Page 13 - Twitter

Israel-Hamas war: EU asks X for information on hate speech, illegal content

The European Commission on Thursday made a formal, legally binding request for information from Elon Musk's social media platform X over its handling of hate speech, misinformation and violent terrorist content related to the Israel-Hamas war. It is the first step in what could become the EU's inaugural investigation under the Digital Services Act, in this case to determine if the site formerly known as Twitter is in compliance with the tough new rules meant to keep users safe online and stop the spread of harmful content. San Francisco-based X has until Wednesday to respond to questions related to how its crisis response protocol is functioning. Responses to other questions must be received by Oct 31. The commission said its next steps, which could include the opening of formal proceedings and penalties, would be determined by X's replies. Representatives for X did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment. The company's CEO, Linda Yaccarino, said earlier that the site h

We are taking strong measures to crackdown CSAM: Rajeev Chandrashekhar

The Minister of State called out global tech giants for 'distorting' fair competition and free consumer choice in the internet world and said that it is an area of concern for the government

Musk's X takes down hundreds of Hamas-linked accounts, informs CEO

Elon Musk's social media platform X has removed hundreds of Hamas-linked accounts and taken down or labelled thousands of pieces of content since the militant group's attack on Israel, according to the CEO of the company, formerly known as Twitter. Linda Yaccarino on Thursday outlined efforts by X to get a handle on illegal content flourishing on the platform. She was responding to a warning from a top European Union official, who requested information on how X is complying during the Israel-Hamas war with tough new EU digital rules aimed at cleaning up social media platforms. "So far since the start of the conflict, X has identified and removed hundreds of Hamas-affiliated accounts from the platform," Yaccarino said in a letter posted on X. The platform is proportionately and effectively assessing and addressing identified fake and manipulated content during this constantly evolving and shifting crisis, she wrote in response to the request from European Commissioner Thierry Breton,

Social media riddled with misinformation on Israel-Hamas war, say experts

While Twitter has always struggled with combatting misinformation about major news events, it was still the go-to place to find out what's happening in the world. But the Israel-Hamas war has underscored how the platform now transformed into X has become not only unreliable but is actively promoting falsehoods. Experts say that under Elon Musk the platform has deteriorated to the point that it's not just failing to clamp down on misinformation but is favouring posts by accounts that pay for its blue-check subscription service, regardless of who runs them. If such posts go viral, their blue-checked creators can be eligible for payments from X, creating a financial incentive to post whatever gets the most reaction including misinformation. Ian Bremmer, a prominent foreign policy expert, posted on X that the level of disinformation on the Israel-Hamas war being algorithmically promoted" on the platform "is unlike anything I've ever been exposed to in my career as a political ...

Israel-Hamas conflict was a test for Elon Musk's X, and it failed

"It's now almost impossible to tell what's a fact, what's a rumor, what's a conspiracy theory, and what's trolling," Rothschild said

US regulators seek to compel Musk to testify in their Twitter investigation

The Securities and Exchange Commission said Friday it is seeking a court order that would compel Elon Musk to testify as part of an investigation into his purchase of Twitter, now called X. The SEC said in a filing in a San Francisco federal court that Musk failed to appear for testimony on September 15 despite an investigative subpoena served by the SEC and having raised no objections at the time it was served. But two days before his scheduled testimony, Musk abruptly notified the SEC staff that he would not appear, said the agency's filing. Musk attempted to justify his refusal to comply with the subpoena by raising, for the first time, several spurious objections, including an objection to San Francisco as an appropriate testimony location. X, which is based in San Francisco, didn't immediately return a request for comment. The SEC said it has been conducting a fact-finding investigation involving the period before Musk's takeover last year when Twitter was still a publicly tra

X to test three tiers of premium service in the latest Musk overhaul

The premium plan, which currently costs $7.99 a month, would be split into Basic, Standard and Plus variations as part of the effort, the company told debt holders during the briefing Thursday

