Savills suspends manager over racist tweet as social media firms enter hot water July 14, 2021 Estate agent Savills has suspended a manager after he posted a racist tweet after England’s Euro final defeat on Sunday. The investigation is now being spearheaded by the Greater Manchester Police, as the manager claimed his Twitter account was hacked. People took to Twitter to share the employee’s LinkedIn page which showed where he worked [...]
Tech professionals urge social media to verify user IDs after Euro 2020 racist abuse July 13, 2021 Social media giants such as Facebook and Twitter should require users to verify their identities following the racist abuse of England players after their Euro 2020 final defeat, according to a group of tech professionals. Despite boycotts and some technical changes from big tech companies, many people still see social media as “a consequence-free playground [...]
London vaccine race: NHS crackdown on clinics allowing second dose queue-jumping July 7, 2021 London vaccine race: NHS crackdown on clinics allowing second dose queue-jumping
Facebook, Google and Twitter threaten to quit Hong Kong over new data laws July 5, 2021 Facebook, Google and Twitter have reportedly threatened to withdraw from Hong Kong if authorities push ahead with planned changes to laws around sharing private information online. The Hong Kong government is considering new rules that could make platforms liable for the malicious sharing of individuals’ information — a practice known as doxing. An industry group [...]
Saturday essay: It’s easy to hate social media, to truly make it work we need to learn to love it July 3, 2021 It’s fashionable to be irrationally critical of social media. Almost every policy relating to social media serves to restrain, rather than nurture it. The image of online platforms, amongst politicos and policymakers, is often that it is nothing more than an inflammatory cesspit of trolls and creeps who debase every conversation with racist and sexist [...]
Twitter user to pay BBC journalist six-figure sum for defamatory actions July 1, 2021 A twitter ‘troll’ has apologised and agreed to pay a six-figure bill in damages after trying to damage the reputation of BBC radio and TV presenter Stephen Nolan. Nolan, a presenter on BBC Radio Ulster and BBC Radio 5 Live, said the user ran a “malicious campaign designed to undermine me and hinder my journalism” [...]
Twitter’s first-ever subscription service goes live June 3, 2021 Twitter today rolled out Twitter Blue, its first subscription service, in Australia and Canada. Users will pay either $3.49 CAD or $4.49 AUD depending on location for access to new features. The service includes features such as a reader mode, the ability to “undo” or edit sent tweets for 30 seconds before they are published, [...]
Twitter to charge £2.45 for new ‘Blue’ monthly subscription service May 28, 2021 Twitter has listed a new subscription service on app stores, signalling that the social media giant is preparing to trial the offering soon. Twitter Blue, which is priced at £2.49 in the UK, is not yet fully enabled for users and the company has refused to give further details. ‘Undo tweets tool’ Technology blogger Jane [...]
Twitter launches ‘tip jar’ to let users send money to favourite accounts May 7, 2021 Twitter has launched a new “tip jar” feature which will allow people to send money to others on the site. To begin with, only a select group of people will be able to receive tips, including journalists, experts and content creators. The social media giant says the feature is “an easy way to support the [...]
England cricket star Stuart Broad supports social media boycotts as sport takes steps to tackle online abuse April 12, 2021 England cricketer Stuart Broad has become the latest high-profile sporting figure to back a boycott of social media. Football clubs Rangers and Swansea City have temporarily stopped posting on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook in protest at a perceived lack of action against online abuse. “There are great positives to social media but if we have [...]