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☆ Omegle was a relic of the old internet. I'm not sad it's gone.
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-10 | by ( Katie Notopoulos | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Gen-Z beloved site Omegle has shut down. The headline: "Omegle: Children expose themselves on video chat site." As K-Brooks' message said, all platforms are susceptible to bad actors — and child predators certainly exist on other social sites, too. According to K-Brooks's post, Omegle had worked with law enforcement and "there was a great deal of moderation behind the scenes, including state-of-the-art AI operating in concert with a wonderful team of human moderators. Omegle punched above its weight in content moderation, and I'm proud of what we accomplished," he said in his statement Thursday.

Persons: Omegle, —, Leif K, Brooks, you'd, Brooks didn't, hank y, ake, ault, lear, ince, ike, ong — Organizations: Service, BBC, AP, ust Locations: Oregon, uman

☆ How the GOP muzzled the quiet coalition that fought foreign propaganda
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-10 | by ( Kevin Collier | Ken Dilanian | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +14 min

A once-robust alliance of federal agencies, tech companies, election officials and researchers that worked together to thwart foreign propaganda and disinformation has fragmented after years of sustained Republican attacks. The most recent setback came when the FBI put an indefinite hold on most briefings to social media companies about Russian, Iranian and Chinese influence campaigns. "We're having some interaction with social media companies," Wray said. "The symbiotic relationship between the government and the social media companies has definitely been fractured." Tech companies are still sharing their findings with each other, a Meta spokesperson told NBC News.

Persons: Christopher Wray, Wray, Sen, Mitt Romney, they're, Mark Warner, Warner, Hillary Clinton's, Barack, CISA, Joe Biden, Donald Trump, Hunter, Mark Zuckerburg, Hunter Biden, didn't, Biden, Nina Jankowicz, Jankowicz, Jen, Jim Jordan, Kara Swisher, we're, Elon Musk, wasn't Organizations: U.S, Capitol, Washington , D.C, GOP, FBI, Force, NBC News, Senate Homeland Security Committee, Justice Department, Committee, Republican, Infrastructure Security Agency, Department of Homeland Security, Microsoft, Senate Intelligence, Kremlin, Internet Research Agency, Facebook, Twitter, National Security Agency, Democrats, New, Digital, Republicans, Homeland Security, Wired, Rep, Tech Locations: Washington ,, Silicon Valley, R, Utah, Russia, Iran, China, U.S, Illinois, CISA, New York, Missouri, Louisiana, Ohio, Israel

A 3D printed Facebook's new rebrand logo Meta is seen in front of displayed Google logo in this illustration taken on November 2, 2021. The Austrian law, enacted in 2021 and which obliges Big Tech to publish regular reports of illegal content, comes amid mounting concerns worldwide about hateful posts. The three companies, which have their European headquarters in Ireland, say they should only be subject to Irish rules. The Austrian court subsequently sought advice from the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), which sided with the companies. We will study the judgment and continue to invest in the trust and safety of our users across our platforms," a Google spokesperson said.

Persons: Dado Ruvic, TikTok, Thursday's, Foo Yun Chee Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Google, Austrian, Big Tech, European Union, Digital Services, Justice, Meta, Thomson Locations: Rights LUXEMBOURG, Ireland, Member State

Companies TikTok FollowBRUSSELS, Nov 6 (Reuters) - TikTok must "spare no effort" to counter the spread of disinformation on the short video sharing app, EU industry chief Thierry Breton told the company's CEO on Monday, as the European Union steps up its efforts to curb the powers of Big Tech. "My services and I are now investigating whether this is enough to ensure compliance with the DSA (Digital Services Act)," Breton told Reuters in written comments after a video call with TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew. "Because now more than ever, we must spare no effort to protect our citizens – especially children and teenagers – against illegal content and disinformation," he said. TikTok Public Policy Director Caroline Greer said in a post on social media platform X that the company was pleased that Breton recognised its compliance efforts. The DSA requires large online platforms to do more to tackle illegal and harmful online content on their platforms.

