TIG Post

Tag: Twitter

  • Twitter tags Trump tweet with fact-checking warning

    A post by US President Donald Trump has been given a fact-check label by Twitter for the first time.

    Mr Trump tweeted, without providing evidence: “There is NO WAY (ZERO!) that Mail-In Ballots will be anything less than substantially fraudulent.”

    Twitter put a warning label in the post and linked to a page that described the claims as “unsubstantiated”.

    Mr Trump on Wednesday threatened to “strongly regulate” or even “close down” social media platforms.

    He tweeted that Republicans felt the platforms “totally silence conservatives” and that he would not allow this to happen. In an earlier tweet, he said that Twitter was “completely stifling free speech”.

    Later on Wednesday he said that Twitter “has now shown everything we have been saying about them… is correct” and vowed “big action to follow”.

    It is unclear what regulatory steps the president could take without new laws passed by Congress. The White House has yet to offer further details.

    For years, Twitter has faced criticism for not acting on the president’s controversial tweets, which include personal attacks on political rivals and debunked conspiracy theories.

    This month the platform introduced a new policy on misleading information amid the coronavirus pandemic.

    But recent posts in which Mr Trump – who has more than 80 million followers on Twitter – promoted a conspiracy theory about the death of political aide Lori Klausutis, blaming a high-profile critic, have not received the same treatment.

    The notification on Mr Trump’s tweet shows a blue exclamation mark and a link suggesting readers “get the facts about mail-in ballots”.

    It directs users to a page on which Mr Trump’s claims are described as “unsubstantiated”, citing reporting by CNN, the Washington Post and others.

    The pandemic is putting pressure on US states to expand the use of postal voting because people are worried about becoming infected at polling stations.

    In a “what you need to know” section, Twitter writes that Mr Trump “falsely claimed mail-in ballots would lead to ‘a Rigged Election’.”

    “Fact-checkers say there is no evidence that mail-in ballots are linked to voter fraud,” it continues.

    The company had pledged to increase the use of warning labels about false or misleading information on its site, but has been slow to take steps against the US president.

    Mr Trump posted the same claim about mail-in ballots on Facebook, but it is not fact-checked on that platform.

    Source: bbc.com

  • Coronavirus: Twitter boss pledges US$1bn for relief effort

    Jack Dorsey, the founder of Twitter and payment app Square, has said he will donate $1bn (£810m) towards efforts to tackle the coronavirus pandemic.

    According to Mr Dorsey, the donation represented approximately 28% of his wealth.

    He made the announcement on Twitter, writing that the “needs are increasingly urgent”.

    Mr Dorsey did not layout exactly where the funds would be sent to help in the battle against COVID-19.

    In the US there is a shortage of ventilators and personal protective equipment, and business and individuals are also struggling economically.

    Mr Dorsey will use shares he owns in Square to fund the donations which will be distributed through the Start Small Foundation.

    The 43-year-old is the chief executive of both Twitter and Square.

    He said he was using shares of Square and not Twitter because he owned “a lot more” of them. The shares will be sold over time, which could impact on their value and the overall size of the donation.

    Once the COVID-19 pandemic has been “disarmed”, the funds will go toward girls’ health and education and research into universal basic income.

    In a six-part Twitter thread, Mr Dorsey said he wanted to donate to causes where he could see an impact in his lifetime.

    The donations will be made through a limited liability company. It is a tool many wealth individuals use for donations, but is often criticized for a lack of transparency.

    Mr Dorsey sought to get ahead of this charge by posting a link to a google doc which will publicly track the funds donations.

    The Twitter boss is not the only tech billionaire to pledge part of their wealth towards coronavirus-related efforts.

    Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg has committed $30m, the bulk of which is focused on efforts to create a treatment.

    Amazon’s Jeff Bezos has donated $100m to food banks in the US to help those struggling with hunger during this period.

    Apple’s chief executive Tim Cook announced in March the company would donate medical supplies to Italy which has been hit hard by the virus.

    Source: bbc.com

  • Twitter founder pledges $1 billion for coronavirus relief efforts

    Twitter Inc Chief Executive Officer Jack Dorsey on Tuesday pledged $1 billion of his stake in Square Inc, the payments processor that he co-founded and heads, to help fund relief efforts related to the Coronavirus pandemic.

