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Do not fill this in! === Usage === {{Main|Twitter usage}} {{summarize|from|Twitter usage|section=y|brevity=y|date=November 2023}} [[File:Twitter Town Hall-Dorsey Obama.png|thumb|alt=Man in his twenties smiling at left, man in his forties using computer at center, large crystal chandelier, several people in audience|Dorsey (left) said after a [[Barack Obama on social media|Twitter Town Hall with Barack Obama]] held in July 2011, that Twitter received over 110,000 #Ask[[Barack Obama|Obama]] tweets.<ref>{{Cite AV media|people=Jack Dorsey|title=Impressions on the White House Twitter Townhall|url=https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/photos-and-video/video/2011/07/08/impressions-white-house-twitter-townhall|date=July 8, 2011|via=[[NARA|National Archives]]|work=[[whitehouse.gov]]|access-date=July 10, 2011}}</ref>]] ==== Protesters ==== X has been used for a variety of purposes in many industries and scenarios. For example, it has been used to organize protests, including the [[April 2009 Moldovan parliamentary election protests|protests over the 2009 Moldovan election]], the [[2009 student protests in Austria]], the 2009 [[Gaza–Israel conflict]], the 2009 [[Iranian Green Movement|Iranian green revolution]], the 2010 [[2010 G20 Toronto summit protests|Toronto G20 protests]], the 2010 [[Bolivarian Revolution]], the 2010 [[Stuttgart 21|Stuttgart21 protests in Germany]], the 2011 [[Egyptian revolution of 2011|Egyptian Revolution]], [[2011 England riots]], the 2011 United States [[Occupy movement]], the 2011 [[anti-austerity movement in Spain]], the 2011 [[Anti-austerity movement in Greece|Aganaktismenoi movements in Greece]], the 2011 [[2011 Rome demonstration|demonstration in Rome]], the 2011 [[2011 Wisconsin protests|Wisconsin labor protests]], the 2012 [[Gaza–Israel conflict]], the [[2013 protests in Brazil]], and the 2013 [[Gezi Park protests|Gezi Park protests in Turkey]].<ref name="Buettner2016a">{{cite conference |title=A Systematic Literature Review of Twitter Research from a Socio-Political Revolution Perspective |author1=Buettner, Ricardo |author2=Buettner, Katharina |name-list-style=amp |year=2016 |conference=49th Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences |conference-url=http://www.hicss.org |publisher=IEEE |location=Kauai, Hawaii |doi=10.13140/RG.2.1.4239.9442}}</ref> The service is also used as a form of [[civil disobedience]]: In 2010, users expressed outrage over the [[Twitter joke trial]] by copying a controversial joke about bombing an airport and attaching the hashtag #IAmSpartacus, a reference to the film ''[[Spartacus (film)|Spartacus]]'' (1960) and a sign of solidarity and support to a man controversially prosecuted after posting a tweet joking about bombing [[Doncaster Sheffield Airport|an airport]] if they canceled his flight. #IAmSpartacus became the number one trending topic on Twitter worldwide.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2010/nov/12/iamspartacus-campaign-twitter-airport|title=#IAmSpartacus campaign explodes on Twitter in support of airport joker|last=Siddique|first=Haroon|date=November 12, 2010|newspaper=[[The Guardian]]|access-date=November 20, 2016}}</ref> Another case of civil disobedience happened in the [[2011 British privacy injunctions controversy|2011 British privacy injunction debate]], where several celebrities who had taken out anonymized injunctions were identified by thousands of users in protest to traditional journalism being censored.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2011/may/22/scottish-newspaper-identifies-injuction-footballer|title=Scottish newspaper identifies injunction footballer|last1=Gabbatt|first1=Adam|last2=Taylor|first2=Matthew|date=May 22, 2011|newspaper=[[The Guardian]]|access-date=May 22, 2011}}</ref> During the [[Arab Spring]] in early 2011, the number of hashtags mentioning the uprisings in [[Tunisia]] and [[Egypt]] increased.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/americas/september-11/twitters-influence-on-the-arab-spring/article2135272/|title=Twitter's influence on the Arab Spring|date=August 19, 2011|newspaper=[[The Globe and Mail]]|access-date=November 20, 2016|archive-date=July 7, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170707174447/https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/americas/september-11/twitters-influence-on-the-arab-spring/article2135272/|url-status=dead}}</ref> A study by the [[Mohammed bin Rashid School of Government|Dubai School of Government]] found that only 0.26% of the Egyptian population, 0.1% of the Tunisian population and 0.04% of the Syrian population are active on Twitter.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://mashable.com/2012/06/08/arab-world-facebook-twitter/#JKkkUqJb5kqk|title=How the Arab World Uses Facebook and Twitter|last=Fox|first=Zoe|date=June 8, 2012|publisher=[[Mashable]]|access-date=November 20, 2016}}</ref> ==== Governments ==== According to documents leaked by [[Edward Snowden]] and published in July 2014, the United Kingdom's [[GCHQ]] has a tool named BIRDSONG for "automated posting of Twitter updates" and a tool named BIRDSTRIKE for "Twitter monitoring and profile collection".<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-28306819|title=GCHQ leak lists UK cyber-spies' hacking tools|work=BBC News|date=July 15, 2014|access-date= July 16, 2014}}</ref><ref>[https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/1217406-jtrigall.html#document/p4 "JTRIG Tools and Techniques"]. Retrieved July 16, 2014.