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Musk’s idea of ‘free speech’ worries analysts about future of Twitter
Thefederal | April 26, 2022
Company Listed: Twitter
Twitter declared on Monday (April 25) that it has accepted the Tesla CEO’s $44 billion offer to sell the micro blogging site.
With Elon Musk at the helm, it is believed that Twitter will undergo major structural and conceptual changes that suit the Tesla CEO’s ideas of free speech.
Currently, blocks users that post harassing, and abusive posts intended at causing physical harm to people. Musk calls himself a “free speech absolutist” and has been critical of what he calls “excessive moderation on online platforms”. It is widely believed that he will loosen up content rules in the name of free speech.
This sneaky phishing attack tries to steal your Facebook password
Zdnet | April 25, 2022
Company Listed: Facebook
A sneaky phishing campaign aims to steal passwords from Facebook users – including administrators of company Facebook Pages.
Detailed by cybersecurity researchers at Abnormal Security, the attack begins with a phishing email claiming to be from 'The Facebook Team', which warns that the user's account "might be disabled and your page might be removed" due to repeatedly posting content that has been reported as infringing the rights of another user. The victim is invited to appeal the report by clicking on a link that the security researchers said goes to a Facebook post – and within this post there's another link that directs users to a separate website in order to make their "appeal".
As part of the fake appeals process, the user is asked to provide sensitive information, including their name and email address. Before submitting the form, the user is also asked to enter their Facebook password.
Identifying and Removing Terrorist Content Online: Cross-Platform Solutions
Orfonline | April 26, 2022
Company Listed: Social Media
When it comes to counterterrorism efforts, it is still the case that more needs to be done. While most efforts by various tech platforms go unseen by the public, advances have been made, and it is worth assessing the state-of-play to identify the next steps to stay ahead of the threat. This article discusses terrorism and violent extremism trends online, reviews some of the approaches being deployed by tech companies, and looks at cross-platform and multistakeholder solution-building. It pulls from research and insights from the Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism (GIFCT), member companies, and partnerships with Tech Against Terrorism and the Global Network on Extremism and Technology.
I posed as a 13-year-old to join the Metaverse – I met paedophiles, got rape threats & saw kid simulating sex with adult
Thesun | April 25, 2022
Company Listed: Social Media
This lawless world is just a small taste of what the journalist experienced when she went undercover in the virtual reality network known as the Metaverse.
The Dispatches presenter was left “shocked and overwhelmed” after posing as both a 22-year-old and a 13-year-old to uncover the horrors of the VR chat rooms for the Channel 4 documentary, which airs tonight.
She was repeatedly asked to have virtual sex, with one man attempting to ram a bottle in her avatar’s mouth, and another boasting: “I like little girls from the age of 9 to 12 - it’s just my thing.”
Twitter bans climate change denial from advertising spaces
Openaccessgovernment | April 25, 2022
Company Listed: Twitter
Ads which promote climate change denial will be banned from the social media platform, but individual users won’t be affected by the change.
As of Friday, climate change denial advertising will no longer be allowed on Twitter under the inappropriate content policy.
The move comes as the EU votes through the Digital Markets Act. The legislation aims to regulate tech giants and gives Europe the power to fine 10% of their global profits if there are violations.
Fake Twitter accounts spread Chinese propaganda
Fox23 | April 25, 2022
Company Listed: Twitter
BEIJING — (AP) — A U.S.-based intelligence company says it uncovered a network of more than 600 inauthentic Twitter accounts that spread a positive narrative of China's far-western Xinjiang region, as Beijing was being accused of human rights abuses and locking up hundreds of thousands of Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities there.
According to a report released Monday by Nisos, 648 Twitter accounts posted several thousand tweets with hashtags such as #xinjiang, #forcedlabor and #humanrights, with seemingly innocuous content such as traditional dancing and scenic photos, as well as videos with individuals denying that forced labor exists in Xinjiang.
T&S Policies & Regulations
Regulatory news and policy decisions impacting the T&S ecosystem.
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Twitter, Microsoft oppose Trudeau government policing social media
Theparadise | April 26, 2022
Company Listed: Twitter, Microsoft
Tech giants including Twitter, Pinterest and Microsoft have voiced their opposition to the Trudeau government’s Bill C-11, calling it a tactic of censorship and government overreach.
The companies’ submissions to Canadian Heritage’s “online harms” consultation were shared by University of Ottawa law professor Michael Geist, who posted them on his blog. Bill C-11 seeks to subject streaming and social media platforms to government regulations.
Twitter’s Elon Musk moment: A key point to watch would be the direction its content policies take
Financialexpress | April 26, 2022
Company Listed: Twitter
Twitter Inc is reportedly closing in on a deal to sell itself to Elon Musk for $43 billion in cash, the price that he originally offered to the social media company and called his ‘best and final’. The talks are a culmination of a huge drama that included Twitter coming up with a “poison pill” proposal—a plan to thwart Musk’s takeover bid through an offer of discounted shares to other shareholders. From a strictly business point of view, Twitter’s stubborn resistance didn’t make much sense as Musk’s offer was 54% higher than the share price when he started building his stake in the social media company in January this year.
Also, founded in 2006, two years after Facebook, Twitter has failed to keep pace with its rival. In spite of being used by the world’s most influential and powerful people, user growth and ad revenue are comparatively sluggish. Twitter’s stock price is up just 77% since listing nine years ago. Facebook parent Meta’s has increased four times as much. It is thus obvious that once Musk came up with a concrete financing proposal for his buyout bid, a large section of shareholders have been pushing the Twitter board to consider the maverick billionaire technopreneur's proposal.
How the Online Safety Bill can make the Internet safer for all
Information-age | April 25, 2022
Company Listed: Social Media
Martin Wilson, CEO of Digital Identity Net, discusses how the Online Safety Bill can help to make the Internet safer for all users.