A couple of months after Pennsylvania’s Democratic Senate candidate John Fetterman had a stroke in May, his Republican opponent and former TV personality Mehmet Oz posted a link to his more than 3 million Twitter followers. “Hoping to make it to a *Fetterman for Senate* campaign event? Details are linked below!”

The website, paid for by Oz’s campaign, depicted Fetterman as an overweight, shirtless and “lazy” “basement bum” as he recovered. Fetterman returned to the campaign trail in mid-August and leads Oz, who’s been endorsed by Donald Trump, in the latest polls. 

The move instantly became the subject of national talk shows, cementing social media even further as America’s latest battleground ahead of the 2022 midterm elections. And that battle is turning bleak.

Many candidates are now following in the steps of Trump, whose frequent harassing, bullying and rule-breaking posts to Twitter turned the political world upside down during his 2016 bid for the White House and then his four years in office. As a result, political and social media researchers say, the midterm elections have seen Trump-like behavior become the norm rather than the outlier. Candidates and elected officials are more often taking to Twitter to spread lies and disinformation, to attack their perceived enemies, and to troll fellow politicians. 

Further, a majority of Republican nominees on the ballot for this November’s midterm elections have denied or questioned the outcome of the 2020 presidential election, according to a report from the Washington Post, posing a threat to America’s democratic principles.  

On some extremist-filled alternatives like Gab and Telegram, candidates are calling for civil war and advocating violence against the government while they echo Trump’s rhetoric that their political opponents are evil.

“Time to take the gloves off,” Florida Republican congressional candidate Laura Loomer wrote on the social networking apps Gab and Telegram in August after a scandal over Trump’s reported hiding of top-secret government documents at his Mar-a-Lago residence and golf club triggered a raid from the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Loomer, who’s described herself as “pro-white nationalism” and a “#ProudIslamaphobe,” continued to attack the FBI even after the Department of Justice said it found many of the US government’s most sensitive secrets at Trump’s complex, despite his staff’s declarations they’d already been returned. 

“If you’re a freedom loving American, you must remove the Words decorum and civility from your vocabulary,” Loomer wrote. “This is a WAR!” She was banned from Twitter in 2018 for violating the site’s rules against hateful conduct. 

Just south of her, Republican Luis Miguel, a candidate for the Florida House of Representatives, took it a step further. “Under my plan, all Floridians will be able to shoot FBI, IRS, ATF, and all other federal troops on sight,” Miguel tweeted. “Let freedom ring.”

These posts are extreme, and in Miguel’s case got him reportedly banned from Twitter. Both candidates lost their primary bids. They also didn’t respond to requests for comment. But experts say their approach to social media follows a pattern of dangerous internet-grown fanaticism invading the political world, particularly on Twitter.

People may turn to massive platforms such as Instagram, TikTok and YouTube to get the latest news on their favorite celebrities, talk about big sports games or participate in the hottest new trend. But Twitter in particular has solidified its foothold in American politics, turning into a crucial tool for lawmakers to communicate with both their constituents and the media organizations that follow them. And the results have dramatically reshaped the political process as well.

“In the last 10 years, we’ve seen an increase in the amount of resources devoted to social media,” said Bradford Fitch, head of the nonpartisan Congressional Management Foundation, which works with lawmakers’ offices to help improve how they operate. Congressional offices now typically have two people devoted to media, rather than one person a decade ago, he added. And more lawmakers are now posting to their accounts, rather than having aides do it for them. 

“On some level because it hits and accelerates the national psyche,” he said. “We are seeing over time, the incentives are for members of Congress to be outrageous.”

Tesla CEO Elon Musk, one of Twitter’s most-followed users who’s finalizing a $44 billion purchase of the company, has said he plans to remove the few guardrails Twitter has to discourage harassment and bad behavior. Such a move has been widely criticized by civil rights and anti-hate groups, including the Anti-Defamation League, who say Twitter needs more moderation, not less.