</ref> During the [[2019–20 Hong Kong protests]], [[Reactions to the 2019–20 Hong Kong protests#Other reactions|Twitter suspended a core group]] of 1,000 "fake" accounts and an associated network of 200,000 accounts for operating a [[disinformation]] campaign that was linked to the [[Chinese government]]. In their announcement, Twitter released two data sets detailing the core group's account activity.<ref>{{cite web|first1=Makena|last1=Kelly|access-date=August 28, 2019|title=Facebook and Twitter uncover Chinese trolls spreading doubts about Hong Kong protests|url=https://www.theverge.com/2019/8/19/20812621/twitter-facebook-china-hong-kong-protests-information-operation-disinfo|date=August 19, 2019|website=[[The Verge]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|access-date=August 28, 2019|title=Hong Kong protests: Twitter and Facebook crack down on "deceptive" accounts linked to China|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/hong-kong-protests-twitter-facebook-crack-down-on-deceptive-accounts-linked-to-china/|website=[[CBS News]]|first=Ramy|last=Inocencio|date=August 20, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Information operations directed at Hong Kong|url=https://blog.twitter.com/en_us/topics/company/2019/information_operations_directed_at_Hong_Kong|website=Twitter Blog|date=August 19, 2019}}</ref> [[Geng Shuang]], the spokesperson of the Chinese [[Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China|Ministry of Foreign Affairs]], did not comment on the suspensions but suggested that the activity could be attributed to [[overseas Chinese]] citizens.<ref>{{cite news|access-date=August 28, 2019|title=China cries foul over Facebook, Twitter block of fake accounts|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-hongkong-protests-twitter-idUSKCN1VA0RQ|newspaper=[[Reuters]]|date=August 20, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|access-date=August 28, 2019|title=China Resists Charge by Twitter, Facebook of Disinformation Effort|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/china-resists-charge-by-twitter-facebook-of-disinformation-effort-11566339132|website=[[The Wall Street Journal]]|date=August 20, 2019}}</ref> On June 12, 2020, Twitter suspended over 7,000 accounts from Turkey because those accounts were fake profiles, designed to support the Turkish president, [[Recep Tayyip Erdoğan]], and were managed by a central authority. Turkey's communication director said that the decision was illogical, biased, and politically motivated.<ref>{{cite web|title=Ankara reacts to Twitter's move to suspend accounts|url=https://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/ankara-reacts-to-twitters-move-to-suspend-accounts-155608|website=hurriyetdailynews|date=June 13, 2020}}</ref> Turkey blocked access to Twitter twice, once after voice recordings appeared on Twitter in which Erdoğan ordered his son to stash away millions of dollars and another time for 12 hours in the aftermath of the [[2023 Turkey–Syria earthquake|earthquake of February 2023]], when Erdoğan blamed the people for a disinformation campaign as they criticized the Government for their lack of help.<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Burga |first=Solcyre |date=February 15, 2023 |title=How Turkey's Earthquake Response Failed Its People |url=https://time.com/6255634/earthquake-turkey-syria-erdogan-rescue/ |access-date=February 17, 2023 |magazine=Time |language=en}}</ref> In May 2021, Twitter labeled one of the tweets by [[Sambit Patra]], a spokesman of the local ruling party [[Bharatiya Janata Party|BJP]] in India, as "manipulated media," leading to Twitter's offices in [[Delhi]] and [[Gurgaon]] being raided by the local police.<ref name=DelhiRaid>{{cite news |title=Police in India visited Twitter offices over 'manipulated media' label |url=https://techcrunch.com/2021/05/24/delhi-police-run-by-indias-central-government-raids-twitter-offices-over-manipulated-label/ |last=Singh |first=Manish |work=TechCrunch |date=May 24, 2021 |access-date=May 27, 2021}}</ref> Twitter issued a statement, calling the police visit "a form of intimidation.".<ref>{{cite news |title=Twitter says concerned with India intimidation, requests 3 more months to comply with new IT rules |url=https://techcrunch.com/2021/05/27/twitter-says-concerned-with-india-intimidation-requests-3-more-months-to-comply-with-new-it-rules/ |last=Singh |first=Manish |work=TechCrunch |date=May 27, 2021 |access-date=May 27, 2021}}</ref> Later, the [[Government of India|Indian government]] released a statement in July 2021 claiming Twitter has lost its liability protection concerning user-generated content. This was brought on by Twitter's failure to comply with the [[Information Technology Rules, 2021|new IT rules]] introduced in 2021, with a filing stating that the company failed to appoint executives to govern user content on the platform.<ref>{{Cite news |date=July 6, 2021 |title=Twitter loses immunity over user-generated content in India |work=Reuters |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/india/twitter-loses-immunity-over-user-generated-content-india-2021-07-06/ |access-date=July 6, 2021}}</ref> Twitter stated to India's government in August 2021 that they have appointed permanent executives and staff to provide for compliance to these new IT rules.<ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-08-06/twitter-says-has-appointed-officials-to-comply-with-india-rules | title = Twitter Says Has Appointed Officials to Comply With India Rules | first = Upmanyu | last = Trivedi | date = August 6, 2021 | access-date= August 6, 2021 | work = [[Bloomberg News]] }}</ref> ==== Pornography ==== Twitter allows pornographic content as long as it is marked "sensitive" by uploaders, which puts it behind an interstice and hides it from minors.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Twitter's sensitive media policy {{!}} Twitter Help |url=https://help.twitter.com/en/rules-and-policies/media-policy |access-date=April 14, 2022 |website=help.twitter.com}}</ref> The "super-follow" feature is said to enable competition with the subscription site [[OnlyFans]], used mainly by sex workers.<ref>{{Cite web |date=March 4, 2021 |title=How Twitter is becoming more like OnlyFans - and what that means for users |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/tech/twitter-only-fans-pornography-adult-content-subscription-b1812464.html |access-date=April 14, 2022 |website=The Independent}}</ref> Content filtering services for families and schools have noted that the company makes "it really easy to find" porn and advises blocking the entire domain.<ref>{{Cite news |date=March 16, 2021 |title=Twitter Porn: Here's What Every Parent Needs to Know |url=https://www.bark.us/blog/twitter-porn/ |access-date=April 14, 2022 |newspaper=Bark|last1=Zapal |first1=Haley }}</ref> Many performers use Twitter's service to market and grow their porn businesses, attracting users to paywalled services like OnlyFans by distributing photos and short video clips as advertisements. In April 2022, Twitter convened a "Red Team" for the project of ACM, "Adult Content Monetization", as it is known internally. Eventually, the project was abandoned, because of the difficulty of implementing Real ID.<ref name="Newton-2022"/> ==== Child sexual exploitation ==== A February 2021 report from the company's Health team begins, "While the amount of CSE (child sexual exploitation) online has grown exponentially, Twitter's investment in technologies to detect and manage the growth has not." Until February 2022, the only way for users to flag illegal content was to flag it as "sensitive media," a broad category that left much of the worst material unprioritized for moderation. In a February report, employees wrote that Twitter, along with other Tech Companies have "accelerated the pace of CSE content creation and distribution to a breaking point where manual detection, review, and investigations no longer scale" by allowing pornography and failing to invest in systems that could effectively monitor it. The working group made several recommendations, but they were not taken up and the group was disbanded. As part of its efforts to monetize porn, Twitter held an internal investigation that reported in April 2022, "Twitter cannot accurately detect child sexual exploitation and non-consensual nudity at scale."<ref name="Newton-2022">{{Cite web |last=Newton |first=Casey |date=August 30, 2022 |title=How Twitter's child porn problem ruined its plans for an OnlyFans competitor |url=https://www.theverge.com/23327809/twitter-onlyfans-child-sexual-content-problem-elon-musk |access-date=September 30, 2022 |website=The Verge}}</ref> ''John Doe et al. v. Twitter'', a civil lawsuit filed in the 9th Circuit Court, alleges that Twitter benefited from sex trafficking and refused to remove the illegal tweets when first informed of them.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Twitter Faces Claim It Benefited From Child Sex Trafficking |url=https://news.bloomberglaw.com/product-liability-and-toxics-law/twitter-faces-claim-it-benefited-from-child-sex-trafficking |access-date=September 30, 2022 |website=news.bloomberglaw.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Doe v. Twitter, Inc., 555 F. Supp. 3d 889 (N.D. Cal. 2021), Court Opinion |url=https://www.bloomberglaw.com/public/desktop/document/Doe_v_Twitter_Inc_No_21cv00485JCS_2021_BL_313988_ND_Cal_Aug_19_20?1664500107 |access-date=September 30, 2022 |website=www.bloomberglaw.com}}</ref> In an amicus brief filed in the case, the [[National Center for Missing & Exploited Children|NCMEC]] said, "The children informed the company that they were minors, that they had been 'baited, harassed, and threatened' into making the videos, that they were victims of 'sex abuse' under investigation by law enforcement" but Twitter failed to remove the videos, "allowing them to be viewed by hundreds of thousands of the platform's users".<ref name="Newton-2022" /> Some major brands, including Dyson, Mazda, Forbes, and PBS Kids, suspended their marketing campaigns and pulled their ads from the platform, after an investigation into child porn on twitter showed that Twitter failed to suspend 70% of the accounts that shared or solicited the prohibited content. A brand president at Cole Haan said, "We're horrified ... either Twitter is going to fix this, or we'll fix it by any means we can, which includes not buying Twitter ads."<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Dang |first1=Sheila |last2=Paul |first2=Katie |date=September 29, 2022 |title=Exclusive: Brands blast Twitter for ads next to child pornography accounts |work=Reuters |url=https://www.reuters.com/technology/exclusive-brands-blast-twitter-ads-next-child-pornography-accounts-2022-09-28/ |access-date=September 30, 2022}}</ref> Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page