Twitter abuzz over Musk’s ‘if I die under mysterious circumstances’ post

 The post came a few days after the Tesla CEO announced acquisition of Twitter for $44 billion.

Twitter storms and Elon Musk seem to be old pals and it was no different on Monday morning. This time the Tesla CEO’s post about dying under “mysterious circumstances” is what made Twitter buzz. “If I die under mysterious circumstances, it’s been nice knowin ya,” he tweeted.

The post came a few days after the Tesla CEO announced his plans to acquire Twitter for $44 billion. Musk was in talks with large investment firms and high net-worth individuals about taking on more financing for his Twitter acquisition and tying up less of his wealth in the deal.

Before tweeting this, Musk shared a conversation in Russian media by Dmitry Rogozin, the former deputy prime minister of Russia, where it is being said that the SpaceX chief being involved in “supplying the fascist forces in Ukraine with military communication equipment.” “And for this, Elon, you will be held accountable like an adult – no matter how much you’ll play the fool,” the post said.

Musk says Twitter may charge slight fee for commercial, government users

 “Twitter will always be free for casual users, but maybe a slight cost for commercial/government users,” Musk said in a tweet

Elon Musk said on Tuesday Twitter Inc will always be free for casual users but may charge a slight fee for commercial and government users, as the billionaire entrepreneur tries to boost the social media platform‘s reach from “niche” to most Americans. “Twitter will always be free for casual users, but maybe a slight cost for commercial/government users,” Musk said in a tweet.

Twitter declined to comment when contacted by Reuters. Tesla chief Musk has been suggesting a raft of changes to Twitter since last month. After adding the company to his cart recently, Musk said he wanted to enhance the platform with new features, make the algorithms open source to increase trust, defeat spam bots, and authenticate all humans.

Last month, even before reaching a deal with Twitter, Musk had suggested few changes to the Twitter Blue premium subscription service, including slashing its price. Earlier this week at the annual Met Gala 2022 in New York on Monday, Musk also said he would make Twitter transparent about how tweets are promoted or demoted and wanted its software to be publicly available for critique.

Elon Musk’s grand vision for Twitter faces reality check in Asian countries

 It’s not clear how Musk would reconcile his support for more free speech with strict government controls.

For all the furor about which way Elon Musk might tilt U.S. political discourse after getting the keys to Twitter Inc., his biggest challenges may emerge across the Pacific. Asia, home to more than half the world’s population, is Twitter’s biggest growth opportunity and arguably a far thornier challenge. If the Tesla Inc. and SpaceX billionaire makes good on promises to scrap censorship, he’ll encounter a plethora of perplexing regulations, wielded by sometimes authoritarian governments, pushed to the limits by a horde of first-time internet users.

The numbers alone suggest Musk’s biggest headaches lie abroad. Twitter’s monetizable daily active users numbered 179 million internationally — dwarfing the 38 million in the U.S. in 2021, according to its latest annual report. As a public company, Twitter has repeatedly emphasized it must abide by local regulations. Once it’s a private concern controlled by the world’s richest man, Musk will personally shoulder responsibility for navigating that thicket — and the fallout if he fails….Read More

Nearly half of Elon Musk’s 90 million Twitter followers are ‘fake’

 According to Twitter auditing tool SparkToro, of Musk’s 87.9 million followers (at the time of the research audit), roughly 48 per cent are fake, reports Time

As Tesla CEO and soon-to-be Twitter boss Elon Musk aims to crack down on spam bots, nearly half of his own followers on the micro-blogging platform are fake. According to Twitter auditing tool SparkToro, of Musk’s 87.9 million followers (at the time of the research audit), roughly 48 per cent are fake, reports Time. These are the accounts that are “unreachable and will not see the account’s tweets because they’re spam, bots, propaganda, etc. or because they’re no longer active on Twitter”. Musk currently has nearly 90 million followers on Twitter.

He has nearly 7 per cent more fake followers than the median 41 per cent accounts with a similar sized followings have, according to SparkToro. The auditing tool found that “accounts that are on an unusually small number of lists, accounts that have no url or a non-resolving url in their profile, and accounts that have a suspiciously small number of followers were some of the most frequently observed traits of a sample of 2,000 random accounts from the most recent 100,000 accounts that followed Musk”….

