DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

CNN has requested comment from Musk and X on the posts related to the Israel-Gaza conflict. Community notes allow users on X to fact-check false posts on the platform. While notes were appended to both of these false posts, they often come after a false post has been viewed thousands – or in some cases millions – of times. “In times of war, social media becomes a propaganda battlefield; there is always an element of disinformation and exaggeration,” said Emerson Brooking, senior resident fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Digital Forensic Research Lab. He said other platforms that have little or no guardrails including the social media messaging app Telegram are also hotbeds of misinformation, but X is unique given Musk’s behavior.

Persons: Musk, influencer Jackson Hinkle, Hinkle, Benjamin Netanyahu, ”, Israel, Emerson Brooking, ” Brooking, ” Joe Galvin, ” Galvin, X Organizations: CNN, Elon, White, Washington, Pentagon, Jerusalem Post, Directorate, Defamation League, Atlantic, Forensic Research, “, monetization, Twitter Locations: Israel, Ukraine, Russia, Gaza, Azerbaijan

☆ Her son was an accused cult leader. She says he was a victim, too.
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-23 | by ( Donie O'Sullivan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +16 min

The man talking on the tape was her son, Michael Protzman. Michael Protzman got swept up in this alternate reality. We spoke to dozens of Americans whose lives and families have been affected by conspiracy theories, including Protzman’s own family. After Michael Protzman died this summer, some of his followers refused to believe he had passed. Vigrass never imagined that the conspiracy theories her brother was airing at the kitchen table could lead to him to join what she views as a cult.

Persons: CNN’s, O’Sullivan, Anderson Cooper, CNN —, “ John John, … Trump, Joe Kennedy, George Patton, Mussolini … ” Colleen Protzman, Michael Protzman, ”, “, John F, Kennedy Jr, Donald Trump, Kennedy, Junior —, “ He’ll, Trump, Jesus Christ, reemerge, opportunists, Protzman, Michael Brian Protzman, Michael “, Colleen Protzman, Michael, it’s, Sandy, ” Colleen Protzman, —, QAnon, Barack Obama, Rachel Maddow, Donie O'Sullivan, Michal Protzman, didn’t, JFK, Erica Vigrass, Jason, Erica, ‘ I’m, ’ ” Protzman’s, – Protzman, Erica Vigrass ’, Vigrass, ” Protzman, Jason –, They’re, Jesselyn Cook, It’s, Diane Benscoter, General, ” Benscoter Organizations: JFK, CNN, Dealey, Junior, Junior — JFK, WFAA, JFK Jr, Trump, Kennedys, Democratic Party, Michael Protzman CNN, Dallas CNN, Dealey Plaza, Dallas, Capitol, Facebook, Twitter, Hollywood, Unification Church, US Locations: United States, Dallas, JFK, Minnesota, Seattle, Washington, Dealey, –

CNN cannot independently verify if the photographs, social media accounts and the homes addresses being posted actually belong to the grand jurors. However, the names being circulated on these sites appear to match the names of at least 13 of the 26 grand jurors that served on the panel in Fulton County. It’s unclear if those names are the actual grand jurors or just people with the same name. Also, on some forums, users are posting multiple social media profiles of different people who have the same name as some of the grand jurors. Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis speaks during a news conference at the Fulton County Government building on August 14, 2023 in Atlanta, Georgia.

Persons: Donald Trump, Daniel J, Jones, Hillary Clinton’s, Fani Willis, Joe Raedle, Ben Decker, Willis, Trump Organizations: CNN, Advance Democracy, Trump, Fulton, Fulton County Government, “ Locations: Fulton, Fulton County, Washington, Atlanta , Georgia, Atlanta

☆ Hackers take on ChatGPT in Vegas, with support from the White House
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-10 | by ( Donie O'Sullivan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

Las Vegas, Nevada CNN —Thousands of hackers will descend on Las Vegas this weekend for a competition taking aim at popular artificial intelligence chat apps, including ChatGPT. The hackers are working with the support and encouragement of the technology companies behind the most advanced generative AI models, including OpenAI, Google, and Meta, and even have the backing of the White House. “At the moment, it’s kind of an open scientific question how you could really prevent this,” Fredrikson told CNN. Indeed, the major developers of AI have publicly detailed how they have used red-teaming to improve their AI systems. Arati Prabhakar, the director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, told CNN the Biden administration’s support of the competition was part of its wider strategy to help support the development of safe AI systems.