Of course, social media didn’t create hyper-partisan lawmakers. Congress has over the years been home to plenty of bullies, conspiracists and other unsavory types. In the 18th century, for example, two lawmakers got into a brawl on the floor of the House of Representatives over the country’s diplomatic approach to France. In the 19th century, one senator drew a pistol and pointed it at his rival in the Senate chamber during a debate over slavery. Though today’s antics are comparatively tame, there are still plenty of lawmakers who pushed conspiracy theories about everything from climate change to the racist lie Trump himself promoted that President Barack Obama wasn’t born in the US, thus disqualifying him from public office.

Meanwhile, attention online isn’t a guarantee of success. Freshman North Carolina Rep. Madison Cawthorn quickly became a right-wing social media star when he was sworn in as one of the youngest lawmakers ever. Though he’d become a celebrity, controversy soon followed. He lost his seat to a lesser-known Republican primary opponent in May.

Social media has even changed how lawmakers communicate when they’re at home and at the US Capitol. Fitch’s research found that members are much more partisan on social media when they’re in DC, rather than the people-pleasing persona they take on at home. 

Republican strategists have said social media offers another telling benefit. Posting online allows politicians to circumvent traditional news organizations that often ask questions and hold them accountable for whether they’re spreading a lie or telling the truth.

Social media wave

Trump’s 2016 campaign and his four years as president ushered in a new era of extremism among lawmakers, but he wasn’t the first elected official to use social media. 

Most historians and industry experts point back to Barack Obama, whose 2008 presidential campaign used websites and social media to share videos watched by more than 50 million people on YouTube alone, according to researchers at Stanford’s Graduate School of Business. Obama’s campaign also sent out messages to its 13 million-member-strong email list, created a specialized volunteer social network with more than 2 million profiles and took in more than $500 million in online donations. 

Obama’s messages weren’t extreme like Trump’s. Obama’s team treated social media as more an arm of his presidency than a window into his mind. Trump tweeted about everything from discussing the latest TV ratings to attacking immigrants to dismissing gay rights, as well as making threats of military action that could trigger a nuclear war. 

Many of Trump’s pronouncements were quickly labeled as racist, sexist and anti-Muslim, but that only appeared to strengthen his appeal. “He was the one saying the things people were thinking,” said Mike Rothschild, a journalist whose book The Storm Is Upon Us dissects the social media-fueled conspiracy theory QAnon, which focuses on Trump’s rumored efforts to fight his perceived enemies. “It’s the politicizing of everything.”

At first, Republicans in DC scoffed at Trump’s style. But after he won the presidency in 2016, they began to emulate his approach. And many of them received similar attention too.

On Jan. 3, 2021, Lauren Boebert, a little-known freshman congresswoman and owner of a gun-themed bar from Rifle, Colorado, posted a campaign-style video to Twitter after arriving in Washington, DC. In it, she confidently walks down a Capitol Hill street with a gun on her hip. 

“Even though I now work in one of the most liberal cities in America, I refuse to give up my rights, especially my second amendment rights,” she can be heard saying amid rock ‘n’ roll-inspired background music. “I will carry my firearm to DC and in Congress.”

It was effective. The 33-year-old congresswoman racked up more than 6 million views, over 10,700 retweets and 51,300 likes.

Boebert and her colleagues like Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene have not just used their accounts to stake out positions and attack critics but also to regularly fundraise and sell merch too. Greene moved many of her posts to the messaging app Telegram after Twitter banned her account earlier this year for repeatedly spreading COVID disinformation. A hat she sold after the Trump raid declared, “Defund the FBI.” 

Boebert, Greene and Cawthorn were among the 147 Republicans who voted to overturn the 2020 election results on Jan. 6, 2021. 

Not all lawmakers are using Twitter to harass colleagues or spread lies. New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a notable liberal star, has also become a national figure in large part because of her Twitter and Instagram use. She typically posts about key moments from congressional hearings, her positions on important issues, clap-backs at critics and the occasional personal moment, like her success playing the online battle game League of Legends. 

But what’s stood out about an increasing number of lawmakers, Rothschild says, is that they’re not just extending political debates and their process to the online world. Many of them are on the extreme right, and they’re posting wild comments like Boebert’s promise to carry her gun on Capitol Hill. The posts speak to their base and grab attention from critics, whose outrage often helps drive their message even further.

“You’re seeing this filter down to state and local council meetings, where people show up and spout crazy stuff and it goes viral,” he added. “It turns everything into a Twitter argument.”