Elon Musk discusses 'job cuts' at Twitter with bankers to boost bottom line

 CEO Agrawal had told employees that there would be “no layoffs at this time”. However, according to reports, one area where Musk may make job cuts is the company’s policy department

Tesla CEO Elon Musk, during discussions with banks, has reportedly planned to cut jobs at Twitter to improve its bottom line once he takes over. The Washington Post reported that Musk discussed making “efficiencies” at the micro-blogging platform in the conversations with bankers, “which could include job cuts.”

Twitter or its CEO Parag Agrawal have not commented on the reports. Agrawal had told employees that there would be “no layoffs at this time”. However, according to reports, one area where Musk may make job cuts is the company’s policy department. Musk’s displeasure was reflected in his criticism of Twitter’s policy head Vijaya Gadde this week, over censoring exclusive stories related to US President Joe Biden’s son Hunter’s laptop in the wake of the Capitol Hill violence….

For Twitter to deserve public trust, it must be politically neutral: Musk

 “For Twitter to deserve public trust, it must be politically neutral, which effectively means upsetting the far right and the far left equally,” Musk tweeted

Days after Tesla Chief Elon Musk take control over Twitter, he said that for the microblogging site to deserve public trust, it must be politically neutral. “For Twitter to deserve public trust, it must be politically neutral, which effectively means upsetting the far right and the far left equally,” Musk tweeted. Twitter on Monday (local time) confirmed the sale of the company to Musk for USD 44 billion. Under the terms of the deal, shareholders will receive USD 54.20 in cash for each share of Twitter stock they own, matching Musk’s original offer and marking a 38 per cent premium over the stock price the day before Musk revealed his stake in the company, CNN reported.

Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal said that he was proud of the employees who continue to do the work with focus and urgency despite the noise. “I took this job to change Twitter for the better, course-correct where we need to, and strengthen the service. Proud of our people who continue to do the work with focus and urgency despite the noise,” Agrawal tweeted.

Elon Musk not joining Twitter board; CEO Parag Agrawal reveals why

 Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla and now the largest shareholder in the micro-blogging site Twitter, has decided not to join the Twitter board. He owns a 9.2% stake, worth nearly $3 billion, in Twitter Inc

Tesla Inc Chief Executive Elon Musk, who was to officially become a member of the Twitter board from April 9, has decided not to do so, Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal wrote in a post on Monday. In his Twitter post, Agrawal said, “Elon’s appointment to the board was to become officially effective 4/9, but Elon shared that same morning that he will no longer be joining the board.” “I believe this is for the best. We have and will always value input from our shareholders whether they are on our Board or not. Elon is our biggest shareholder and we will remain open to his input.,” the CEO added.

Facebook loses daily users for first time ever, ad growth slows

 The Meta-owned Facebook platform registered 1.929 billion daily users in the fourth quarter of 2021 — from 1.93 billion in the previous quarter

For the first time ever, Facebook has lost daily users globally, reporting lower-than-expected ad growth that sent its stock plunging nearly 20 per cent. The massive stock drop instantly wiped out roughly $200 billion in its market value. The Meta-owned Facebook platform registered 1.929 billion daily users in the fourth quarter of 2021 — from 1.93 billion in the previous quarter. The company confirmed late on Wednesday that it is the first sequential decline in its history. Facebook’s monthly active users (MAUs) were 2.91 billion as of December 31, 2021, an increase of 4 per cent year-over-year. Meta still made nearly $40 billion in profit in 2021, mostly from advertising.

“We had a solid quarter as people turned to our products to stay connected and businesses continued to use our services to grow,” said Mark Zuckerberg, Meta founder and CEO. “I’m encouraged by the progress we made this past year in a number of important growth areas like Reels, commerce, and virtual reality, and we’ll continue investing in these and other key priorities in 2022 as we work towards building the metaverse,” he added.

