Tag: Twitter

Facebook, Twitter tighten rules for political ads

  by Rob Lever Agence France Presse WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Twitter on Thursday announced new guidelines to clearly mark political ads on its platform as Facebook said it began implementing a policy requiring labeling and verification of identities of those paying for political messages. The moves by the two social media firms come in response to criticism over their role in allowing disinformation to spread during the 2016 US election, in many cases […]

Twitter tweak steps up fight against trolls

SAN FRANCISCO, United States (AFP) — Twitter said Tuesday it was stepping up its long-running battle against online trolls, trying to find offenders by looking at “behavioral signals.” The new approach looks at behavioral patterns of users in addition to the content of the tweets, allowing Twitter to find and mute online bullies and trolls. Even if the offending tweets are not a violation of Twitter policy, they may be hidden from users if they […]

Twitter urges users to change ‘unmasked’ passwords

by Glenn Chapman Agence France-Presse SAN FRANCISCO, United States (AFP) — Twitter on Thursday urged its more than 300 million users to change their passwords, saying they had been unintentionally “unmasked” inside the company by a software bug. The social media site said it found no sign that hackers accessed the exposed data, but advised users to change their passwords to be safe. Twitter practice is to store passwords encrypted, or “hashed,” so they are […]

Twitter reports second straight quarterly profit

  by Rob Lever Agence France Presse WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Twitter reported its second consecutive quarterly profit Wednesday in a positive sign for the short messaging service after years in the red. The San Francisco-based social network earned $61 million in the first three months of the year, helped by strong growth in advertising revenue and modest gains in users. First-quarter revenues rose 21 percent from a year ago to $665 million, and […]

Bots, good or bad, dominate Twitter conversation: study

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Automated accounts or “bots” play a big role in disseminating information on Twitter, accounting for two-thirds of tweets linking to popular websites, a study showed Monday. The Pew Research Center report found bots were a major source for diffusing information on news, sports, entertainment and other topics. The researchers found that of all tweeted links to popular websites, 66 percent were shared by accounts that appeared to be automated rather […]

Twitter bans crytocurrency ads on fraud fears

SAN FRANCISCO, United States (AFP) — Twitter on Monday announced a ban on ads for initial offerings of cryptocurrency or sales of virtual currency tokens, sending the value of bitcoin diving below $8,000. Twitter followed the lead of Google and Facebook, which earlier this year cracked down on digital currency ads to protect users from being duped. “We are committed to ensuring the safety of the Twitter community,” Twitter said in a statement. “As such, […]

Twitter sets crackdown on automated ‘bot’ accounts

by Glenn Chapman Agence France-Presse SAN FRANCICSCO, United States (AFP) — Twitter announced Wednesday a crackdown on accounts powered by software “bots” which can artificially amplify a person or cause and which have been accused of manipulating the social network during the 2016 US election. The San Francisco messaging platform said the move was intended to rid the service of spam-spewing automated accounts, and not aimed at people using the service according to the rules. […]

Top experts warn against ‘malicious use’ of AI

by Marlowe Hood Agence France-Presse PARIS, France (AFP) — Artificial intelligence could be deployed by dictators, criminals and terrorists to manipulate elections and use drones in terrorist attacks, more than two dozen experts said Wednesday as they sounded the alarm over misuse of the technology. In a 100-page analysis, they outlined a rapid growth in cybercrime and the use of “bots” to interfere with news gathering and penetrate social media among a host of plausible […]

Shannon Watts and Dana Loesch, faces of gun control debate

by Sébastien BLANC Agence France-Presse WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) – Each time there’s another mass shooting in the United States, Shannon Watts and Dana Loesch take to Twitter on opposite ends of the gun debate. Watts, founder of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, makes the arguments for stricter gun control in a country with 33,000 gun-related deaths a year. Loesch, spokeswoman for the National Rifle Association (NRA) and a conservative radio host, lays out […]

Facebook to deliver more local news to US users

SAN FRANCISCO, United States (AFP) — Facebook said Monday it has decided to deliver more local news to US users, in its latest effort to manage the flow of information on the enormously-influential social network. Earlier this month, Facebook announced it will ask its two billion users to rank their trust in news sources as part of an effort to combat the spread of misinformation. The changes come as the online giant seeks to address […]

Twitter says Russia-linked accounts more widespread

SAN FRANCISCO, United States (AFP) – Twitter on Friday said the number of Russia-linked accounts firing off tweets evidently aimed at the US election in 2016 was more widespread than initially determined. The social media company found, and shuttered, an additional 1,062 accounts associated with the Internet Research Agency, considered a “troll farm” connected to the Russian government, Twitter said in an update posted online. Along with Google and Facebook, Twitter has been criticized for allowing […]

German justice minister victim of own social media law

BERLIN, Germany (AFP) — Germany’s justice minister has fallen victim to the rules he himself championed against online social media, as one of his tweets was deleted following several complaints, Bild daily reported Monday. The tweet dated back to 2010, when Heiko Maas was not yet a minister. In the post, he had called Thilo Sarrazin, a politician who wrote a controversial book on Muslim immigrants, “an idiot.” Maas told Bild on Monday that he […]