Tag: twitter
Twitter takes down thousands of accounts linked to Iran
Twitter has removed almost 5,000 accounts it believes are linked to the Iranian government with the aim of manipulating conversations about political and social issues. The social network has been cracking down on state-backed information operations as part of an effort to clean up its platform of fake news. In its latest disclosure, Twitter removed…
Unmask Twitter trolls so they can be banned from football matches, says Labour
Twitter trolls who abuse sportsmen and women should be unmasked and identities handed over to governing bodies so they can be banned from attending matches, Labour has said. Shadow sports minister Dr Rosena Allin-Khan, leading an Opposition Day Debate on discrimination in sport, hit out at social media companies for not doing more to tackle…
Jack Dorsey payments firm Square to work with refugee entrepreneurs
Payment company Square is to support refugee entrepreneurs by providing them with equipment to take card payments for their small businesses. Announced as part of London Tech Week, the payment firm unveiled a partnership with the Entrepreneurial Refugee Network (Tern) to support those who have come to the UK and are trying to grow a…
Twitter updates rules to make them ‘easier to understand’
Twitter has revealed a major re-write of its rules as part of plans to make the site’s processes easier for users to understand. The social media platform said it had cut the words in its official guidelines from about 2,500 to fewer than 600, in an effort to simplify them for users. Twitter is one…
Twitter acquires British AI startup Fabula AI to address fake news
Twitter has acquired London-based startup Fabula AI which has developed AI technology that could help it deal with disinformation and fake news spreading across the social network. Fabula AI's researchers have developed a way to make sense of the deluge of information that is shared on social networks, and detect network manipulation. The move comes…
Twitter apologises for sharing iOS location data from Apple devices
Twitter has apologised after a bug resulted in the sharing of location data from Apple mobile devices. The social media site said it discovered it was “inadvertently collecting and sharing iOS location data with one of our trusted partners in certain circumstances." Twitter said the location data has not been retained and has since been…
Twitter revenue up 18%, but 6 million less active users than last year
Twitter has reported growth in revenue but saw monthly active users drop by six million on this time last year, the firm’s latest financial results show. The social media company’s revenue for the first quarter of 2019 was 787 million dollars (£605 million), up 18% on the same period last year and above analysts’ expectations.…
Diane Abbott: Social networks ‘shirking responsibilities’ to remove racist abuse
Shadow home secretary Diane Abbott has said social media companies are “shirking their responsibilities” to remove abusive content after racist tweets targeting footballers were found on the site up to five years after being posted. Ms Abbott, herself a regular victim of racism on the platform, was speaking after the Press Association discovered dozens of…
Twitter reduces daily follow limit to 400 to tackle spammers
Twitter has reduced the number of accounts people are allowed to follow daily in a fresh attempt to take on spam and bots across the social network. The site already had a 1,000-a-day cap in place, but the company has now decided to bring the number down to 400 as it grapples with the health…
Twitter urged to tackle disgusting racist attacks on Premier League stars
Twitter has been urged to take action after racially abusive tweets targeting a range of Premier League footballers were found on the site up to five years after being posted. The Press Association found dozens of historical posts with racist language aimed at Premier League players such as Mohamed Salah, Danny Welbeck and Raheem Sterling.…