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☆ Google's management has reportedly issued a 'code red' amid the rising popularity of the ChatGPT AI
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-21 | by ( Aaron Mok | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Google issued a "code red" in response to the rise of AI bot ChatGPT, NYT reports. CEO Sundar Pichai redirected some teams to focus on building out AI products, per the report. The move comes as talks abound over whether ChatGPT could one day replace Google's search engine. ChatGPT "is not something that people can use reliably on a daily basis," Zoubin Ghahramani, who leads the Google's A.I. Instead, Google may focus on improving its search engine over time rather than taking it down, experts told the Times.

☆ Musk launches poll on whether he should quit as Twitter CEO
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Replying to a user on Twitter later, Musk said "There is no successor" in reference to a possible change in CEO. Minutes before the poll, Musk apologized and tweeted "Going forward, there will be a vote for major policy changes." loadingFormer Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, who recently invested in social media platform Nostr, replied to the Twitter support post with one word: "Why?". Last week, Twitter disbanded its Trust and Safety Council, a volunteer group formed in 2016 to advise the social media platform on site decisions. The policy change follows other chaotic actions at Twitter since Elon Musk, who is also the CEO of Tesla (TSLA.O), bought the social network.

How Bots Pushing Adult Content Drowned Out Chinese Protest TweetsTwitter and its new owner, Elon Musk, have recently vowed to crack down on bots. When contacted, two businesses that appeared in spam tweets said that they had purchased the tweets using advertising services. The bots posting content during the protest did not focus on related hashtags; instead they included broader terms like the names of Chinese cities alongside adult content. BOT n BOT BOT BOT Searching for “北京” A search on Twitter for “Beijing” in simplified Chinese brought up tweet after tweet of spam ... BOT BOT BOT BOT Searching for “Beijing” ... but searching for “Beijing” in English showed no bot or spam activity among the top tweets. Bot advertising on Twitter A company listed on some spam tweets confirmed it ran an advertising business using bots.

☆ Twitter prohibits users from promoting accounts on Facebook, Mastodon
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/3] The Twitter logo is seen outside the offices in New York City, U.S., November 9, 2022. REUTERS/Brendan McDermidDec 18 (Reuters) - Twitter on Sunday said that it will remove accounts created solely for the purpose of promoting other social platforms and content that contains links or usernames. The move would impact content from social media platforms like Meta Platforms' (META.O) Facebook and Instagram, along with Mastodon, Truth Social, Tribel, Nostr and Post while allowing cross-content posting, Twitter support said in a tweet. loadingFormer Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, who recently invested in social media platform Nostr, replied to the Twitter support post with one word: "Why?". Last week, Twitter disbanded its Trust and Safety Council, a volunteer group formed in 2016 to advise the social media platform on site decisions.

☆ Anti-LGBTQ hate thrives online, spurs fears of more violence
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-18 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +6 min

On Twitter, YouTube and Facebook, researchers and LGBTQ advocates have tracked an increase in hate speech and threats of violence directed at LGBTQ people, groups and events, with much of it directed at transgender people. “A lot of that is happening online, and online threats are turning into threats of real violence offline.”Hospitals in Boston, Pittsburgh, Phoenix, Washington, D.C., and other cities have received bomb threats and other harassing messages after misleading claims spread online about transgender care programs. There’s no simple explanation for the increase in hate speech documented by researchers recent years. Online hate speech has been linked to offline violence in the past, and many of the perpetrators of recent mass shootings were later found to be immersed in online worlds of bigotry and conspiracy theories. Despite rules prohibiting hate speech or violent threats, platforms such as Facebook and YouTube have struggled to identify and remove such content.

☆ 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.

☆ 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.

