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US Supreme Court dismisses case on Donald Trump blocking Twitter critics
The U.S. Supreme Court set aside a federal appeals court ruling that former President Donald Trump violated the First Amendment when he blocked critics from following his Twitter account. The case had already lost its practical impact given Trump’s election defeat and Twitter’s Jan. 8 decision to permanently ban his @realDonaldTrump account for glorifying violence. But the two sides in the case continued to spar over the fate of the appeals court decision. Before Trump left office, the Justice Department asked the justices to wipe away the precedent, while those suing him sought to keep it intact. The appeals court said a social media account run by government officials can become a constitutionally protected “public forum” if used to conduct official business. The Supreme Court has said t...
CPN president: Digital technologies efficient in sustaining social, economic development
The President and Chairman of the Council of Computer Professionals (Registration Council of Nigeria), Professor Charles Uwadia, has disclosed that digital technologies have proven to be efficient in sustaining social and economic developments. According to him, during the COVID-19 pandemic, digital technologies played an indispensable role in sustaining social and economic activities. He said though challenges and risks also emerged in the course of embracing various digital innovations but its applicability were proven to be efficient. Uwadia, who spoke at a virtual press conference, to unveil activities lined up for the forthcoming 2020 IT Professionals’ Assembly, with the theme, “Harnessing Digital Technologies for Social and Economic Recovery”, said the assembly which is the 15th edit...
Arsenal legend Thierry Henry to quit social media
Arsenal legend Thierry Henry has vowed to remove himself from all social media from tomorrow until platforms such as Twitter, Facebook and Instagram take more serious action against racism and other abuses. Henry suggested that, as things stand, the companies are quicker to take action against copyright infringements than they are to the toxic behaviour poisoning the platforms. In a statement posted online, Henry said: “From tomorrow morning I will be removing myself from social media until the people in power are able to regulate their platforms with the same vigour and ferocity that they currently do when you infringe copyright. “The sheer volume of racism, bullying and resulting mental torture to individuals is too toxic to ignore. “There HAS to be some accountability. It is far too eas...
Shell donates 330 PPEs to FRSC in Rivers
File Photo The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Rivers Command, said it had received over 330 Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs) donated by Shell Nigeria to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. Rivers FRSC Sector Commander, Salisu Galadunci, said in a statement that the PPEs comprised of 170 pieces of nose masks, 150 pieces of reflective jackets and body temperature gauges. The sector commander said that the items were presented by Shell Nigeria officials led by its Head, Sponsorship and Social Investment, Mrs Anike Kakayor. “The team has expressed delight in the way and manner in which the FRSC Rivers carries out its operational mandates of safeguarding lives on the highways. “The team also commended our aggressive enlightenment campaigns at motor garages and on the various media platforms. “...
Twitter opens its audio chat room Spaces to Android users
Twitter has opened its audio chat room, Spaces, to Android users, the company tweeted Tuesday. Twitter introduced a limited version of the Clubhouse competitor on iOS in January. While any users of Twitter’s iOS app can join and listen to Spaces, only a few can host them at the moment. Twitter said it was giving Spaces to “a very small feedback group” to start, with women and people from other marginalized groups given priority. Now, users of Twitter’s Android app can join and listen to Spaces as well. Android folks, our beta is growing! starting today you will be able to join and talk in any Space. SOON you’ll be able to create your own but we’re still working out some things. keep your 👀 out for live Spaces above your home tl — Spaces (@TwitterSpaces) March 2, 2021 The announceme...
Appeal Court strikes out Facebook’s appeal against trademark judgment
The Court of Appeal sitting in Lagos, Tuesday, dismissed Facebook’s appeal challenging the judgment of a Federal High Court, Lagos, which awarded N10 million against it (Facebook) in favour of a Nigerian firm, Double Paws Enterprise, as damages for unlawfully interfering with the use of the firm’s trademark. The appellate court justices that decided the matter were Justices Haruna Tsammani, Oluwayemisi Williams-Dawodu, and Abdullahi Bayero. Justice Bayero read the lead judgment. Facebook had appealed the lower court judgment through its counsel, Jackson Etti. However, counsel to the respondent, Double Paws Enterprise, was Mr Gideon Okebu. Facebook challenged the competence of the appeal and urged the Appeal Court to dismiss the same for being fundamentally flawed. Justice Bayero in the lea...
