Twitter’s chaotic year keeps getting worse.

Peiter “Mudge” Zatko, the former head of security at Twitter, has alleged in a whistleblower complaint that he uncovered “extreme, egregious deficiencies” by Twitter surrounding user privacy, security and content moderation.

Zatko, who Twitter fired in January, accuses the company, its executives and board of directors of violating federal law by making “false and misleading” to users and the Federal Trade Commission.

“Mudge spent 14 months pushing for improvements from the inside, and was terminated for his efforts,” the complaint says. Nonprofit law firm Whistleblower Aid is representing Zatko and confirmed to CNET that the complaint is authentic. Zatko filed the 84-page complaint in July to the US Securities and Exchange Commission, Department of Justice and the FTC.

The allegations come at a tumultuous time for Twitter. The influential social media company is in a high-profile legal battle with billionaire Elon Musk after the Tesla and SpaceX leader tried to back out of a $44 billion deal to purchase Twitter. The tech platform sued Musk to complete the deal, and a five-day trial is scheduled for October. 

Musk is trying to use the whistleblower disclosure as part of his argument to bail on the deal. His legal team filed amended counterclaims against Twitter, made public Thursday, that allege the company’s purported misrepresentations about its daily users “were only one component of a broader conspiracy among Twitter executives to deceive the public, its investors, and the government about the dysfunction at the heart of the company.”

The amended counterclaims came days after the whistleblower testified before US lawmakers for the first time.

The whistleblower complaint not only raises questions about whether Twitter is doing enough to safeguard user privacy and security but it could also impact whether Musk gets forced to buy the platform.

Here’s what you need to know:

Who is the Twitter whistleblower?

Zatko is a well-known hacker and longtime security expert who worked at DARPA (the research and development agency of the US Department of Defense) and Google before joining Twitter in 2020.

He created software that’s still used today to test the strength of passwords. He’s also been a part of influential hacking groups such as L0pht that testified before Congress in the 1990s on security issues.

Former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey recruited Zatko to work at the social media company after teenagers hacked the high-profile Twitter accounts of Musk, celebrity Kim Kardashian and even Joe Biden, who at the time was the presumptive Democratic nominee for US president. 

What are the allegations in the complaint?

The complaint is lengthy and includes several allegations against Twitter, including that the company prioritized daily user growth over the platform’s health and integrity.

Executives tried to hide bad news instead of trying to fix problems, possibly because they were rewarded financially for helping Twitter grow daily users, didn’t know better or had help create the “broken systems,” according to the complaint. 

Zatko alleges he uncovered various security and privacy problems at the company and brought it to the attention of executives in 2021. The company appeared to have a high rate of security incidents, some employees had disabled security and software updates on their devices and staff had too much access to user data, the complaint stated.

“Mudge identified there were several exposures and vulnerabilities at the scale of the 2020 incident waiting to be discovered, and reasonably feared Twitter could suffer an Equifax-level hack,” the complaint says. In 2017, credit reporting company Equifax announced a major data breach that impacted 148 million Americans.

Instead, Zatko alleges he didn’t get support to address these issues and received “stiff pushback” particularly from Parag Agrawal who is now Twitter’s CEO. Agrawal was Twitter’s Chief Technology Officer before he got promoted and the complaint notes that “Twitter’s problems had developed under Agrawal’s watch.”

The complaint accuses Twitter of violating an 11-year-old settlement with the FTC by falsely claiming it had a comprehensive security program. Zatko alleges that his findings were worse than Dorsey feared and that the company had never complied with the FTC order and wasn’t on track to do so.

The complaint also alleges Twitter lied to Musk about the number of spam bots on its platform and misled the FTC about fully deleting data of users who leave the service. Zatko also outlines threats to democracy and national security. Some of these threats include the Indian government forcing Twitter to hire government agents and the company becoming more dependent on revenue from Chinese entities, the complaint says.

What is Twitter’s response to the allegations?

Twitter says that Zatko was fired because of “ineffective leadership and poor performance” and the company prioritizes security and privacy. 

