Connect with us

News

Elon Musk Announces Twitter Will Ban Impersonators

Published

on

Elon Musk Announces Twitter Will Ban Impersonators

Elon Musk announced Sunday that any Twitter account impersonating another would be permanently suspended.

Twitter issued the warning after some minor celebrities changed their Twitter display names and pretended to tweet as ‘Elon Musk’ in response to the decision to offer verified blue check accounts for $8 per month while terminating a large portion of the workforce.

“Any Twitter handles engaging in impersonating another person without clearly mentioning “parody” will be permanently suspended going forward,” Musk posted.

Twitter offered warnings before suspensions. Now that “blue check verification” is being implemented on the platform, “there will be no warning.”

Unter Twitter’s new guidelines, “any name change at all” would necessitate the temporary loss of a confirmed checkmark.

Kathy Griffin’s account was terminated on Sunday after she changed her screen name to Musk. She admitted to Bloomberg News that she had also used his profile photo.

“I suppose not all of the content moderators were fired?” “Lol,” Griffin laughed later on Mastodon, an alternative social media network where she had created an account.

Actress Valerie Bertinelli similarly used Musk’s screen name, tweeting in support of Democratic candidates on Saturday before reverting to her real identity. “Okey-dokey. “I had a good time, and I hope I made my point,” she tweeted.

Valerie Bertinelli noted the original purpose of the blue check before the prank was given away for free to those whose identities Twitter workers confirmed, with journalists making up a large share of the receivers.

“It just meant that your identification has been validated.” Scammers would have a more difficult time imitating you,” Bertinelli observed.

“That is no longer true. “Best of luck out there!” She continued.

Elon Musk Announces Twitter Will Ban Impersonators

Musk believes that the $8 verified accounts are his approach to democratizing the service. Users of Twitter who sign up for the new “Twitter Blue with verification” can obtain the blue check next to their names “exactly like the celebrities, companies, and politicians you currently follow,” according to a Twitter update for iOS devices featured on Apple’s app store on Saturday.

It stated that the new service would be available in the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the UK. As of Sunday, it was unavailable, and no timetable was provided.

Esther Crawford, a Twitter employee, told The Associated Press that it will be available “soon but not yet.”

On Sunday, Twitter did not respond to an email requesting comment on the verified accounts issue and Griffin’s suspension.

Musk later tweeted, “Twitter must become the most accurate global information source.” That is our goal.”

If the firm removes blue checks from current verified users — which has not happened — this might encourage disinformation on the platform during Tuesday’s midterm elections.

Following layoffs on Friday that affected roughly half of Twitter’s 7,500-employee workforce, some Twitter users, like Kathy Griffin, have already begun migrating away from the platform.

They say they are concerned that moderation and verification will result in a free-for-all of disinformation on the internet’s primary channel for accurate communications from government agencies and other institutions.

Elon Musk Announces Twitter Will Ban Impersonators

Many businesses have delayed advertising on the platform for fear of being subject to cancellation by the cancel culture that previously lived on Twitter.

In a Friday message, Yoel Roth, Twitter’s head of safety and integrity, attempted to allay such fears. He claimed that the employment reduction had the least impact on the company’s front-line content moderation team.

Musk said late Friday that there was no choice but to slash positions “when the firm is losing over $4 million per day.” He did not share specifics on Twitter’s daily losses, but he did say that employees who were let go were given three months’ pay as severance.

Now that Elon Musk controls Twitter Inc., a small but rising number of celebrities, actresses, and artists are leaving the social media platform, citing concerns about what it could become under Mr. Musk’s leadership.

These people say they can’t wait to see what improvements Mr. Musk brings. Of course, it remains to be seen whether these celebs will keep their promises to stay away from the platform, which has over 237 million members.

In a series of tweets this month, Mr. Musk stated that people who have been booted from Twitter for breaking the rules would not be let back until the firm has a clear process. He estimated that it would take at least a few weeks to implement.

Here is a WSJ list of some well-known people who have stated their intention to leave Twitter:

Elon Musk Announces Twitter Will Ban Impersonators

Sara Bareilles

The 42-year-old singer, known for hits such as “Brave” and “King of Anything,” announced on Twitter that she would see fans on other platforms.

“Welp. Twitter has been entertaining. “I’m out,” she tweeted, adding, “This one’s just not for me.”

