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☆ Wizz, a Tinder-like app aimed at teenagers, removed from Apple App Store and Google Play
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-31 | by ( Ben Goggin | Lora Kolodny | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

Wizz was removed from the Apple App Store and Google Play this week. Wizz, a social media app growing popular among teens in the U.S., was removed from the Apple app store and Google Play this week. A Google spokesperson said that the Wizz app was suspended from Google Play, the online store for Android apps, on Tuesday. "But if the app store doesn't continue to carry it, they cannot sustain, let alone grow, their user base." Wizz declined to say what steps it would take to try to get reinstated on the Apple App Store or Google Play.

Persons: Wizz, Goldman Sachs, Adam Sohn, Alex Goldenberg, Goldenberg Organizations: Apple, Google, National Center, Sexual, NBC News, Network, Research, FBI, Meta Locations: U.S, French, Miami, United States, North America, Australia

☆ Sextortion is fastest-growing crime targeting minors in North America – and social media companies can do more to stop it, study finds
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-27 | by ( Lora Kolodny | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +11 min

NCRI, a nonprofit, found cybercriminals used the social apps Instagram, Snapchat and Wizz to find and connect with their marks. And social media platforms should include a distinct category to report sextortion — as Snapchat did in early 2023. Parents and educators should "combat the belief that photos sent on Snapchat disappear, which can create a false sense of security," the NCRI study recommends. The NCRI study also strongly criticized Wizz, concluding: "Sextortion on Wizz is pervasive and dangerous. Apple's App Store and Google Play can also help, the NCRI study suggested, by carefully monitoring complaints about sextortion associated with social media apps, and enforcing their existing policies.

Persons: cybercriminals, Wizz, Paul Raffile, Alex Goldenberg, TikTok, Scribd, sextortion, Snapchat, Goldenberg, screenshotted, General Raúl Torrez, Mark Zuckerberg, Meta, — Kevin Collier, Ben Goggin Organizations: Yahoo, Network, Research, FBI, Yahoo Boys, NBC News, CNBC, NBC, Secret Service, Facebook, YouTube, Meta, gov, National Center for Locations: North America, Australia, West Africa, Michigan, Wizz, New Mexico, U.S

☆ False claims dead Palestinian baby was 'a doll' go viral on social media in the Israel-Hamas disinformation war
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-03 | by ( Rebecca Rommen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

False claims that the body of a five-month-old Palestinian baby, was "a doll" went viral. The Jerusalem Post, a leading Israeli news outlet, removed and retracted its article about the "doll." Photojournalist Ali Jadallah posted an Instagram story, writing: "I shared the name of this baby, and still Israeli media are claiming he is a doll. In a statement on X, The Jerusalem Post said: "The article in question did not meet our editorial standards and was thus removed. AdvertisementUpdate: Jerusalem Post has now fully deleted the article off of their website and all associated social media posts.

Persons: —, Ali Jadallah, Muhammad Hani Al, Attia, Attia Abu Amra, Deir, Muhammad, Ben Goggin, Shayan, Sardarizadeh Organizations: Service, Getty, Hospital, Reuters, NBC's, Jerusalem Post, BBC Locations: Jerusalem, Israel, Gaza, Aqsa, Deir Al, Balah

☆ Ella Irwin says working at X was ‘the hardest experience’ of her career
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-20 | by ( Ben Goggin | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +11 min

"It absolutely was the hardest experience that I've gone through in my career," Irwin, 48, said. Adding clarity to her sudden departure from the company, Irwin said that she resigned because it had become clear to her that "there was no longer alignment" between the company and her "nonnegotiable principles." Shortly after Irwin re-joined the company, Musk published a series of incendiary anti-LGBTQ posts to X. "I don't want to have a negative experience every time I log into Twitter," Irwin said about the idea. Irwin wouldn't divulge which companies, but asked if she would ever return to X, Irwin was taken aback.

