Twitter

Twitter is removing the much-coveted verified status of users who post racist and hateful material, the company said Wednesday.

In a statement, the microblogging network's maintenance team specified that if a person breaks the twitter rules through his behavior, he will be deprived of his status in the social network, expressed by putting a blue badge.

Russian Twitter accounts posted almost 45,000 messages about Brexit in the 48 hours around last year's referendum in an attempt to sow discord during the vote on whether to leave the European Union, the Times newspaper reported on Wednesday, quoted by Reuters. 

After a successful test period, Twitter decided to double the maximum length of posts and to switch to 280 characters, the US company said. The news is a mini-revolution for the social network, the press reported.

The US president's main communications channel has been disrupted, Nova TV reported. Donald Trump's Twitter account was disconnected for 11 minutes.

This is the preferred billionaire channel to share his views. The profile has nearly 42 million followers, Nova TV recalls.

Initially, Twitter reported that it was an error.

Representatives of the technological giants Facebook, Twitter, and Google have appeared before the US Congress to testify to the distribution of untrue or misleading information paid by Russia on their platforms during the US presidential election last year, DPA and Associated Press reported.

U.S. social media companies have acknowledged that Russian entities used their platforms to sow discord and disinformation during and after the 2016 presidential campaign and pledged to better combat such abuses in the future.

In post-Harvey Weinstein America it appears no one is safe… not even Ellen DeGeneres.

DeGeneres caused a stir of disapproval on social media after wishing singer Katy Perry a happy birthday Wednesday. The tweet showcased a well-traveled photo of DeGeneres ogling Perry’s bosom at the 55th Grammy Awards.

The Twitter social network has banned Russia Today (RT) and Sputnik's Russian-language commercials, the BBC reported.

The actions are justified with the US administration's conclusion that the two media have "attempted to influence the US presidential election in 2016 on behalf of the Russian government."

Twitter has banned ads from RT and Sputnik over alleged meddling in the 2016 US election. RT’s editor-in-chief says the move will spark retaliation from Moscow and has revealed that Twitter pushed RT to spend ad money during the presidential campaign.
The social network says it will give away money already earned from the two companies.