☆ Democratic senator questions Twitter’s handling of child safety under Elon Musk
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-16 | by ( David Ingram | David Ingram Covers Tech For Nbc News. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Dick Durbin, D-Ill., sent a letter to tech billionaire Elon Musk on Friday expressing concern that Twitter’s approach to child safety had “rapidly deteriorated” since Musk bought the social media site in October. He continued: “While Twitter certainly had room for improving online child safety before you acquired it, reports indicate that Twitter’s approach to child safety has rapidly deteriorated on your watch." Durbin cited Musk’s decision to dissolve Twitter’s expert board, known as its Trust and Safety Council, as well as a 50% reduction in staff at Twitter’s child safety team. By one metric — reports to an outside group that tracks child sexual abuse material — Musk has made little difference, for better or worse. Durbin wrote to Musk that Twitter has both “global legal obligations” and moral obligations to address online child abuse.

☆ Elon Musk's Twitter suspension of journalists draws global backlash
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-16 | by ( Sheila Dang | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

loadingRoland Lescure, the French Minister of Industry, tweeted on Friday that following Musk's suspension of journalists, he would suspend his own activity on Twitter. loadingThe German Foreign Office warned Twitter that the ministry had a problem with moves that jeopardized press freedom. The suspensions stemmed from a disagreement over a Twitter account called ElonJet, which tracked Musk's private plane using publicly available information. On Wednesday, Twitter suspended the account and others that tracked private jets, despite Musk's previous tweet saying he would not suspend ElonJet in the name of free speech. Then on Thursday evening, several journalists including from the New York Times, CNN and the Washington Post were suspended from Twitter with no notice.

☆ Twitter manually reviewed all accounts that posted links to ElonJet -exec
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-16 | by ( Sheila Dang | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/2] Elon Musk's Twitter profile is seen on a smartphone placed on printed Twitter logos in this picture illustration taken April 28, 2022. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File PhotoDec 16 (Reuters) - Twitter Inc's head of trust and safety told Reuters the company manually reviewed "any and all accounts" that violated its new privacy policy by posting links to a Twitter account called ElonJet that tracked Elon Musk's private jet using information in the public domain. Twitter on Thursday suspended the accounts of several journalists, including from the New York Times, CNN and the Washington Post. "I understand that the focus seems to be mainly on journalist accounts but we applied the policy equally to journalists and non-journalist accounts today," said Ella Irwin, head of trust and safety, in an email to Reuters. Reporting by Sheila Dang in Dallas; Editing by Chizu NomiyamaOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Twitter's real problem is that the constant string of Elon Musk scandals is making it boring
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-16 | by ( Rob Price | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

InsiderThe only thing anyone talks about on Twitter these days is Elon Musk. Since Elon Musk acquired the company in October, there's been a new scandal every week. But as many have already pointed out, Twitter only has one main character now, and that's Elon Musk. The 51-year-old Tesla CEO is firmly centered at the heart of the platform's discourse, day after day. Twitter users who built their brand on the so-called #Resistance against President Donald Trump's administration have pivoted with glee to railing against Musk.

☆ Twitter suspends accounts of several journalists
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Dec 15 (Reuters) - Twitter on Thursday suspended the accounts of several prominent journalists who recently wrote about its new owner Elon Musk, with the billionaire tweeting that rules banning the publishing of personal information applied to all, including journalists. On Wednesday, Twitter suspended @elonjet, an account tracking Musk's private jet in real time using data available in the public domain. Twitter on Thursday showed "account suspended" notices for a clutch of journalists' accounts. A spokesperson for The New York Times said: "Tonight's suspension of the Twitter accounts of a number of prominent journalists, including The New York Times's Ryan Mac, is questionable and unfortunate. We hope that all of the journalists' accounts are reinstated and that Twitter provides a satisfying explanation for this action."

☆ Twitter suspends account tracking Elon Musk's jet
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Dec 14 (Reuters) - Twitter Inc suspended an account tracking its owner Elon Musk's private jet in real-time, with the billionaire threatening legal action against the account's operator after saying his son had been mistakenly followed by a "crazy stalker". ElonJet, operated by 20-year-old university student Jack Sweeney, had tracked the movements of Musk's private jet using data available in the public domain before the suspension. The billionaire also tweeted that one of his sons, lil X, had been harassed, and linked it to the tracking accounts. Sweeney, a student at the University of Central Florida, who also operates similar bot accounts tracking Musk's jet on Facebook, Instagram and Telegram, told BuzzFeed the suspension is "a surprise to many people after he publicly said he wouldn't do it." Separately, Twitter accounts tracking the jets of billionaire tech entrepreneurs Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates were also suspended.