Social media frenzy

A lawmaker’s ability to grab attention on social media may be a critical part of campaigning, but it’s not a guaranteed path to success. Some lawmakers have gone from shining stars to sudden flameouts, in part because of their bombast.

One such member was Cawthorn, the far-right representative from North Carolina who quickly drew a following for sharing conspiracy theories on his social media accounts, including some related to QAnon. Cawthorn focused so much on messaging that he told Republican colleagues, “I have built my staff around comms rather than legislation,” according to a 2021 memo obtained by Time magazine.

But he also had Trump’s habit of making comments that were later criticized as false or misleading, including his own admission that a campaign video ad claiming he had planned to serve in the Navy “with a nomination to the US Naval Academy in Annapolis” wasn’t true. Shortly after he accused other Republican lawmakers of participating in drug-fueled orgies earlier this year, he lost his seat to a nationally unknown primary challenger. He’ll leave office in January.

Meanwhile, Twitter permanently suspended Trump from its site after his fiery rhetoric, threats and efforts to overturn his loss of the 2020 presidential election helped to fuel the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on Congress. And Greene was stripped of her committee assignments in February after her apparent support for violence against her political opponents.

Lawmakers appear to be shifting strategy in response. Both Trump and Greene have decamped to alternative social networks. Trump built his own Truth Social, which allows him to post whatever he wants though it bans many of his critics.

Others like Loomer and Greene, meanwhile, have begun relying on peer-to-peer messaging apps like Telegram, which aren’t as public facing as a Twitter account but also don’t draw as much criticism or moderation either. “They can be easily forwarded, they’re targeted to supporters, and they aren’t easily tracked,” said Betsy Sigman, a distinguished teaching professor emeritus at Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business.

For now, at least, candidates like Pennsylvania’s Oz appear focused on mainstream social media apps like Twitter and Instagram. That’s where Oz has continued posting articles and videos attacking Fetterman’s stroke recovery.

The post The Normalizing of Extreme Politics Is Playing Out on Twitter first appeared on Joggingvideo.com.

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.

It’s not easy keeping track of Twitter whistleblowers while getting the scoop on Elon Musk’s latest upheavals and figuring out what’s going on with that foul-mouthed Radioshack account — but someone’s got to do it. And if that someone is you, there are a few changes you should make to your Twitter privacy and safety settings. 

Here’s how to up your privacy on Twitter whether you’re using an iPhone, Android or any laptop or browser — plus a few bonus security tips to upgrade your defenses against some common hacks. Read more: Twitter Accused of Neglecting Security Problems: What You Need to Know

Change Mobile Twitter privacy and safety settings 

1. Open the Twitter app on your phone, and tap on your circular profile picture to open your main menu. 

2. Toward the bottom of the list, find and tap Settings and Privacy. This will open the Settings page. 

• While you’re here, you can change your Twitter password from this screen by tapping Your account, and then tapping Change your password. Use a solid password manager to choose a strong password that you don’t have to write down or remember. 

3. In the Settings page, tap the fifth option on the list — Privacy and safety. 

4. You have a few options to boost your privacy here. These three are most helpful for people who worry that they are actively being singled out by others for harassment or attack. If that’s you, don’t forget to report any accounts that harass you.

• To hide all your tweets from everyone except people you follow, tap Audience and tagging. When the next screen opens, toggle the Protect your tweets option on, and tap Photo tagging to turn that feature off.
• If you want to open up your Direct Messages to everyone — or close them so only people you follow can message you — tap Direct messages. In the next screen you’ll see three toggle switches you can adjust to suit your preferences.
• If you want to prevent people from finding you on Twitter by using your email or phone, tap Discoverability and contacts. Under this menu, you’ll be able to hit two toggles to stop others from searching you out with those bits of information. 

If those settings aren’t cutting it and you want to completely kill your account — or just until the smoke clears — you can delete your account and still reactivate it later.

The Privacy and safety menu is also the best place to manage what personal data Twitter is pulling from your mobile device and (partially, at least) what it does with that data. Changing these settings won’t create much noticeable change to your normal Twitter experience, but they’ll improve your privacy. 