Persons: Thierry Breton, China's ByteDance, Breton, Shou Zi Chew, Caroline Greer, Chew, Vera Jourova, Didier Ryenders, Foo Yun Chee, Sharon Singleton Organizations: Big Tech, DSA, Services, Reuters, Big, EU, Values, Thomson Locations: BRUSSELS, European, Breton, Big Tech, Brussels

☆ X CEO Linda Yaccarino stepped in to remove a pro-Hitler post in an apparent divergence from Elon Musk's 'free speech absolutism'
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-03 | by ( Haley Tenore | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

X CEO Linda Yaccarino stepped in to remove a viral pro-Hitler post, The Information reports. Hate speech and misinformation have run rampant on X since Elon Musk's takeover in 2022. The post in question appeared on the X page belonging to Afnan Ullah Khan, a member of the Senate in Pakistan, The Jerusalem Post reported. AdvertisementAdvertisementMusk previously described himself as a "free speech absolutist," which is evident in his hands-off approach to moderating hate speech and misinformation. The day before the tweet, in an October 27 blog post, Yaccarino asserted that safety is a "critical priority" for the X team.

Persons: Linda Yaccarino, Hitler, —, Elon Musk, Adolf Hitler, –, Afnan Ullah Khan, Yaccarino, Insider's Kali Hays, Elon Musk's, Hate Organizations: Elon Musk's, Service, Senate, Jerusalem Post, Twitter, Commission, Elon, Center, New York Times Locations: Pakistan, Jerusalem, Israel, Gaza

☆ Opinion | A Tech Billionaire’s Case for Why Tech Billionaires Should Rule the World
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-28 | by ( Elizabeth Spiers | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

It takes a certain kind of person to write grandiose manifestoes for public consumption, unafflicted by self-doubt or denuded of self-interest. In this vision, wealthy technologists are not just leaders of their business but keepers of the social order, unencumbered by what Mr. Andreessen labels “enemies”: social responsibility, trust and safety, tech ethics, to name a few. But the real problem with Mr. Andreessen’s manifesto may be not that it’s too outlandish, but that it’s too on-the-nose. In the case of ordinary individuals, however, debt is regarded as not just a financial failure but a moral one. (If you are successful and have paid your student loans off, taking them out in the first place was a good decision.

Persons: Marc Andreessen, Andreessen Horowitz, ” Organizations: Netscape

Musk has dismantled core features of what made Twitter, Twitter — its name and blue bird logo, its verification system, its Trust and Safety advisory group. “We’re still negative cash flow," he posted on the site on July 14, due to a about a "50% drop in advertising revenue plus heavy debt load." Insider Intelligence estimates that X will bring in $1.89 billion in advertising revenue this year, down 54% from 2022. “Even though the cultural relevance of Twitter was already starting to decline," before Musk took it over, "it’s as if the platform no longer exists. Usually when a social platform, starts to lose its relevance there are at least some external factors at play, but that’s not the case here.”

Persons: Elon Musk, it's, hasn’t, Jasmine Enberg, Musk, ” Enberg, —, Ian Bremmer, “, algorithmically, ” It's, We’re, ”, Linda Yaccarino, it’s, that’s Organizations: FRANCISCO, —, Twitter's San, Twitter, Media Matters, European Commission, NBC, Facebook, Meta, Google, ., Intelligence Locations: Twitter's, Twitter's San Francisco, Maine, Israel

The Consequences of Elon Musk’s Ownership of XNow rebranded as X, the site has experienced a surge in racist, antisemitic and other hateful speech. Research conducted in part by the Institute for Strategic Dialogue concluded that anti-Semitic tweets in English more than doubled after Mr. Musk’s takeover. Keeping X at the center of public debate is exactly Mr. Musk’s goal, which he describes at times with a messianic zeal. Even worse, the article argued, Mr. Musk’s changes appear to be boosting the engagements of the most contentious users. A month into Mr. Musk’s ownership, the platform stopped enforcing its policy against Covid-19 misinformation.