☆ Twitter suspends bot account tracking Elon Musk's jet
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Dec 14 (Reuters) - Twitter Inc suspended a bot account tracking its owner Elon Musk's private jet, the account's operator Jack Sweeney said in a tweet on Wednesday. The Twitter account tracked movements of Musk's private jet using data available in the public domain. Later in the day, Sweeney's Twitter account was also suspended. In previous media interviews, Sweeney said he turned down a $5,000 offer from Musk in 2021 to shut down the bot account. Separately, Twitter accounts tracking the jets of billionaire tech entrepreneurs Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates have also been suspended.

☆ The real revelation from the ‘Twitter Files’: Content moderation is messy
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-14 | by ( Clare Duffy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

The releases so far have focused on some of the social media company’s most high-profile, and controversial, content moderation decisions. The Twitter Files reports appear aimed at calling into question the integrity of Twitter’s former leadership and riling up the right-leaning user base that new owner Elon Musk has increasingly courted. But outside of Musk’s core base, reaction to the Twitter Files, which provide little new insight into the company’s policy and decision-making, has been largely muted. The “Twitter Files” threads appear to have been written “with a very clear agenda,” the former executive said. Still, the Twitter Files reports show just how many of the company’s employees and teams were involved in the deliberations over difficult content decisions.

☆ Twitter took down the account that tracks Elon Musk's jet, but the ones tracking Mark Zuckerberg and other celebrities are still up and running
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-14 | by ( Grace Kay | Taylor Rains | Sawdah Bhaimiya | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Twitter suspended an account that tracks Elon Musk's jet, but left dozens of accounts tracking other celebrities. On Wednesday, Sweeney's @elonjet account on Twitter had a notice on it saying it had been suspended because "Twitter suspends accounts that violate the Twitter Rules." But, as of Wednesday afternoon, @ZuccJet and @CelebJets, as well as his other jet-tracking accounts were still posting travel updates. Sweeney, Musk, and a Twitter spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment ahead of publication. When Musk first offered to buy Twitter, Sweeney said he thought it was likely that Musk would try to shut down the account.

☆ Jack Dorsey apologizes for his Twitter moderation choices, saying he did the 'wrong thing for the internet and society' despite calling his decisions the 'right thing' at the time
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-14 | by ( Katherine Tangalakis-Lippert | Hannah Getahun | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Dorsey condemned attacks on his former colleagues and laid out his thoughts for the future of social media. As CEO, Dorsey said he led Twitter to do the "wrong thing for the internet and society." When he co-founded Twitter in 2006, Dorsey's approach to content moderation was seen as pro-free speech and the company "had to be dragged" into content moderation, J.M. Berger, a researcher on extremism on social media like Twitter, told Insider. Dorsey, Musk, and representatives for Twitter did not immediately respond to Insider's requests for comment.

☆ Twitter suspends account dedicated to tracking Elon Musk's private jet
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-14 | by ( Ashley Capoot | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Sweeney said in a tweet Wednesday afternoon that his account dedicated to tracking employee jets at Musk's company SpaceX was also suspended. "Well it appears @ElonJet is suspended," Sweeney tweeted Wednesday . The account, @ElonJet , was run by Florida college student Jack Sweeney and had amassed more than half a million followers. Twitter has suspended the account dedicated to tracking the location of billionaire Elon Musk's private jet . Sweeney's Instagram account dedicated to tracking Musk still appears to be active.

