Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey is silent after the Twitter handles of the world's most powerful celebrities were hacked on Wednesday. Hackers have hacked into the Twitter accounts of bigwigs such as Elon Musk, Barack Obama and Joey Widen and openly exposed cryptocurrency scams. Similar tweets have been leaked from the Twitter accounts of big companies like Apple and Uber.

When Twitter gained control of the affected account, it did not take long for it to snatch it back from the attacker. The company then took a big step to control the situation. He disabled a large part of his service. Dorsey's response came four hours after the attack began. He was the one who delayed the information to be spread at the speed of light.

"Twitter's hostile days," Dorsey wrote on Twitter, "are terrified of what happened." The worst event in any company's history is a sign of bad times. But Dorsey, who has made a name for himself in Silicon Valley, has reacted weakly in challenging moments. Twitter's role now raises questions about her role in shaping public debate and Dorsey's ability to handle the company.

The United States is on the verge of a presidential election. At this time, everyone is focused on the security and integration of social media. Dorsey has already caused a stir on Twitter by labelling President Donald Trump's tweet as misleading. After that move, Jack Dorsey's stance is different from that of Mark Zuckerberg. Dorsey seems to have been deified by the Progressives and demonized by the Conservatives.

Even on Twitter, Dorsey is facing a series of internal struggles. Activist fund Elliott Management, which had a large stake in Twitter last year, asked Dorsey to focus on Twitter or resign. Twitter asked Dorsey to resign as CEO of Twitter or Square Company. Elliott himself left the company last March to get rid of Dorsey. But due to time bidding, Elliott's presence is still on the company's board.

Elliott Management declined to comment on the hack. Even Twitter has refused to respond to Dorsey's leadership and has decided not to send him to any interviews. Twitter has said that the hacker may have hacked from the employees who have access to the internal tools of the company. About 130 accounts were targeted. The FBI is investigating.

But the hacked incident could put pressure on Dorsey to pay attention to Twitter. His role has always been weak, says David Yofi, a professor of business administration at Harvard University. It is considered very sensitive to play the role of CEO in two organizations. This incident, which took place due to his distraction, has caused a great deal of damage to his reputation.

Dorsey had previously defended his dual role on Twitter and Square, saying his schedule was flexible to focus on important work. Although Dorsey has enough support on the board, Wednesday's incident will at least force the company's directors to make changes.

But the good news for Dorsey is that CEOs of Facebook, Apple, Google and Amazon have been called to Antitrust's judicial subcommittee for clarification. But Twitter, which has not yet received criticism from Antitrust, should not be present at the subcommittee.

He can therefore avoid questions of integrity, political bias and platform security. He has already attended some such hearings two years ago. For Wednesday's incident, he would not have to attend any such hearing or explanation.

Also Read:

TRAFFIC POLICE INSTRUCTED TO FILE CASES AGAINST THE DRIVERS WHO DON’T FOLLOW THE ODD-EVEN RULE

EMBOSSED NUMBER PLATE REGISTRATION PROCEDURE IN NEPAL

CORONAVIRUS- JACK MA FOUNDATION AND ALIBABA FOUNDATION DONATE MEDICAL SUPPLIES TO 10 MORE ASIAN NATIONS

JACK MA FOUNDATION PUBLISHES HANDBOOK, SHARES CHINA’S EXPERIENCE IN BATTLING COVID-19

NEPAL'S ACTION FOR PREVENTION OF CORONAVIRUS

10% VAT REFUND ON ELECTRIC PAYMENT IN NEPAL

LIST OF LATEST BIKE OFFERS IN NEPAL YOU CAN'T-MISS! 

NEPAL GOVERNMENT WILL PROVIDE A CAPITAL GRANT UPTO RS 5 MILLION TO STARTUPS

Twitter's moves to label or hide comments from President Donald Trump have escalated a feud between the social network and the White House, but there could be more to come.

The messaging platform has a range of "enforcement" options for dealing with content in violation of its policies, each of which carries its own potential risks and costs.

Twitter has shown a newfound willingness to enforce its policies," said Daniel Kreiss, a University of North Carolina professor specializing in politics and social media.

"If you're a private company you have a right to regulate content, and it behooves those companies to enforce these policies in a fair and transparent and publicly justifiable way. I think Twitter will do this in a consistent way."

While Twitter could have acted before on Trump's tweets, "I think there has been a gradual shift in thinking at Twitter inspired by the COVID-19 pandemic, and its thinking about misinformation that is harmful," said Tiffany Li, a fellow at the Yale Law School Information Society Project who specializes in social media.

Twitter, which this week added fact-check labels to two Trump tweets and a violation notice on another, can go further under its enforcement guidelines.

One option would be to "downrank" or limit the visibility of a tweet, or to remove it.

But Twitter's policies also include a "public interest" exception which would require leaving a tweet online but with the possibility of blocking "engagements" such as retweets and likes.

Kreiss said that because of Trump's importance as a public figure, "I don't think you'll see a takedown" of his tweets but "you might see actions preventing these things from being amplified."

Twitter's guidelines note that "world leaders are not above our policies entirely" and that the platform reserves the right to remove tweets that promote terrorism, violence or self-harm, or includes private information about another person.

- Most drastic steps -

Twitter's policies say the company may suspend or delete an account for repeated violations.

