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Twitter Suspends Accounts Promoting Philippines’ Presidential Hopeful

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Twitter has suspended hundreds of accounts reportedly linked to supporters of Philippine presidential frontrunner Ferdinand Marcos Jr, which the social media giant said had violated its rules on manipulation and spam.

The son and namesake of the country’s former dictator is drawing support from a massive social media campaign seeking to get him elected in May, which critics say is attempting to rewrite the family’s history.

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Twitter said it had reviewed the accounts and hashtags identified in a recent article by Philippine news site Rappler.

More than 300 accounts had been removed “for violating our platform manipulation and spam policy,” Twitter said in a statement sent to AFP Saturday.

Most of them had been taken down before the Rappler article was published on Tuesday and an investigation was ongoing, it said.

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Filipinos are among the world’s heaviest users of social media and the country has become a key battleground for fake news.

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“With the Philippine elections taking place this May, we remain vigilant about identifying and eliminating suspected information campaigns targeting election conversations,” Twitter said.

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Marcos Jr’s spokesman Vic Rodriguez said there was “no certainty” that all the suspended accounts belonged to supporters of the presidential hopeful.

Election victory for Marcos Jr would mark the ultimate political comeback for the family, which was chased into exile in the United States after its patriarch’s humiliating downfall in 1986.

Marcos Sr and his wife Imelda were accused of massive corruption while in power.

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Recent voter surveys show Marcos Jr holding a huge lead over his nearest rival and nemesis Leni Robredo, who is the incumbent vice president.

Rappler said Marcos Jr supporters were “looking to dominate Twitter” and that many of the accounts it investigated were created around the time he announced his bid for the presidency in October.

The accounts pushed the narrative that the Marcoses were “victims” of the 1986 revolt and their return to Malacanang presidential palace is “long overdue”, it added.

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Twitter said sharing political content on an account or rallying people do so via hashtags was allowed, “unless the accounts are inauthentic, compensated or automated, which we see no clear evidence of in this case.”

Last Monday, the social media giant said it was expanding a test feature that will allow users in Brazil, Spain and the Philippines to report misleading content.

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(AFP)

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NAFDAC Warns Against Use Of Excess Hydroquinone In Cosmetics

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The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has warned users of bleaching creams to refrain from using products containing excessive hydroquinone to safeguard their health.

NAFDAC Bauchi State Coordinator, Mr Hamis Yahaya, advised in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Bauchi on Tuesday.

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Hydroquinone is a skin-lightening agent used to treat hyperpigmentation, such as melasma and age spots.

READ ALSO: NAFDAC Alerts Public To Fake Antimalarial, Aflotin

Yahaya said that the approved quantity of the chemical substance in cosmetics was only two per cent.

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According to him, NAFDAC conducts checks on market products to ensure public health and safety.

The black colour provides natural protection against harmful radiation due to melanin content.

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“Applying creams with hydroquinone contents more than two per cent is harmful. Mixing creams by non-experts is wrong.

“Hydroquinone affects the health of the users gradually, including causing cancer,” he said.

Yahaya urged the media to raise awareness about the dangers of cosmetics that could endanger consumer lives.

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AU Helicopter Crashes In Somali Capital – State Media

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An African Union helicopter crashed Wednesday at the airport in the Somali capital Mogadishu with eight people onboard, state media said.

The aircraft was part of the African Union Support and Stabilisation Mission in Somalia (AUSSOM), tasked with fighting the Al-Shabaab militant group.

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The state media agency Sonna said the AUSSOM helicopter, carrying eight people, “crashed during landing at Mogadishu’s Aden Adde Airport this morning after departing Balidoogle”.

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The fire has been contained, and authorities are assessing the situation,” it said in a post on X.

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Sonna quoted the country’s civil aviation authorities as saying that “flight operations remain normal”.

There were no further details given, but unverified clips and images shared online showed a plume of black smoke over the city.

The AUSSOM mission faces funding difficulties, even as fears of an Al-Shabaab resurgence are stoked by attacks in the Horn of Africa nation.

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Australia Cancels Kanye West Visa Over ‘Heil Hitler’ Song

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Australia has cancelled US rapper Kanye West’s visa over his song glorifying Nazi leader Adolf Hitler, the government said Wednesday.

The 48-year-old musician, who has legally changed his name to Ye, released “Heil Hitler” on May 8, the 80th anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II.

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West — whose wife Bianca Censori is Australian — has been coming to Australia for some time because he has family in the country, Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said.

READ ALSO:Kanye West’s Website Goes Down After Nazi T-shirt Sales

He’s made a lot of offensive comments. But my officials looked at it again once he released the ‘Heil Hitler’ song and he no longer has a valid visa in Australia.”

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Burke said the rapper’s cancelled visa was not intended for holding concerts.

“It was a lower level, and the officials still looked at the law and said: You’re going to have a song and promote that sort of Nazism — we don’t need that in Australia,” he told public broadcaster ABC.

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Asked if it was sustainable to bar such a popular figure, the minister said: “I think what’s not sustainable is to import hatred.”

But he said immigration officials reassess each visa application.

Australian citizens have freedom of speech, Burke added.

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But we have enough problems in this country already without deliberately importing bigotry.”

AFP

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