☆ A Twitter account which tracked Elon Musk's private jet has been suspended, despite Musk saying he wouldn't ban it for 'free speech' reasons
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-14 | by ( Sawdah Bhaimiya | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The Twitter account tracking Elon Musk's private jet was suspended from the platform on Wednesday. The account @elonjet has been suspended today with a message on its profile saying: "Twitter suspends accounts that violate the Twitter Rules." The billionaire CEO tweeted in November that he wouldn't remove the account for "free speech" reasons saying: "My commitment to free speech extends even to not banning the account following my plane, even though that is a direct personal safety risk." Elon originally offered Sweeney $5,000 to take down the tracking account saying it's a "security risk" and he doesn't "love the idea of being shot by a nutcase." Musk has claimed to be a "free speech absolutist," and recently published his Twitter Files which aims to expose free speech suppression on the platform prior to his takeover.

☆ Twitter suspends account that tracked Elon Musk's private jet, despite billionaire's 'free speech' pledge
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-14 | by ( Donie O'Sullivan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

The move comes after Musk has reinstated previous Twitter rule-breakers and stopped enforcing the platform’s policies prohibiting Covid-19 misinformation. Sweeney woke up Wednesday morning to a message from Twitter informing him @ElonJet had been permanently suspended. Later in the day his personal account and other jet-tracking accounts he ran were also shut down by the company. According to screenshots Sweeney shared with CNN, Musk reached out to him last December through a Twitter private message asking, “Can you take this down? “Any account doxxing real-time location info of anyone will be suspended, as it is a physical safety violation.

Meanwhile, Twitter’s resources to fight child sexual exploitation content online (and what is sometimes called child pornography or child sexual abuse materials) are thin, following layoffs, mass-firings and resignations from the company. Child sexual exploitation content has remained a problem for Twitter, though most major social media platforms continue to deal with it in some form or another. Moderation of this content usually relies on a combination of automated detection systems and specialized internal teams and external contractors to identify child abuse content and remove it. “So, I mean, that is disheartening.”It’s unclear how many Twitter employees remain to work on child safety issues. A search on LinkedIn for current Twitter employees who say they work on child safety turned up only a few accounts.

Twitter on Monday disbanded its Trust and Safety Council, a group of volunteers who offered the company outside expert advice about online safety, according to an email seen by NBC News. "As part of this process, we have decided that the Trust and Safety Council is not the best structure to do this." Holmes added, "Over past week several members of council have had their personal safety and well-being impacted by the actions of Twitter staff." Some members of the council recently sparked an argument over the company's handling of child sexual exploitation material. Jack Dorsey, the former CEO of Twitter, responded: "this is false."

☆ Twitter dissolves Trust and Safety Council
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-13 | by ( Sheila Dang | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Dec 12 (Reuters) - Twitter Inc on Monday disbanded its Trust and Safety Council, a volunteer group formed in 2016 to advise the social media platform on site decisions, according to an email reviewed by Reuters. More than a 1,000 have resigned, among them Yoel Roth, the company's former head of trust and safety. As part of this process, we have decided that the Trust and Safety Council is not the best structure to do this," an email sent to the Trust and Safety Council members, seen by Reuters, said. Last week, three members of the Council resigned citing concern for the safety of Twitter users. Musk had responded on the micro blogging site accusing council members of refusing to take action on child exploitation, a claim former CEO Jack Dorsey said was "false".

Less than a month after taking control of Twitter , Elon Musk said addressing child sexual exploitation content on the social media platform was "Priority #1." "It is a crime that they refused to take action on child exploitation for years!" Meanwhile, Twitter's resources to fight child sexual exploitation content online (and what is sometimes called child pornography or child sexual abuse materials) are thin, following layoffs, mass-firings and resignations from the company. Twitter's imperfect efforts fighting child sexual exploitation content were well documented. Stroppa said he felt Twitter's previous efforts were lacking and that it now moves quickly to find and suspend accounts that post child sexual exploitation content.

☆ Twitter’s New Head of Trust and Safety Says Platform Wants to Move Quickly
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-12 | by ( Alexa Corse | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Twitter Inc.’s new head of trust and safety said the platform is emphasizing moving swiftly to address problematic content, even if it means figuring out some specifics later. “For now, I think we are biasing towards moving quickly and figuring out the details in some of these areas after,” said Ella Irwin , who joined Twitter in June and took the top job overseeing user content and safety policies in November.

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