'Bulli Bai' case: Mumbai Police makes 3rd arrest, Nepal link found

 The police said that they have arrested one 21-year-old Mayank Rawal and have also detected links to Nepal

The Mumbai Police probing ‘Bulli Bai‘ app have arrested the third accused behind the controversy. The police said that they have arrested one 21-year-old Mayank Rawal and have also detected links to Nepal. Earlier, the police had arrested one engineering student Vishal Kumar Jha and one Shweta Singh. According to the police, Shweta was the mastermind behind the controversy.

She was in touch with a handle, which is being operated from Nepal. On his instructions, she made a Twitter handle with the name of @jattkhalsa07 and started uploading photos of women of a particular religion. Her friend Giyou whom she met on social media was asking her to do all this. He is based in Nepal. The Mumbai Police has recorded the statement of Shweta Singh and Vishal Kumar Jha. Jha is on police remand till January 10 while Shweta’s remand will end on January 5.

Twitter labels state-controlled media outlets, govt officials’ accounts

The micro-blogging platform will not amplify tweets by state-controlled media outlets. The move will make affected accounts less likely to appear in search results or notifications

Twitter has announced it would not amplify tweets by state-controlled media outlets and label the accounts of government-linked media, and key government officials from the five permanent member countries of the UN Security Council: China, France, Russia, the UK and the US. The micro-blogging platform said the new labelling policy would include accounts of key government officials, including foreign ministers, institutional entities, ambassadors, official spokespeople, and key diplomatic leaders from these five countries.

ALSO READ: Twitter, Facebook block Trump video, citing Covid-19 misinformation

“At this time, our focus is on senior officials and entities who are the official voice of the state abroad,” the company said in a statement late on Thursday. The move will make affected accounts less likely to appear in search results or notifications. Twitter will also label accounts belonging to state-affiliated media entities, their editors and their senior staff.

The move will impact state-controlled media organisations like Russia’s RT and China’s Xinhua news agency. In 2019, Twitter banned all state-backed media advertising and political advertising from Twitter. “For transparency and practicality, we are starting with a limited and clearly-defined group of countries before expanding to a wider range of countries in the future,” said Twitter…Read More

Twitter shuts down 170,000 accounts for spreading Chinese govt narratives

The company said that accounts were “spreading geopolitical narratives favorable to the Communist Party of China” and were removed for violating its platform manipulation policies

Twitter on Thursday announced that it has shut down over 1,70,000 accounts for “spreading geopolitical narratives favorable” to the Chinese government.According to CNN, experts working with Twitter said that these accounts were pushing deceptive narratives around the Hong Kong protests, COVID-19, and other topics.

Renee DiResta, research manager at the Stanford Internet Observatory, said that many of these accounts were set up in January and had been engaged in posting about Covid-19. “Narratives around COVID,” the SIO wrote in its analysis, “praise China’s response to the virus while tweets also use the pandemic to antagonize the U.S. and Hong Kong activists.”

Among the targets of the Chinese campaign were overseas Chinese “in an effort to exploit their capacity to extend the party-state’s influence,” according to the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, a group Twitter worked with to analyze the accounts. Twitter said the accounts tweeted “predominantly in Chinese languages.”

ALSO READ: Coronavirus LIVE: India now the 4th-most-affected nation; tally at 298,283

Renee DiResta, research manager at the Stanford Internet Observatory, said that many of these accounts were set up in January and had been engaged in posting about Covid-19. “Narratives around COVID,” the SIO wrote in its analysis, “praise China’s response to the virus while tweets also use the pandemic to antagonize the U.S. and Hong Kong activists.”

China uses Jackie Chan’s star power to woo Indians amid Covid-19 backlash

Chinese actor Jackie Chan has in a recent video sent his “love and wishes” to the people of India in their fight against the pandemic

With China facing an unprecedented global backlash as Covid-19 continues infecting millions across the world, the country is leaning on its cultural icons to whitewash its image. Chinese actor Jackie Chan has in a recent video sent his “love and wishes” to the people of India in their fight against the pandemic.

