Mastodawn

Sasha Fox Jan 5, 2023

Records of 235 million Twitter accounts and the email addresses used to register them have been posted to an online hacking forum, setting the stage for anonymous handles to be linked to real-world identities.

That poses threats of exposure, arrest or violence against people who used Twitter to criticize governments or powerful individuals, and it could open up others to extortion, security experts said. Hackers could also use the email addresses to attempt to reset passwords and take control of accounts, especially those not protected by two-factor authentication
https://wapo.st/3ijl8mX

Hackers leak email addresses tied to 235 million Twitter accounts

Researchers say the information was assembled by unknown actors who exploited a previously disclosed flaw in Twitter's system for verifying account ownership.

The Washington Post

Sasha Fox Jan 5, 2023

That above link is a gift article, so people can get around the paywall.

It's worth noting that two factor authorization isn't working properly on Twitter due to Musk. So, that's going to open up a lot more people to exposure.
https://www.wired.com/story/twitter-two-factor-sms-problems/

Twitter’s SMS Two-Factor Authentication Is Melting Down

Problems with the important security feature may be some of the first signs that Elon Musk’s social network is fraying at the edges.

WIRED

Sasha Fox Jan 5, 2023

This issue predates Musk taking over Twitter, but he's only made the situation worse since taking over.

Which is why he's under investigation.

"The US Federal Trade Commission is deepening an investigation it opened this fall into Twitter Inc.’s privacy and data security practices in the wake of the company’s takeover by billionaire Elon Musk, according to people familiar with the matter."
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-12-20/musk-s-twitter-draws-deeper-ftc-scrutiny-over-rising-privacy-security-concerns

Bloomberg - Are you a robot?

Sasha Fox Jan 5, 2023

That's not to be confused with the FTC investigation prompted by this data leak.

Musk is under an additional, entirely separate FTC investigation going on at the same time as this one.

What we learned when Twitter whistleblower Mudge testified to Congress
https://techcrunch.com/2022/09/13/twitter-whistleblower-mudge-congress/

TechCrunch is part of the Yahoo family of brands

Sasha Fox Jan 5, 2023

What is Musk focusing on over at Twitter, you may wonder:

"Twitter Inc's head of trust and safety told Reuters the company manually reviewed "any and all accounts" that violated its new privacy policy by posting links to a Twitter account called ElonJet that tracked Elon Musk's private jet using information in the public domain"

Yep. Manually going through and deciding who to ban and who to not ban for sharing the @elonjet Twitter account.

This was after firing almost everyone, so assume that's all they're doing these days: manually reviewing tweets about Musk.
https://www.reuters.com/technology/twitter-manually-reviewed-all-accounts-that-posted-links-elonjet-exec-2022-12-16/

Twitter manually reviewed all accounts that posted links to ElonJet -exec

Twitter Inc's head of trust and safety told Reuters the company manually reviewed "any and all accounts" that violated its new privacy policy by posting links to a Twitter account called ElonJet that tracked Elon Musk's private jet using information in the public domain.

Reuters

Sasha Fox Jan 5, 2023

Also they're getting rid of the ban on paid political advertising. So expect a ton of dark money groups to start flooding Twitter with right wing propaganda.

Twitter said it was relaxing its ban on political and issue-based advertising on Tuesday, a reversal of the company’s long-standing approach to paid political speech.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2023/01/03/twitter-political-ads-ban-reversal/

Twitter reverses longstanding ban on political advertising

The company said Tuesday that it was relaxing its ban on political and issue-based advertising, a reversal of its longstanding approach to paid political speech.

The Washington Post

When you also look at how they've gotten rid of bans against covid misinformation and hate speech against trans people, you can start to get a very clear idea of the sort of propaganda that's going to be flooding people's feeds in ways they can't turn off.

Twitter will no longer enforce its policy against COVID-19 misinformation, raising concerns among public health experts and social media researchers that the change could have serious consequences if it discourages vaccination and other efforts to combat the still-spreading virus.
https://apnews.com/article/twitter-ends-covid-misinformation-policy-cc232c9ce0f193c505bbc63bf57ecad6

Twitter ends enforcement of COVID misinformation policy

Twitter will no longer enforce its policy against COVID-19 misinformation , raising concerns among public health experts and social media researchers that the change could have serious consequences if it discourages vaccination and other efforts to combat the still-spreading virus.

