UK Treasury joins chat app Discord and is met with torrent of abuse

Posted on November 15, 2022 by Admin

Users on gamer-focused platform manage to respond to posts despite government blocking all comments

The UK Treasury has opened an account on Discord to a torrent of abuse from users of the gamer-focused chat app – abuse they managed to send despite the government blocking all comments on the service.

As Twitter’s future looks increasingly uncertain, prominent users are preparing alternatives, directing followers to Facebook and Instagram accounts, handing out their Mastodon addresses, and setting up servers on chat apps such as Discord.

Australia’s consumer watchdog calls for new laws to stop scams and rein in anti-competitive behaviour online

Posted on November 10, 2022 by Admin

ACCC report says digital platforms expose users and businesses to ‘harms’ as it pushes for overhaul

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Australia’s competition regulator has run out of patience with digital platforms such as Google and Facebook and has recommended new laws to clamp down on scams, address consumer complaints and rein in anti-competitive behaviour.

Releasing its fifth progress report on digital platforms since it began an inquiry in 2017, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has called for industry-specific legislation, saying it has identified “widespread, entrenched and systematic” consumer and competition “harms”.

Influencer ‘Ray Hushpuppi’ jailed over plan to launder $300m

Posted on November 8, 2022 by Admin

Ramon Abbas, described by FBI as one of world’s most prolific money launderers, sentenced to 11 years

A social media influencer who called himself Ray Hushpuppi and flaunted a lavish lifestyle fuelled by his efforts to launder millions of stolen dollars has been sentenced in Los Angeles to more than 11 years in federal prison.

Ramon Abbas, 40, also was ordered by a federal judge to pay $1.7m in restitution to two fraud victims, according to a statement from the US Department of Justice.

TikTok’s ties to China: why concerns over your data are here to stay

Posted on November 8, 2022 by Admin

Harvesting data is the norm for social media apps, but the question that many have is where it goes and who has access to it

Read the new Guardian series exploring the increasing power and reach of TikTok

In 2021 Android phone users around the world spent 16.2tn minutes on TikTok. And while those millions and millions of users no doubt had an enjoyable time watching clips on the addictive social video app, they also generated a colossal amount of data.

TikTok collects information on how you consume its content, from the device you are using to how long you watch a post for and what categories you like, and uses that information to fine tune the algorithm for the app’s main feed.

Twitter bans comedian Kathy Griffin for impersonating Elon Musk

Posted on November 7, 2022 by Admin

Users adopt Musk’s name after he announces suspension of accounts pretending to be someone else

Elon Musk has banned a US comedian’s Twitter account after taking on users who impersonate him on the platform.

Twitter’s new owner announced an immediate ban on accounts pretending to be someone else without flagging them as parodies. The move resulted in the removal of an “Elon Musk” account held by the comedian Kathy Griffin, who had changed her account name to match that of the Tesla chief executive.

TikTok tells European users its staff in China get access to their data

Posted on November 2, 2022 by Admin

Privacy policy update confirms data of continent’s users available to range of TikTok bases including in Brazil, Israel and US

TikTok is spelling out to its European users that their data can be accessed by employees outside the continent, including in China, amid political and regulatory concerns about Chinese access to user information on the platform.

The Chinese-owned social video app is updating its privacy policy to confirm that staff in countries, including China, are allowed to access user data to ensure their experience of the platform is “consistent, enjoyable and safe”.

Banned Twitter accounts will not be reinstated until after US midterms

Posted on November 2, 2022 by Admin

Elon Musk says setting up process over those barred, including Donald Trump, will take ‘at least a few more weeks’

Banned Twitter accounts including Donald Trump’s will not be reinstated until after the US midterm elections at least, the platform’s new owner, Elon Musk, has said.

The Tesla chief executive’s statement came as a study revealed that Twitter had taken down six disinformation networks on the platform linked to China and Iran that had been tweeting about the 8 November elections.

From Ed Balls to BTS: the greatest hits in Twitter’s history

Posted on October 29, 2022 by Admin

To mark the site’s takeover by the world’s richest man, Elon Musk, we present a survey of its most media-friendly moments

Twitter has great influence for a social media platform. It has a comparatively modest 230 million users, given that the likes of Instagram, Facebook and TikTok have user bases that run into the billions. But Twitter is beloved of politicians, celebrities, commentators and journalists and can have a great impact on the political and news cycle as a result. Here are some of the best-known and notorious tweets in the company’s 16-year history.

Vardy v Rooney: ‘Wagatha Christie’ play to hit West End stage

Posted on October 20, 2022 by Admin

Producer says trial asked questions about boundaries between privacy and celebrity and what it is to be a Wag

A play about the “Wagatha Christie” trial is to be staged in the West End by the producers behind Agatha Christie’s seminal drama Witness for the Prosecution.

Vardy v Rooney: the Wagatha Christie Trial, adapted from the original high court transcripts by Liv Hennessy and directed by Lisa Spirling, brings the legal battle between Rebekah Vardy and Coleen Rooney to life for one night only this autumn.

Social media firms ‘monetising misery’, says Molly Russell’s father after inquest

Posted on September 30, 2022 by Admin

Coroner finds harmful online content likely to have contributed to Molly’s death ‘in a more than minimal way’

Molly Russell’s father has accused the world’s biggest social media firms of “monetising misery” after an inquest ruled that harmful online content contributed to the 14-year-old’s death.

Ian Russell accused Meta, the owner of Facebook and Instagram, of guiding his daughter on a “demented trail of life-sucking content”, after the landmark ruling raised the regulatory pressure on social media companies.

In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on 116 123, or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In the US, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is 1-800-273-8255. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org.