Elon Musk Announces Twitter Will Ban ImpersonatorsToni Braxton

“I’m startled and dismayed at some of the ‘free speech I’ve witnessed on this platform since its acquisition,” said Ms. Braxton, a 55-year-old R&B performer best known for her song “Un-Break My Heart.”

“I am opting to stay off Twitter because it is no longer a safe platform for myself, my sons, and other POC,” she wrote on Twitter, referring to people of colour.

Elon Musk Announces Twitter Will Ban ImpersonatorsGigi Hadid

The 27-year-old model stated that she had cancelled her account, which had over 10.4 million followers. She stated that she did not believe Twitter was a secure environment for anyone.

“For a long time, but especially under its new leadership, it’s become a sewer of hate and prejudice,” she wrote in an Instagram message.

Elon Musk Announces Twitter Will Ban ImpersonatorsTéa Leoni

The actress, 56, is best known for her role in the CBS sitcom “Madam Secretary,” as well as other films and television shows.

“I’m leaving Twitter today—see, let’s where we are when the dust settles,” she tweeted. “Today’s dust has uncovered much too much hatred.”

Elon Musk Announces Twitter Will Ban ImpersonatorsBrian Koppelman

Mr. Koppelman, the showrunner of “Billions,” said his followers could find him on Instagram and TikTok in the days before Mr. Musk concluded his deal with Twitter.

Mr. Koppelman, 56, remarked on Twitter, “Gonna truly attempt to take a breather from here for a minute or a month come deal closure time.”

Elon Musk Announces Twitter Will Ban ImpersonatorsKen Olin

“Hey everyone—I’m out of here,” the 68-year-old actor and producer of shows such as “This Is Us” tweeted. “Let us maintain our faith. Let us defend our democracy.”

Elon Musk Announces Twitter Will Ban ImpersonatorsShonda Rhimes

“Not hanging around for whatever Elon has planned,” the 52-year-old showrunner and producer behind successful shows such as “Grey’s Anatomy” and “Scandal” posted on Twitter. Bye.”

Here are some notable persons that have stated that they are considering leaving Twitter:

Elon Musk Announces Twitter Will Ban ImpersonatorsJosh Gad

The 41-year-old actor, best known for his role as Olaf in “Frozen” films, said he was thinking about staying on Twitter but wasn’t sure.

“Hate speech intended to inspire harm (with no consequences),” he said on the platform.

Since then, he has frequently tweeted.

Elon Musk Announces Twitter Will Ban ImpersonatorsJohn Green

The 45-year-old novelist and YouTube sensation has joked that he wants to stop using Twitter but hasn’t been able to.

“Some of you may be wondering why I’m still on Twitter,” he wrote. “It’s because I follow a strict code of etiquette known as ‘The Brexit,’ which requires me to publicize my departure for at least a year before I leave.”

Elon Musk Announces Twitter Will Ban ImpersonatorsStephen King

The 75-year-old prolific author finds himself at the centre of Mr. Musk’s fight over charging a monthly fee for verified users.

“If that is implemented, I’m gone like Enron,” he tweeted. Mr. Musk said that his company needed to pay its expenses somehow. Mr. Musk later said that Twitter would implement the fee. Mr. King has remained active on Twitter since then.

Elon Musk Announces Twitter Will Ban ImpersonatorsWhoopi Goldberg

Whoopi Goldberg announced her departure from the app on Monday’s episode of “The View” while defining Musk’s first week at the company as “a catastrophe.”

“I’m leaving today because I just feel like it’s so messed up, and I’m weary of having certain sorts of attitudes blocked now that I’m back on.” So I’m going to go, and if things calm down sufficiently and I feel more at ease, I might return. But I’m done with Twitter as of tonight.”

Source: AP, VOR News

 

Continue Reading

Business

United CEO Tries To Reassure Customers Following Multiple Safety Incidents

Published

on

united

United Airlines is attempting to reassure passengers following a spate of accidents on its Boeing jets this year. In a statement to customers, the airline states that safety is “at the center of everything that we do.”

“While they are all unrelated, I want you to know that these incidents have captured our attention and sharpened our focus,” CEO Scott Kirby wrote in a Monday morning statement to customers.

united

United CEO Tries To Reassure Customers Following Multiple Safety Incidents

On Friday, a United Boeing 737-800 landed in Medford, Oregon, missing an underside fuselage panel.