Persons: Ella Irwin wasn't, Irwin, Musk, NBC News —, — Irwin, Elon, Jess Anderson, she's, Yoel Roth, Roth, Yoel, X, It's, I've Organizations: Twitter, Google, NBC News, Elon Musk's, Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, European Commission, NBC, Daily, Conservative Locations: San Francisco, Israel, Siberia

☆ X has been slower to act on the misinformation that's swamped the platform after Elon Musk cut hundreds of trust and safety workers
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-11 | by ( Jyoti Mann | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

False and misleading posts remain on the site, and many don't have Community Notes attached. It comes after Elon Musk cut its trust and safety team from around 230 to 20 full-time employees. "Neither fact-checkers nor Community Notes can keep up with this." "Only 8% had community notes, 26% had unpublished notes, and 66% had neither," he wrote. It added that Community Notes "appear within minutes" of content being shared and are a "critical tool" to help it combat misinformation.

Persons: Elon Musk, —, Shayan Sardarizadeh, Sardarizadeh, Ben Goggin, Insider's Kali Hays, Kali Hays, Linda Yaccarino, X, Linda, didn't Organizations: Service, Hamas, Hamas Terrorists, Twitter, Sunday, NBC News, Tech Locations: Israel, Gaza, paragliders, Egypt, Algeria

☆ Discord bans AI-generated child sex abuse material and teen dating
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-11 | by ( Ben Goggin | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

SAN FRANCISCO — Discord's head of trust and safety said Tuesday that the popular chat platform was changing and clarifying its child safety policies including those around around teen dating and AI-generated child sexual abuse material, an announcement that comes after an NBC News investigation last month into child safety on the platform. The Washington Post reported in June that AI-generated child sex images have proliferated across the internet in recent months. The company said in a blog post announcing the changes that the updated child sexual abuse material policy would include "any text or media content that sexualizes children, including drawn, photorealistic, and AI-generated photorealistic child sexual abuse material. Under this policy, teen dating servers are prohibited on the platform and we will take action against users who are engaging in this behavior." In June, an NBC News investigation found hundreds of Discord servers that appeared to promote child abuse material, and some servers that advertised themselves as teen or child-dating servers that solicited nude images from minors.

Persons: — Discord's, John Redgrave, Discord's, Redgrave Organizations: SAN, NBC, Washington Post, NBC News Locations: San Francisco

☆ A 13-year-old boy was groomed publicly on Twitter and kidnapped, despite numerous chances to stop it
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-25 | by ( Ben Goggin | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +19 min

On the Hunter Fox Twitter account, the adult interacted directly with the boy's account, where he posted selfies of himself on a school bus and in other locations. Their teen son had plenty of friends, his parents said, and liked to play golf and build Legos. Heather McConney's teen son communicated with the man accused of grooming him through an Apple iPhone. The suspect's primary Twitter account appears to have been @HunterFloofyFox. After the worst day of their lives, the McConneys' son was recovered early on the morning of Dec. 28 in Nebraska.

☆ Big tech was a major target at CPAC, but conservatives building alternatives are facing challenges
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-05 | by ( Ben Goggin | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., and Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., targeted big tech and the legal immunity companies enjoy under Section 230, which is currently being considered by the Supreme Court. Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Co., said in her speech Saturday: "I have called for 230 protections to be removed from these big tech companies who are hiding behind section 230, and they are acting like editors rather than publishers." "The key was, could we build something that big tech couldn't tear down and couldn't stop?" But not all Big Tech was a target. LibsofTikTok creator Chaya Raichik criticized how big tech has treated her accounts while also boasting about her follower count on those platforms and promoting her book sold on Amazon.

Twitter on Saturday blocked searches for a series of hashtags and keywords used to promote the sale of child sex abuse material (CSAM) following an investigation by NBC News posted the day before. NBC News observed the hashtags over a period of several weeks, and counted dozens of users who collectively published hundreds of tweets daily. Irwin said in the last six weeks Twitter had been analyzing thousands of hashtags for a project that was scheduled for completion in the next few weeks. In a review of hashtags and tweets last week, NBC News confirmed that searches related to the file-sharing site Mega had been blocked. A former employee who asked to remain anonymous because they had signed a nondisclosure agreement said that many of the employees specifically tasked with child safety issues had departed the company.

