abuse
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Twitch responds to sexual abuse accusations, bans several streamers
Twitch said it was looking into accusations of abuse and harassment by some of its partnered streamers, and today issued several bans while it continues to investigate.
Facebook, Google and others adopt guidelines intended to fight child abuse
Today, the Department of Justice (DOJ) and Homeland Security -- along with government counterparts in Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United Kingdom -- published guidelines to help the tech industry fight online child exploitation. The principles were developed "in consultation" with Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Roblox, Snap and Twitter, after all six companies agreed to tackling the online child sexual abuse epidemic.
'CS:GO' will soon mute abusive players by default
Valve is working on a new moderation system for CS:GO that could finally give toxic players pause. This upcoming system will warn players if they receive significantly more abuse reports than their peers and punishes them if they ignore it. How? Well, if others continue reporting them for abuse despite that initial warning, then they will be muted by everyone by default. Other players can choose to manually unmute them, but they'll remain in that default mute state until they earn enough XP to shake off the penalty.
Twitter bans financial site Zero Hedge over false coronavirus claims
It's not just Facebook and Google fighting false coronavirus information. Twitter has permanently banned financial site and conspiracy promoter Zero Hedge after it shared a story that not only made unsubstantiated claims that a Wuhan-based scientist created the new coronavirus as a weapon, but doxxed the researcher by publishing a name, photo, email and phone number. As BuzzFeed News discovered, Zero Hedge had suggested that readers "probably pay [the scientist] a visit" -- a thinly-veiled threat of violence.
Twitter will give you control over who can reply to tweets
Twitter has yet another way to reduce harassment in your mentions: Prevent ne'er-do-wells from replying in the first place. It's developing a feature that lets you determine who's allowed to participate in the conversation. In addition to the usual free-for-all (global), you can limit replies to people you follow and mention (group), only the people included in the conversation (panel) or no one at all (statement). You wouldn't have to take your account private just to avoid strangers hurling toxic commentary in your direction.
France fines Google $167 million over unpredictable advertising rules
After a four-year investigation, France's competition watchdog is fining Google €150 million ($167 million) for opaque and unpredictable advertising rules, Reuters reports. The investigation began after French company Gibmedia accused Google of suspending its Google Ads account without notice. According to Reuters, the French regulator alleges that, by changing its terms of use and rules at will, Google abused its market power. Google plans to appeal the decision.
Twitter says it's better at spotting abusive tweets than users
Twitter says it has achieved a major milestone in its attempts to improve the "health" of its platform. According to the company's most recent earnings report, 50 percent of abusive tweets removed this past quarter were pulled before a user even flagged the content. That's up from 38 percent in Q1. Twitter adds that it achieved the milestone on the back of improvements it made to its machine learning-based moderation algorithms, which in turn forward more tweets to the company's employees to scrutinize.
House passes controversial copyright bill that could be abused by trolls
Yesterday, the House of Representatives voted in favor (410-6) of a controversial copyright bill known as the Copyright Alternative in Small-Claims Enforcement Act of 2019, or CASE Act. The bill is meant to give independent creators an affordable and accessible way to defend their intellectual property. But critics question whether it is constitutional and argue that it could be abused by trolls, potentially bankrupting the creators it's meant to benefit.
Reddit widens its anti-harassment policies to enable swifter crackdowns
Reddit is toughening its anti-harassment policies, and that's having consequences for parts of its community. The social site's new approach no longer limits harassment to those instances of "continued" or "systematic" activity, and includes any instance where a perpetrator tries to "shut someone out of the conversation," not just threats to real-world safety. That can include direct threats against people or whole groups, rallying others for harassment campaigns, following someone around or otherwise taking measures that would "discourage a reasonable person" from using Reddit.
'Night in the Woods' studio cuts ties with co-founder Alec Holowka
The team behind the popular indie adventure game Night in the Woods has cut ties with game developer Alec Holowka following allegations of harassment and abuse from fellow game maker and former romantic partner Zoë Quinn. A planned physical release for the title from Limited Run games has been postponed and an unnamed project being worked on by the team has been cancelled, according to the development team. An iOS port of Night in the Woods remains in progress.
