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Musk's Takeover Is a Huge Step Backward for Twitter
According to press reports on Monday, Twitter's board of directors unanimously accepted the terms of Elon Musk's $44-billion bid to buy out the company's shareholders and take the platform private.
WASHINGTON
According to press reports on Monday, Twitter's board of directors unanimously accepted the terms of Elon Musk's $44-billion bid to buy out the company's shareholders and take the platform private.
Prior to finalizing his offer, Musk had tweeted and discussed his plans to "transform" the social network and make "significant improvements" to the ways it manages content. A self-described free-speech absolutist, Musk has a troubling history of using the social-media network to intimidate and disparage others, including journalists, elected officials, owners of competing businesses and anyone else who might challenge his views.
Last week, Free Press and its allies in the Change the Terms coalition launched the "Fix the Feed" campaign. The initiative plans to convene high-level meetings with executives at Meta, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube, urging them to adopt core recommendations to curb the amplification of hateful, violent, misleading and false content across their platforms. Change the Terms is calling on the networks to immediately make these essential changes in all languages and enforce them in the runup to the 2022 midterms and beyond.
Free Press Co-CEO Jessica J. Gonzalez said:
"Musk hasn't just purchased another expensive play toy, but a global online community that includes about 330 million regular users. With control of such a massive platform comes great responsibility -- and Musk hasn't shown he has the capacity to be accountable to this diverse online community.
"For one, he hasn't demonstrated that he's able or interested in protecting other Twitter users or respecting their free-speech rights. Rather, he's used the platform to attack people, often launching childish broadsides against anyone he doesn't like or agree with. And he's regularly rallied a Twitter mob of loyal fans to follow his lead with more vicious threats and bullying.
"For years, Free Press and the Change the Terms coalition have pressured Twitter to be more accountable about its moderation methods. This work includes fixing Twitter algorithms and other systems that promote the most misleading and hateful content, protecting its users equally regardless of where they live and what language they speak, and being more transparent about the social network's amplification and moderation practices.
"Protecting everyone's ability to participate and speak on online platforms requires careful moderation. Musk taking the company private will likely threaten this notion and make the platform even more toxic to its users and the public.
"With or without Musk at the helm, Twitter must take a series of actions outlined by the Fix the Feed campaign to correct known failures at the company and do right by Twitter users. The platform must continue efforts to stop amplifying bigotry and conspiracy theories that pollute public discourse, threaten the health and safety of users and undermine democracy.
"The success of any mass-market network requires making sure that users feel safe on the platform and don't feel threatened by others. The leader of any social-media platform must take action against things like glorification and incitement of violence; the spread of disinformation, sexual harassment and abuse; and other hateful activities. These protections are essential for all platform users and not just a few prominent and powerful influencers like Musk.
"This deal has to be about more than making shareholders happy. It should be about protecting civil and human rights, public health and safety and our democracy. We will fight to ensure that Musk prioritizes these vital principles."
Free Press was created to give people a voice in the crucial decisions that shape our media. We believe that positive social change, racial justice and meaningful engagement in public life require equitable access to technology, diverse and independent ownership of media platforms, and journalism that holds leaders accountable and tells people what's actually happening in their communities.
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Colombian President Petro Says Venezuela Oil 'At Heart' of Trump Aggression
"He’s not thinking about the democratization of Venezuela, let alone the narco-trafficking," said the Latin American leader. "In general, all of the wars of this century had to do with oil."
Nov 26, 2025
Colombian President Gustavo Petro said Tuesday that US President Donald Trump's central focus with his attacks and threats against Venezuela is the desire for the nation's vast oil reserves and little if anything to do with stopping illegal drug trafficking or improving the nation's democratic prospects under President Nicolas Maduro.
In an face-to-face interview with CNN's Isa Soeres, which the correspondent described as "fiery" at times, Petro explained that Venezuela's oil reserves, among the largest in the world, is "at the heart of the matter" when it comes to Trump's repeated extrajudicial killings in waters of the nation's coast this year and a broader military buildup that includes deployment of the USS Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier group and mobilization of US Southern Command.
"What lies behind this," said Petro, "is the same thing behind the war in Ukraine... petroleum," noting the size and quality of Venezuela's reserves. "In general, all of the wars of this century had to do with oil."