Twitter accounts that offer to trade or sell child sexual abuse material under thinly veiled terms and hashtags have remained online for months, even after CEO Elon Musk said he would combat child exploitation on the platform. The tweets reviewed by NBC News offer to sell or trade content that is commonly known as child pornography or child sexual abuse material (CSAM). The tweets do not show CSAM, and NBC News did not view any CSAM in the course of reporting this article. The problem has been pervasive enough to catch the attention of some Twitter users. In 25 tweets, users tagged Musk using at least one of the major hashtags to alert him to the content.

Wickr Me, an Amazon-owned encrypted chat platform, stopped accepting new users after Dec. 31 and will shut down completely on Dec. 31 of this year, according to an announcement from the company. In June, an NBC News investigation revealed that Wickr Me had become a go-to product for many people trading child sexual abuse material. The investigation identified 72 court cases from the past five years in which the defendant allegedly used Wickr (as it’s commonly known) to trade child sexual abuse material. In its statement in November, the company explained that it was shutting down Wickr Me to devote more resources and focus toward its business-to-business products, AWS Wickr and Wickr Enterprise. In 2016, one of the first successful prosecutions against someone trading child pornography on the app was reported by the Deseret Morning News.

Jewish and anti-hate organizations are urging social media influencers and tech platforms to stop hosting interviews with Ye, the rapper and artist formerly known as Kanye West, as he’s continued to make antisemitic statements and criticize Jewish people in his recent public appearances. Ross, a popular Twitch streamer with 7 million followers, is Jewish and said that he was going to “stand up for the Jews” in the interview. On Dec. 5, political streamer Hasan Piker said in a Twitch stream that he may participate in the interview. Rez said that even if Ross planned to challenge Ye, she would be concerned that the interview would stoke antisemitic violence. Ross has been silent on the topic of the Ye interview since the call with Fuentes was published.

The records, a series of state tax lien notices from the last two years, show the state of California claiming that Yeezy Apparel, a company managed and reportedly owned by Ye, owes over $600,000 in unpaid tax debt. Four tax law experts said the amount owed by Yeezy Apparel is significant and could be a sign of deeper issues at the company. “Multiple California tax liens, adding up to $600,000, that’s certainly a sign of either extreme incompetence or extreme cash problems,” said USC Gould School of Law Professor Edward McCaffery, who specializes in tax law. Yeezy Apparel has been operating in California since 2017, according to public California business records, and was recorded as being active and in “good” standing in an annual filing in January. “Tax lien indicates that the state maintains that a debt is owing to the state,” LoPucki said.

In an hourslong interview with conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, the rapper Ye praised Hitler, made antisemitic jokes and talked about his recent meeting with former President Donald Trump. During the livestreamed exchange, Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, repeatedly referred to antisemitic stereotypes, made antisemitic jokes and praised Hitler. In the wake of the interview, Ye received criticism from former friends, supporters and collaborators. When Pool began pushing back against Ye’s antisemitic statements, Ye walked away from the interview. In Jones’ broadcast, Ye was allowed to freely make antisemitic statements alongside Fuentes with little questioning from Jones, who at times said that he himself was not antisemitic.

Some right-wing media figures and influencers have doubled down on the use of inflammatory rhetoric against the LGBTQ community in the wake of Saturday night’s shooting at a Colorado gay club that killed five. “We shouldn’t tolerate pedophiles grooming kids,” Pool tweeted. At least one Republican politician also targeted LGBTQ people on social media in the wake of the shooting. Ellis said leaders in the LGBTQ community have “seen a dramatic uptick” in anti-LGBTQ rhetoric. “This is priming some very violent people to do shocking acts of violence, and this is all being pushed on social media and on Fox News, on Tucker Carlson.”

