Thursday, March 28, 2024
ADVT 
Tech

Musk plans to relaunch Twitter premium service, again

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 25 Nov, 2022 10:54 AM
  • Musk plans to relaunch Twitter premium service, again

LONDON (AP) — Elon Musk said Friday that Twitter plans to relaunch its premium service that will offer different colored check marks to accounts next week, in a fresh move to revamp the service after a previous attempt backfired.

It's the latest change to the social media platform that the billionaire Tesla CEO bought last month for $44 billion, coming a day after Musk said he would grant “amnesty” for suspended accounts and causing yet more uncertainty for users.

Twitter previously suspended the premium service, which under Musk granted blue-check labels to anyone paying $8 a month, because of a wave of imposter accounts. Originally, the blue check was given to government entities, corporations, celebrities and journalists verified by the platform to prevent impersonation.

In the latest version, companies will get a gold check, governments will get a gray check, and individuals who pay for the service, whether or not they're celebrities, will get a blue check, Musk said Friday.

“All verified accounts will be manually authenticated before check activates," he said, adding it was “Painful, but necessary" and promising a “longer explanation” next week. He said the service was “tentatively launching" Dec. 2.

Twitter had put the revamped premium service on hold days after its launch earlier this month after accounts impersonated companies including pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly & Co., Nintendo, Lockheed Martin, and even Musk’s own businesses Tesla and SpaceX, along with various professional sports and political figures.

It was just one change in the past two days. On Thursday, Musk said he would grant “amnesty” for suspended accounts, following the results of an online poll he conducted on whether accounts that have not “broken the law or engaged in egregious spam” should be reinstated.

The yes vote was 72%. Such online polls are anything but scientific and can easily be influenced by bots. Musk also used one before restoring former U.S. President Donald Trump's account.

“The people have spoken. Amnesty begins next week. Vox Populi, Vox Dei,” Musk tweeted Thursday using a Latin phrase meaning “the voice of the people, the voice of God.”

The move is likely to put the company on a crash course with European regulators seeking to clamp down on harmful online content with tough new rules, which helped cement Europe’s reputation as the global leader in efforts to rein in the power of social media companies and other digital platforms.

Zach Meyers, senior research fellow at the Centre for European Reform think tank, said giving blanket amnesty based on an online poll is an “arbitrary approach" that's “hard to reconcile with the Digital Services Act," a new EU law that will start applying to the biggest online platforms by mid-2023.

The law is aimed at protecting internet users from illegal content and reducing the spread of harmful but legal content. It requires big social media platforms to be “diligent and objective" in enforcing restrictions, which must be spelled out clearly in the fine print for users when signing up, Meyers said.

Britain also is working on its own online safety law.

“Unless Musk quickly moves from a ‘move fast and break things' approach to a more sober management style, he will be on a collision course with Brussels and London regulators," Meyers said.

European Union officials took to social media to highlight their worries. The 27-nation bloc's executive Commission published a report Thursday that found Twitter took longer to review hateful content and removed less of it this year compared with 2021.

The report was based on data collected over the spring — before Musk acquired Twitter — as part of an annual evaluation of online platforms’ compliance with the bloc’s voluntary code of conduct on disinformation. It found that Twitter assessed just over half of the notifications it received about illegal hate speech within 24 hours, down from 82% in 2021.

The numbers may yet worsen. Since taking over, Musk has l aid off half the company’s 7,500-person workforce along with an untold number of contractors responsible for content moderation. Many others have resigned, including the company's head of trust and safety.

Recent layoffs at Twitter and results of the EU's review “are a source of concern,” the bloc's commissioner for justice, Didier Reynders tweeted Thursday evening after meeting with Twitter executives at the company's European headquarters in Dublin.

In the meeting, Reynders said he “underlined that we expect Twitter to deliver on their voluntary commitments and comply with EU rules,” including the Digital Services Act and the bloc's strict privacy regulations known as General Data Protection Regulation, or GDPR.

Vera Jourova, the European Commission's vice president for values and transparency, tweeted Thursday evening that she was concerned about news reports that a “vast amount" of Twitter's European staff were fired.

“If you want to effectively detect and take action against #disinformation & propaganda, this requires resources," Jourova said. “Especially in the context of Russian disinformation warfare.”

MORE Tech ARTICLES

Elon Musk hints layoffs at Twitter in future

Elon Musk hints layoffs at Twitter in future
The question of layoffs has been top of mind for Twitter's more than 7,000 employees since Musk first said he wanted to buy the company.   

Elon Musk hints layoffs at Twitter in future

Musk warns of killing Twitter deal over lack of user data transparency: Report

Musk warns of killing Twitter deal over lack of user data transparency: Report
In a fresh SEC filing, Twitter shared a letter it received from Musk's legal team indicating displeasure with the company's offered information regarding the level of "spam and fake accounts" on its service, reports TechCrunch.

Musk warns of killing Twitter deal over lack of user data transparency: Report

Elon Musk's net worth drops below $200 bn

Elon Musk's net worth drops below $200 bn
As per the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Musk's net worth stands at $193 billion, as of May 25. This means that Musk had seen $77.6 billion of his wealth sheared off since the start of the year.

Elon Musk's net worth drops below $200 bn

Twitter board wants $44 bn deal to go through amid Musk-Agrawal tussle

Twitter board wants $44 bn deal to go through amid Musk-Agrawal tussle
The Tesla CEO on Tuesday said that the $44 billion deal at $54.20 a share "cannot move forward" until the Twitter CEO Agrawal proves the actual bot numbers. While Twitter maintains it has less than 5 per cent fake/spammy accounts on its platform, Musk believes the number can be as high at 50 per cent, and wants Agrawal to come clean on this.

Twitter board wants $44 bn deal to go through amid Musk-Agrawal tussle

Indian-origin man develops airport for flying taxis, drones in UK

Indian-origin man develops airport for flying taxis, drones in UK
The world's first fully-operational airport for electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft and drone technology, the 'Air-One' in the city of Coventry is currently hosting demonstrator flights.

Indian-origin man develops airport for flying taxis, drones in UK

Elon Musk buys Twitter for $44bn, company to go private

Elon Musk buys Twitter for $44bn, company to go private
Twitter announced late on Monday that it has entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by an entity wholly owned by Musk for $54.20 per share in cash in a transaction valued at nearly $44 billion.

Elon Musk buys Twitter for $44bn, company to go private