• The first thing you should do is tap Off-Twitter activity. There’s no reason to give Twitter access to your web-browsing habits, just because a site you visit has a Tweet embedded in it. And there’s no reason to let Twitter build a dossier on you based on the mobile devices you use. Toggle off Allow use of where you see Twitter content across the web, and then toggle off Personalize based on your inferred identity. 
• If you tap Ad preferences, you can toggle Personalized ads off to reduce some of Twitter’s ad targeting.
• You’ll find another toggle in the Privacy and safety sub-menus labeled Data-sharing with business partners and two more toggles under Location information. Twitter doesn’t need that much access to your personal data to do what you want it to do. Turn all three toggles off. 

Read more: Twitter Profited From Users’ Data Without Their Consent, Lawsuit Alleges

Change Twitter privacy and safety settings on laptop or browser

Changing your settings on a laptop or a browser is a process that looks slightly different than making changes on mobile, but the same basic steps are involved. 

1. Once you’re logged into Twitter with your username and password, you should be on your main Home screen. 

2. On the left side of the page you’ll see a list of options. Click More. In the sub-menu that drops down, click Settings and Privacy. 

3. Click Privacy and safety. Just as described for mobile users in the section above, you can lock down your account for a range of audiences.

• Under the Your Twitter activity section, you’ll find menus labeled Audience and tagging as well as Discoverability and contacts. You’ll find options in both of those menus that are helpful if you’re concerned about being specifically targeted (as opposed to being vulnerable to mass attacks). This is also where you can find Mute and block options — whether you’re tired of seeing a particular person, a trending hashtag or a sensitive word.
• Under the Data-sharing and off-Twitter activity section, you’ll see four menus and you should click and turn off the toggle options in each. 

Read more: Twitter Whistleblower Accuses Company of Covering Up Security Problems

Bonus: Twitter security booster

Go back to the Settings and privacy menu where you started, and tap Security and account access. The three options you see on the screen that comes up next are simple, but they’re the best way to make sure your Twitter account isn’t considered low-hanging fruit by malicious actors who buy-and-try user credentials en masse. 

• Tap Security, and tap Two-factor authentication. Twitter offers three options to choose from — text message, authentication apps (like Okta), or security key — so pick one that’s most convenient. Enabling two-factor authentication won’t protect you from all hacks, but it will shield you from an entire category of them. While you’re there, toggle-on Password reset protection to protect yourself from others who are trying to reset your password.
• Take some time to check out the four options under Apps and sessions. You should familiarize yourself with the tools here because they could come in handy. From this screen, you can make sure there aren’t any shady apps hooked into your account. Be sure to check the Sessions menu to see the entire list of devices that are currently logged into your account. Are you sure all those devices are yours? If not, kick them out and change your password immediately. 

FAQ

What if I get a fake Twitter DM? 

If you get a suspicious Twitter Direct Message, report and block the account. In the screen displaying that DM exchange, tap the small information icon — a circle with a lower-case i inside of it — located in the top-right corner of the screen. It will be directly to the right of the name of the person sending you the DM. When you click the icon, the Conversation info screen will appear, from here you can select both Block @username or Report @username. 

How do I see sensitive media and content on Twitter (or block it)? 

To control whether you can see sensitive content in your timeline, including content with adult themes, open your main Twitter menu on the mobile app and select Settings and Privacy. If you’re using a browser go to your Twitter Home page, click More, then click Settings and privacy to get to the same place. From Settings and privacy, select Privacy and safety, then select Content you see. If you want to see sensitive media, add a check to the box beside Display media that may contain sensitive content. To avoid sensitive content, you can remove the check from the box. After all, there are some things that just can’t be unseen. 

Note that the sensitive content checkbox did not appear on iOS or iPadOS during testing.

What do I do if my Twitter account is hacked?

If you’re still logged into your Twitter account, do not log out yet. You can also check to see if you’ve got another device that’s still logged in — an old phone, a spare laptop, a friend’s device you previously logged in with. If you’re logged in on any device, change your Twitter password as fast as possible. On mobile: Tap your profile picture to bring up the main menu, then tap Settings and privacy, tap Your account and finally Change your password. On a laptop or in a browser: Go to your Home screen, select More, then Settings and privacy, followed by Your account and Change your password. If you’ve changed your password, the intruder is logged out automatically. Now also go change the password to whatever email address you use for your Twitter account.If you’re still logged in but you can’t remember your password, quickly kick the intruder out of your account, make sure they haven’t changed your Twitter account’s email address, and then reset your Twitter password via email. To kick them out, go to Settings and privacy again. Now go to Security and account access, then Apps and sessions and then Sessions. Click Log out of all other devices. 