A false claim that Iran is planning to execute thousands of people has gone viral in the wake of the first death sentence for a protester tied to the ongoing demonstrations against the country’s clerical rulers over women’s rights. An image that has circulated widely on social media falsely states that 15,000 protesters have been sentenced to death. Like much viral misinformation online, the claim about the 15,000 death sentences appears to have started with a kernel of truth. Independent reporting is suppressed in Iran and it is not possible for NBC News to confirm these numbers. “The rumors of a new round of mass executions is likely fueled by memories of what happened in 1988.”

In the settlement reviewed by NBC News, Ye paid a former employee who alleged witnessing more than one incident in which Ye praised Hitler or Nazis in business meetings. NBC News has not confirmed that settlement, which appears to be separate from the case of the former employee who shared settlement documents with NBC News. In recent weeks, messages expressing support for Ye’s antisemitic statements have appeared over a Los Angeles freeway and at a college football game. The former employee said that Ye praised Hitler in 2018 during a meeting about an apparel project. Two of the former TMZ employees said that a Jewish producer stood up to confront Ye about his remarks about Nazis and Hitler.

There is no evidence that any school has deployed litter boxes for students to use because they identify as cats. The rumor of litter boxes in schools appears to have begun among parents on social media, and one of the first schools to confront the falsehood was in Canada last fall. Catalina Lauf, a Republican congressional nominee in Illinois, tweeted this month that schoolchildren were using litter boxes in her state. Some say litter boxes are located in “transgender bathrooms” in schools. Meanwhile on TikTok, one video claiming “kids are now requesting litter boxes at school” collected 3 million views on the platform.

Instagram has restricted the account of the rapper Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, after he posted a message that some groups are calling "anti-Jewish." According to a Meta spokesperson, Instagram deleted content from Ye's Instagram page and restricted the account after the company said he violated its rules and guidelines. Ye appeared in a Fox News interview Thursday with Tucker Carlson and echoed anti-Semitic conspiracy theories. In a post Friday, the American Jewish Committee, an anti-hate group, posted a video calling Ye's remarks antisemitic. In the video, the AJC said, Ye was using "antisemitic tropes like greed and control," highlighting his Fox News appearance and his Instagram post.

QAnon conspiracy theory videos with thinly veiled hashtags are bringing in millions of views on TikTok ahead of the 2022 midterm elections. The findings come as former President Donald Trump is ramping up his public support of the conspiracy theory. The top video on the hashtag — one of dozens related to the QAnon conspiracy theory — is explicitly pro-QAnon and was posted just five days ago. In July 2020, TikTok attempted to address the growth of QAnon hashtags on their platform by banning a selection of them. In October 2020, the company said it was expanding the ban to all videos on the platform that advance ideas from the conspiracy theory movement.

In the run-up to the 2020 election, doctored videos that made House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., seem impaired went viral on social media. Experts have warned that such lightly edited videos, also sometimes called “shallow fakes,” can be particularly effective pieces of misinformation. Fetterman gave the speech used in the edited video at a campaign rally Sunday. One video Price tweeted Monday has over 600,000 views and has been shared hundreds of times. One edited video posted on the platform has over 32,000 views.

☆ NBCNews.com Digital Contacts
▼ + stars: | 2019-12-14 | by ( ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