Persons: Elon Musk, ”, “, Musk’s, —, Musk, Tim Chambers, ” Mr, Chambers, Tesla, lockdowns, Thierry Breton, Mr Organizations: Elon, Twitter, “ Twitter, Hamas, Dewey, Group, Defamation, Research, Institute for Strategic, Commission, Kremlin, Pentagon, Tufts, Rutgers, Montclair, 4chan, Harvard Kennedy School, Covid, Media, Mr, Commission's Digital Services, Services, Defamation League, European Union Locations: Musk’s, Russia, China, Israel, Ukraine, Iran, guardrails

☆ Elon Musk’s Twitter takeover, the platform and its cultural impact have fundamentally changed
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-27 | by ( Brian Fung | Clare Duffy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +16 min

Here’s a (non-exhaustive) account of how Musk has fundamentally changed Twitter since he made one of the most consequential acquisitions of the social media age. Many of Musk’s content and product decisions have also led to what civil society groups have reported as a troubling spread of hateful speech on the platform. He recommended that X users monitor the Israel-Hamas conflict by following an account known for spreading disinformation, before later deleting his post. And, in an attempt to prove that former Twitter executives deliberately discriminated against conservatives on the platform, Musk provided a handpicked group of journalists with selective access to company records. It is perhaps Musk’s all-consuming presence that has most undermined what users used to love about Twitter.

Persons: New York CNN — It’s, Elon Musk, Linda Yaccarino —, Yaccarino, ” Yaccarino, —, it’s, Here’s, Musk, he’s, Donald Trump, LeBron James, James, ”, X, General Mills, ” Weeks, “ Elon, what’s, “, Paul Pelosi, Dilbert, Scott Adams, George Soros, Joe Biden’s, Ron DeSantis ’, Robert F, Kennedy, Jr, Tucker Carlson, Vivek Ramaswamy, Benjamin Netanyahu, Hunter Biden Organizations: New, New York CNN, Elon, Twitter, US Federal Trade Commission, Securities, Exchange Commission, EU, Premium, Nintendo, NPR, PBS, Volkswagen, —, Center, Defamation League, Wall Street, Florida Republican Gov, Fox, New York, Trump Locations: New York, Israel, United States, breakeven, New

☆ Opinion | The Reactionary Futurism of Marc Andreessen
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-26 | by ( Ezra Klein | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +4 min

I think the Republican Party’s collapse into incoherence reflects the fact that much of the modern right is reactionary, not conservative. It’s a coalition obsessed with where we went wrong: the weakness, the political correctness, the liberalism, the trigger warnings, the smug elites. The Silicon Valley cohort Andreessen belongs to has added a bit to this formula. Rather, it’s the pairing of the reactionary’s sodden take on modern society with the futurist’s starry imagining of the bright tomorrow. So call it what it is: reactionary futurism.

Persons: Jordan Peterson, J.D, Vance, Peter Thiel, Donald Trump, Patrick Deneen, ” Mark Lilla, “, —, ”, else’s, Andreessen, Nietzsche, ” “, John Galts Locations: incoherence, It’s

☆ Messaging app Telegram blocks access to Hamas-run channels
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-26 | by ( Clare Duffy | Brian Fung | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

New York CNN —The messaging app Telegram has restricted access to several channels closely associated with or operated by Hamas, as the militant group’s war with Israel rages on. The restrictions mark a significant clampdown on a major source of pro-Hamas propaganda since the Israel-Hamas war began, one that Telegram’s error messages suggest may be driven by the app store operators’ policies. Other popular Telegram channels that have expressed support for Hamas have also been restricted, according to CNN’s analysis. That account is among those no longer accessible via Telegram apps downloaded from the Google Play or Apple App stores, CNN confirmed. An Apple spokesperson didn’t immediately respond to CNN’s questions about the Telegram channels now blocked for iOS users.

Persons: Israel, —, ”, United States —, ” Google’s, didn’t, Brian Fishman, –, O’Sullivan, Paul Murphy Organizations: New, New York CNN, Hamas, Google, CNN, ” CNN, CNBC, Meta, Brigades, Apple, Capitol, Facebook, Twitter Locations: New York, Israel, Russian, United States, Dubai, Europe

☆ Elon Musk's former trust and safety chief at X says Musk had 'more emotion behind his decisions' than she expected
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-21 | by ( Sarah Jackson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

A former exec at X, previously Twitter, says Elon Musk was at times more impulsive than she expected. Ella Irwin told NBC News there was "more emotion behind his decisions" than she anticipated. download the app Email address Sign up By clicking “Sign Up”, you accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy . AdvertisementAdvertisementA former exec at X, previously known as Twitter, says there was at least one element of working with owner Elon Musk that surprised her. AdvertisementAdvertisementWhen asked to give X CEO Linda Yaccarino advice about working with Musk, Yoel Roth, Irwin's predecessor, said, "You should be worried.