If Trump were to get the upper hand, Petro suggested, the United States would get Venezuela's oil "almost for free," predicting that—"based on the evidence so far"—that the US will go to war over the resources.
Trump, said Petro, "is not thinking about the democratization of Venezuela, let alone the narco-trafficking," adding that Venezuela is not considered a major drug producer or transit point for most narcotics headed to the United States.
"You only have to look at the numbers," said Petro. "Only about 4 percent of Colombia's cocaine production... goes through Venezuela—a small margin—while most of it goes out through the Pacific Ocean."
As CNN notes, "Petro has been at odds with Trump since he returned to the White House. In the past year, the Colombian leader has harshly criticized the Trump administration’s immigration policies, its support for Israel and its military activity around Latin America."
In September, the US State Department under Trump had Petro's visa revoked following critical comments he made during the UN General Assembly in New York.
This week, the US designated a new group, the Cartel do Los Soles, as a terrorist organization, naming Maduro its de facto leader, a claim that experts say there is no evidence to support.
Asked by CNN if he assesses Maduro as a gang leader, dictator, or narcotrafficker, Petro said investigations in Colombia have never shown Maduro to be connected to the black market drug trade and that his country's data doesn't even show the existence of the alleged cartel designated this week by the Trump administration.
"The problem of Maduro," said Petro, "is lack of democracy and dialogue."
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Biden-Era Law That Trump Has Attacked Delivers Price Cuts for 15 More Drugs Under Medicare
"Medicare drug price negotiation is about to deliver tangible lower costs to seniors in Medicare, unlike Trump’s ceremonial events with Big Pharma CEOs in the Oval Office," said one Democratic senator.
Nov 26, 2025
The Trump administration on Tuesday announced newly negotiated prices for more than a dozen prescription drugs covered by Medicare, an achievement made possible by a Biden-era law that has faced relentless attacks from the pharmaceutical industry, GOP lawmakers, and the Republican president.
The announcement marks the end of the second round of Medicare drug price negotiations required under the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), a measure passed in 2022 without the support of a single Republican in Congress. Last year, House GOP leaders said the law was "disastrous" and decried what they called "the mandate from bureaucrats to artificially set prescription drug prices."
The new list contains 15 drugs, including the diabetes and weight loss medication Ozempic, the breast cancer drug Ibrance, and the prostate cancer drug Xtandi. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) estimated that if the new prices—which take effect in 2027—had been in effect last year, Medicare would have saved $12 billion.
President Donald Trump campaigned on rolling back the IRA, which for the first time allowed Medicare to negotiate drug prices directly with pharmaceutical companies. Since taking office, Trump has taken steps to weaken the law, including by signing a measure that will exempt certain high-priced drugs from Medicare negotiations—a multibillion-dollar handout to Big Pharma.
But in statements on Tuesday, Trump-appointed officials hailed the newly negotiated prices. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., secretary of the Health and Human Services Department, said the negotiation results stemmed from a Trump directive to "stop at nothing to lower healthcare costs for the American people."
CMS Administrator Mehmet Oz declared that the second round of negotiations was more successful than the first, which was held under the Biden administration. Experts said that claim is specious at best.
Democratic lawmakers were quick to highlight Republican opposition to the IRA, and continued attacks on the law, in response to the newly negotiated prices.
"Democrats took on Big Pharma by giving Medicare the power to negotiate on behalf of the tens of millions of seniors that want lower drug prices while every Republican voted against it,” said Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), the top Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee. “Today’s announcement is a result of that effort by Democrats to lower health costs for older Americans."
"Medicare drug price negotiation is about to deliver tangible lower costs to seniors in Medicare, unlike Trump’s ceremonial events with Big Pharma CEOs in the Oval Office," Wyden added. "Republicans neutered future Medicare drug price negotiations by adding delays and exemptions to some of the most expensive drugs, especially cancer drugs like Keytruda."
Tuesday's announcement came less than a week after the pharmaceutical industry suffered its 16th defeat in court as it continues its legal campaign against the Medicare price negotiations. The industry is also lobbying aggressively in support of legislation that would further weaken the IRA price-negotiation provisions.