IE 11 is not supported. For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser. U.S. news NBCNews.com Digital Contacts NBC News Digital Editors Senior V.P., Global Digital News Catherine Kim / catherine.kim@nbcuni.com Executive Editor Tom Namako / Tom.Namako@nbcuni.com Managing Editor for News Tim Perone / Tim.Perone@nbcuni.com Managing Editor for Politics Liz Johnstone / Elizabeth.Johnstone@nbcuni.com Assistant Managing Editor for News Pam Engel / Pamela.Engel@nbcuni.com Assistant Managing Editor for Platforms and Social Matthew Grimson / Matthew.Grimson@nbcuni.com Assistant Managing Editor for Enterprise Julie Shapiro / Julie.Shapiro@nbcuni.com Television contacts: NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt: nightly@nbcuni.com Meet the Press: contact.mtp@nbcuni.com Today: TodayStories@nbcuni.com Dateline NBC: dateline.contactus@nbcuni.com MSNBC: MSNBCTVinfo@nbcuni.com The Rachel Maddow Show: rachel@nbcuni.com NBC News Media Relations: nbcnewsmediarelations@nbcuni.com Digital Editors: Senior Tech Editor, Jason Abbruzzese / Jason.Abbruzzese@nbcuni.com Senior News Editor and Bureau Manager, London, Brinley Bruton / Brinley.Bruton@nbcuni.com Senior Enterprise Editor, Susan Carroll / Susan.Carroll@nbcuni.com Senior Editor, Data Viz, Nigel Chiwaya / Nigel.Chiwaya@nbcuni.com Copy Editor, Dipti Coorg / Dipti.Coorg@nbcuni.com News Editor, Los Angeles, Amanda Covarrubias / Amanda.Covarrubias@nbcuni.com Deputy Director of Owned Platforms, Los Angeles, Richie Duchon / Richie.Duchon@nbcuni.com Senior Editor, Breaking News, Rodney Thrash / Rodney.Thrash@nbcuni.com Editorial Director, NBCBLK, Michelle Garcia / Michelle.Garcia@nbcuni.com Deputy Washington Editor, Ginger Gibson / ginger.gibson@nbcuni.com Deputy Tech Editor, Ben Goggin / Benjamin.Goggin@nbcuni.com Copy Editor, Carmen Llona / Carmen.Llona@nbcuni.com Culture and Trends Editor, Saba Hamedy / saba.hamedy@nbcuni.com Senior Art and Photography Director, Kara Haupt / Kara.Haupt@nbcuni.com Weekend News Editor, Eric Hinton / eric.hinton@nbcuni.com Politics Editor, Tim Homan / tim.homan@nbcuni.com Copy Editor, Alex Johnson / Alex.Johnson@nbcuni.com Senior Copy Editor, Ned Kilkelly / Ned.Kilkelly@nbcuni.com Copy Editor, Alison Killian / Alison.Killian@nbcuni.com Lead Breaking News Editor, Nights, Jamie Knodel / Jamie.Knodel@nbcuni.com Politics Editor, Matthew Korade / Matthew Korade@nbcuni.com Lead THINK Editor, Hilary Krieger / think@nbcuni.com Breaking News Editor, Gavon Laessig / Gavon.Laessig@nbcuni.com Managing Editor, NBC Latino, Sandra Lilley / Sandra.Lilley@nbcuni.com Business News Editor, Bryan Logan / Bryan.Logan@nbcuni.com Data Editor, Joe Murphy / Joe.Murphy@nbcuni.com Editorial Director, NBC Asian America, Jessica Prois / Jessica.Prois@nbcuni.com Deputy Politics Editor, Alana Satlin / Alana.Satlin@nbcuni.com Deputy News Editor, Jessica Simeone / Jessica.Simeone@nbcuni.com Senior Washington Editor, Rebecca Sinderbrand / Rebecca.Sinderbrand@nbcuni.com Editorial Director, NBC OUT, Brooke Sopelsa / Brooke.Sopelsa@nbcuni.com Art Director, Chelsea Stahl / Chelsea.Stahl@nbcuni.com Health News Editor, Dana Varinsky / Dana.Varinsky@nbcuni.com Senior Editorial Director for Planning and Diversity Journalism, Joy Wang / Joy.Wang@nbcuni.com Deputy News Editor, Jaquetta White / Jaquetta.White@nbcuni.com Weekend Politics Editor, Christina Zhao / Christina.Zhao@nbcuni.com MSNBC.com Editors: Managing Editor, Meredith Bennett-Smith / Meredith.Bennett-Smith@nbcuni.com Senior Editor, Clarissa Pharr / clarissa.pharr@nbcuni.com

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