Associated Press

Sasha Fox Jan 5, 2023

And while Musk wants manual reviews for tweets having to do with him, he doesn't feel that's needed for anyone else.

"Elon Musk's Twitter is leaning heavily on automation to moderate content, doing away with certain manual reviews and favoring restrictions on distribution rather than removing certain speech outright, its new head of trust and safety told Reuters."
https://www.reuters.com/technology/twitter-exec-says-moving-fast-moderation-harmful-content-surges-2022-12-03/

Exclusive: Twitter leans on automation to moderate content as harmful speech surges

Elon Musk's Twitter is leaning heavily on automation to moderate content, doing away with certain manual reviews and favoring restrictions on distribution rather than removing certain speech outright, its new head of trust and safety told Reuters.

Reuters

Sasha Fox Jan 5, 2023

This, of course, doesn't work. And Musk knows that. Which is why he wouldn't rely on it when it comes to him. But he doesn't want a system that works.

"For all of the recent advances in language AI technology, it still struggles with one of the most basic applications. In a new study, scientists tested four of the best AI systems for detecting hate speech and found that all of them struggled in different ways to distinguish toxic and innocuous sentences."
https://www.technologyreview.com/2021/06/04/1025742/ai-hate-speech-moderation/

AI still sucks at moderating hate speech

But scientists are getting better at measuring where each system fails.

MIT Technology Review

Sasha Fox Jan 5, 2023

And if you think that you can stay on Twitter and just be bombarded by all that far right propaganda all day without it impacting you; that's what lots of people thought when they started watching Fox News.

Get your people off Twitter or there are going to be a lot more sad stories.
https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2019/04/i-gathered-stories-of-people-transformed-by-fox-news.html

Sasha Fox Jan 5, 2023

Twitter is actively working to create many more of these stories.

She was a popular yoga guru. Then she embraced QAnon conspiracy theories
https://www.npr.org/2023/01/02/1146318331/yoga-guru-qanon-conspiracy-theories

She was a popular yoga guru. Then she embraced QAnon conspiracy theories

Themes like everything is connected, nothing happens without a purpose, and nothing is what it seems are central to both yoga philosophy and conspiratorial thinking.

KPCC

Sasha Fox Jan 5, 2023

These stories end badly.

A California Father Claims QAnon Conspiracy Led Him To Kill His 2 Children, FBI Says
https://www.npr.org/2021/08/13/1027133867/children-dead-father-claims-qanon-conspiracy-led-him-to-kill

A California Father Claims QAnon Conspiracy Led Him To Kill His 2 Children, FBI Says

A California father took his two young children to Mexico and killed them after he claimed he had been "enlightened by QAnon and Illuminati conspiracy theories," federal authorities say.

NPR

Sasha Fox Jan 5, 2023

And just a reminder: This is a feature, not a bug for Musk. Do not expect this to get fixed. It's moving this way because this is what he wants his social media company to be doing.

He is actively working to court Qanon and has already shown that he will play into their fantasies to gain their attention.

Elon Musk’s Twitter is a welcoming home for Trump-disillusioned QAnon
https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/elon-musk-replacing-trump-qanon-celebrity-du-jour-twitter-rcna61802

Elon Musk is replacing Trump as QAnon celebrity du jour with Twitter

Elon Musk's cryptic tweets seem to have ignited the QAnon masses and signal that Twitter is a welcoming space for conspiracists who've lost faith in Trump.

MSNBC

Sasha Fox Jan 5, 2023

I'm sure he hopes that these extremist groups are going to become a major revenue source for Twitter as they push away other advertisers. These are people who love pouring all their money into scams.

