When Elon Musk took over Twitter in October 2022, he said he wanted to turn the blue bird app into a “digital town square,” where different opinions could be debated.
“This is extremely problematic given the fact that this is how people communicate, this is how they get their information,” Ritesh Kotak, a Toronto-based technology and cybersecurity expert, told CTV News Channel on Sunday.
“Instead of this being an open digital town square, it seems like the walls are actually closing in.”
Originally, he said verified Twitter accounts would be limited to reading 6,000 posts a day, unverified accounts would be limited to 600 posts a day and new unverified accounts would be limited to 300 posts a day.
Within a span of a few hours, Musk announced changes to those limits twice. He eventually gave verified accounts access to 10,000 tweets a day, unverified accounts access to 1,000 tweets a day, and new unverified accounts access to 500 tweets a day.
Kotak said he was shocked by the move.
“It is drastic. And it just came out of the blue,” he said.
More than 60 users reported possible problems with Twitter as of Sunday afternoon, according to Downdetector, while 38 reports of possible problems with Tweetdeck were issued. By Monday afternoon, those figures dropped to 15 reports and four reports, respectively.
CTVNews.ca reached out to Twitter’s media division for comment, but received a smiling poop emoji in response.
WHAT IS DATA SCRAPING?
Data scraping is the automated process of extracting large amounts of data from websites or online sources.
This will be unlocked shortly. Per my earlier post, drastic & immediate action was necessary due to EXTREME levels of data scraping.
Almost every company doing AI, from startups to some of the biggest corporations on Earth, was scraping vast amounts of data.
“Almost every company doing AI, from startups to some of the biggest corporations on Earth, was scraping vast amounts of data,” Musk said in a tweet.
“It is rather galling to have to bring large numbers of servers online on an emergency basis just to facilitate some AI startup’s outrageous valuation.”
‘IT CAUSED ISSUES,’ EXPERT SAYS: HOW THE RECENT CHANGES IMPACT CANADIANS
The recent changes have received backlash from many users, some of which say they plan to flock to platforms such as Mastodon in an effort to boycott Twitter.
Limiting access to tweets restricts people’s access to critical information, Kotak said, pointing to extreme weather events as one scenario where people may rely on Twitter to find out what is happening in their area and how to respond effectively.
“It caused issues (on Saturday), especially given the fact that we did have some extreme weather across the country … and a lot of people who do get their news from Twitter were actually unable to see tweets because they exceeded their limit,” he said.
Some users have also expressed displeasure over the fact that Musk has begun to monetize the platform by allowing those who pay a monthly fee to access more tweets as part of the company’s Twitter Blue subscription service.
Twitter Blue also gives users access to other features, such as a verified blue checkmark badge, as well as the ability to edit and write longer tweets. It was introduced in December 2022.
The tweet limits have sparked outrage among media professionals as well, since they heavily rely on social media platforms like Twitter to gather and disseminate information in such cases.
“I think Twitter was probably the most open platform where any individual (could) go to … just be able to read particular tweets, see what people are saying … We didn’t have all these restrictions,” Kotak said.
“This has changed in the last little bit since Elon Musk took over.”
TORONTO – Restaurant Brands International Inc. reported net income of US$357 million for its third quarter, down from US$364 million in the same quarter last year.
The company, which keeps its books in U.S. dollars, says its profit amounted to 79 cents US per diluted share for the quarter ended Sept. 30 compared with 79 cents US per diluted share a year earlier.
Revenue for the parent company of Tim Hortons, Burger King, Popeyes and Firehouse Subs, totalled US$2.29 billion, up from US$1.84 billion in the same quarter last year.
Consolidated comparable sales were up 0.3 per cent.
On an adjusted basis, Restaurant Brands says it earned 93 cents US per diluted share in its latest quarter, up from an adjusted profit of 90 cents US per diluted share a year earlier.
The average analyst estimate had been for a profit of 95 cents US per share, according to LSEG Data & Analytics.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 5, 2024.
ST. JOHN’S, N.L. – Fortis Inc. reported a third-quarter profit of $420 million, up from $394 million in the same quarter last year.
The electric and gas utility says the profit amounted to 85 cents per share for the quarter ended Sept. 30, up from 81 cents per share a year earlier.
Fortis says the increase was driven by rate base growth across its utilities, and strong earnings in Arizona largely reflecting new customer rates at Tucson Electric Power.
Revenue in the quarter totalled $2.77 billion, up from $2.72 billion in the same quarter last year.
On an adjusted basis, Fortis says it earned 85 cents per share in its latest quarter, up from an adjusted profit of 84 cents per share in the third quarter of 2023.
The average analyst estimate had been for a profit of 82 cents per share, according to LSEG Data & Analytics.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 5, 2024.
TORONTO – Thomson Reuters reported its third-quarter profit fell compared with a year ago as its revenue rose eight per cent.
The company, which keeps its books in U.S. dollars, says it earned US$301 million or 67 cents US per diluted share for the quarter ended Sept. 30. The result compared with a profit of US$367 million or 80 cents US per diluted share in the same quarter a year earlier.
Revenue for the quarter totalled US$1.72 billion, up from US$1.59 billion a year earlier.
In its outlook, Thomson Reuters says it now expects organic revenue growth of 7.0 per cent for its full year, up from earlier expectations for growth of 6.5 per cent.
On an adjusted basis, Thomson Reuters says it earned 80 cents US per share in its latest quarter, down from an adjusted profit of 82 cents US per share in the same quarter last year.
The average analyst estimate had been for a profit of 76 cents US per share, according to LSEG Data & Analytics.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 5, 2024.