The video has been shared by the Chinese ambassador to India Sun Weidong on his Twitter account. Dressed in a blue jacket the bespectacled actor begins his message with a Namaste and a bow. “Namaste and Hello. I am Jackie Chan. I would like to send my love and wishes to everyone in India. I know we are all facing a very difficult time right now. We should stay positive and follow the advice of your country. Protecting yourself is protecting your family,” Chan says.

“Compassion and care are all about doing and not just about sugarcoating. Show the compassion in your actions,” said one of the users in response. Another user was more direct in its criticism,” It is the Chinese Propaganda on the play.” This attempt to appease the public mood by the Chinese government comes at a time when, Beijing is facing international criticism over its lack of transparency in handling COVID-19. The novel coronavirus was first reported in the Chinese city of Wuhan.

China’s ‘OK boomer’: Generations clash over the nation’s future

The conflict enjoying out throughout the Chinese language web over the previous week quantities to a debate about the way forward for the world’s different superpower

China’s model of the “OK boomer” conflict started when a well-known middle-age actor praised the youthful era as if the nation’s youngsters and 20-somethings have been heaven-sent presents. “All these individuals who complain that every era is worse than the final ought to have a look at you the way in which I’m you — stuffed with admiration,” mentioned He Bing, a movie and tv star with a baritone voice, in a commercial for a Chinese online video service.

China’s younger individuals profit from schooling, journey and all of the world’s data, mentioned Mr. He, over photographs of younger individuals scuba diving, skydiving, kayaking, racing sports activities automobiles, enjoying skilled on-line video games and touring Japan, France, Antarctica and different unique locations.

ALSO READ: Elon Musk finishes digging Las Vegas ‘Loop’ train amid Covid-19 crisis

“Due to you,” he mentioned, “the world likes China extra.” The industrial, proven on-line and on state-run tv, provoked a right away nationwide backlash. As we speak’s youths are too brainwashed, too nationalistic and too desperate to snitch on professors and other public figures who don’t toe the Communist Get together line, mentioned distinguished members of China’s “boomer” era, who keep in mind a time when the nation appeared extra open and accepting. Many within the youthful era regarded on the photographs on the industrial of prosperous, glad younger individuals and didn’t acknowledge themselves. China’s largest growth years are over, many suppose. China’s older era, having amassed all the cash and energy, is just attempting to co-opt them with flattery…Read More

After Ghaziabad, movement between Delhi and Noida banned; advisory to media

The decision was taken on the basis of a report by the health department in Noida, which stated that several people who tested positive for coronavirus had links to Delhi

A day after the district administration sealed the border between Ghaziabad and Delhi, the Gautam Buddh Nagar administration banned the movement between Noida and Delhi, except for those involved in Covid-19-related services and goods transportation, from Tuesday night. Media personnel will be exempted, it said, adding that the process for issuing passes to them is being worked out.

ALSO READ: Covid-19 in numbers: Latest data on cases and deaths in India and globally

The decision was taken on the basis of a report by the health department in Noida, which stated that several people who tested positive for coronavirus had links to Delhi, an official order stated. “It is clear from the report of the Health Department that there is a possibility of infection from people travelling between Delhi and Gautam Buddh Nagar. Hence, in larger public interest, movement between Delhi and Gautam Buddh Nagar is being completely banned until further orders,” District Magistrate (DM) Suhas L Y said in an order. He also shared the information on Twitter, where he said the move was “in larger public interest” and a “preventive measure to fight Covid-19”, while urging people to cooperate. However, certain categories of people were exempted from the ban, according to the order…Read Here

‘Will keep you posted’: Modi says he is considering quitting social media

Modi has in excess of 50 million devotees on Twitter and his Facebook page has in excess of 44 million ‘likes’

Executive Narendra Modi on Monday evening said he is thinking about “surrendering” his web based life accounts, provoking a large number of claims to him to remain yet getting a chilly reaction from the Congress party. “This Sunday, considering surrendering my internet based life accounts on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube. Will update all of you as often as possible,” said Modi on Twitter at 8.56pm.

