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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

☆ Ex-Meta staffers see booming business targeting online disinformation after two wars break out
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-17 | by ( Jonathan Vanian | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +15 min

Wagner left Facebook parent Meta last year, and her work in trust and safety feels like it was from a prior era. One of her first investments was in a startup called Cove, which was founded by former Meta trust and safety staffers. "One thing I would recommend is transparency at a time where third-party access and understanding to what is going on at scale on social platforms is what is needed." Post is an example of the kinds of companies that trust and safety startups are focused on. Fishman said customers are starting to see trust and safety tools as almost an extension of their cybersecurity budgets.

Persons: Joshua Bratt, Lauren Wagner, Wagner, Mandel Ngan, Roblox, Wagner's, Michael Dworsky, it's, Mason Silber, Donald Trump, Manu Aggarwal, Aggarwal, Abhijnan Dasgupta, Sara Ittelson, Ittelson, Cove's Dworsky, they'd, Alex Goldenberg, Noam Bardin, he's, Bardin, that's, Brian Fishman, Cinder, Fishman Organizations: Meta, Facebook, Hamas, Twitter, Radium Ventures, White, AFP, Getty, CNBC, Innovation Labs, Google, Apple, Republican, Everest Group, Accenture, Genpact, Big Tech, Tech, Venture, Accel, European, Digital Services, Defamation League, Network, Research, Rumble Locations: King's Cross, London, Israel, Washington ,, San Francisco, Russia, Ukraine, Georgia, Cinder, who's, ActiveFence

☆ X, formerly Twitter, amplifies disinformation amid the Israel-Hamas conflict
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-09 | by ( Rohan Goswami | In Rohangoswamicnbc | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

From the outset of this weekend's Israel-Hamas conflict, graphic footage of abductions and military operations have spread like wildfire on social media platforms, including X, formerly known as Twitter. Under Musk, X has prioritized user-driven content tagging with Community Notes, the preexisting feature formerly known as Birdwatch. While the terrorist organization is banned from most social media platforms, including X, it continues to share videos on Telegram. Paid verification purportedly boosts a user's posts and comments on X, and some posts tagged as misleading have come from those verified users. Correction: This article has been updated to correctly reflect Alex Goldenberg's comment on English-language disinformation on X and Twitter.

Persons: Elon Musk, Musk, Alex Goldenberg, Goldenberg, NCRI, Elon, there's, Paul Bernal, Chris Clarkson, Clarkson, Israel —, we've, " Goldenberg, Alex Goldenberg's Organizations: NBC News, Hamas, U.S, Network, Research, CNBC, Twitter, University of East, BBC, Heywood Locations: Gaza, Sderot, Israel, Covid, University of East Anglia, England, British, Middleton, Ukraine

They also shared their findings with X Corp. days ahead of publication. Musk has claimed, without providing data, that bot activity has fallen since he acquired Twitter. In recent weeks, X Corp. sued Bright Data and the Center for Countering Digital Hate, for example, raising the ire of House Democrats. NCRI partners with Bright Data for pro-bono access to social media data, Goldenberg noted. X Corp. did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Persons: Sam Bankman, NCRI, Elon Musk, Pepe, altcoin PEPE, Musk, Alex Goldenberg, Goldenberg Organizations: Twitter, Alameda Research, Network, Research, New Jersey GovSTEM, X Corp, Tesla, SpaceX, NCRI, Bright Data, Center, Democrats, Bright Locations: Hong Kong, China, New Jersey

Its elimination had led to increased concerns about the well-being of vulnerable users on Twitter. Eirliani Abdul Rahman, who had been on a recently dissolved Twitter content advisory group, said the disappearance of #ThereIsHelp was "extremely disconcerting and profoundly disturbing." AIDS United said a webpage that the Twitter feature linked to attracted about 70 views a day until Dec. 18. In one of its blog posts about the feature, Twitter had said it had responsibility to ensure users could "access and receive support on our service when they need it most." Musk has said he wants to combat child sexual abuse content on Twitter and has criticized the previous ownership's handling of the issue.

☆ Here's how Twitter and Elon Musk can prevent racist 'raids' on the social network
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-03 | by ( Lora Kolodny | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

In this photo illustration, the image of Elon Musk is displayed on a computer screen and the logo of twitter on a mobile phone in Ankara, Turkiye on October 06, 2022. When Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk took over at Twitter, showing up at headquarters on Oct. 27, 2022, online trolls and bigots raided the social network, polluting it with a deluge of racist epithets and other hate speech. Their campaign was waged across myriad social platforms including Twitter and Reddit, and manifested in real world rape and death threats, and a bomb scare targeting the critic. Some people engage in so-called "inauthentic" activity on social networks just to see if they can get away with it ("for the lulz"). NCRI uses sophisticated machine learning software and systems to monitor huge amounts of social network content, and to track rising hatred and threats against marginalized groups online, including Black, Jewish, Hindu and Muslim people.

☆ Use of N-word on Twitter jumped by almost 500% after Elon Musk's takeover as trolls test limits on free speech, report says
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-29 | by ( Joshua Zitser | Sam Tabahriti | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Elon Musk's Twitter takeover sparked a surge in the use of the N-word on the social media platform. A social media research group told The Washington Post the use of the slur increased by nearly 500%. "Almost immediately I noticed an increase in anti-trans harassment, it's very visible," said Erin Reed, a trans activist and queer legislative researcher, per The Washington Post. Alex Goldenberg, NCRI's lead intelligence analyst, told The Washington Post that "online trolls regularly test the limits of moderation." On the same day, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz tweeted that Musk's purchase of Twitter was "the most important development for Free Speech in decades."

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