Twitter may let you ‘undo’ your tweets if you’re ready to pay for it – Times of India

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Earlier this month, Twitter revealed that some paid subscriptions services are in the works. If Twitter users pay for subscription then they may get some premium features. Now it has been reported that one such feature will allow users to ‘undo’ their tweets.
According to security researcher Jane Manchun Wong, Twitter is working on app subscription for paid features like “Undo Tweet”. Wong put out a tweet regarding this.

The feature was then confirmed by Twitter to CNet. Wong meanwhile also showed briefly how the feature might work. The undo tweet feature is different from delete tweet. Undo will stop the tweet being sent out at all. It will also have a timer — in form of a progress bar — indicating to users how much time they have before they can undo the tweet. It’s not clear how much users will have to pay for this feature or will it be clubbed with other features for which users subscribe.
Twitter has revealed features called Super Follows and Communities, during a presentation for analysts and investors, claims a report by The Verge.
Starting with the Super Follows first, this feature will allow Twitter users to charge followers for access to exclusive content. “That could be bonus tweets, access to a community group, subscription to a newsletter, or a badge indicating your support” added the report.
As per the screenshot shared, Twitter showed an example where a user was charged $4.99 per month to receive a series of perks.
The second feature, called Communities, is a direct rival to Facebook Groups. These are aimed to connect people sharing similar interests.



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Twitter asks public if world leaders should be subject to same rules as others on platform

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Twitter said it is “reviewing” approach to world leaders as it wants its policies to remain relevant to the ever-changing nature of political discourse on the platform and protect the health of the public conversation.

Twitter has sought public opinion on whether world leaders should be subject to the same set of rules as others on the micro-blogging platform and appropriate enforcement action in case of violation of norms by them.

Twitter said it is “reviewing” approach to world leaders as it wants its policies to remain relevant to the ever-changing nature of political discourse on the platform and protect the health of the public conversation.

“Generally, we want to hear from the public on whether or not they believe world leaders should be subject to the same rules as others on Twitter. And, should a world leader violate a rule, what type of enforcement action is appropriate,” the micro-blogging platform said in a blogpost.

Towards this, starting from Friday, Twitter will seek responses to a public survey that would help define the policy framework. The survey will close on April 12.

The questionnaire will be available in 14 languages – Hindi, English, Arabic, Chinese, Farsi, French, Indonesian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Tagalog, and Urdu.

Twitter informed that it is in the process of consulting with a range of human rights experts, civil society organisations, and academics worldwide whose feedback would be reflected in forthcoming changes to the policy framework.

“We want to serve the public conversation and allow the public to hear from and engage with leaders around the world. Ultimately, our aim is to have a policy that appropriately balances fundamental human rights and considers the global context in which we operate,” it said.

Twitter, Facebook and other platforms globally have come under lens for the manner of treatment of accounts of global leaders, and politicians. It is pertinent to mention here that Twitter had banned Donald Trump’s account in January, citing “risk of incitement of violence” after the U.S. Capitol Hill siege.

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Twitter will soon let you watch YouTube videos right from a tweet – Times of India

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NEW DELHI: Twitter will soon enable you to watch YouTube videos from your timeline. The microblogging platform is testing a new feature which will enable users to watch YouTube video right from their timeline.
Presently, when a user includes a YouTube link in a tweet, then clicking on that link takes you to YouTube and out of Twitter. But with this new feature, you will not have to leave Twitter and you will also be able to continue with the scrolling after watching the video. Twitter is testing this feature with iOS users.
The company tweeted about the upcoming feature with a GIF. Twitter support wrote, “Starting today on iOS, we’re testing a way to watch YouTube videos directly in your Home timeline, without leaving the conversation on Twitter.”
The upcoming feature is available to a small number of users in Canada, USA, Japan and Saudi Arabia.
A Twitter spokesperson told The Verge, “The current test on iOS will be a four-week experiment. We plan to take a look at the results and will scale accordingly.”
Recently, Twitter announced that it will enable users to use security keys as the only authentication method. The company has also revealed that users can also enrol for multiple hardware security keys for logging in.
Twitter already allows users to enable two-factor authentication for secure logins. Users can use a security key to sign in to their accounts, but first, they have to turn on 2FA methods like SMS code.