Persons: Elon Musk, Ella Irwin, Grimes, —, Musk, Irwin, Musk Irwin isn't, Linda Yaccarino, Yoel Roth, Irwin's, Roth, he's, Esther Crawford, Musk's, Crawford, Walter Isaacson, Ron DeSantis, Isaacson, Jekyll, Mr, Hyde, Elon, Martin Eberhard Organizations: NBC News, Service, Twitter, SpaceX, The Boring Company

casey newton[CHUCKLES]:: And it would be so funny if the AI actually already was deceptive and was just like, oh, yeah, Kevin, you’ve already figured us out. But I also think it’s part of this sort of undercurrent of the conversation, especially around AI right now. Marc Andreessen — he is clearly so angry at all of the people who criticize technology, technology companies, tech investors. And he is just really, really going after that crowd with this piece. brent sealesYou know I don’t really know.

Persons: kevin roose Casey, casey newton What’s, kevin roose, casey newton, hasn’t, kevin roose I’m, I’m, KEVIN, casey newton Yes, Kevin Roose, ” casey newton, Casey Newton, Marc Andreessen, Casey, we’ve, kevin roose Totally, Claude chatbot, Claude, Anthropic’s, chatbot, Anthropic hadn’t, Anthropic, Kevin, — they’re, roose, Meta, it’s, I’ve, Bard, casey newton It’s, there’s, you’ve, casey newton Yeah, didn’t, Kevin — I’m, it’ll, Kevin —, Andreessen Horowitz, Uncle Marc, ”, “ you’re, Tucker Carlson, Jesus Christ, casey newton Well, kevin roose Oh, he’s, McCarthy, —, Nick Land, casey newton Totally, You’re, Daron Acemoglu, Simon Johnson, It’s, Marc Andreessen —, they’re, Nietzschean supermen, Nietzschean, Marc, casey newton Heck, Andreessen, Marc Andreessen decries, Marc Andreessen’s, CASEY, kevin roose That’s, you’re, Nat Friedman, who’s, Daniel Gross, John, Patrick Collison, Toby Lutke, Shopify, Aaron Levie, Brent Seales, — casey newton, There’s, Luke Farritor, ” brent seales, brent seales, that’s, Seales, haters, brent seales That’s, you’ll, casey newton Yep, brent seales —, brent seales We’d, brent seales They’re, They’re, Luke, Brent, brent seales Pliny, Elder, Jesus, brent seales What’s, casey newton Right, we’re Organizations: YouTube, The New York Times, Facebook, Google, Intelligence, America, AIs, Stanford, Communist, Netscape, Fox News, Communist Party, Technology, Venture, Twitter, acc, kevin roose Venture, Companies, Meta, University of Kentucky, British Locations: ”, Anthropic, China, Florida, California, United States, Europe, Romanian, interpretability, Valley, America, Silicon, Silicon Valley, Vesuvius, Rome, Greece, Herculaneum, Venice, Roman

☆ X, formerly Twitter, will launch two new subscription tiers, Elon Musk says
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-20 | by ( Arjun Kharpal | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

X, the social media service formerly known as Twitter, will launch two new tiers of subscriptions for users, its owner, Elon Musk, said Friday. It's unclear if the $1 annual subscription is one of the two new subscription tiers that Musk is referencing. The social media company already has a $8 per month subscription service called X Premium. Since taking over Twitter in October 2022 and rebranding to X, Musk has made sweeping changes, including cuts to trust and safety teams and removing the blue checkmark from nonpaying accounts. The blue checkmark helped users identify authentic accounts belonging to public figures.

Persons: Elon Musk, Musk, X Organizations: Twitter Locations: New Zealand, Philippines

☆ Elon Musk's next headache after Tesla's earnings flop could be users ditching X over Israel-Hamas misinformation, Nobel economist Paul Krugman says
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-20 | by ( George Glover | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Elon Musk, already reeling after Tesla's earnings flop, could see X users ditch his platform. Israel-Hamas misinformation might be a "tipping point" for the social-media site, Paul Krugman says. The Nobel laureate expects X users to start leaving for rival platforms like Threads and Bluesky. AdvertisementAdvertisementElon Musk is already reeling after Tesla's earnings miss slashed its stock price by 9% on Thursday. Things could go from bad to worse for the tech billionaire, as the spread of misinformation about the war between Israel and Hamas could drive people away from his X platform, according to Paul Krugman.