“What we’ve seen so far is a false narrative about Twitter and our privacy and data security practices that is riddled with inconsistencies and inaccuracies and lacks important context,” Twitter spokeswoman Rebecca Hahn told The Post. “Mr. Zatko’s allegations and opportunistic timing appear designed to capture attention and inflict harm on Twitter, its customers and its shareholders.”

Twitter provided CNET with the same statement.

How are US lawmakers and regulators responding?

The complaint is already sparking scrutiny from US lawmakers.

Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a Connecticut Democrat, urged FTC Chair Lina Khan to investigate Twitter.

“These troubling disclosures paint the picture of a company that has consistently and repeatedly prioritized profits over the safety of its users and its responsibility to the public, as Twitter executives appeared to ignore or hinder efforts to address threats to user security and privacy,” Blumenthal wrote in a letter to Khan.

The SEC and FTC declined to comment. The DOJ didn’t respond to a request for comment. 

Zatko testified before a Senate panel on Tuesday, telling US lawmakers that the social media platform prioritized profits over the safety of its users.

“When an influential media platform can be compromised by teenagers, thieves and spies and the company repeatedly creates security problems on their own, this is a big deal for all of us,” he said.

Will the complaint impact whether Musk is forced to buy Twitter?

It’s possible. The complaint mentions that Zatko started to document evidence of fraud at Twitter in January before Musk offered to buy the company.

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Musk has accused Twitter of misrepresenting the number of false or spam accounts on its platforms. The complaint alleges that Musk is correct in that Twitter executives have little or no personal incentive to accurately detect or measure spam bots because they feared that it could harm the image and valuation of the company. 

On Aug. 23, Musk tweeted a meme that said “Give a little whistle.”

Musk’s lawyers have tried to use the complaint to push back the trial to a later date, but a Delaware Chancery Court judge overseeing the case denied that request last week. The judge, though, did rule that Musk could amend his counterclaims against Twitter to include the whistleblower disclosures.

Musk’s lawyers have also subpoenaed Zatko and have tried multiple times to use the whistleblower complaint to end the merger agreement. On Aug. 29, his lawyers alleged that the company violated the merger agreement because it didn’t disclose a $7 million June settlement with Zatko or seek Musk’s consent for that action. Twitter didn’t respond to questions about Musk’s allegations. Twitter shareholders voted on Tuesday to approve the Musk takeover deal, and the legal battle is still ongoing. 

The post Twitter Accused of Prioritizing Profits Over Security: What You Need to Know first appeared on Joggingvideo.com.

During its fall product event on Wednesday, Apple said the iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Pro lineups include “all-day” battery life. The company says the best battery life, now included in the iPhone 14 Plus, was previously only available in the iPhone Pro Max models. (Here’s how all four iPhone 14 models compare.)

That likely means the latest models will all offer more minutes of battery life than the iPhone 13 series.

Battery life can vary depending on what people use their phones for so the results might not be the same for everyone. The battery information on Apple’s website suggests that you can watch more video and listen to audio for a couple of more hours on the iPhone 14 compared to its predecessor. The company said that the iPhone 14 includes up to 20 hours of video playback, up to 16 hours of streamed video playback and up to 80 hours of audio playback. The iPhone 13 includes up to 19 hours of video playback, up to 15 hours of streamed video playback and up to 75 hours of audio playback. You can compare the battery life of various models on this website.

CNET’s battery tests last year — playing looped video on airplane mode with the screen at half brightness — showed the iPhone 13 Pro lasting 22 hours, 2 minutes, and the iPhone 13 Pro Max lasting 31 hours, 19 minutes. It’ll be interesting to see how the new iPhones compare.

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Apple’s improvements to the iPhone’s battery life is one way the tech giant is trying to entice you to upgrade your phone as consumers in general pull back on spending to offset inflation and a murky economic future. While new features like Crash Detection and Dynamic Island draw all the headlines, most consumers have a basic set of needs they look for when buying a new phone. 

If the new iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Pro’s new battery life still isn’t enough, you can always consider adding a power bank for added charge.  

The iPhone 14 starts at $799, the larger screen iPhone 14 Plus starts at $899, the iPhone 14 Pro starts at $999 and the iPhone 14 Pro Max starts at $1,099. At Wednesday’s event, Apple also unveiled the AirPods Pro 2, Apple Watch Series 8, Apple Watch Ultra and the iOS 16 release date. 