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Hacking Apple, Bill Gates and Joe Biden’s Twitter accounts leads teen to 3 years in jail – Times of India

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Graham Ivan Clark, the teen who had hacked into — and took control of — the Twitter accounts of Apple, Bill Gates, Joe Biden and several other famous personalities last year has been sentenced to 3 years in jail, as per a report by Tampa Bay Times. He pleaded guilty to the crime and was served the sentence; he also will spend the next 3 years after release in probation. Clark is 18 years old.
After getting past Twitter’s defences, Clark had taken control of aforementioned accounts to ask for more that $100,000 in Bitcoin. Besides Gates and Biden, Clark was also accused of hacking the Twitter accounts of Barack Obama, Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos. As per the report, he’d amassed about $117,000 in Bitcoin through his several accounts before Twitter gained control of the accounts again. He was arrested some days later at his home in Hillsborough County.
How did he manage to take hold of someone else’s Twitter account?
Through Twitter’s customer service portal. He reportedly convinced a Twitter employee that he worked in the information technology department of the company and then accessed the customer service portal.
His was a virtual court hearing where the judge treated him as a “youthful offender”. That is the reason why his sentence is for 3 years. If he would have been treated as an adult, he would have been slapped with a 10-years prison sentence, says the report.

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No proposal to appoint regulator for social media: Prasad

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“The social media platforms are enjoined to develop a robust grievance redressal system.”

The government on Wednesday informed Parliament that there is no proposal with the IT ministry to set up a regulator for social media.

Union IT and Communications Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, however, said that the government has released Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, under the IT Act that specifies the due diligence to be followed by all the intermediaries, including the social media intermediaries.

“The social media platforms are enjoined to develop a robust grievance redressal system. Presently, there is no proposal with the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology to appoint a regulator for social media,” Mr. Prasad informed the Lok Sabha.

 

The government in February had announced sweeping regulations for social media firms like Facebook and Twitter as well as OTT players such as Netflix, requiring them to remove any content flagged by authorities within 36 hours and setting up a complaint redressal mechanism with an officer being based in the country.

The guidelines also make it mandatory for platforms such as Twitter and WhatsApp to identify the originator of a message that authorities consider to be anti-national and against security and sovereignty of the country.

The new rules related to social media platforms are to be handled by the IT ministry while the Information and Broadcasting ministry will look after content related issues on entertainment apps and online news portals.

Mr. Prasad said under provision of section 69A of the Information Technology Act, 2000, the government blocks unlawful and malicious online content including social media account, in the interest of sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, security of the State, friendly relations with foreign states or public order or for preventing incitement to the commission of any cognizable offence relating to above.

“Under this provision, 9,849 URLs/accounts/webpages, mostly on social media platforms, were blocked during the year 2020,” Mr. Prasad said.

 

In response to question whether the government has conducted any study regarding the impact of government’s control over social media vis-a-vis right to freedom of expression enshrined in the constitution, Prasad denied any such study undertaken by the government.

He said that the government welcomes criticism, dissent and also the rights of people to ask questions on social media.

“However, this needs to be acknowledged that the fundamental right of speech and expression under article 19(1) is also subject to reasonable restrictions under article 19(2) of the Constitution which can be imposed in the interest of security, safety and sovereignty of India, public order, friendly relations with foreign countries etc,” Mr. Prasad said.

The minister said it is equally important that social media should not be abused or misused to defame, promote terrorism, rampant violence and compromise the dignity of women.

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Twitter launches multi-lingual ‘info prompt’ ahead of Assembly elections

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The micro-blogging platform’s initiative with the Election Commission of India and State Election Commissions is aimed at tackling misinformation and providing reliable details related to elections.

With Assembly elections coming up in five States, micro-blogging platform Twitter on Monday announced a dedicated ‘information search prompt’ in six languages with the Election Commission of India and State Election Commissions to tackle misinformation and provide reliable details related to elections.