Persons: Biden, OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Bard, “, Zico, ” Kolter, chatbot, Matt Fredrikson, ” Fredrikson, Arati Prabhakar, ” Organizations: Las Vegas , Nevada CNN, Google, Meta, White, Office of Science, Technology, OpenAI, Carnegie Mellon University, ”, CNN, Carnegie Mellon, Carnegie, Las Vegas Locations: Las Vegas , Nevada, Las Vegas, guardrails, —, Nevada, Las

☆ US officials worry about ‘chilling effect’ on combating election disinformation after order limiting Biden administration contact with social platforms
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-14 | by ( Brian Fung Sean Lyngaas | Brian Fung | Sean Lyngaas | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +13 min

The resulting uncertainty, they say, risks slowing the government and social media companies’ ability to respond to election-related disinformation that appears on tech platforms. Last week, the State Department canceled a routine meeting on election security with Facebook, according to a person familiar with the matter. On Wednesday, FBI Director Christopher Wray defended the close contacts between the US government and the social media companies. The injunction does contain some exceptions allowing more limited contact between affected agencies and social media companies. “Well, the government doesn’t necessarily have those capabilities to do that back-end work that the social media companies do.

Persons: Biden, ”, Chris Krebs, Krebs, Katie Harbath, Donald Trump, Christopher Wray, ” Wray, Trump, Harbath, Yoel Roth, Twitter’s, Gowri Ramachandran, “, ” Ramachandran, they’re, Ramachandran, Russia’s, ” Harbath, you’re, ’, Evelyn Douek, Jocelyn Benson, ” Benson, Adam Mosseri, Meta, ’ ”, Nick Clegg, Donie O’Sullivan Organizations: Washington CNN, Infrastructure Security Agency, CNN, State Department, Facebook, Justice Department, FBI, of Homeland Security, Health, Human Services, Twitter, “, Senate Intelligence, Department of Homeland Security, National Intelligence, Big Tech, Brennan Center for Justice, New York University, Stanford Law School, Meta, YouTube, Meta Global Locations: Louisiana, Missouri, State, Michigan

A Meta spokesperson did not specify, when asked, how many staffers had been cut from its teams working on elections. Instead, Meta said the social media giant had invested $16 billion in technology and teams since 2016 to protect its users. For years, the social media giant has invested heavily in teams of personnel to root out sophisticated and coordinated networks of fake accounts. In addition to its in-house team, Meta and other social media companies rely on tips from academics and other researchers who specialize in monitoring covert disinformation networks. The launch of Threads even as Meta trims its disinformation-focused personnel comes at a turbulent and transformative time for those tasked with writing and implementing rules on social media platforms.

Persons: Meta, “, –, ”, Darren Linvill, Elon Musk, Katie Harbath, Nick Clegg, ’ ” Harbath Organizations: CNN, Facebook, Meta, Clemson University’s, Sputnik, Elon, Twitter, YouTube, Republican, Biden, GOP, Meta Global Locations: United States, Taiwan, Ukraine, India, Myanmar, Africa, Louisiana

☆ Instagram lifts ban on anti-vaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. after launch of presidential bid
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-05 | by ( Donie O'Sullivan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

New York CNN —Instagram announced Sunday it had lifted its ban on Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the anti-vaccine activist who has launched a presidential bid, two years after it shut down Kennedy’s account for breaking its rules related to Covid-19. “As he is now an active candidate for president of the United States, we have restored access to Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.’s, Instagram account,” Andy Stone, a spokesperson for Instagram’s parent company Meta said in a statement. Kennedy, who has a long history of spreading vaccine misinformation, was banned from Instagram in February 2021. A company spokesperson at the time said Instagram had removed his account for “repeatedly sharing debunked claims about the coronavirus or vaccines.”While Kennedy’s Instagram account was banned, his Facebook account remained active. Kennedy was a leading anti-vaccination voice during the Covid-19 pandemic, using his social media platforms to sow doubt and misinformation about the shots.

