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November 21, 2023

X sues Media Matters to silence moderation criticism

  • Media Matters reported last week that X “has been placing ads for major brands” like Apple and IBM “next to content that touts Adolf Hitler and his Nazi Party.”
  • Musk has dubbed the report unrepresentative of X’s general user experience.
  • Several companies pulled ads after the report and Musk’s direct endorsement of an antisemitic conspiracy theory.
  • Musk claims that Media Matters is legally liable for X’s loss – he argues that the organisation “manipulated” the service to make X serve the offending ads.
  • However, the president of Media Matters, Angelo Carusone, reported: “We are going to continue our work undeterred. If he sues us, we will win,” and “This is a frivolous lawsuit meant to bully X’s critics into silence.”
  • For more, please visit The Verge website.

The following story may be regionalised:

Welsh schools could have shorter summer holidays in proposed shakeup

  • Welsh ministers are proposing to change the school calendar so that breaks are spread out more equally, which it believes will help children from disadvantaged backgrounds.
  • Jeremy Miles, the minister for education and Welsh language, said: “The long summer break can be a real strain. Families struggle to find childcare over the six weeks, and others struggle with the additional costs long summers bring. We know our most disadvantaged learners suffer the most learning loss from a long summer.”
  • The government said the number of days in school holidays and teaching would not change.
  • If the changes go ahead, schools will get a two-week break in October 2025, and a five-week summer break in 2026.
  • For more, please visit The Guardian website.

Two pupils used back gate to escape primary school

  • Two pupils were able to leave a Devon primary school unaccompanied during school hours, an investigation has found.
  • In an email to parents, the headteacher said she was “devastated” and felt “wholly responsible”.
  • The governors’ investigation found that the two children left via a push-button rear gate during their lunch break.
  • The investigation found that staff acted “calmly and efficiently” to identify the children. However it found the back gate needed to be more secure adding that work was under way to address that.
  • It also said the incident was not reported to the board and county council “as quickly as it could have been”.
  • Devon County Council said: “We were notified of the incident and have provided advice and guidance to the governors to support them in fully discharging their safeguarding responsibilities.”
  • For more, please visit the BBC News website.