Twitter steps up fight against fake accounts
San Francisco, Oct 2 : To further protect the integrity of elections, Twitter on Tuesday said it will now delete fake accounts engaged in a variety of emergent, malicious behaviours.
As platform manipulation tactics continue to evolve, the micro-blogging platform said it is expanding rules to better reflect how it identifies fake accounts and what types of inauthentic activity violate its guidelines before the US mid-term elections in November.
"Some of the factors that we will take into account when determining whether an account is fake include use of stock or stolen avatar photos, use of stolen or copied profile bios and use of intentionally misleading profile information, including profile location," said Del Harvey, Vice President, Trust and Safety, Twitter, in a blog post.
"We are expanding our enforcement approach to include accounts that deliberately mimic or are intended to replace accounts we have previously suspended for violating our rules," she added.
Twitter has also expanded the criteria for when it will take action on accounts which claim responsibility for a hack, which includes threats and public incentives to hack specific people and accounts.
"In August, we removed approximately 50 accounts misrepresenting themselves as members of various state Republican parties," informed Yoel Roth, Head of Site Integrity at Twitter.
"We have also taken action on Tweets sharing media regarding elections and political issues with misleading or incorrect party affiliation information," he added.
In August, Twitter removed 770 accounts engaging in coordinated behaviour which appeared to originate in Iran.
"Our automated detections continue to identify and challenge millions of potentially spammy and automated accounts per week. In the first half of September, we challenged an average of 9.4 million accounts each week," said Roth.
Twitter is also witnessing a decline in the average number of spam-related reports it receives from users each day -- from an average of approximately 17,000 per day in May to approximately 16,000 per day in September.
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Russia strikes warehouse of Indian pharma firm in Ukraine, says Kyiv's mission in Delhi
New Delhi, Apr 13 (PTI): A Russian missile struck a warehouse of an Indian pharmaceutical company in Ukraine on Saturday, the Ukrainian embassy in India said.
In a social media post, the mission alleged that though Russia claimed "special friendship" with India, it was deliberately targeting Indian businesses in Ukraine.
"Today, a Russian missile struck the warehouse of Indian pharmaceutical company Kusum in Ukraine," the Ukrainian embassy said.
"While claiming 'special friendship' with India, Moscow deliberately targets Indian businesses -- destroying medicines meant for children and the elderly," it said in a post on X.
No further details on the strike were immediately available.
Earlier, the UK's ambassador to Ukraine Martin Harris said Russian strikes destroyed a major pharmaceuticals warehouse in Kyiv.
He said the attack was carried out by Russian drones.
"This morning Russian drones completely destroyed a major pharmaceuticals warehouse in Kyiv, incinerating stocks of medicines needed by the elderly and children. Russia's campaign of terror against Ukrainian civilians continues," Harris said on X.
On its website, Kusum Healthcare said it had a presence in 29 countries, including Ukraine, Moldova, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan Kenya, Ivory Coast, Benin, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Niger, Cameroon, Mali and Tanzania.
In the last few days, Russia pounded several targets in Ukraine even as the US has been pushing for a ceasefire between Kyiv and Moscow.
US envoy Steve Witkoff met Russian President Vladimir Putin in St Petersburg on Friday to discuss the ceasefire in Ukraine.
Saturday marks exactly a month since Russia refused to accept a full interim ceasefire proposed by the US.
As Russia maintained its offensive against Ukraine, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha alleged that Russia was the "only obstacle to peace".
Sybiha, referring to US-brokered talks for peace in Jeddah, said Ukraine agreed to the proposal on ceasefire.
"Russia refused to agree, instead putting forward conditions and demands," he said.
From March 11 to April 11, Russia fired at Ukraine almost 70 missiles of various types, over 2,200 Shahed drones, and more than 6,000 guided aerial bombs, he said.
"These were Russian responses to peace proposals," Sybiha said.
Today, a Russian missile struck the warehouse of Indian pharmaceutical company Kusum in Ukraine.
— UKR Embassy in India (@UkrembInd) April 12, 2025
While claiming “special friendship” with India, Moscow deliberately targets Indian businesses — destroying medicines meant for children and the elderly.#russiaIsATerroristState https://t.co/AW2JMKulst
