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  • Twitter starts enforcing new rules on hateful conduct, abusive behaviour

    Twitter starts enforcing new rules on hateful conduct, abusive behaviour

    The new rules announced in November on hateful and abusive content and behaviour went into effect on Monday, Twitter said in a press release.

    “Today, we will start enforcing updates to the Twitter Rules announced last month to reduce hateful and abusive content on Twitter,” Twitter said on Monday.

    The company said the new rules will require any accounts associated with groups that promote violence against civilians either on or off the social media platform to remove all tweets that promote glorify violent acts.

    The company said anyone who refuses to comply will be permanently suspended from Twitter.

    It added that any account that contains hateful content or abuses in a username, display or profile bio will be permanently suspended.

    Hateful imagery, including logos or symbols that promote “hostility and malice” is now considered sensitive material under the company’s media policy, Twitter added in the press release posted on its blog.

     

  • Quick read: 5 clear indications that you are a social media junkie

    Social media has, no doubt, almost completely changed how we communicate. But, there is a point where the obsession with social media goes from harmless fun to an intrusion on your life.

    How do you know if you have arrived at this point? These signs shared by Jumia Travel, the leading online travel agency, will definitely help.

    It is the first thing you do in the morning

    Almost every social media addict will begin their daily routine by scrolling through what they have missed on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and more during your eight hours of sleep.

    Your friends only contact you via social media

    Social media has made it possible to keep in touch with friends and family. If your friends use these apps to get in touch with you, it’s because they know you’re most likely already on them. Very few people now bother to make calls.

    You check your timeline and feeds at every location

    There’s nothing wrong with checking your phone once in awhile. But when you scroll through your feeds or timeline at every location, you are simply engrossed or attached to social media.

    You hear imaginary notifications

    It is a serious case of addiction when you start to imagine notifications in your head. Many of us have experienced the imaginary phone vibration causing you to quickly check your phone for a notification that never came.

    You monitor likes and retweets

    Social media likes and retweets mean a lot to someone addicted to it. It has become a form of acceptance and after a while getting more can become an addiction. They keep monitoring who liked and did not like their pix.

     

  • Twitter to let users make tweet threads more easily

    Twitter to let users make tweet threads more easily

    Twitter said it would add a pair of buttons that will allow users to more easily see and add new tweets to existing ones on the same topic.

    With the new feature, users who create threads, stitching tweets together to tell a longer story, need no longer reply to previous tweets to do so.

    It is the latest instance of the social network altering or adding a feature after reviewing feedback to keep its more than 300 million monthly active users engaged.

    In November, Twitter doubled the character limit for tweets from 140 to 280, in a major shift.

     

  • Twitter says Trump’s anti-Muslim videos remain undeleted for a reason

    Twitter says Trump’s anti-Muslim videos remain undeleted for a reason

    Twitter has explained why they failed to remove offensive and unverified anti-Muslim tweets shared by President Donald Trump.

    The site has claimed its decision not to remove violent far-right Britain First videos retweeted by the US president had nothing to do with the episode making global headlines.

    A row erupted between Theresa May and the US president when he retweeted three anti-Muslim videos posted by the deputy leader of fringe political group, Britain First.

    Two featured violent scenes, including someone being pushed off a roof and another person being assaulted, leading Twitter users to suggest they breached the site’s guidelines.

    One of the videos, which suggested the attacker was a Muslim migrant, was quickly identified as fake news.

    A previous statement from Twitter indicated the content was allowed to remain online as it stoked debate.

    It pointed to guidance in its help centre which said: “There may be the rare occasion when we allow controversial content or behaviour which may otherwise violate our rules to remain on our service because we believe there is a legitimate public interest in its availability.”

    On Friday, Twitter co-founder, Jack Dorsey, rowed back on the suggestion, saying: “We mistakenly pointed to the wrong reason we didn’t take action on the videos from earlier this week.”

    In a series of posts shared from the Twitter Safety account, the social media giant appeared to set out why Mr. Trump’s tweets remained on the site.

    It wrote: “Earlier this week, Tweets were sent that contained graphic and violent videos. We pointed people to our Help Centre to explain why they remained up, and this caused some confusion.

    “To clarify: these videos are not being kept up because they are newsworthy or for public interest. Rather, these videos are permitted on Twitter based on our current media policy.

    “We will continue to re-evaluate and examine our policies as the world around us evolves. We appreciate the feedback and will continue to listen.”

    One user replied to Mr Dorsey’s post, asking him if he thought the reason the posts stayed up was due to Twitter needing Mr Trump to drive traffic to the website, to which the tech chief replied: “No, I don’t.”

    According to Twitter’s media policy, a post breaches guidelines if it contains “gory media related to death, serious injury, violence or surgical procedures.”

    It lists examples, including the moment someone dies, a gruesome crime scene or bodily harm, torture, dismemberment or mutilation.