They’re out but the clock is ticking. Quickly go back to Settings and privacy and look under Your account. Make sure your email address is still the one listed here. If not, click Email, then click Update email address and change it to any email address you know you’ve got access to. Now go back to the Your account screen, click Change your password and then Forgot password. 

If you’re locked out of your account, try a password reset. If the email address you’re using with Twitter is also compromised, enter your mobile number into the password reset field. If you don’t have access to either your email or mobile number, you’re in a tough spot. You can submit a Twitter Support Request, but you may still need to regain access to your email address. Twitter has a convenient link list so you can find your email provider’s support contact.

Read more: Best Password Manager to Use for 2022

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Music-streaming app Spotify is testing a new feature that would allow artists to promote their NFTs on their artist profile page, Spotify said Monday. Only select Android users in the US will have access to the new feature while it’s being tested.

“Spotify is running a test in which it will help a small group of artists promote their existing third-party NFT offerings via their artist profiles,” a Spotify spokesperson told CNET. 

Spotify chose a few artists to test this new feature. Listeners in the test group can preview some of the artist’s NFTs on the artist’s profile page and will be linked to to an external NFT marketplace if they want to learn about or buy an NFT. Spotify isn’t applying any fees as part of the test.

Spotify said the test is part of its efforts to deepen connections between artists and fans. The test is also a response to requests from the company’s industry partners.

Other digital companies are experimenting with NFTs, too. Instagram recently began testing a feature that let some US creators share NFTs on the platform, while Twitter started letting Twitter Blue subscribers use NFTs as their profile pictures in January.

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The post Spotify Testing New Feature That Lets Some Artists Promote NFTs first appeared on Joggingvideo.com.

Twitter advertising executives made little more than a veiled allusion to how Elon Musk, a self-styled “free-speech absolutist,” is poised to take over Twitter as the company made its flashiest pitch of the year to marketers and brands Wednesday, praising advertisers as its trusted partners who “stand with us.”

“It has been a quiet month at Twitter,” JP Maheu, leader of the company’s global client solutions team, quipped as he opened Twitter’s NewFront, presaging how little the presentation would address the Musk takeover saga that has been making headlines for weeks. The NewFronts are a weeklong parade of presentations by online media companies to drum up advertiser interest.

As part of Twitter’s presentation, the company announced it had partnered with Fox Sports for special programming for the FIFA men’s and women’s World Cups, with in-match previews and live prematch shows. Twitter also revealed a pilot program coming later this year that would let advertisers run ads in new ways on live-event pages. And it announced new or extended partnerships with publishers Conde Nast, Essence, E! News and Revolt, as well as with the WNBA.

Advertising is the lifeblood of Twitter’s business — last year, 89% of its revenue came from ads — but Musk’s planned purchase is the kind of change that makes advertisers jittery. The mercurial entrepreneur heightens uncertainty about the shape of Twitter to come, and, more significantly, he has been vocal (if vague) in advocating greater freedom of speech on the social network. 

To advertisers, more freedom of speech translates to looser content moderation. It’s the kind of risk that sends many advertisers running, should policy changes end up raising the chances that objectionable posts or toxic conversations run alongside a carefully constructed brand message. 

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After media reports in 2017 exposed examples of YouTube’s automated software sticking ads next to clips heavy on racism or other objectionable content, angry advertisers pulled out of Google’s video site in a widespread boycott, including giant brands like Pepsi, Walmart and AT&T. (Then, when YouTube responded by more aggressively demonetizing sensitive clips, it ended up outraging people who uploaded videos that seemed fine but still inexplicably lost their moneymaking power. Creators dubbed it “adpocalypse.”) 

As its future owner, Musk’s influence on content moderation isn’t clear. Twitter has said that its policy decisions aren’t determined by its board or shareholders and that it has no plans to reverse any existing policies. 