Persons: New York CNN — Instagram, Robert F, Kennedy Jr, Kennedy, Jr, Andy Stone, Meta, Instagram, “, Cheryl Hines, Kennedy’s, Anne Frank, Hines, ”, Jack Dorsey, tweeting, “ Robert F, ” Dorsey, Elon Musk, Stone Organizations: New, New York CNN, Instagram, Meta, The Washington Post, YouTube, Trump, DeSantis, Democratic, CNN Locations: New York, United States, Nazi Germany, Silicon Valley

☆ How the technology behind ChatGPT could make mind-reading a reality
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-23 | by ( Donie O'Sullivan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

Neuroscientists at the University of Texas in Austin have figured out a way to translate scans of brain activity into words using the very same artificial intelligence technology that powers the groundbreaking chatbot ChatGPT. Before entering the fMRI machine, CNN correspondent Donie O'Sullivan was given specialized earphones to listen to an audiobook during his brain scan. While the technology is still in its infancy and shows great promise, the limitations might be a source of relief to some. While the technology at the moment only works in very limited cases, that might not always be the case. “Technology can improve and that could change how well we can decode and change whether decoders require a person’s cooperation.”

Persons: ”, It’s, ” Alexander Huth, ” Huth, Huth, Dorothy, Donie O'Sullivan, CNN Huth, can’t, Jerry Tang, ” Tang, “, Sam Altman, Altman, Tang Organizations: CNN, University of Texas, UT Austin Locations: Austin , Texas, Austin, San Francisco, Texas

CNN —A fake image purporting to show an explosion near the Pentagon was shared by multiple verified Twitter accounts on Monday, causing confusion and leading to a brief dip in the stock market. “Large explosion near the Pentagon complex in Washington DC. Under owner Elon Musk, Twitter has allowed anyone to obtain a verified account in exchange for a monthly payment. A fake image purporting to show an explosion near the Pentagon was shared by multiple verified Twitter accounts on Monday, causing confusion and leading to a brief dip in the stock market. AI-Generated Fake Image/Twitter“Republic had aired news of a possible explosion near the Pentagon citing a post & picture tweeted by RT,” the outlet later posted on its Twitter account.

New York CNN —Hackers have seized on worldwide interest in the artificial intelligence-powered tool ChatGPT in an effort to break into people’s devices, Facebook owner Meta revealed in a security report Wednesday, equating the phenomenon to the surge in cryptocurrency scams. Meta’s security team said it found hackers software that claimed to offer ChatGPT-based tools via browser extensions and online app stores that contained malware designed to give hackers access to people’s devices, Meta said. “From a bad actor’s perspective, ChatGPT is the new crypto,” Guy Rosen, Meta’s chief information security officer, told reporters, meaning scammers have quickly moved to exploit interest in the technology. Some of the tools include working ChatGPT features but also contain malicious code to infect users’ devices. “With an ultimate goal to trick people into clicking on malicious links or downloading malicious software, the latest wave of malware campaigns have taken notice of generative AI tools becoming popular.”

New York CNN —Facebook’s parent company Meta announced Wednesday that it has taken down a network of more than 100 China-based accounts that posed as organizations in the US and Europe and pushed pro-Beijing talking points. The network, which had more than 15,000 followers on Meta’s platforms, appears to have had some financial resources behind it. The fake accounts also posted “negative commentary about Uyghur activists and critics of the Chinese state,” it said. “We’re keeping a close eye” on the Chinese influence operations heading into the 2024 election, the official said. Ahead of the 2022 US midterm election, FBI officials expressed concern that Chinese operatives appeared to be engaging in “Russian-style influence activities” that stoke American divisions.

☆ Nonconsensual deepfake porn puts AI in spotlight
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-16 | by ( Donie O'Sullivan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

chatbot that can answer questions and write prose, is a reminder of how powerful this kind of technology can be. Deepfakes have been used to put women’s faces, without their consent, into often aggressive pornographic videos. It’s a depraved AI spin on the humiliating practice of revenge porn, with deepfake videos appearing so real it can be hard for female victims to deny it isn’t really them. Amid the fallout, the Twitch streamer “Sweet Anita” realized deepfake depictions of her in pornographic videos exist online. Twitch streamer "Sweet Anita" during her interview with CNN.

Under Musk’s leadership, Twitter has slashed its staff, relaxed some of its content moderation policies and reinstated a number of incendiary accounts that were previously banned. Those moves raised concerns that Musk’s Twitter could contribute to a rise in public displays of hate and antisemitism offline. Musk, however, has repeatedly pushed back at claims that hate speech is rising on the platform. Twitter, which eliminated much of its public relations team during last year’s layoffs, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. “With this direct and heightened threat environment in mind, how will you work with other stakeholders to combat the rise of antisemitism on Twitter?,” Moskowitz concludes in his letter to Musk.