Persons: Elon Musk, Paul Krugman, —, Krugman, Jack Dorsey, Sander van der Linden, Musk Organizations: Service, European Union, New York Times, Meta Locations: Israel

☆ 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, formerly Twitter, tests charging new users $1 to tweet, retweet
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-18 | by ( Rohan Goswami | In Rohangoswamicnbc | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

X, formerly Twitter, will begin a test that charges new users $1 annually in order to "post & interact with other posts," the company said in a recent post. The social media platform said Tuesday evening the move is part of its efforts to combat spam and bot activity. Elon Musk previously said the company planned to move to a subscription fee model in September. Excess bot activity has been a consistent rallying cry for Musk since before he acquired the company in October 2022. Bot activity has reportedly worsened under Musk's ownership.

Persons: Elon Musk, Porte, X, Musk Organizations: SpaceX, Tesla, Viva Technology, Porte de, Twitter, CNBC Locations: Paris, New Zealand, Philippines

☆ The Israel-Hamas war shows how social media has given up on facts
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-18 | by ( Kali Hays | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

The Israel-Hamas war shows how social media platforms no longer want to deal with the news. AdvertisementAdvertisementNot too long ago, social media was the future of news. To accompany this flow of verified information, Facebook, Twitter and other social media companies built large content moderation teams and partnerships. Reading these, it's easy to see how social media can divide people during difficult times. The social media account posed as a BBC journalist to share this misinformation for engagement.

Persons: —, Jack Dorsey, Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk's, Adam Mosseri, Karan Singhal, Singhal, there's, Cristiano Ronaldo, Marcus Hutchins, Mosseri, we're, Andy Stone, Zuckerberg, Alex Stamos, TikTok Organizations: Service, Facebook, Twitter, Elon Musk's Twitter, CNBC, BBC, Palestinian, Meta Locations: Israel, Moroccan, Israeli, Syria, Meta, France, Germany, Canada

☆ Elon Musk is considering taking Twitter out of Europe amid EU compliance investigation
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-18 | by ( Kali Hays | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

In recent weeks Elon Musk has suggested Twitter could stop being accessible in Europe in order to avoid new regulation enacted by the European Commission. Musk is increasingly frustrated with having to comply with the Digital Services Act, according to a person familiar with the company. This would be similar to the way Meta is currently blocking people in Europe from using its new app Threads. At the time, Musk suggested the platform, still known as Twitter, should shift to operating only in the countries where it was most popular, so the US, the UK, and Japan. On X, Musk seemed to reply sarcastically to a post from Commissioner Breton on X's DSA compliance and insisted he did not understand what was being asked of him.

Persons: Elon Musk, Musk, Thierry Breton, it's, Breton, he's Organizations: European Commission, Digital Services, Twitter, European Union, DSA Locations: Europe, Israel, India, Australia, Africa, South Korea, Japan, Paris, Madrid, Berlin, Dublin, London

☆ U.S. lawmaker seeks answers from Meta, X, Google, TikTok over Israel-Hamas false content
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-17 | by ( Zeba Siddiqui | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Senator Michael Bennet on Tuesday sought information on how tech giants Meta (META.O), X, TikTok and Google (GOOGL.O) were trying to stop the spread of false and misleading content about the Israel-Hamas conflict on their platforms. Visuals from older conflicts, video game footage, and altered documents are among misleading content that has flooded social media platforms since Hamas militants attacked Israeli civilians on Oct. 7. "In many cases, your platforms’ algorithms have amplified this content, contributing to a dangerous cycle of outrage, engagement, and redistribution,” Bennet said. The short video app TikTok said it had hired more Arabic and Hebrew-speaking content moderators. "The mountain of false content clearly demonstrates that your current policies and protocols are inadequate," he said in the letter.

Persons: Michael Bennet, Biden, Bonnie Cash, Bennet, ” Bennet, Thierry Breton, Elon Musk, Zeba Siddiqui, Stephen Coates Organizations: Capitol, REUTERS, FRANCISCO, Google, European Union, YouTube, Twitter, Elon, Thomson Locations: Washington , U.S, Israel, San Francisco

☆ Marc Andreessen is getting raked over the coals for calling social responsibility the 'enemy'
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-17 | by ( Melia Russell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

VC Marc Andreessen wrote a lengthy missive this week, titled "The Techno-Optimist Manifesto." AdvertisementAdvertisementIt wouldn't be a Marc Andreessen essay if the internet didn't lose its mind over it. Rather, technology, he wrote, can solve for "any material problem" under the sun and herald a new era of "abundance for everyone." The backlash to Andreessen's essay was swift. He runs one of the biggest venture capital firms by assets and perceived importance.