The U.S.-headquartered firm has also rolled out a multilingual youth discussion series in India ‘DemocracyAdda’ aimed at driving voter literacy and civic participation among young Indians, along with a video series ‘HerPoliticalJourney’ that will focus on women political leaders.

“With the Assembly Elections 2021 taking place in Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, and Puducherry, [We have] announced a series of initiatives focused on encouraging informed and healthy conversations between candidates, political parties, citizens, media, and society,” the company said in a statement.

Other measures included a custom emoji to encourage participation and a series of pre-bunks and de-bunks to tackle election-related misinformation. These initiatives will be activated in English, Hindi, Tamil, Bengali, Assamese and Malayalam.

Payal Kamat, Manager Public Policy & Government, Twitter India, said, “Public conversation is critical during elections, and Twitter is where this unfolds. With digital penetration accelerating in India, more people now have access to credible, authoritative and timely information — crucial tools for exercising their civic rights.”

The company added that it was staying ahead of potentially misleading information about how and where to vote by publishing a series of pre-bunk prompts across languages, including English, Hindi, Tamil and Bengali, based on content by the national and State Election Commissions and civil society partners such as Youth Ki Awaz, Association of Democratic Reforms.

“The prompts will appear on people’s home timelines and in Search, including information about how to register to vote, and details on EVMs and VVPATs. The prompts will also serve the public with relevant voting information about booths, postal ballots, COVID-19 restrictions and accessibility, among other topics,” it said.

Further, the service will focus on de-bunking critical issues as they arise with a curated Twitter Moment. These Moments are created based on high standards of accuracy, impartiality and fairness and are designed to feature compelling, original, and diverse content.

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No govt communication ever threatened social media platforms’ staff of jail term: IT Ministry

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The government had ordered Twitter to take down hundreds of posts, accounts and hashtags, that it saw violating rules.

The government has never threatened employees of any social media platform, such as Twitter, of jail term, the IT Ministry has said.

Reacting to reports that alluded to Facebook, WhatsApp and Twitter employees being threatened with jail term, the Ministry said social media platforms are “obliged to follow the laws of India and the Constitution of India, just like all other businesses in India have to.” “As has been conveyed on the floor of Parliament, users of social media can criticise the government, the Prime Minister or any Minister but promotion of violence, rampant communal divide and stoking the flames of terrorism will have to be reflected upon,” it said.

The government had ordered Twitter to take down hundreds of posts, accounts and hashtags, that it saw violating rules. Twitter initially did not fully comply but fell in line after the government showed the rule book that contained penal provisions.

The IT Ministry went on to state that the recent guidelines pertaining to social media simply require the platforms to put in place a robust grievance redressal mechanism for users.

“None of the government communications, either written or oral, have ever threatened the employees of any of the social media platforms of jail term,” it said.

“The government welcomes criticism and dissent. However, of late, repeated instances of abuse of social media to foment hate, discord and violence by terrorist groups from outside India and circulation of morphed images of women, revenge porn posing threat to the safety of users especially women users have become grave concerns,” it said.

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WATCH: This Father-daughter’s Grooving to Himesh Reshammiya Hit while Cleaning Is Relatable

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Doing everyday household chores can be tiring, so people opt for different ways to make the mundane activity bearable and interesting. Some people blast loud music through the house or others love to dance their way through the chores to complete tasks like laundry cleaning, etc. A girl shared a video of dancing, while her father is adding a twist to the chores and grooving during cleaning the house. The clip of the father-daughter duo having fun has raised the bar for parent-kid goals way too high.

Digital content creator Bhavya Krishnan shared a video on her Instagram and Twitter, showing what she and her father were up to when her mother had gone on a 10-day trip. The father-daughter duo mixed chores with fun and turned the music up while cleaning the house.

Bhavya shared the video on March 7 with the caption explaining that since her mother is on a trip, she and her dad decided to vibe alone. She added that now her whole house reeks of air freshener.