"Drug corporations already secured a $9 billion giveaway from President Trump and congressional Republicans paid for by taxpayers and cancer patients through the Big Ugly Bill, and they are trying to go even further to delay and exempt price negotiations for more blockbuster drugs," said Steve Knievel, access to medicines advocate at Public Citizen.
"Policymakers must reject these efforts to undermine Medicare drug price negotiations," Knievel added. "Instead they should build on the program’s success by providing everyone access to negotiated prices, negotiating lower prices for more drugs sooner, and ensuring drug corporations can no longer rip us off by charging the highest prices in the world for medications."
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'Make Corporate Complicity Unprofitable': Boycott Targets Companies Tied to ICE
"We cannot out-organize a fascist administration while simultaneously bankrolling the companies profiting from its cruelty," said the head of Beyond the Ballot.
Nov 25, 2025
A Gen Z-led advocacy group fighting for working-class priorities on Tuesday announced a boycott campaign targeting major corporations "that enable, profit from, or directly collaborate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the broader racist policies of the Trump administration."
Beyond the Ballot launched "Not With My Dollars: ICE Out of My Wallet" as President Donald Trump's violent crackdown on immigrants in diverse communities across the United States continues and just days before Black Friday kicks off the winter holiday shopping season.
"We cannot out-organize a fascist administration while simultaneously bankrolling the companies profiting from its cruelty," said Victor Rivera, the organization's executive director, in a statement. "Every dollar spent at a complicit corporation is a dollar funding the abduction and disappearance of our neighbors. It’' time to make corporate complicity unprofitable, for good."
The group is taking aim at e-commerce behemoth Amazon and its grocery subsidiary, Whole Foods; tech giants Dell and Microsoft; Home Depot; streaming platform Spotify; and retail chain Target. The boycott webpage explains the reason each is listed, actions shoppers should take, and the campaign's demands. In some cases, it also offers alternative companies.
Target is under fire for its "broad range of cooperation with the Trump administration's racist policies." The campaign is calling on the company to not only publicly commit to refusing collaboration with ICE but also immediately reinstate its scrapped diversity, equity, and inclusion policies.
Spotify is on the list for airing ICE recruitment ads—a decision that also recently prompted a boycott call from the group Indivisible.
The campaign site calls out Home Depot because it has "repeatedly allowed ICE agents to patrol and detain workers and customers in its parking lots and stores, usually without presenting judicial warrants or establishing probable cause," and demands an end to those practices.
The group is urging Microsoft to end its "$19.4 million contract with ICE to provide artificial intelligence capabilities and processing data." The Dell section highlights that it has provided $18.8 million to "support the office of ICE's chief information officer through the purchase of Microsoft enterprise software licenses," and similarly calls for terminating that contract with the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
The Amazon section states:
REASON: Amazon Web Services (AWS) is the digital backbone of ICE's machinery, selling the cloud power that helps track, target, and tear families apart.
ACTION: Stop shopping on Amazon where possible; cancel Prime subscriptions if feasible; push universities, unions, nonprofits, and campaigns to move off AWS when and where feasible, and to issue statements condemning Amazon’s role in corporate-sponsored mass deportations.
DEMAND: End all ICE/DHS immigration enforcement contracts and data hosting that enable deportations; adopt a binding human-rights policy banning support for immigration policing.
ALTERNATIVES: Bookshop.org and local bookstores; direct-from-brand purchasing; cooperatives; independent retailers.
The site also stresses that "every dollar spent at Whole Foods directly strengthens Amazon, whose AWS platform is the digital backbone of ICE's machinery, powering the tools used to track, target, and tear families apart."
While the campaign is beginning just before Black Friday, boycott organizers aim to ensure it will "not disappear" after this week.
"Unlike other consumer boycotts, Not With My Dollars is designed for long-term pressure and escalation," Beyond the Ballot said. "To be removed from the boycott list, each targeted corporation must fulfill the specific demands outlined for its company. Anything less is not accountability, just more corporate PR."
"If you bankroll a violent, unaccountable agency that terrorizes our communities, you will not do it with our money," the group added. "Across the country, poor and working-class migrant families are facing a wave of state-sponsored abductions, violence, and political policing under the fascist Trump administration. Corporations that choose to partner with, advertise on, bankroll, or provide critical infrastructure to ICE are not neutral; they are complicit."
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