Headline

Online Hatred: Australia Demands Answers From Twitter, Threatens Sanction

Published

11 months ago

June 22, 2023

Editor

Australia issued a legal notice to Twitter on Thursday, demanding information about what the social media platform is doing to tackle online hate.

Twitter had dropped the ball on tackling hate, Australia’s eSafety commissioner Julie Inman Grant said.

“We are seeing a worrying surge in online hate,’’ she said.

A third of all complaints about online hate reported to eSafety were about Twitter.

It had received more complaints about online hate on Twitter in the past 12 months than any other platform.

An increasing number of reports of serious online abuse had been made since Elon Musk’s takeover of the company in October 2022, Inman Grant said.

Nearly one in five Australians had experienced online hate, she said.

First Nations Australians, disabled and LGBT people experienced online hate at double the rate of the rest of the
population, she added.

Twitter’s terms of use and policies prohibited hateful conduct on the platform, but the company was not likely to
be enforcing its own rules, Inman Grant said.

The reinstatement of banned accounts that had “emboldened extreme polarisers, peddlers of outrage and hate,
including neo-Nazis both in Australia and overseas, was also a concern, ’’ she said.

“We need accountability from these platforms and action to protect their users and you cannot have
accountability without transparency and that’s what legal notices like this one are designed to achieve.’’

If Twitter fails to respond to the legal notice within 28 days, the company could face a maximum fine of
nearly 700,000 Australian dollars (475,000 U.S. dollars) a day for continuing breaches.

Since March, Twitter’s press email has responded to requests from the media with a single
poop emoji.

Headline

Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger Finalise Regional Alliance Project

Published

1 min ago

May 18, 2024

Editor

Junta-run Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger have finalised plans to form a confederation after turning their backs on former colonial ruler France to seek closer ties with Russia.

Their foreign ministers met Friday in Niger’s capital Niamey to agree on a text establishing the Confederation of the Alliance of Sahel States (AES).

“The objective was to finalise the draft text relating to the institutionalisation and operationalisation of the Confederation of the Alliance of Sahel States (AES)”, said Niger Foreign Minister Bakary Yaou Sangare as he read the final statement late Friday.

He said the text would be adopted by the heads of state of the three countries at a summit, without specifying the date.

“We can consider very clearly, today, that the Confederation of the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) has been born,” Malian Foreign Minister Abdoulaye Diop said after meeting General Abdourahamane Tiani, the head of Nigerien military regime.

The third foreign minister at the meeting was Burkina Faso’s Karamoko Jean-Marie Traore.

The Sahel region has been subject to deadly jihadist violence for years, which they accused France of not being able to curb.

The three countries said late January they were quitting The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), which they said was under French influence, to create their own regional grouping.

AFP

Headline

Paul Kagame, Chimamanda Adichie, Aig-Imoukhuede, Other Africans Make Top 100 Influential Global

Published

4 hours ago

May 18, 2024

Editor

Combo of Paul Kagame, Chimamanda Adichie, Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede,Remi Dairo.

Rwanda President, Paul Kagame, Nigeria’s Chimamanda Adichie, and Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede, have been listed among top 100 influential global voices 2023/24.

Others list are president, the president , Institute of Productivity and Business Innovation, Africa and the Chief Operating Officer of Productivate Plus LLC, headquartered in Houston, Texas, Mr Remi Dairo; Adebayo Ogunlesi; Jumoke Adenowo, Ibukun Awosika; Malala Yousafzai, Strive Masiyiwa, Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al-Maktoum.

In recognition of this groundbreaking record, Dairo was honoured by the Leaders Without Borders Development Centre at the event which took place on 19th April at House of Lords, Palace of Westminster, United Kingdom in recognition of being a global voice.

Commenting, Dairo said, “I feel so excited and motivated for the journey of my efforts and contribution to productivity in the community is globally recognized. The journey started in Nigeria as the School of Productivity in 2007 and metamorphosed into the Institute of Productivity and Business Innovation (IPBiM) in 2017.”

Remi Dairo is the president of the Institute of Productivity and Business Innovation Management (IPBIM), a distinguished African institution with global outreach that globally focuses on African institutions of productivity and innovation learning. The institution is in partnership with some of the world’s best institutions around the globe.

Headline

Disregard Claim Of Me Bringing Investors To Nigeria – Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala

Published

15 hours ago

May 18, 2024

Editor

The Director-General of the World Trade Organization, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has denied sending a WhatsApp message claiming she’s bringing investors to Nigeria due to Tinubu’s “commendable policies”.

A message had been circulating on Whatsapp alleging that former Minister of Finance has been contacted by President, respected instutitions and investors who congratulated her because Nigeria has finally found a “focused leader.”

Anything forwarded to you purporting to be a WhatsApp message from me is fake – Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala debunks news claiming she?s bringing investors to Nigeria due to Tinubu?s ?commendable policies?

Reacting via her X handle, Okonjo-Iweala described it as fake. She wrote;

‘’It’s been brought to my attention that another FAKE message has been manufactured and is being forwarded on WhatsApp in my name. I want to make clear that this fake message is not from me. I am pleased that those who know me instantly recognized this as fake.

“Thanks to friends who brought this to my attention. Please be aware that I do not use WhatsApp broadcasts, thus anything forwarded to you purporting to be a WhatsApp message from me is FAKE.

“This is a bad example of the use of social media. I want to warn those in the business of manufacturing FAKE messages, that they will not succeed.”