"Twitter owner Elon Musk’s boosting of far-right memes and grievances has injected new energy into the jumbled set of conspiracy theories known as QAnon, a fringe movement that Twitter and other social networks once banned as too extreme." #QElon
https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/12/14/qanon-musk-revival-twitter/

QAnon, adrift after Trump’s defeat, finds new life in Elon Musk’s Twitter

Musk has become so popular in QAnon circles that some regard him, not Trump, as the savior-like figure they’ve been waiting for.

The Washington Post

Sasha Fox Jan 5, 2023

Musk lifted bans for thousands on Twitter. Here’s what they’re tweeting

"On Twitter, reinstated users have returned to familiar themes in QAnon lore, raising questions about prominent Democrats and their association with Jeffrey Epstein, a former financier who was charged with child sex trafficking and is a central figure in QAnon conspiracies.

...

“I just was reinstated today after 2 years of permanent suspension,” wrote one reinstated user with “QAnon” in his user name. “I guess I owe that to the new owner thank you Elon Musk.”"
https://www.seattletimes.com/business/musk-lifted-bans-for-thousands-on-twitter-heres-what-theyre-tweeting/

Musk lifted bans for thousands on Twitter. Here’s what they’re tweeting

Many reinstated users are tweeting about topics that got them barred in the first place: Covid-19 skepticism, election denialism and QAnon.

The Seattle Times

Sasha Fox Jan 5, 2023

A good example of what this looks like:
https://journa.host/@juddlegum/109628772345226885

Judd Legum (@[email protected])

Attached: 1 image Musk now amplifying false claims about COVID vaccines and athlete cardiac events

Mastodon

Sasha Fox Jan 14, 2023

This is what I was talking about.
https://journa.host/@atrupar/109688397129413159

@sashafox holy crap

Orc Jan 5, 2023

@sashafox More evidence that transphobia rots the brain.

Sasha Fox Jan 5, 2023

@orc It's the most reliable sign that someone is beginning to be radicalized into fascism.

Like, after they make their first anti-trans post it's just a matter of time before they're blaming Jewish people for trying to undermine "western society".

Zhi Zhu 🕸️Jan 5, 2023

"the more we see something repeated, the more likely we are to believe it to be true.”

Thread about the “Illusory Truth Effect” and why it is so important NOT to repeat lies on social media (or elsewhere), even with the intention of debunking them.

https://newsie.social/@ZhiZhu/109530716627287778

#Propaganda #Disinformation #Misinformation #Lies #Journalism

ZhiZhu (@[email protected])

Attached: 1 image · Content warning: Why do our brains believe lies?

Newsie

Sasha Fox Jan 5, 2023

@ZhiZhu Yeah, like, being exposed to it all the time has an impact. Everyone always thinks they'll be immune to it, but they're never correct.

I like the truth sandwich approach to debunking lies.

Zhi Zhu 🕸️Jan 5, 2023

@sashafox
Indeed.

To refute lies:

Always LEAD WITH THE TRUTH, not the lies.

DO **NOT** put the lies FIRST in your tweets, headlines, and/or articles.

Giving lies primacy, gives them validity.

Give truth primacy, not lies.

#LeadWithTheTruth
#LedeWithTheTruth (<for the #journalists)
#TruthSandwich #Meme
ht @georgelakoff

fmc01 Jan 5, 2023

@sashafox AI is just a dumb collection of algorithms that reflect the owners prejudices- you can’t put it in charge of anything - all it can do is look for keywords and count clicks. Prosecuting the owner for publishing lies and hate speech is a good start

🐍Jan 5, 2023

@sashafox Essentially, Twitter gave the general public the opportunity to express their own opinions and voices, and those whose job is to DEFINE the opinions of the general public couldn't tolerate it - from Arab Spring to COVID-19 to 1/6.

That's why they made it progressively harder and harder to choose what you see in a nice, neat, chronological timeline: you're supposed to see what THEY (the paying advertisers and opinion-shapers) want you to see, not what YOU want to see.

Giving the general public a voice is INTOLERABLE to those in charge of society (both corporate and government).

Sasha Fox Jan 5, 2023

@6of47 Yep! And now it'll be that if you don't pay Musk $8 a month, your tweets will be treated as spam,