Some of Trump's critics have called for him to be "de-platformed" for his conduct, but such a move could create a political firestorm by acting against a leader with 80 million followers.

"They're not going to want to put themselves out on a limb," said Steven Livingston, director of the George Washington University Institute for Data, Democracy and Politics.

At the same time, Livingston said, Twitter may be making a calculation that it can withstand the pressure as Trump moves further to the extreme.

"The smart people at Twitter are going to want to test the waters to determine if are they putting themselves at political risk by standing up to Trump," he said.

Twitter has already triggered the wrath of Trump, who two days after tweets of his on mail-in voting were tagged as misleading, signed an executive order which could lead to tighter oversight of social media platforms. There are doubts about the order's legality, however.

The San Francisco company carefully weighed its decision this week before labeling Trump's tweets for the first time, according to the news platform OneZero's account of deliberations.

"The company needed to do what's right, and we knew from a comms perspective that all hell would break loose," spokesman Brandon Borrman told OneZero.

Twitter drew an intense backlash not only from the president but from "the internet mob" which directed anger at a specific company executive, according to Li.

"This is troublesome because while Twitter as a company is a relatively strong entity, an individual is more vulnerable," she said.

The dramatic clash between Trump and Twitter may have consequences for both, but both sides may also end up benefitting, according to Kreiss.

"I don't think Trump is going to leave Twitter because this is how he uses it to communicate," Kreiss said.

The conflict "sets up a foil for him and helps him mobilize his base," the researcher said.

"Ironically this is good for Twitter too because it now makes it the center of fundamental debate going into the 2020 election, and it will increase use of the platform."

Also Read:

TWITTER ADDS 'GLORIFYING VIOLENCE' WARNING TO TRUMP TWEET

TWITTER ADDS FACT-CHECK WARNINGS TO TRUMP TWEETS FOR THE FIRST TIME

TRUMP THREATENS TWITTER OVER FACT CHECKS

TRUMP COULD VIOLATE FACE MASK REQUIREMENT ON PLANT TOUR

WITH RARE CANDOR, EMPLOYEES PROTEST FACEBOOK'S TRUMP POLICY

ZOOM'S CAPITAL PUNISHMENT IN SINGAPORE

THE VIDEO GAME INDUSTRY SEES RECORD APRIL SALES: SURVEY

TOP UN OFFICIAL WARNS MALICIOUS EMAILS ON RISE IN PANDEMIC

FACEBOOK AND NETFLIX'S VALUE GOES UP BY MORE THAN 40% DURING COVID-19

Twitter says the hack that compromised the accounts of some of its most high-profile users targeted 130 people. The hackers were able to reset the passwords of 45 of those accounts.

The San Francisco=based company said in a blog post-Saturday that for up to eight of these accounts the attackers also downloaded the account’s information through the “Your Twitter Data” tool. None of the eight were verified accounts, Twitter said, adding that it is contacting the owners of the affected accounts.

“We’re embarrassed, we’re disappointed, and more than anything, we’re sorry. We know that we must work to regain your trust, and we will support all efforts to bring the perpetrators to justice,” Twitter said in the blog post.

The July 17 attack broke into the Twitter accounts of world leaders, celebrities and tech moguls in one of the most high-profile security breaches in recent years. The attackers sent out tweets from the accounts of the public figures, offering to send $2,000 for every $1,000 sent to an anonymous Bitcoin address.

It highlighted a major flaw with the service millions of people have come to rely on as an essential communications tool.

Allison Nixon, chief research officer at cybersecurity firm 221B said in an email Sunday that the people behind the attack appear to have come from the “OG” community, a group interested in original, short Twitter handles such as @a, @b or @c, for instance.

“Based upon what we have seen, the motivation for the most recent Twitter attack is similar to previous incidents we have observed in the OG community — a combination of financial incentive, technical bragging rights, challenge, and disruption,” Nixon wrote. “The OG community is not known to be tied to any nation-state. Rather they are a disorganized crime community with a basic skill set and are a loosely organized group of serial fraudsters.”

While this attack did not appear to go further than the Bitcoin ruse — at least for now — it raises questions about Twitter’s ability to secure its service against election interference and misinformation ahead of the U.S. presidential election.

“Entire markets and potentially elections may be manipulated or altered in this way,” Nixon said. “Victims of account takeovers generally do not know that the fraud has occurred, and generally cannot take security precautions to prevent it.”

source: AP

 

Also Read:

TRAFFIC POLICE INSTRUCTED TO FILE CASES AGAINST THE DRIVERS WHO DON’T FOLLOW THE ODD-EVEN RULE

EMBOSSED NUMBER PLATE REGISTRATION PROCEDURE IN NEPAL

CORONAVIRUS- JACK MA FOUNDATION AND ALIBABA FOUNDATION DONATE MEDICAL SUPPLIES TO 10 MORE ASIAN NATIONS

JACK MA FOUNDATION PUBLISHES HANDBOOK, SHARES CHINA’S EXPERIENCE IN BATTLING COVID-19

NEPAL'S ACTION FOR PREVENTION OF CORONAVIRUS

10% VAT REFUND ON ELECTRIC PAYMENT IN NEPAL

LIST OF LATEST BIKE OFFERS IN NEPAL YOU CAN'T-MISS! 

NEPAL GOVERNMENT WILL PROVIDE A CAPITAL GRANT UPTO RS 5 MILLION TO STARTUPS