But Musk’s criticism of Twitter’s content moderation was a pillar of his roller-coaster bid for more control of the company. Musk tweeted a poll to his followers in March, asking whether Twitter was rigorously protecting free speech. The First Amendment, though, doesn’t bar companies from restricting speech. He followed up saying the consequences of the poll, in which roughly 70% of 2 million respondents voted “no,” would be “very important.” 

He made his offer to buy Twitter three weeks later.

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The post Twitter, in Its Big Pitch for Ads, Elides That Whole Elon Musk Thing first appeared on Joggingvideo.com.

Twitter is currently free to use for individuals, governments and companies, but incoming new owner Elon Musk has now hinted at change. While seeking funding for his $44 billion takeover, Musk reportedly pitched banks with his ideas on how the social media site could make more money. And on Tuesday, he tweeted that some groups may have to pay to use Twitter.

“Ultimately, the downfall of the Freemasons was giving away their stonecutting services for nothing,” he wrote. “Twitter will always be free for casual users, but maybe a slight cost for commercial/government users.”

The Freemasons are among the world’s oldest fraternal organizations and trace their origins to guilds of stonemasons.

Last week, Twitter accepted Musk’s offer to buy the company for $54.20 per share, but the deal still requires shareholder and regulatory approval. Musk often tweets his ideas for fixing the site to his nearly 91 million followers, and sometimes deletes them afterward. 

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

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Elon Musk’s deal to purchase Twitter for $44 billion is moving along, and not everyone is happy with the move. It’s why some people are considering deleting their accounts and permanently leaving the popular social media service. If you’re thinking about finally leaving the bird app for good, you should look into archiving all of your tweets and direct messages before you go.

Deleting Twitter isn’t just getting rid of your account. It means losing all thousands or more of your witty jokes, scathing comments and boisterous replies — not to mention any photos, videos and GIFs you’ve posted along the way. Fortunately, Twitter makes it easy to download a complete archive of your account that includes all of your past tweets and direct messages.

All you need to do is request the information from Twitter, and you’ll then be sent a file, which you can download to view all of your data from Twitter — for all time. Here’s everything you need to know about requesting and viewing your Twitter archive.

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How to request a copy of your Twitter data

The process of requesting your archive can only be done via the Twitter website, so I would suggest doing it on your desktop, but it can also easily be done on your phone or tablet. We’ll cover both options below.

If you’re on a mobile device, launch the Twitter app and tap your profile photo on the top-left to bring up the side menu. Next, scroll down and go to Settings and privacy > Your account > Download an archive of your data. This will launch an in-app browser, redirecting you to the Twitter website. Log in to the Twitter account you want your data from and tap Request archive.

On desktop, the process is pretty similar. Go to Twitter, tap on More and then go to Settings and privacy > Your account > Download an archive of your data. Enter your password as needed and click Request archive.

After you verify your account, the request will be processed and you’ll see a message stating it can take up to 24 hours for Twitter to process it.

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What to do once your Twitter Archive is ready

Twitter will send you a push alert via the Twitter app as well as an email letting you know when your data is ready to download. Follow the link in the email or alert, which will direct you back to the Settings page on Twitter’s website. Download your archive and unzip the compressed file.

Inside the folder you’ll find a file titled Your Archive. It’s an HTML file, so it should open a new tab in your default browser. It’s not actually loading a website. Instead, it’s giving you a streamlined way to view your Twitter account. Everything on the page should be interactive. 

For example, if you click on Tweets, you’ll be taken to a Twitter-like view of your posts. There’s a search tool on the side of the page that will make it easier to find a specific post. 

Alternatively, you can open the Data folder where you’ll find media folders that contain photos, videos and GIFs you’ve sent or received on Twitter, Moments, direct messages or Fleets. 

A friendly warning: You’ll find yourself taking a trip down memory lane after getting a copy of your archive. Writing this story took me twice as long as it should have because I kept going back and looking at old DMs and posts. 

Now that you’ve spent far too long looking through old messages, be sure to check out our helpful guides that walk you through downloading your data from Google and Facebook. Looking for ways to boost your Twitter account’s privacy? We have your back.

The post Deleting Your Twitter? Here’s How to Archive Your Tweets and DMs Before You Leave first appeared on Joggingvideo.com.