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What’s happening

Twitter users sued the social media company, alleging in a lawsuit the tech platform profited from their personal information without their consent. Twitter disclosed in 2019 that phone numbers and email addresses users provided for a security feature may have been used for targeted advertising.

Why it matters

It’s an example of the legal consequences tech companies face when they violate user privacy.

Twitter is facing more legal woes for allegedly providing advertisers user phone numbers and email addresses without their consent. In 2019, the company disclosed that personal information users handed over for a security feature may have been used for targeted advertising.

On Thursday, two Twitter users sued the social media company in a proposed class action lawsuit filed in a federal court in Northern California. In the 38-page complaint, Texas resident Christina McClellan and California resident Billy Moses say they wouldn’t have provided Twitter personal information such as their phone numbers and email addresses if they knew the company was going to use this data for targeted advertising.

The lawsuit is the latest consequence Twitter is dealing with over alleged privacy violations. In May, Twitter agreed to pay a $150 million penalty for allegedly violating the Federal Trade Commission Act and a 2011 order by the FTC by misrepresenting how it would use nonpublic user contact information. Twitter users in other states such as Washington have also sued the tech platform for violating their privacy.

Twitter encouraged users to provide their phone numbers and email addresses for an extra layer of security known as two-factor authentication but didn’t inform them that data could be used for targeted advertising.

“As a result of Twitter’s deceptive practices, consumers surrendered valuable personal information that they expected to remain private and to be used only for security purposes,” the lawsuit states. “Consequently, consumers were deprived of the ability to control how this information is used and who possesses it.”

The lawsuit alleges Twitter profited from this data without user consent because advertisers could use emails and phone numbers to figure out a potential customer’s identity and learn about where they live, what products they purchase, where they shop and other valuable information.

“The more intimate and private details that Twitter can collect or induce its users to provide, the more revenue it derives,” the lawsuit says.

There are other risks that come with providing phone numbers and email addresses because they can be used to identify a person. Hackers, the lawsuit notes, can use an email to try to access a user’s social media accounts or collect other information for identity theft.

The lawsuit also alleges the company violated California’s Unfair Competition Law and its contract with users. Twitter’s privacy policy at the time said it doesn’t share information such as email addresses and phone numbers with its partners but the data it provides could be linked to other data if a user provides consent to that partner.

As part of the lawsuit, Twitter users are demanding a jury trial and that the company take other actions such as disclosing to users whether and how their personal information was used.

Twitter said it didn’t have a comment about the lawsuit. The company’s legal troubles have been mounting after billionaire Elon Musk tried to back out of buying the social media platform for $44 billion. 

The post Twitter Profited From Users’ Data Without Their Consent, Lawsuit Alleges first appeared on Joggingvideo.com.

What’s happening

Oracle is starting to review TikTok’s algorithms and content moderation models.

Why it matters

The review could help address concerns raised by regulators and US lawmakers about China’s influence over the short-form video app. Chinese tech company ByteDance owns TikTok.

Oracle has started reviewing TikTok’s algorithms and content moderation models as part of an effort to assure US lawmakers that the short-form video app is safeguarding user data amid security concerns.

Axios, citing an unnamed source, reported Tuesday that Oracle began the review last week and that the company will help ensure that Chinese authorities aren’t manipulating TikTok’s algorithms. TikTok’s algorithms help determine what videos the platform recommends to its more than 1 billion monthly active users. In June, TikTok announced it routed all US user traffic to Oracle Cloud Infrastructure. 

TikTok spokeswoman Brooke Oberwetter confirmed Axios’ report but said TikTok didn’t have anything further to add. Oracle didn’t respond to a request for comment.

The review shows how TikTok is responding to security and privacy concerns about China’s influence over the app. Chinese tech company ByteDance owns TikTok. TikTok has long denied it shares US user data with the Chinese Communist Party and reiterated to lawmakers in a June letter it wouldn’t provide this information if the government requested it. The company has an effort called Project Texas that aims to strengthen security around US data.

But lawmakers and regulators still view TikTok as a possible national security threat. In June, FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr urged Apple and Google in a letter to remove the app from their app stores. Carr said the app, used for sharing funny videos, wasn’t what it appeared to be on the surface. The letter cited a report from BuzzFeed that said leaked audio from internal meetings showed that ByteDance employees in China have repeatedly accessed nonpublic data about US TikTok users. 