Earlier this month, United experienced four mishaps, all involving Boeing jets. A United Boeing 737-900ER blew flames from its engine after takeoff from Houston, a Boeing 777 lost a wheel during takeoff from San Francisco, a Boeing 737 Max slipped off a runway in Houston, and a United Boeing 777 trailed hydraulic fluid as it left Sydney.

“Our team is reviewing the details of each case to understand what happened and using those insights to inform our safety training and procedures across all employee groups,” Kirby continued.

The airline is extending pilot training by one day, retooling training for new mechanics, and “dedicating more resources to supplier network management.”

Passengers witnessing a run of negative articles about the airline and its Boeing jets may consider booking elsewhere. In its letter, the airline is attempting to keep consumers from departing. As of the end of last year, 81% of the jets used on United’s mainline operations were manufactured by Boeing, compared to little more than half of the jets in rivals Delta and American Airlines’ mainline fleets.

Aside from the problems on  flights, the most dramatic Boeing incident this year featured an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 Max 9, which lost a door stopper on a January 5 flight, resulting in a gaping hole in the plane’s side. And last week, a Latam Airlines flight from Sydney, Australia, to Auckland, New Zealand, fell unexpectedly, throwing some passengers to the cabin ceiling.

united

United CEO Tries To Reassure Customers Following Multiple Safety Incidents

Investigators are still investigating the causes of both events, but a preliminary report from the National Transportation Safety Board showed Boeing left the bolts required to keep the door plug in place on the 10-week-old Alaska Air jet. Boeing asserted that an incident in the cockpit rather than a problem with the aircraft’s systems may have caused the Latam accident.

The age of the aircraft in the United incidents suggests that the problem could be with their staff rather than Boeing’s well-documented quality faults. For example, Boeing purchased the jet that lost its panel on a Friday trip in 1998. So, Boeing’s quality difficulties are likely unrelated to that occurrence.

However, Boeing’s issues have impeded United’s operations. Due to the FAA’s production slowdown, it has halted hiring a new class of pilots since it will receive fewer new planes from Boeing this year, as previously promised. In January, the Alaska Air incident grounded its 737 Max 9 jets for three weeks.

united

United CEO Tries To Reassure Customers Following Multiple Safety Incidents

Furthermore, approval of a new generation of Boeing jets, the 737 Max 10, ordered by United, has been delayed due to the company’s quality and safety issues.

Kirby told investors last week that United is considering purchasing more jets from Boeing competitor Airbus. He also stated earlier this year that the Alaska Air incident was the “straw that broke the camel’s back” on United’s plans to receive deliveries of the Max 10 in the near future.’

SOURCE – (CNN)

Continue Reading

Politics

For The Past Year, Global Ocean Temperatures Has Set New Records On A Daily Basis.

Published

on

ocean

According to new data, the world’s oceans have now been subjected to an unprecedented year of heat, with new temperature records being smashed every day.

Global water surface temperatures began breaking daily records in mid-March last year, according to data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the University of Maine’s Climate Reanalyzer, raising fears about marine life and extreme weather worldwide.

ocean

For The Past Year, Global Ocean Temperatures Has Set New Records On A Daily Basis.

“The amplitude by which previous sea surface temperature records were beaten in 2023, and now again in 2024, is remarkable,” said Joel Hirschi, associate head of marine systems modelling at the National Oceanography Centre in the United Kingdom.

Gregory C. Johnson, a NOAA oceanographer, reported that the global average ocean temperature in 2023 was 0.25 degrees Celsius higher than the previous year. That increase “is equivalent to about two decades’ worth of warming in a single year,” he told CNN. “So it is quite large, quite significant, and a bit surprising.”

According to scientists, human-caused global warming, along with El Niño, a natural climate trend characterized by higher-than-average water temperatures, is accelerating  heat.

The biggest repercussions are for marine life and global weather. As the global waterwarms, hurricanes and other extreme weather phenomena, such as blistering heat waves and heavy rains, may gain more force.

High temperatures are already wreaking havoc on coral. In March, based on aerial observations, authorities declared that Australia’s Great Barrier Reef is witnessing its seventh mass bleaching episode.