Facebook to test cutting back on political posts in the News Feed
Facebook plans to test how people respond to seeing fewer posts about politics in the News Feed. Starting this week, Facebook will “temporarily reduce” political posts for a “small percentage” of people in Canada, Brazil, and Indonesia, with a test in the US following some weeks later. The tests will continue for the next few months. The experiment comes in response to feedback Facebook has (somehow just now) heard that “people don’t want political content to take over their News Feed,” Aastha Gupta, product management director at Facebook, wrote in a blog post this morning. The goal is to improve the News Feed by “finding a new balance of the content people want to see.” Gupta says that political content only makes up about 6 percent of the typical News Feed right now in the US. Nonethele...
Twitter suspends ‘fake’ account that carried a link to Iranian Supreme Leader’s website
Twitter said on Friday it had suspended what it said was a fake account that carried a link to the website of Iran’s Supreme Leader on Friday, hours after it carried the image of a golfer resembling former U.S. President Donald Trump apparently being targeted by a drone. The post, on a Persian-language account carrying a link to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s website, had carried the text of remarks by him in December in which he said “Revenge is certain” – referring to the killing of a top Iranian general in a U.S. drone attack. A Twitter spokeswoman said the @khamenei_site account was suspended for violating the company’s platform manipulation and spam policy, specifically the creation of fake accounts. Asked if the @khamenei_site account was fake, she said it was. The golfer image tweet was r...
WhatsApp delays data sharing change after backlash
WhatsApp on Friday postponed a data-sharing change as users concerned about privacy fled the Facebook-owned messaging service and flocked to rivals Telegram and Signal. The smartphone app, a huge hit across the world, cancelled its February 8 deadline for accepting an update to its terms concerning sharing data with Facebook, saying it would use the pause to clear up misinformation around privacy and security. “We’ve heard from so many people how much confusion there is around our recent update,” WhatsApp said in a blog post. “This update does not expand our ability to share data with Facebook.” It said it would instead “go to people gradually to review the policy at their own pace before new business options are available on May 15.” The update concerns how merchants using WhatsApp to cha...
U.S. Senate Republican asks tech firms to explain account, content removals
The outgoing Republican chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee asked the chief executives of major U.S. tech firms Apple Inc, Facebook Inc, Amazon.com Inc, Alphabet Inc and Twitter to answer detailed questions about decisions to restrict or permanently ban accounts of conservative users and other steps to restrict content or platforms. Senator Roger Wicker said “thousands of conservative users’ accounts and content” have been “restricted or permanently removed from platforms.” He also cited a series of decisions causing social media site Parler to shut down operations temporarily. “Americans deserve transparency and accountability for what appears to be politically biased censorship – silencing the voices of users and public figures alike,” Wicker wrote. Get more stories like this on Tw...
Signal outage keeps messages from sending
If you’re having trouble sending messages in the secure messaging app Signal, it may be due to technical difficulties the company says are affecting the app on Friday. Signal allows for secure and encrypted video, voice, and text communication, but users were greeted this morning with messages that failed to send. Signal confirmed the issue on its official Twitter account with the promise that it would “restore service as quickly as possible.” Signal is experiencing technical difficulties. We are working hard to restore service as quickly as possible. — Signal (@signalapp) January 15, 2021 In the last week, Signal reported a surge of new users to its app following a recommendation from Tesla CEO Elon Musk and a new WhatsApp privacy policy that may have driven users away from the Facebook-o...
Twitter: Donald Trump ban permanent, even if he runs for office again
Former President Donald Trump will not be returning to Twitter at any point in the future, according to the company’s chief financial officer. In an interview with CNBC’s Squawk Box program on Wednesday, Twitter CFO Ned Segal said that running for public office again would not reverse the ban the company handed out to Trump in the aftermath of the US Capitol riot on January 6th. The question is relevant considering Trump’s ongoing impeachment trial. A central question in the trial is whether Democrats can bar Trump from running for president again in 2024 or seeking other public office. Regardless of the outcome, the @realDonaldTrump will still remain suspended for good, Segal said. “The way our policies work, when you’re removed from the platform, you’re removed from the...