Modi, with around 50 million supporters on Twitter; 44 million ‘likes’ on Facebook and 35 million devotees on Instagram, utilizes web based life to talk about his administration’s approaches or engaging for harmony. “Harmony and amicability are key to our ethos. I bid to my sisters and siblings of Delhi to keep up harmony and fraternity consistently. It is significant that there is quiet and regularity is reestablished at the soonest,” he tweeted on February 26, talking about the three days of revolting in the national capital that till date have killed in any event 47 individuals.

The tweet from his handle tonight was re-tweeted in excess of multiple times and ‘loved’ by in excess of 28,000 records in two hours. “No sir” began inclining on Twitter about Modi’s post that was later distributed on his Facebook and Instagram accounts. The Congress party was not intrigued. “Surrender disdain, not web-based social networking accounts,” said Rahul Gandhi, the gathering’s previous president.

Priyanka Gandhi attacks govt over transfer of Delhi HC judge Muralidhar

Delhi HC Judge S Muralidhar was transferred to the Punjab and Haryana High Court, days after the Supreme Court collegium made the recommendation

Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Thursday attacked the government over the transfer of Delhi High Court Judge S Muralidhar, saying the Centre’s attempts to “muzzle” justice and “break people’s faith in an upright judiciary are deplorable”.

Delhi HC Judge S Muralidhar was transferred to the Punjab and Haryana High Court, days after the Supreme Court collegium made the recommendation. The judge was hearing the Delhi violence case and the late evening notification came on the day when a bench headed by him expressed “anguish” over the Delhi Police’s failure to register FIRs against alleged hate speeches by three BJP leaders. “The midnight transfer of Justice Muralidhar isn’t shocking given the current dispensation, but it is certainly sad & shameful,” Priyanka Gandhi tweeted. “Millions of Indians have faith in a resilient & upright judiciary, the government’s attempts to muzzle justice & break their faith are deplorable,” she said.

Twitter says state-backed actors may have accessed users’ phone numbers

The feature, which allows people with a user’s phone number to find and connect with that user on Twitter, is off by default for users in the European Union where stringent privacy rules are in place

Twitter said on Monday that it had discovered attempts by possible state actors to access the phone numbers associated with user accounts, after a security researcher unearthed a flaw in the company’s “contacts upload” feature.

In a statement published on its privacy blog, Twitter said it had identified a “high volume of requests” to use the feature coming from IP addresses in Iran, Israel and Malaysia. It said, without elaborating, that “some of these IP addresses may have ties to state-sponsored actors.” A company spokeswoman declined to say how many user phone numbers had been exposed, saying Twitter was unable to identify all of the accounts that may have been impacted.

She said Twitter suspected a possible connection to state-backed actors because the attackers in Iran appeared to have had unrestricted access to Twitter, even though the network is banned there. Tech publication TechCrunch reported https://techcrunch.com/2019/12/24/twitter-android-bug-phone-numbers on Dec. 24 that a security researcher, Ibrahim Balic, had managed to match 17 million phone numbers to specific Twitter user accounts by exploiting a flaw in the contacts feature of its Android app. TechCrunch said it was able to identify a senior Israeli politician by matching a phone number through the tool.

The feature, which allows people with a user’s phone number to find and connect with that user on Twitter, is off by default for users in the European Union where stringent privacy rules are in place. It is switched on by default for all other users globally, the spokeswoman said.

Onion prices are fueling inflation in India but RBI may still ignore it

While policy makers will assess the accompanying food-price data, it may not be compelling enough to hold their attention

India’s headline inflation probably breached the central bank’s 4% medium-term threshold last month, but that surge — driven by high onion prices — is unlikely to distract monetary policy makers from their focus on growth.

Economists pegged the gains in consumer prices at 4.35% in October, according to the median of 33 economists surveyed by Bloomberg. That would be the first above-4% print since July 2018 and the highest since June last year.

While policy makers will assess the accompanying food-price data, it may not be compelling enough to hold their attention: underlying inflation — a measure of demand in the economy — is expected to remain subdued. First indications came via purchasing managers surveys, which signaled weak manufacturing and services activity in October.