    British PM Theresa May previously said Mr. Trump was ‘wrong’ to retweet videos posted by Britain First’s deputy leader, Jayda Fransen, which she condemned as a “hateful organisation” dedicated to spreading division and mistrust.

    The extraordinary flare-up between the two key allies came after Mr. Trump responded directly to her assertion – originally made through her official spokesman – that his re-postings had been wrong.

    In his usually petulant approach, Trump wrote: “@Theresa-May, don’t focus on me, focus on the destructive Radical Islamic Terrorism that is taking place within the United Kingdom. We are doing just fine!”

     

  • Obama cautions leaders to think before tweeting

    Former US president Barack Obama said Friday that social media powers like Facebook, WhatsApp and Twitter are leading to “snap judgement to complex issues” and warned leaders to think before tweeting.

    Obama was repeatedly asked about his successor, President Donald Trump, at a New Delhi symposium, but stuck to a general warning to all high-profile figures to take care.

    “I think it’s important to be mindful of both the power of these tools but also its limits,” Obama said, when asked about the dangers of Twitter, a platform on which Trump has caused repeat controversies.

    “What I would say is Twitter, Facebook, WhatsApp, all these various platforms are extraordinarily powerful tools, and those tools can be used for good and the tools can be used for ill,” he said.

    Highlighting how he has 100 million Twitter followers — “more than other people who use it more often” — Obama said: “I think it’s important to be mindful of both the power of these tools, but also its limits.”

    Obama’s wife, Michelle, recently took what was seen as a subtle swipe at Trump, asking the audience at an event to spellcheck and not tweet everything that comes into their mind.

    “I think she was just giving a general advice, the same advice that you used to hear from your mother generally … don’t say the first thing that pops in your head,” the two-term leader told the conference, which was organised by the Hindustan Times newspaper.

    “Your mother and father knew better. Listen to them. Don’t do things like that. Think before you speak, think before you tweet.”

    Obama would not be drawn into other questions about the US administration at the appearance where he called “destructive populism” a threat to modern democracy.

    “There are political trends in American that I don’t agree with and abide by but I recognise as part of a running thread in American life,” he said.

    Obama said he has become “obsessed” with the way news is handled and consumed, particularly by the young.

    “We are more connected than ever before but … more and more we are fitting facts to suit our opinions rather than formulating our opinions based on facts,” said Obama.

  • Members of President Trump’s Arts Council tender resignation via Twitter

    The entire members of President Donald Trump’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities have tendered an open letter of resignation, using the president’s favourite public space: Twitter.

    They say the resignation is in protest of his “support of hate groups and terrorists who killed and injured fellow Americans in Charlottesville,” and his failure to support the arts in America.

    “The false equivalencies you push cannot stand,” says the letter. “The Administration’s refusal to quickly and unequivocally condemn the cancer of hatred only further emboldens those who wish America ill. We cannot sit idly by, the way your West Wing advisors have, without speaking out against your words and actions.”

    The Washington Post reports that the PCAH was formed by President Ronald Reagan and under President Barack Obama, who appointed all the current members, the unpaid members have worked hard on programmes for schools, public events, and even outreach to Cuba.

    When Trump came in, they all expected to be dismissed, but a Trump representative asked them to stay on at least for now.

    The president’s wife, Melania, was appointed the honorary chairperson of the PCAH but she apparently had done nothing for or with the group, which has been left to aimlessly seek ways to be useful to the American people, as they promised when they took a sworn oath to be on the commission.

    Here is the resignation letter, as tweeted by a member:

  • Toke Makinwa should not be taken seriously -Fans declare

    Media personality, Toke Makinwa just knows how to set social media ablaze via her inept controversial opinions on relationships

     

    The light skinned damsel in a recent edition of her Vlog urges women not to take men who call them via Whatsapp serious. Her opinion as expected generated various reactions from Nigerians on Twitter.

    https://www.instagram.com/p/BXlHi6ghe84/?taken-by=thenewsgurung

     

    Check out the reactions below

     

     

     

     

  • Etisalat Nigeria: Subscribers apprehensive as firm’s crisis deepens

    Etisalat Nigeria: Subscribers apprehensive as firm’s crisis deepens

    Subscribers on the Etisalat network have become apprehensive as the crisis rocking the “Not Just a Network, It’s an Attitude!” telecoms firm shows no signs of an end.

    The protracted $1.2 billion debt crisis has left UAE-based Etisalat Group, which gave Emerging Markets Telecommunication Services (EMTS) the right to operate in Nigeria as Etisalat Nigeria, to withdraw its brand name, giving the new management board an ultimatum of 3 weeks.

    The continued crisis has left subscribers on the network worried as to what will become of their beloved network.

    “I’ve been burying my head in the sand over this Etisalat Nigeria thing. What does all this mean for people that have Etisalat lines?” Jollz queried on Twitter.