In the clip, the father-daughter duo can be seen wearing sunglasses in a multicolored lit room, using mop as a mic while lip-syncing the famous song Zohrajabeen,sung by Himesh Reshammiya from superhit Hindi comedy, Phir Hera Pheri. The pair mimicked the moves and expressions of the film’s actors Suniel Shetty and Akshay Kumar as they used the mop as mic and kept a poker face throughout the clip.

Watch the video on Instagram here:

On Instagram, it has been viewed more than 4000 times, collected over 500 likes and almost 50 comments. Netizens called the video ‘cute’ and ‘crazy’, writing that they love the vibe of the video. One user commented saying that she is living for this content. Another applauded her dad’s dance moves and called him ‘super cool dad.’

On Twitter, the clip has gathered more than 16000 views and over 1600 likes. Lots of people shared their reactions on the hilarious video, while many complimented the bond she shares with her dad.

One person commented that her family is so cute.

Another person wrote that the video is the ‘most adorable thing ever.’

A user wrote that he would love to learn those tricks from ‘papaji.’



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Twitter founder’s auction of a tweet draws $2 million bid – Times of India

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SAN FRANCISCO: Twitter boss Jack Dorsey is selling his first tweet at auction, with bidding Saturday reaching $2 million in a sign of the appetite for virtual objects authenticated through blockchain technology.
“just setting up my twttr,” Dorsey tweeted on March 21, 2006.
On Friday he posted a link to “Valuables @Cent,” an online marketplace for tweets where, the site says, investors or collectors can “buy and sell tweets autographed by their creators.”
The top bid Saturday for Dorsey’s tweet — $2 million — came from Justin Sun, the founder of TRON, a platform for blockchain, the technology underlying cryptocurrencies. He also heads the BitTorrent streaming platform.
“The creator of a tweet decides if they would like to mint it on the blockchain, creating a 1-of-1 autographed version,” Valuables explains.
Buying a tweet means purchasing “a digital certificate of the tweet, unique because it has been signed and verified by the creator,” according to Valuables.
In Dorsey’s case, the tweet itself remains visible to all, so long as he and Twitter leave it online.
The approach is much like the online sales of dramatic digital “moments” from National Basketball Association games; the short video sequences remain visible for free on the internet but a blockchain-backed “Non-Fungible Token” (NFT) is generated to guarantee the identity, authenticity and traceability of the video, confirming its value.
Thus, a 10-second clip showing a spectacular sequence by basketball superstar LeBron James fetched $208,000 on the NBA Top Shot site late last month.
Top Shot has generated more than $200 million in transactions this year, according to Dapper Labs, which partnered with the NBA to create Top Shot.
In 2019, Sun paid $4.6 million in a winning bid to lunch with iconic billionaire Warren Buffett. Sun reportedly tried but failed to convince the elderly investor of the value of bitcoins.
NFTs have soared in popularity, to the point that prestigious auction house Christie’s last month sold an entirely digital artwork.

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Twitter explores ‘undo send’ feature for paying users – Times of India

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NEW DELHI: Twitter Inc is testing an “undo send” function that would give users a short time to withdraw a tweet before it is posted, the company confirmed on Friday.
App researcher Jane Manchun Wong, who discovers unannounced social media features by looking at the sites’ code, tweeted an animation showing a tweet with a spelling error where an ‘undo’ button was available before a short timer ran out.
A Twitter spokeswoman said the feature was being tested as part of the company’s exploration of how subscriptions could work on the platform. She said Twitter would be testing and iterating possible paid-for features over time.
Twitter has said it is working on paid subscription models, which would reduce its dependence on ad revenue, including a “super follow” feature to let users charge their followers for access to exclusive content which will launch this year.
CEO Jack Dorsey has previously said the site would likely never have an “edit button,” a feature users have long sought.
But Twitter has been introducing more prompts as users send tweets such as asking them if they want to read an article before sharing it, and experimenting with allowing people to revise a tweet reply before it is published if it uses harmful language.
The company reportedly included a possible “undo send” feature in a user survey last year asking which features people would like to have available through a subscription model.

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