An overwhelming majority of data have pointed to continued weakness in the economy that expanded 5% in the quarter ended June — the slowest pace in six years. The slump gives members of the Reserve Bank of India’s Monetary Policy Committee reason to stick with their accommodative policy stance, although room for a deep cut may be limited given the rebound in headline inflation.

With the RBI already cutting interest rates five times this year, by a cumulative 135 basis points to 5.15%, economists expect the rate to fall further to 4.9% by the end of March 2020. “We expect the RBI to maintain its easing bias on the back of sluggish growth, and weak generalized inflation pressures,” said Teresa John, an economist at Nirmal Bang Equities Pvt., who sees a 15 basis-point cut at the next policy meeting in December. Should growth numbers “surprise substantially on the downside below 5%, we would not rule out a large rate cut.”

Read More: Onion Price

Facebook and Twitter are getting sucked into India-Pak information battle

With a combined population of 1.5 billion, India and Pakistan are hot growth markets for Facebook and Twitter

Current Affairs: Pakistani online networking campaigner Hanzala Tayyab leads around 300 ultra-patriot digital warriors battling a web war with curve enemy India, in a fight that is progressively sucking in worldwide tech mammoths, for example, Twitter and Facebook. Tayyab, 24, goes through his days on Facebook and encoded WhatsApp chatrooms sorting out individuals from his Pakistan Cyber Force gathering to advance enemies of India substance and influence it to circulate around the web, including on Twitter where he has in excess of 50,000 supporters.

That ranges from featuring claimed Indian human rights maltreatment to lionizing radicals engaging Indian security powers in Kashmir, a questioned Himalayan district at the core of notable pressures among Pakistan and India. Pakistani web based life campaigner Hanzala Tayyab leads around 300 ultra-patriot digital warriors battling a web war with curve enemy India, in a fight that is progressively sucking in worldwide tech monsters, for example, Twitter and Facebook.

Tayyab, 24, goes through his days on Facebook and scrambled WhatsApp chatrooms sorting out individuals from his Pakistan Cyber Force gathering to advance enemies of India substance and influence it to become a web sensation, including on Twitter where he has in excess of 50,000 adherents. That ranges from featuring affirmed Indian human rights maltreatment to lionizing agitators doing combating Indian security powers in Kashmir, a debated Himalayan district at the core of notable pressures among Pakistan and India.

Tayyab’s activity wound up more diligently on Monday when the Pakistan Cyber Force’s Facebook account was brought down, one of 103 Pakistani records the online networking goliath said it had erased as a result of “inauthentic conduct” and spamming. Some Indian patriot accounts have likewise been suspended as of late.

How did FB allow livestream of New Zealand attack? PM Ardern seeks answers

A horrific video shot by the gunmen who carried out the mosque massacre was livestreamed on Facebook before being removed by the company

International News: New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern on Sunday said she would be looking for answers from Facebook and other social media firms about how an attack that killed 50 mosque-goers was livestreamed on their platforms.

Saying there were “further questions to be answered” by the tech giants, Ardern said Facebook chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg had been in contact and “acknowledged what has occurred here in New Zealand”. A horrific video shot by the gunmen who carried out the mosque massacre was livestreamed on Facebook before being removed by the company.

But the stream, lasting 17 minutes, was shared repeatedly on YouTube and Twitter, and internet platforms were scrambling to remove videos being reposted of the gruesome scenes. “We did as much as we could to remove, or seek to have removed, some of the footage that was being circulated in the aftermath of this terrorist attack,” Ardern said.

“But ultimately it has been up to those platforms to facilitate their removal.” “I do think that there are further questions to be answered.” In a statement on Sunday, Mia Garlick of Facebook New Zealand vowed to “work around the clock to remove violating content”.

“In the first 24 hours we removed 1.5 million videos of the attack globally, of which over 1.2 million were blocked at upload,” the company said. Ardern was joined by Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison in expressing doubts that current rules go far enough.

Morrison said that social media companies had “co-operated” since the attack. “But I sadly have to say that the capacity to actually assist fully is very limited on the technology side.” He said “assurances were given” that once such content was pulled down, a regime would make sure it did not go back up…

Read More: New zealand  Shooting