are the details?

San Francisco police also told the station that one of the women discharged what's believed to be pepper spray into the vehicle and toward the driver after leaving the vehicle.

The video was shot by the driver, identified as 32-year-old Subhakar Khadka, and shows women in the back seat cursing him out, KPIX said. The woman who coughed on the driver also grabbed his cellphone from the center dash area and ripped off his face mask, the station said.

Image source: Twitter video screenshot via @KPIXtv

The video begins with one woman yelling at the driver, "F*** the masks!" while pulling hers off and then coughing directly behind him. A second woman is heard saying she has "corona" and also coughs toward the driver. A third woman was wearing a mask in the clip, and all three had them, so it's not clear why all of them didn't have masks on.

The driver is heard telling the women to leave, which they don't want to do.

Here's the clip. Content warning: Profanity:

UBER DRIVER COUGHED ON, ASSAULTED & PEPPER SPRAYEDAn @Uber driver was assaulted & coughed-upon by a group of wom… https://t.co/wV2sVsfLvU
— KPIX 5 (@KPIX 5)1615265964.0

Ethnic bias accusation

Khadka told KPIX he believes he was targeted because he's a South Asian immigrant.

"I never said anything bad to them, I never cursed, I was not raised that way. I don't hit people, I am not raised that way, so they were not getting out of my car," Khadka said.

KPIX said he drove to a nearby gas station so they could buy masks for the ride — but Khada said racial slurs and taunting had already commenced.

"If I was another complexion, I would have not gotten that treatment from them," he added to the station. "The moment I opened my mouth to speak, they realized ... it's easy for them to intimidate me."

What's more, he told the station after the woman finally got out of his vehicle, the woman in red pepper-sprayed him — and he had to get out, too, because it became hard to breathe.

San Francisco police noted to KPIX that the driver regained possession of his phone, and the three women fled after the attack.

Caught!

KPIX-TV said in a follow-up story that Las Vegas police apprehended 24-year-old Malaysia King Thursday afternoon in connection with the incident, adding that the other suspect — 24-year-old Arna Kimiai — told police through her legal counsel that she intended to turn herself into authorities.

King was charged with assault with a caustic chemical, assault and battery conspiracy, and violation of health and safety code, the station said.

The station said Kimiai posted video from her perspective behind Khadka where she claims he tried to get her and her friends to exit his car while on the freeway.

KPIX also reported that Kimiai apparently posted a video on social media following the incident. It's a bizarre one that includes much boasting about how lucky the driver was that nothing else happened to him and that Uber would be getting sued. "Where my check at?" the woman in the clip asks.

Content warning: Language:

California anti-masker who coughed on a driver says she plans to sue Uber https://t.co/IjlGs0wnRg
— Fifty Shades of Whey (@Fifty Shades of Whey)1615308182.0

'Relief'

"It's a sign of relief we are getting there and we are one step closer," Khadka told KPIX after getting word about King's arrest. "I believe they should be lawfully punished – whatever our law says over here."

What's more, a GoFundMe campaign set up for Khadka has eclipsed the $71,000 mark as of Friday afternoon.

"I am blown away seeing that from community," he told the station. "I would like to use it for attorney fees if I may need in future, and some of that money will go toward family maintenance."

Khadka's wife and son are in his native country of Nepal, KPIX said, adding that he uses money earned while Uber driving to help support them.