Tag: conduct
NBCUniversal CEO Jeff Shell is leaving Comcast over ‘inappropriate conduct’
NBCUniversal CEO Jeff Shell is leaving Comcast, effective immediately. The telecom giant made the surprise announcement in a terse press release it issued on Sunday. Following an investigation prompted by a complaint of inappropriate behavior, Comcast says it came to a “mutual” decision with Shell that he should resign his position.
“Today is my last day as CEO of NBCUniversal. I had an inappropriate relationship with a woman in the company, which I deeply regret,” Shell said in a joint statement. “I’m truly sorry I let my Comcast and NBCUniversal colleagues down, they are the most talented people in the business and the opportunity to work with them the last 19 years has been a privilege.”
Comcast has not named a successor to Shell. In a memo obtained by Variety, Comcast CEO Brian Roberts and President Mike Cavanagh told employees they were “disappointed” to share the news. “We built this company on a culture of integrity. Nothing is more important than how we treat each other. You should count on your leaders to create a safe and respectful workplace,” they wrote. “When our principles and policies are violated, we will always move quickly to take appropriate action, as we have done here.”
Shell joined Comcast in 2004. He became the CEO of NBCUniversal in 2020. That same year, he oversaw the launch of Peacock. Shell leaves NBCUniversal without having made the streaming service profitable. At the start of the year, Comcast told investors that it had added five million paying subscribers during the final three months of 2022. However, over that same period, the company lost nearly $1 billion operating the service.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/nbcuniversal-ceo-jeff-shell-is-leaving-comcast-over-inappropriate-conduct-203917877.html?src=rss
Twitter removes hateful conduct protections for transgender users
Twitter’s hateful conduct policy no longer provides specific protections for transgender users who are deadnamed or misgendered, following a quiet rollback from the social platform. The move was called out on Tuesday by LGBTQ advocacy organization Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD).
The provision was first added in 2018, stating, in part, “We prohibit targeting others with repeated slurs, tropes or other content that intends to degrade or reinforce negative or harmful stereotypes about a protected category. This includes targeted misgendering or deadnaming of transgender individuals.” As of April 8, the policy no longer includes the second sentence, GLAAD found via the Wayback Machine.
In a statement issued Tuesday, GLAAD called the move “the latest example of just how unsafe the company is for users and advertisers alike.”
“The practice of targeted misgendering and deadnaming has been identified by the ADL and other civil society groups as a form of hate speech. Social media companies committed to maintaining safe environments for LGBTQ people should be working to improve hate speech policies, not deleting long-standing ones,” wrote GLAAD President and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis.
Media outlets and Twitter insiders have previously reported on Twitter CEO Elon Musk’s intention to review the provisions of the hateful conduct policy specifically related to trans users. Shortly after he took over the site, Bloomberg reported that Musk had already asked employees “to review Twitter’s hateful conduct policy, according to the people, specifically a section that says users can be penalized for ‘targeted misgendering or deadnaming of transgender individuals.'” This came shortly before the billionaire disbanded the site’s Trust and Safety Council.
Twitter’s adjusted many of its user conduct policies over the last six months, in moves often described as being aligned with Musk’s “free speech” goals. This week, the platform announced it would no longer remove all tweets in violation of its hateful conduct policy, but instead add “warning labels” to the posts. Tweets with this label reportedly will have “limited visibility” to other users.
Last year, TikTok banned anti-trans conduct on its app, including deadnaming and misgendering. Meta platforms, like Instagram and Facebook, provide policies for gender- and sexuality-based harassment, and the company was reconsidering its moderation policies last year. None of the sites are doing enough to protect LGBTQ users, however, according to a 2022 study by GLAAD.
GLAAD’s recent statement also referenced the #StopToxicTwitter coalition, a network of more than 60 civil rights and civil society groups that have been pushing for the social media platform to ensure the safety of its users through pressure on its top advertisers. The organization noted that Musk’s history of anti-LGBTQ posting was particularly concerning, linking to recent tweets from Musk that implied doctors providing gender affirming care should go to prison.
In February, nonprofit research organization The Center for Countering Digital Hate issued a report that found the app was making up for its advertising losses by reinstating previously-banned, “problematic” tweeters that would guarantee greater user impressions through their posts. The findings added to an already documented rise in hate speech on the site, which has prompted some users to leave the site and organizations to advocate for support.
Advocacy groups plan to continue placing pressure on advertisers and industry leaders at this week’s POSSIBLE conference, a global marketing event billing Musk as a keynote speaker, GLAAD noted.
“This decision to roll back LGBTQ safety pulls Twitter even more out of step with TikTok, Pinterest, and Meta,” said Ellis, “which all maintain similar policies to protect their transgender users at a time when anti-transgender rhetoric online is leading to real world discrimination and violence.”
SpaceX will conduct a Starship launch rehearsal next week
SpaceX could conduct Starship’s first orbital flight test as early as the week after next. On Thursday, the private space firm tweeted new photos of the super heavy-lift rocket at its Boca Chica facility in Texas. “Starship fully stacked at Starbase,” SpaceX said of the images. “Team is working towards a launch rehearsal next week followed by Starship’s first integrated flight test ~week later pending regulatory approval.” That same day, SpaceX owner Elon Musk offered an even more aggressive timeline. “Starship is stacked & ready to launch next week, pending regulatory approval,” he said on Twitter.
Starship fully stacked at Starbase. Team is working towards a launch rehearsal next week followed by Starship’s first integrated flight test ~week later pending regulatory approval pic.twitter.com/9VbJLppswp
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) April 6, 2023
The date of Starship’s first orbital flight has been a moving target for nearly two years. At the start of February, a week after SpaceX successfully carried out the rocket’s first-ever stacked fueling test, Musk said the company would attempt to launch Starship in March if its remaining tests went well. Days later, SpaceX attempted to static fire all of the vehicle’s 33 first-stage Raptor engines, something it had not tried to do before. The trial was a critical step toward Starship’s first orbital flight, though the rocket didn’t exactly ace the test, with two engines failing before the end of the firing.
Still, the timeline Musk shared this week may be overly optimistic. According to Space.com, the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) set a provisional April 17th launch window for Starship. However, the outlet reports the FAA has yet to grant SpaceX a launch license for the rocket, something it will need to do before Starship can legally fly.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/spacex-will-conduct-a-starship-launch-rehearsal-next-week-173504593.html?src=rss
CW Petroleum to conduct reverse stock split in late January, updates $15M IPO filing
Black Lives In Music announces plans for music industry anti-racism code of conduct
Warzone 2 proximity chat comes with new Call of Duty conduct rules
Warzone 2 proximity chat is confirmed for the upcoming Call of Duty battle royale, potentially presenting a clash with the new code of conduct and online rules revealed by Activision and Infinity Ward for Modern Warfare 2 multiplayer and beyond.