National security concerns about TikTok heightened under former US President Donald Trump’s administration. TikTok began partnering with Oracle in 2020 after Trump threatened to ban the app from the US. The Trump administration ordered ByteDance to divest TikTok but the current administration hasn’t enforced this action. 

The post Oracle Starts Auditing TikTok’s Algorithms Amid Security Concerns first appeared on Joggingvideo.com.

What’s happening

Meta has released a quarterly report that outlines the actions it’s taken against troll farms, fake accounts and hackers.

Why it matters

The social media giant has faced scrutiny in the past for not doing enough to combat disinformation. The report provides more details about how it’s tackling cybersecurity threats.

Facebook parent Meta said Thursday it pulled down fake accounts from a group of Russian internet trolls that tried to create the appearance of support for Russia’s war in Ukraine.

The troll farm created accounts on both Meta-owned Facebook and Instagram and posted pro-Russia comments on content from media outlets and influencers. Meta pull down 1,037 Instagram accounts and 45 Facebook accounts from this group. The company linked the accounts to a group called “Cyber Front Z” and people tied to activity by the Internet Research Agency, an infamous Russian troll farm that also attempted to influence the 2016 US presidential election. 

Meta’s actions show how the company continues to combat cybersecurity threats. Lawmakers and advocacy groups have criticized the social media giant in the past for not acting quickly enough to combat political disinformation. Meta shared details about its investigations in a 36-page quarterly report that also outlined how it’s tackling hackers and other threats.

Ben Nimmo, Meta’s global threat intelligence lead for influence operations, said in a call with reporters that Meta has been catching accounts tied to the Internet Research Agency more quickly than it has in the past, pulling down the fake accounts in weeks rather than years. The company started taking action against these fake accounts in March, and Instagram’s automated technology caught more than half of the accounts, the report said. 

The troll farm used messaging app Telegram to coordinate its efforts and target other platforms including TikTok, Twitter, YouTube and LinkedIn. In one Telegram post from May, the trolls urged its followers to post on the Twitter and Instagram accounts of Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin with pro-Russia comments such as “We must explain to the Finnish politician that Ukraine will be liberated from Nazism by the Russian army.” Meta started looking into its platforms after the Russian news outlet Fontanka reported on the topic.

The troll farm tried to create the false perception that its efforts were successful, but it wasn’t doing a good job, Meta said.

“We didn’t see evidence to suggest that they’ve succeeded in rallying substantial authentic support but we do expect them to keep trying and we’re here to keep on blocking attempts,” Nimmo said.

Meta also said it took action against two hacking groups from South Asia. One of the groups, known as Bitter APT, targeted people in New Zealand, India, Pakistan and the United Kingdom. It tried to trick people into handing over personal information or downloading malware.

For example, it created a chat app Apple users could download through a service that developers use to test new apps. 

“We don’t have any visibility into whether this app contained malicious code and assess that it may have been used for further social engineering on an attacker-controlled chat medium,” the report said. Social engineering is a manipulation tactic hackers use to dupe people into providing confidential information such as their passwords. Meta said it reported the findings to Apple but don’t “have visibility” into what actions the company took. The hacking group also used an Android malware in non-official versions of YouTube, Signal, Telegram, WhatsApp and other chat apps. 

Apple didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

“Our goal is to expose these threat actors and contain their operations regardless of where they target,” said Nathaniel Gleicher, head of security policy at Meta. “But a whole society response is essential to tackle these cross-platform threats.”

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At Meta’s first store, I enter a well-decorated room to try out a portable video chat device known as the Portal Go.

On the device’s screen, a friendly worker — he calls himself Casey, a name many of the store attendants have used — walks me through everything you can do with a Portal Go. He describes the device’s smart camera, which pans and zooms as you move. He reads an augmented reality-enhanced version of a Dr. Seuss book as if he’s a traveling parent saying goodnight to his children. 

I pull out my phone to record a video of my video call with him. He flashes me the peace sign. 

It was all very meta.