    The Nigerian Communications Communication (NCC) has for the umpteenth time issued press releases trying to allude the fears of subscribers on the network; but the telecoms regulators has been mute in the face of the new development.

    And although the management of EMTS has come out to say subsisting agreements mean the firm is allowed to continue using the brand name, and that even a change of brand would not affect network integrity, customers are not convinced.

    >>Also read: Etisalat Nigeria: Change of name essential – Telecoms association

    “Nnaa, me I have dumped my Etisalat SIM card since this issue started o,” Nnamdi told TheNewsGuru tech editor at a Sweet Sensation outlet in Lagos state.

    One thing that is certain is that, since Etisalat Nigeria isn’t folding up, and that Airtel still exist till date, subscribers on the network have nothing to worry about.

    “This Etisalat Nigeria story reminds me of the inconsistent journey of ownership of the Red network. You know the story from Econet to Airtel,” @Iam_Muzzamil tweeted.

     

     

  • Twitter rolls out advance features to curb abusive behaviours

    Twitter, in its latest step to curb abusive behaviours on its platform, rolled out new features on Monday to help users disable notifications from accounts that they want to avoid.

    The micro-blogging website said its “advanced filter settings” will now have options for users to mute notifications from accounts that they do not follow as well as from accounts that do not follow them.

    Users can also filter lower-quality content from notifications such as content that appears to be automated and mute notifications related to certain words and phrases.

    Twitter had said in March that it would introduce new filtering options for notifications to allow users to limit what they see from certain types of accounts, such as those that do not have a profile photo.

    Twitter and rival Facebook have been facing a barrage of criticism for failing to tackle cyber-bullying, fake news and extremist propaganda on their platforms.

    To set quality filter on the web:
    1. Go to your Notifications timeline.
    2. To filter your notifications, click on Settings.
    3. Click the box next to quality filter to turn on or off.
    4. Click the Save changes button.
    To set quality filter using Twitter for iOS:
    1. Go to your Notifications timeline
    2. Tap the gear icon
    3. Drag the slider next to quality filter to turn on or off.
    To set quality filter using Twitter for Android:
    1. Go to your Notifications timeline
    2. Tap the gear icon
    3. Check the box next to quality filter to turn on or off.
    To set filters on the web:
    1. Go to your Notifications timeline.
    2. To filter your notifications, click on Settings.
    3. Check the box of your preferred filter(s) to turn on.
    To set filters using Twitter for iOS:
    1. Go to your Notifications timeline
    2. Tap on the gear icon
    3. Tap Advanced filters.
    4. Drag the slider next to your preferred filter(s) to turn on.
    To set filters using Twitter for Android:
    1. Go to your Notifications timeline
    2. Tap on the gear icon
    3. Tap Advanced filters.
    4. Check the box of your preferred filter(s) to turn on.

     

     

  • Did you receive the Jayden K. Smith message?

    Did you receive the Jayden K. Smith message?

    I did as did some millions of Facebook users who received the warning message about a friend request from some Jayden K. Smith.

    Globally, Facebook and Twitter users have been sent into a frenzy being warned not to accept an unsolicited friend request from one mysterious Jayden K. Smith, who is not Will Smith’s son because that would be Jaden Smith.

    “Please tell all the contacts in your messenger list not to accept Jayden K. Smith friendship request.

    Did you receive the Jayden K. Smith message?
    This Jaden Smith does not want to be your Facebook friend, most probably. Source: Instagram

    “He is a hacker and has the system connected to your Facebook account. If one of your contacts accepts it, you will also be hacked, so make sure that all your friends know it. Thanks. Forwarded as received.

    “Hold your finger down on the message. At the bottom in the middle it will say forward. Hit that then click on the names of those in your list and it will send to them,” was the version of the message I received from more than 15 contacts I know on my friends’list.

    This drove my curiosity to want to find out what this is all about and it took me to myth-busting website, Snopes that this has been a “long running hoax”.

    “Accepting a Facebook friend request from a stranger will not provide hackers with access to your computer and online accounts.

    “Variants of these messages are circulated endlessly, with different names swapped in and out.

    “The most common variant of this hoax is one that warns the reader not to accept Facebook friend requests from ‘hackers’ purportedly named ‘Christopher Davies’ and ‘Jessica Davies,’ otherwise one of the two will wreak some unspecified havoc,” Snopes said in a post busting the Jayden K. Smith myth.

    As to whether it’s dangerous, it’s generally thought not. Simply accepting a friend request is a relatively inefficient way of delivering a virus or other IT nasty. Fooling people into opening a rogue email attachment works far better.

    But there’s no guarantees, states Snopes.

    “It’s not outside the realm of possibility that an e-mail message or a link posted on Facebook might carry a virus payload which could infect your computer and allow it be controlled by a botnet, but virus warnings that correspond to the patterns detailed above can be safely dismissed as japes,” Snopes further stated.