Two-thirds of online gamers in the US experience 'severe' harassment
It's no secret that online gaming can harbor toxic and abusive behavior. But a new survey by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) says as many as many as two-thirds of US online gamers have experienced "severe" harassment. More than half of the respondents said they've been targeted based on their race, religion, ability, gender, sexual orientation or ethnicity. Nearly 30 percent claim they've been doxxed in an online game, and nearly a quarter of respondents say they've been exposed to white supremacist ideology.
Twitter will label tweets from politicians that violate rules
Twitter is adding a label to tweets that break its rules but are still considered to be in the public interest, namely from elected officials or those running for office. The company mentioned in March it was considering such a policy, and now it's enacting the measure effective immediately.
Xbox chief outlines plans to curb toxic behavior
Xbox head Phil Spencer has laid out some measures to combat some of the more negative aspects that pervade gaming communities such as toxicity and abuse. He wrote in a blog post that "gaming is for everyone" and people everywhere, from all backgrounds and walks of life, "are welcome to play and welcome to all the fun and skill-building that comes with gaming."
Researchers say Twitter's not doing enough to combat abuse
Twitter says that it has seen a marked decline in reports of abuse, with a commensurate surge in its profitability. But not everyone agrees, including researchers at the University of Iowa, which says the platform is sleeping on dealing with abusive accounts.
YouTube will experiment with ways to prevent dislike button 'mobs'
YouTube is all too aware of the potential for abuse of the dislike button, and it could soon take steps to make people think carefully about hitting that thumbs-down icon. Project management director Tom Leung posted an update this week revealing that YouTube is discussing experiments that could prevent "dislike mobs" from running rampant. It could turn off rating counts by default, require an explanation for a dislike, remove just the dislike count or even remove dislikes altogether.
Study: Women are abused every 30 seconds on Twitter
Earlier this year Amnesty International released a report discussing what many of Twitter's female users already know: the social network is not always a great place to be if you're a woman. Now, a new study reveals the hard statistics on just how toxic the situation is. According to the report by Amnesty International and global AI software company Element AI, female journalists and politicians were abused every 30 seconds on Twitter in 2017.
EA removes Kareem Hunt from 'Madden 19' following assault
A football player's conduct is leading to consequences on both real and virtual football fields. EA is removing former Kansas City Chiefs running back Kareem Hunt from Madden 19 after TMZ showed a video of Hunt kicking and shoving a woman in a Cleveland hotel in February. He'd been dropped from the Chiefs on November 30th, the same day the video went public.
For Twitter, 'sorry' seems to be the easiest word
Two weeks before Cesar Sayoc was arrested for mailing 13 pipe bombs (and counting) to various Democratic politicians and supporters, including President Barack Obama, he was threatening people on Twitter who opposed his nationalist, pro-Trump views. In a tweet to political analyst Rochelle Ritchie on October 11th, which he sent from one of two Twitter accounts that have since been suspended, he said she should hug her "loved ones real close every time" she left home. "So you like [to] make threats. We Unconquered Seminole Tribe will answer your threats. We have nice silent Air boat ride for you here on our land Everglades Swamp. We will see u 4 sure," he added. Ritchie reported the tweet, only to be told by Twitter that it did not violate its terms of service.
Twitter's new content policy takes aim at 'dehumanizing speech'
Though Twitter has a policy against hateful conduct, which prohibits threats of violence against others based on factors like their race, ethnicity or sexual orientation, the platform has come under frequent criticism for what it still allows on its site. But the company is now considering a new policy and before it's implemented, Twitter is asking users what they think. The new policy addresses dehumanization and it says users can't "dehumanize anyone based on membership in an identifiable group, as this speech can lead to offline harm," and Twitter is asking you to weigh in on the proposed rule.
Twitter wants to ‘increase the health of public conversation’
Twitter doesn't only want to be more transparent about the toxic content on its site, it also wants to be more proactive about removing it altogether. Speaking to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce today, as part of a hearing titled "Twitter: Transparency and Accountability," CEO Jack Dorsey said that his company's singular objective is to "increase the health of public conversation." But he said this isn't just about spotting and removing abusive content like harassment, or blocking suspicious accounts. It's also about doing so in a timely, more proactive manner. As it stands, Dorsey said, Twitter relies heavily on users reporting others' bad behavior and that simply needs to change.