☆ Meta restores Trump’s Facebook and Instagram accounts
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-09 | by ( Donie O'Sullivan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

CNN —Donald Trump’s Facebook and Instagram accounts were restored on Thursday, allowing the former president to once again post on the social media platforms, a Meta spokesperson confirmed to CNN. Meta previously said it would take a few weeks before Trump could access his account. The company suggested the delay was to give the company time to install guardrails on Trump’s account that could result in it being suspended again if he breaks the company’s rules. Twitter restored Trump’s account in November. Still, this person said, the Trump campaign would leap at the opportunity to resume using his likeness in its Facebook advertisements.

☆ Jan. 6 Committee failed to hold social media companies to account for their role in the Capitol attack, staffers and witnesses say
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-26 | by ( Donie O'Sullivan Audrey Ash Zachary Cohen | Donie O'Sullivan | Audrey Ash | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

But now these witnesses, along with some committee staff, are frustrated, saying the committee failed to adequately hold major social media companies to account for the role they played in the worst attack on the Capitol in 200 years. They also said the final report outlines structural issues across social media and society that need to be studied further. Jeremy Moorhead/CNNDisagreement about social media companies’ role in the Jan. 6 attack comes as 2023 looks to be a pivotal year for Silicon Valley firms in Washington, DC. “Indeed, the lack of an official Committee report chapter or appendix dedicated exclusively to these matters does not mean our investigation exonerated social media companies for their failure to confront violent rhetoric,” they wrote. “History has taught us what happens when political speech on social media companies is allowed to fester unchecked.”

☆ Trump campaign has asked Meta to unblock the former president’s Facebook account
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-18 | by ( Kristen Holmes | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

New York CNN —Former President Trump’s campaign sent a letter to Facebook’s parent company, Meta, Tuesday petitioning them to unblock his Facebook account, a source familiar with the letter tells CNN. Trump’s Facebook and Twitter accounts were blocked following the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol. Facebook initially said its ban of Trump would be indefinite. A Trump adviser said that reinstating the former president’s Facebook account would make it easier for the campaign to do outreach. Still, this person said, the Trump campaign would leap at the opportunity to resume using his likeness in its Facebook advertisements.

The debate comes less than two months after Twitter restored Trump’s account, but Meta’s intention to reevaluate the decision predates Twitter’s reversal. “I can’t think of what that rigorous standard would be that would make this policy be applied fairly, not just to former President Trump, but to any politician.”Is Trump bound to Truth Social? A phone screen displays the Truth Social app in Washington, DC, on February 21, 2022. Trump now has his own rival social media platform, Truth Social, which he launched in February. Despite his desire for a bigger megaphone and aides encouraging him to rejoin Twitter, Trump has said he is committed to Truth Social.

☆ Musk’s Twitter restores accounts of prominent election deniers two years after Jan. 6 attack
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-10 | by ( Donie O'Sullivan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

New York CNN —Elon Musk’s Twitter has restored the accounts of two prominent election deniers who were banned from the platform following the January 6, 2021 attack on the US Capitol. “Stop the Steal” organizer Ali Alexander’s account was restored on Monday. Alexander assumed a leadership role in the movement that discredited the 2020 election in the weeks leading up to January 6. Watkins played a central role in spreading conspiracy theories about voting machine and the 2020 election. An HBO documentary in 2021 identified Ron as potentially being the anonymous figure behind the conspiracy theory, an assertion that Ron has denied.

☆ Facebook considering whether to allow Trump to return, decision expected in ‘coming weeks’
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-02 | by ( Donie O'Sullivan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

CNN —Facebook’s parent company Meta is considering whether to allow former President Donald Trump back on to its platforms and is due to announce its decision in the coming weeks, a company spokesperson told CNN on Monday. Trump was banned from Meta’s platforms Facebook and Instagram after the attack on the US Capitol in January 2021. Nick Clegg, Meta’s president of global affairs, said he is overseeing the decision. In a blog post in June 2021, Clegg explained how the company would consider allowing Trump back on its platforms. “Based on Meta’s own statement on standards for allowing Trump back on the platform, his account should continue to be restricted.”