X removes article headlines in latest update, widening rift with news media

X, formerly known as Twitter, has stopped showing headlines on articles shared on the platform. Now, X only displays an article's lead image and a link to the story. Plans for the change were first reported by Fortune in August, when owner Elon Musk confirmed in a tweet that he thought the change which came from him directly would greatly improve the esthetics of posts. Linked articles now appear as an image, and include text in the left-hand corner noting the domain of the link. Users must click on the image if they wish to visit the full article, which could lead to confusion. Musk's platform has been the target of a lot of criticism recently, including accusations by a top European Union official who said that X has the largest ratio of mis-or disinformation posts. The Anti-Defamation League, a prominent Jewish civil-rights organisation, has accused Musk of allowing antisemitism and hate speech to spread on the platform. Musk's latest decision builds on the growing rift betwee

Social media platforms considering QR codes, tokens to ascertain user age

Social media platforms are worried about losing users which include children, since children may only be able to use these platforms if parents give their consent

House panel calls social media cos for meeting on content, monopoly

This move coincides with news of the government's preparation of the Digital India Bill (DIB) which aims to supersede the Information Technology Act, 2000

Twitter executives win $1.1 million in legal fees from Elon Musk's X

The former executives argued Twitter violated its own bylaws by refusing to cover the sums even though they were tied to investigations of the social-media platform's operations

Elon Musk must face fraud lawsuit for disclosing Twitter stake late

U.S. District Judge said shareholders in proposed class action could try to prove that Musk intended to defraud by waiting 11 days past US SEC deadline to reveal he had bought 5% of Twitter's shares

California man sues Musk for defamation on post that falsely identified him

A California man who says he was harassed after Elon Musk amplified posts on his social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, that falsely placed the man at a confrontation involving far-right protesters sued the billionaire for defamation in a lawsuit filed Monday. Benjamin Brody, 22, is represented by Mark Bankston, a Texas attorney who won a defamation case last year against conspiracy theorist Alex Jones in a lawsuit brought by families of the Sandy Hook Elementary shooting. Brody is seeking a jury trial in Austin, Texas, and unspecified damages of at least USD 1 million. Attorneys for Musk did not immediately respond to requests for comment left through a spokesperson. In June, video posted to X showed a confrontation involving protesters near a Pride festival in Oregon. Some of those involved wore the same colours of the Proud Boys extremist group, according to The Oregonian. On X, some users falsely identified one of the participants as Brody, highlighting his ...

Upping WhatsApp's payload: How Meta is monetising users in India

Its might in India is at the forefront of Meta's drive to monetise messaging with payments

Elon Musk streams himself playing 'Diablo IV' to test X capacity

The broadcast on X, formerly Twitter, lasted 52 minutes, of which the first dozen were spent setting up the stream correctly, with a staffer helping Musk

X partners with Paris Hilton for video push in bid to revamp platform

X will work with Hilton to create original video content on fashion, beauty, travel and other topics, the company announced Monday

X has been losing daily active users since Musk takeover: CEO Yaccarino

Last year, Elon Musk posted a series of tweets which showed that Twitter had 254.5 million daily active users

Elon Musk, German govt spar on X over maritime migrant rescue operations

Germany's government rebuked X owner Elon Musk after he criticised the recent work of migrant rescue ships that German humanitarian groups operate in the Mediterranean Sea. Musk late Friday shared a video that showed migrants and aid workers on a boat. The right-wing account that first put the content on X, formerly known as Twitter, praised the populist far-right Alternative for Germany party, which has taken a hard line on migration issues. Is the German public aware of this? Musk wrote in his repost. The German Federal Foreign Office replied to Musk directly on X, writing: Yes. And it's called saving lives. Musk responded that he doubted the German public supports the actions of non-governmental organisations that take asylum-seekers from unseaworthy vessels in the Mediterranean. He also asserted it was surely a violation of Italy's sovereignty for German-operated ships to bring rescued migrants to Italian territory. So you're actually proud of it. Interesting, he wrote to th

Threads to allow account deletion without wiping out linked Instagram ID

The lack of an account delete option on Threads without having to delete the Instagram account has drawn criticism from users since the launch of the social media platform

Google, Facebook, X, Edtech Cos likely to pay up to 18% IGST from October 1

OIDAR service provider companies such as Google, X, and Facebook may have to pay integrated GST up to 18 per cent on services provided to the government and individuals in India