Bleaching happens when heat-stressed corals release the algae that dwell in their tissue and serve as a food supply. If water temperatures continue too high for too long, corals will starve and die.

ocean

For The Past Year, Global Ocean Temperatures Has Set New Records On A Daily Basis.

Data from NOAA’s Coral Reef Watch program suggest that the crisis extends far beyond Australia, with the world potentially facing a fourth worldwide mass coral bleaching event in the coming months.

Ocean heat creates the conditions for more powerful hurricanes. “The warmer the ocean, the more energy to fuel storms is available,” said Karina von Schuckmann, an oceanographer at Mercator Ocean International in France.

Temperatures in the North Atlantic, an water area important for storm generation, have been unusual, startling some scientists who are still investigating the specific causes.

“At times, the records (in the North Atlantic) have been broken by margins that are virtually statistically impossible,” Brian McNoldy, a senior research associate at the University of Miami Rosenstiel School, said to CNN.

If water temperatures remain high in the second half of 2024 and a La Niña event intensifies the Atlantic hurricane season, “this would increase the risk of a very active hurricane season,” Hirschi explained.

The oceans contain around 90% of the world’s excess heat generated by burning planet-heating fossil fuels. “Measuring water warming allows us to track the status and evolution of planetary warming,” Schuckmann stated in an interview with CNN. “The ocean is the sentinel for global warming.”

El Niño is expected to weaken and fade in the coming months, perhaps reducing record water temperatures if La Niña replaces it.

ocean

For The Past Year, Global Ocean Temperatures Has Set New Records On A Daily Basis.

“In the past, surface temperature values have decreased after the passage of El Niño,” Schuckmann said. However, she cautioned that it is now hard to forecast when water temperatures will fall below record levels.

While natural climatic variability will cause water temperatures to vary, NOAA’s Johnson predicts that in the long run, they will “continue to break records as long as greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere rise.”

SOURCE – (CNN)

Continue Reading

News

Reactions As Vladimir Putin Secures A Fifth Term As Russia’s President After Tightly Controlled Vote

Published

on

putin charged with war crimes

Vladimir Putin won a historic fifth term as Russia’s president on Monday, as the electoral commission announced the results of a referendum in which he faced no serious challenges and took place amid the toughest crackdown on dissent and free speech since Soviet times.

putin

Reactions As Vladimir Putin Secures A Fifth Term As Russia’s President After Tightly Controlled Vote

Putin claimed that the landslide majority demonstrated Russians’ “trust” and “hopes” in him, while lawmakers throughout Europe blasted the vote as a hoax and Russia’s efforts to conduct elections in seized portions of Ukraine that it claims as its territory.

Here’s what Putin, European leaders, and others say:

“Of course, we have a lot of work ahead. But I’d like to clarify one thing: no one has ever been able to intimidate or stifle our will or self-conscience since our consolidation. They have failed in the past and will fail in the future. Vladimir Putin, President of Russia.

“The elections took place in an ever-shrinking political space, which has resulted in an alarming increase of violations of civil and political rights, and precluded many candidates from running, including all those opposed to Russia’s illegal war of aggression.” – Statement from the European Union.

“These Russian elections highlight the intensity of repression under President Putin’s administration, which tries to stifle all dissent to his illegal war. Putin eliminates his political opponents, controls the media, and declares himself the winner. “This is not a democracy.” — David Cameron, UK Foreign Secretary.

putin

Reactions As Vladimir Putin Secures A Fifth Term As Russia’s President After Tightly Controlled Vote

“Searches at voting stations’ entrances, attempts to examine ballots before voters place them in ballot boxes, and detentions of voters who arrived at noon. According to reports, at one voting location in Moscow, police asked that the chairman of a commission (of poll workers) unlock a ballot box and hand them a ballot with anything inscribed on it. This is the first time in my life that I have witnessed such ridiculousness.” — Stanislav Andreychuk, co-chair of Golos, the independent election watchdog, on Telegram.

putin

Reactions As Vladimir Putin Secures A Fifth Term As Russia’s President After Tightly Controlled Vote

“The Russian election was one without a choice. Holding so-called elections in portions of Ukraine, Moldova, and Georgia violates international law. It is all the more amazing that so many Russians made it known over the weekend that they do not agree with this Russian president. That you go to a polling station even if you’re surrounded by military earns me the highest respect.” — German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock.

SOURCE – (AP)

 

Continue Reading

Trending