☆ The tech we couldn’t live without in 2022
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-23 | by ( Cnn Staff | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

CNN —Bone conduction headphones, TV streaming devices and Bluetooth speakers are among the tech gadgets topping holiday wish lists this year. Other notable products – ahem, the new 14 Pro and 14 Pro Max – are near impossible to find. Since my move to New York, I’ve had to find all new favorite spots for good food and drinks. – Victor Blackwell, co-anchor of CNN NewsroomHBO MaxNow that I commute home at the ungodly hour of 1 a.m., I lean heavily on my HBO Max app (starts at $9.99 a month). – Samantha Kelly, CNN senior tech writerRev.comI remember being an intern over a decade ago logging half hour long interviews for producers.

☆ Elon Musk’s security team sought for questioning over incident he cited as reason to ban journalists
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( Jon Passantino | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

While the @ElonJet account showed Musk’s private jet landed on Dec. 12 in Los Angeles, the incident occurred roughly 24 hours later and 25 miles away from the airport, according to police. Two days after the incident, on Dec. 15, police said they “learned the suspect involved in this case is believed to be a member of Elon Musk’s security team. O’Sullivan and other reporters had recently written about the Twitter account that tracked Musk’s private plane. “They posted my exact real-time location, basically assassination coordinates, in (obvious) direct violation of Twitter terms of service,” Musk claimed in a tweet Thursday night. Asked for comment by O’Sullivan on the incident Tuesday, Musk told CNN in an email: “Donor O’Sulivan [sic] is a liar.”- CNN’s Stella Chan contributed to this report.

☆ Tesla gets downgraded on Wall Street over Elon Musk’s Twitter antics, banning of journalists
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-19 | by ( Matt Egan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —Elon Musk’s management of Twitter, including the banning of multiple journalists, has “severely damaged” market sentiment around Tesla, and risks sparking a backlash from advertisers and consumers, a Wall Street analyst warned on Monday. Oppenheimer & Co. downgraded its rating on Tesla, where Musk is the CEO, solely because of risks posed by the billionaire’s ownership and management of Twitter. We see potential for a negative feedback loop from departure of Twitter advertisers and users,” Oppenheimer analyst Colin Rusch wrote to clients. Tesla shares briefly jumped in premarket trading Monday after Musk polled users on whether he should quit as Twitter CEO. “I think it is in the best interest for Tesla shareholders for Elon to be back at Tesla working full time,” Gerber said on Twitter.

☆ Elon Musk restores Twitter accounts of journalists but concerns persist
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-17 | by ( Sheila Dang | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

Dec 17 (Reuters) - Elon Musk reinstated the Twitter accounts of several journalists that were suspended for a day over a controversy on publishing public data about the billionaire's plane. A Twitter poll that Musk conducted later also showed that a majority of the respondents wanted the accounts restored immediately. Accounts who doxxed my location will have their suspension lifted now," Musk said in a tweet on Saturday. A Reuters check showed the suspended accounts, which included journalists from the New York Times, CNN and the Washington Post, have been reinstated. Musk accused the journalists of posting his real-time location, saying it amounted to providing "basically assassination coordinates" for his family.

☆ A Silicon Valley investor says Elon Musk's move to abruptly suspend journalists on Twitter is 'a direct attack' by the CEO 'on journalism'
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-17 | by ( Taylor Ardrey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A Silicon Valley investor blasted Elon Musk's decision to suspend several journalists on Twitter. "Elon Musk does not believe in journalism," businessman Roger McNamee told MSNBC. The accounts of the journalists, who the Twitter CEO claimed doxxed him, have been reinstated. "This has become a trope among billionaires in Silicon Valley. "I think in this particular case, what we have going on here is a direct attack by Elon Musk on journalism and, by extension, on democracy," McNamee told MSNBC.

☆ Elon Musk reinstates journalists who were suspended from Twitter after conducting a poll about how to handle accounts that 'doxxed' his location
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-17 | by ( Kelsey Vlamis | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Twitter on Thursday suspended accounts belonging to several journalists who cover Elon Musk. As of Friday evening, accounts belonging to several journalists had been reinstated. A day prior, the company had suspended accounts run by college student Jack Sweeney — including one that tracked Musk's private jet — and announced new privacy rules. Musk conducted a Twitter poll Thursday asking his followers when he should "Unsuspend accounts who doxxed my exact location in real-time," with the options being "Now" or "In 7 days." At the time of publication, accounts belonging to O'Sullivan, Rupar, Mac, Harwell, and Webster had all been reinstated.

Search resuls for: "Donie"

25 mentions found