Portal Go is just one of the devices you can try out at the Meta Store. Located at Meta’s campus in Burlingame, California, the shop also displays virtual reality headsets and smart glasses. The campus is where Meta employees are working on the company’s vision for the metaverse, the virtual worlds in which people will be able to work, play and socialize. Meta, formerly known as Facebook, gave reporters a peek this week before the store opens to the public on Monday. 

The 1,550-square-foot space underscores that Meta is getting increasingly serious about creating consumer hardware. The company is following a path of opening physical stores that Apple has made a success. Google and Samsung are also trying the approach, as have other companies. 

Inside Meta’s New Retail Store

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Still, Meta has an uphill battle when it comes to turning its vision of the metaverse into reality. Products such as smart glasses and VR headsets aren’t as popular as smartphones and laptops. Facebook is well known for creating the world’s largest social network, but some people don’t even know the company also makes consumer hardware.

Meta hopes that as more people try out these gadgets in the store, they’ll understand why CEO Mark Zuckerberg thinks the metaverse is the successor to the mobile internet. 

“Once people experience the technology, they can gain a better appreciation for it,” Martin Gilliard, head of the Meta Store, said in a statement. “If we did our job right, people should leave and tell their friends, ‘You’ve got to go check out the Meta Store.'”

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The way it’s tucked away between reflective buildings, you might pass right by the Meta Store if you aren’t paying attention. It doesn’t look like a traditional storefront, and it isn’t in a shopping center. A blue-and-white sign for the Meta Store sticks out among the futuristic-looking vertical fins that line the building. Inside, the space is filled with earthy tones, beige pottery, plants and tranquil music. The industrial ceiling looks intentionally unfinished. Crane your neck up, and you can see white pipes.

Lining the wall on one side of the store is a shelf of Ray-Ban Stories, smart glasses that allow you to snap photos, record video and listen to music. You can try out different pairs, but you won’t be able to buy any at the store. They’re only available for purchase directly from Ray-Ban.com. A worker pulls out the charging case and a pair of glasses, showing me how to use the smart glasses. 

Meta’s Portal video chat devices and Quest 2 headsets are available to buy in the store. 

On another side, a wall-to-wall curved LED screen displays what you’re seeing in virtual reality when you place the VR headset Quest 2 over your head. You can play games such as Beat Saber, Golf Plus, Real VR Fishing and Supernatural on the device. 

Retail workers, dressed in dark blue shirts with Meta’s infinity sign logo, also seemed ready to answer questions customers could throw at them. Worried about privacy? Portal’s video chat device has a camera cover as well as a way to switch off the microphone and camera. Too expensive? There are different options for different budgets.

The Meta Store will be open Monday through Friday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. 

The post Facebook Parent Meta Is Opening Its First Store. Here’s What It’s Like Inside first appeared on Joggingvideo.com.

What’s happening

Snap unveiled Pixy, a $230 pocket-size flying camera drone that can follow you around.

Why it matters

It’s another example of how social media companies are getting more serious about releasing consumer hardware.

What’s next

Pixy goes on sale Thursday in the US and France.

Snapchat has a new way for people to capture photos and videos: a flying camera drone called Pixy that fits in the palm of your hand.

The drone goes on sale Thursday on Pixy.com in the US and France, with the price starting at $230. Snap said drones pre-ordered will start to arrive by the end of May. Photos and videos captured on the drone will get downloaded into Snapchat Memories, where users are able to store content for later use.

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Pixy is another example of social media companies experimenting with consumer hardware products. Though Snapchat parent company Snap is known for the ephemeral-messaging app, Snap calls itself a camera company. Last year, Snap unveiled its latest pair of Spectacles, AR glasses that let creators overlay digital images onto their view of the real world. There have been rumors for years that Snap has been working on a selfie drone.

Snap unveiled Pixy at its fourth annual Partner Summit, an event the company is streaming online on Thursday.

To use the drone, people press a button and select one of several flight paths: hover, orbit, reveal, favorite and follow. If you select follow, for example, Pixy will follow you around as you go on a hike or walk around a city. Pixy will automatically take photos and videos during flight, but users can program Pixy to only take only videos. The drone will float in the air and capture images before flying back to the palm of your hand.