    In a series of tweets, Dorsey said the amount, representing about 28% of his wealth, will be donated to his charity fund, Start Small LLC, which would later focus its attention to universal basic income and girls’ health and education.

    Dorsey, who for years has kept details of his charitable efforts private, said all donations to and from the fund would now be visible to the public at all times through a public document.

    Dorsey, whose net worth is estimated at $3.3 billion by Forbes, also said that he was pledging his stake in Square instead of Twitter because he owns a bigger portion of the payments processor.

    He also said that he would pace the sale of the pledged shares over time.

    The United States has recorded more than 380,000 coronavirus cases, with the total death toll rising to about 12,300.

    Source: reuters.com

  • Top 10 most followed Ghanaian artistes on twitter

    You might be wondering about the top Ghanaian Artistes with the biggest following on Twitter, right?

    Rapper Sarkodie is in a comfortable lead with 3 million Followers, followed by dancehall act, Shatta Wale with 1.8M followers, then followed closely by Stonebwoy with 1.5M followers.

    Well, this list highlights the Top 10 Most Followed Ghanaian Musicians on Twitter in 2020,

    Check it out;

    Source: ghgossip.com

  • Facebook and Twitter suspend troll accounts

    Twitter and Facebook say they’ve suspended a small network of accounts linked to Russia, but based in Ghana and Nigeria, for attempting to sow discord.

    The social media firms said the profiles targeted American users by talking about social issues such as race and civil rights.

    Pages have also been removed from Instagram, which is owned by Facebook.

    The company said more than 260,000 people followed one or more of the Instagram accounts.

    Facebook said the profiles didn’t appear to focus on elections.

  • Pizza is nice but not everyday; once in a while give your boyfriend a 3S0ME- Twitter lady advises

    The things we see on Twitter, social media generally each passing day has the potentials of shocking one to the marrow.

    One Twitter is serving us with pro bono advice on how to keep your man.

    From all angles, this Twitter user understands that man has insatiable needs and is open to variety. According to the user with the handle Phunky, she does not make her relationship with her man boring.

    She says that, every once in the year, she makes sure to give her boyfriend a 3s0me with a lady of her choosing.

    Phunky says in as much as pizza is sweet, there is a need for people to be allowed to taste shrimps and other meals too.

    I offer my man threesome because I can

    Source: GhanaCelebrities.Com

  • RIPTwitter trends as firm tests vanishing tweets

    Twitter is testing a feature that will allow some tweets to disappear after 24 hours, it announced on Wednesday.

    The new feature called “fleets” is similar to vanishing posts on Snapchat and Instagram Stories.

    The changes prompted the hashtag #RIPTwitter to trend as users complained the new feature would make the micro-blogging site too similar to other social media platforms.

    So far Twitter is only testing the function in Brazil.

    Kayvon Beykpour, the company’s product lead, said the new feature would allow people to post thoughts they might have felt uncomfortable sharing publicly.

    He said posting on Twitter can feel “permanent and performative” which can intimidate some users.

    “We’re hoping that Fleets can help people share the fleeting thoughts that they would have been unlikely to Tweet,” he wrote in a seven-part post on Twitter.

    The vanishing messages will appear when a user’s profile picture is clicked. Users will not be able to reply, like, or publicly comment on any of the disappearing messages.

    Some Twitter users made plain their reservations.

    Mr Beykpour acknowledged that Fleets did sound a lot like the Stories features from Facebook and Instagram. He said Twitter was making a “few intentional differences” to its version.

    The company did not say when Fleets would be rolled out globally.

    Source: bbc.com

  • Singer Joeboy shows off his beautiful girlfriend on Twitter (Photos)

    Nigerian musician sensation Joeboy has for the first time showed off his beautiful girlfriend.

    It appears the Banku Music signee has found himself a girlfriend a week after his boss Mr Eazi revealed he has changed his outlook with his photos after making a million dollars from streaming.

    Joeboy took to his Twitter page to share photos of himself and his unidentified lady who we suspect is his girlfriend.

    Joe Boy whilst posting the photos, captioned the ” Apanto Peperenpe” and it brought about some reactions.

    Of course, most of the female fans showed signs of heartbreak after seeing the photos of his girlfriend.

    See screenshot below

    Source: ghgossip.com