Download the app and get the day’s most important stories.
Download the app and get the day’s most important stories.
Twitter says it has discovered attempts by possible state-sponsored hackers to access account holders’ telephone numbers. The breach came to light after a security researcher found a flaw in the “contacts upload” feature. The contacts upload function allows people with a user’s phone number to find and connect with that user on Twitter. The company declined to say how many user phone numbers had been exposed.
Twitter announced on Wednesday it will begin removing large numbers of profiles which have been added to people’s followers accounts despite having been frozen for suspicious behavior. The reform is meant to take aim at social media fraud and restore trust in the platform. Prominent users ‘will experience a more significant drop’ than most people.
Following criticism for its inaction, Twitter joined its technological industry counterparts and suspended far-right conspiratorial commentator Alex Jones from the platform. Jones’ Twitter account is suspended for one week. His old material will still be visible but he will be unable to make new posts. The controversy ignited debate over free speech versus safety online.
MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” co-host Mika Brzezinski was recently the victim of a Twitter feud between herself and President Donald Trump. Trump said in his tweets, “low I.Q. Crazy Mika” and claimed that she had been “bleeding badly from a face-lift.” Republican senators immediately condemned the tweets. Many feel that Trump is alienating himself from getting support from fellow Republicans, which may mean Trump will find it harder to gain the support for the upcoming healthcare initiative.