“Pixy is ready to fly at a moment’s notice. There are no controllers. There’s no complex setup. Simply set a flight path and let Pixy take it from there,” Snap CEO Evan Spiegel said in his keynote remarks, which was viewed by CNET before the conference.

Snap will have to convince its users to capture photos and videos on a product that hasn’t become mainstream yet. There are products similar to Pixy for purchase that are also cheaper, such as Air Neo from AirSelfie, which costs $150, and more expensive drone cameras made by DJI. 

A Snapchat spokesperson said there are two flight packs available to buy online. The base flight pack costs $230 and comes with a bumper strap to carry the drone, a charging cord and a battery. There’s also a bundled flight pack that costs $250 that includes everything in the base pack but also includes additional rechargeable batteries and a charger.

A battery costs $20 and a charger costs $50. The guide for Pixy doesn’t say how much time the battery lasts, but it says it will allow you to capture content over five to eight flights. With 16GB of flash storage, Pixy can store up to 1,000 photos or up to 100 videos. The product is lightweight at 101 grams. Video is shot at 2.7K and the camera is 12 megapixels.

Videos shot on Pixy don’t capture sound, but users will be able to edit the footage on Snapchat to include music, a voice-over and other effects.

Pixy also isn’t water resistant and might not be able to complete its flight paths if there’s too much wind. People are also advised to avoid using the drone over water, near highly reflective surfaces or where there’s an abrupt change in elevation, such as a cliff or balcony.

Snapchat has more than 600 million monthly users and more than 330 million daily active users worldwide, the company said.

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Facebook parent company Meta says attacks on internet freedom and access to information have been “intensifying sharply” since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. In the first three months of the year, the social media giant also saw a rise in domestic threats, such as people hacking the accounts of other people in their country, running disinformation campaigns or filing false reports to silence critics. 

Meta outlined these cybersecurity threats in a quarterly report released Thursday. Nick Clegg, who heads global affairs at the company, said during a press conference that Meta has grappled with propaganda from state-run media, influence campaigns and cyber-espionage.

“We are actively now reviewing additional steps to address misinformation and hoaxes coming from Russian government pages,” Clegg said a day earlier. Meta declined to share what those steps are, noting that it’s still trying to understand their potential impact. 

The Russia-Ukraine war has posed challenges for social media companies. Russia blocked access to Facebook and its photo-and-video service Instagram after Facebook started to make content from Russian state-controlled media outlets tougher to find. Russia’s Investigative Committee also opened a criminal case against Meta after the company said it would temporarily allow some violent speech against Russian invaders. When asked about the status of that case, Meta said it couldn’t comment on legal proceedings.

The company said it also saw influence operations from government-linked actors from Russia and Belarus increase before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. These actors targeted the Ukrainian telecommunications industry; global and Ukrainian defense and energy sectors; tech platforms; and journalists and activists in Ukraine, Russia and abroad, the report said.

On Feb. 24, Meta said it disrupted fake accounts tied to the Belarusian KGB that posted in Polish and English about Ukrainian troops surrendering without a fight and the nation’s leaders fleeing the country. The actors had previously posted content that accused Poland of mistreating migrants from the Middle East. On March 14, they created a Facebook event in Warsaw calling for a protest against the Polish government. Meta said it disabled the account and event the same day and didn’t find evidence that the protest had happened.

In February, Meta said hackers tied to an operation known as Ghostwriter have been targeting Ukrainian military officials and journalists to spread disinformation. Ghostwriter typically tries to steal people’s login information by tricking them into clicking on a malicious link in an email. Last year, Mandiant Threat Intelligence said in a report that it found evidence that suggests Ghostwriter has ties to a suspected state-sponsored cyber-espionage actor called UNC1151. In November, Mandiant Threat Intelligence linked UNC1151 to the Belarusian government. Since February, Ghostwriter has tried to hack into the Facebook accounts of dozens of Ukrainian military personnel, Meta said. 

Cyber-espionage isn’t the only threat Meta has been battling. The company also pulled down about 200 accounts from Russia that falsely reported users for violating its rules against hate speech, bullying and inauthenticity. Most of these fake reports were aimed at people in Ukraine and Russia, but the accounts also reported users in Israel, the US and Poland. Meta said these fake reports increased right before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The people behind the false reports coordinated this effort in a cooking-themed Facebook Group likely to evade detection. Meta said the Facebook Group had 50 members when it was taken down.