Persons: Marc Andreessen, —, Kara Swisher, Andreessen, Ben Collins, Andreessen's missive, Dorothea Baur, Cameron Moll, he's, Gary Marcus, Marcus, what's, Aravind Srinivas, A16z, Collins, Andreessen Horowitz, Del, Johnson Organizations: Service, Securities and Exchange Commission, Facebook, Backstage Capital, Silicon Valley Bank, Venture Locations: Silicon Valley, Del Johnson, Silicon

But its following has surged on popular messaging app Telegram since its October 7 terror attack on Israel. Hamas is a designated foreign terror organization in the United States, and new internet laws in the European Union mean large social media platforms can face penalties for hosting terroristic content. Hamas’ growing audienceThe Telegram channel for Hamas’ military wing, the al-Qassam Brigades, had about 200,000 followers at the time of the attack. Fishman said while the huge growth in the number of people following Hamas’ Telegram accounts is concerning, it doesn’t mean all the followers are supporters – pointing out that many journalists, researchers and others are likely following the accounts. And that could make it more difficult for plaintiffs to use legal action to force Telegram to remove Hamas content.

Persons: –, Brian Fishman, Fishman, Hamas ’, Pavel Durov, Durov, ” Durov, John Bergmayer, Thierry Breton, didn’t Organizations: CNN, Brigades, Google, Hamas, European Union, Hamas ’, Atlantic, Forensic Research, Meta, Capitol, Facebook, Twitter, ISIS, Communications, Republicans, European, Digital Services, European Commission Locations: Israel, United States, European, Russian, Dubai, Russia, Ashkelon, US

☆ Australia fines X, formerly Twitter, for not answering questions on child abuse content
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-15 | by ( Rebecca Picciotto | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Australia's eSafety commissioner on Sunday fined X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, 610,500 Australian dollars, over $380,000 U.S., for failing to properly disclose information about how it polices child abuse content. The legislation requires online service providers to report how they crack down on child abuse content on their platforms. The notices had specific questions for the companies to answer about how they handle child exploitation content. According to the eSafety commissioner, X did not answer many of the questions and left "some sections entirely blank." It said it found "serious shortfalls" in how child abuse content is policed on the five platforms it filed legal notices to.

Persons: Elon Musk, Australia's, Julie Inman Grant, X Organizations: Elon, Google, NBC News, CNBC, Trust Locations: Australia

“Getting information from social media is likely to lead to you being severely disinformed,” said Ahmed. Everyone from US foreign adversaries to domestic extremists to internet trolls and “engagement farmers” has been exploiting the war on social media for their own personal or political gain, he added. “Bad actors surrounding us have been manipulating, confusing and trying to create deception on social media platforms,” Dan Brahmy, CEO of the Israeli social media threat intelligence firm Cyabra, said Thursday in a video posted to LinkedIn. The dynamic simultaneously highlights the business models of social media and the role the companies play in carefully calibrating their users’ experiences. ‘Be very cautious about sharing’Despite giving the impression of reality and truthfulness, Brookie said, individual stories and combat footage conveyed through social media often lack the broader perspective and context that journalists, research organizations and even social media moderation teams apply to a situation to help achieve a fuller understanding of it.

Persons: ”, Gazans, Pepe, Imran Ahmed, Ahmed, “, Dan Brahmy, ‘, ’ Graham Brookie, Islamophobic, Elon Musk, it’s, ” Imran Ahmed, ” Brian Fishman, ” Linda Yaccarino, “ We’ve, Andy Stone, Snapchat, TikTok, ” Ahmed, ” Brookie, Brookie Organizations: New, New York CNN, CNN, —, Twitter, European Union, Facebook, YouTube, Center, LinkedIn, Digital Forensic Research, Atlantic Council, European Commission, European, Digital Services Locations: New York, Israel, Russia, Ukraine, London, Egypt, Islamophobic, Washington ,, United Kingdom, United States

☆ 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

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