Outside of fake accounts and hackers, Meta has also been dealing with scams related to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. These scammers have livestreamed gaming videos and reshared other people’s videos from Ukraine to make it seem like they were posting live updates. Some also switched names to dupe people into following them, directing them to websites or merchandise sold off Facebook. Since the war began, Meta said, it’s investigated and removed tens of thousands of these accounts, Facebook Pages and Facebook Groups.

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Facebook said Wednesday it’s adding new tools that could make it easier to combat the spread of misinformation in Groups. 

Facebook Groups, which can be public or private, are online spaces where people can chat about various topics including hiking, parenting and cooking. But users have also used Groups to spread misinformation including about the coronavirus, elections and vaccines. False claims and propaganda are still a big problem on Facebook especially after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. In some cases, people have used old footage or photoshopped images to misrepresent what’s happening in those countries.

One new feature will allow administrators who run Facebook Groups to automatically decline any incoming posts that have been rated false by the company’s third-party fact-checkers. The social network said that will help reduce how many people see misinformation. 

Facebook didn’t say whether posts typically get fact checked before they’re shared in a Group. A company spokeswoman said the social network is also working on a new way for administrators to remove posts that are later flagged for containing false claims after they’ve been posted to a Group.

Facebook partners with more than 80 fact-checking organizations such as PolitiFact, Reuters and The Associated Press to help identify false claims. Users who try to share a fact-checked post see a warning that says it contains false information in the post but can share the content if they want. Facebook doesn’t share data about how much content gets fact checked on its platform. 

The release of the new tools show how Facebook is trying to ramp up efforts to combat misinformation. There’s been questions, though, about how well labeling misinformation on social media works. In 2020, a study by MIT found that labeling false news could result in users believing stories that hadn’t gotten labels even if they contained misinformation. The MIT researchers call this consequence the “implied truth effect.” Facebook said that more than 95% of the time when people see a fact-checking label, they don’t end up viewing the original content. 

The social network also announced the release of other features meant to help make it easier for administrators to manage and share Groups. Administrators, for example, will be able to send invites via email and share QR codes that will direct people to a Group’s About page where they can learn about the community and join. More than 1.8 billion people use Facebook Groups every month.

Social media sites have also been used to spread scams so users should be wary about clicking on links or sharing QR codes. Facebook said the QR codes for Groups include the social network’s logo.

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Twitter is pushing forward with its e-commerce ambitions. 

The social media platform said Wednesday it’s started testing a new feature called Twitter Shops that allows businesses to display up to 50 products in an online catalog. The company said hundreds of businesses in the US are participating in this experiment. Some of the merchants include Verizon, Nigerian food delivery service All I Do Is Cook and Gay Pride Apparel. 

People who use Twitter on their iPhone in the US will be able to browse through products on Twitter Shops by clicking on a “View shop” button. To purchase an item, users will be directed to checkout on a merchant’s website. Twitter said the feature is free for merchants and the company doesn’t process payments or take a cut of sales.

Twitter Shops is another example of how social media companies are doubling down on online shopping, an activity that has only increased in popularity during the coronavirus pandemic. Twitter has also unveiled other shopping tools such as a dedicated space on a user’s profile to showcase products and live shopping. 

While Twitter makes most of its money from ads like other social networks, it’s not well-known as a place for shopping. Other social media sites such as Instagram and Pinterest that also have shopping tools feature a lot of lifestyle content. Still, brands have used Twitter to drive chatter about new items or reach out directly to customers. 

“People are already talking about products on Twitter. We want Twitter Shops to be the home for merchants on Twitter where they can intentionally curate a catalog of products for their Twitter audience and build upon the product discussions already happening on our service by giving shoppers a point of action where a conversation can become a purchase,” Justin Hoang and David Lie-Tjauw, who manage products at Twitter, said in a blog post. 

The release of new shopping features could also entice Twitter users to spend more time on the platform. Twitter, which has a new CEO, set a goal to reach 315 million monetizable daily active users by 2023. Twitter currently has 217 million daily users. 

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