November 27, 2023

Rest of World: The end of anonymity on Chinese social media

Rest of World: The end of anonymity on Chinese social media. “On October 31, Weibo, as well as several other major Chinese social media platforms including WeChat, Douyin, Zhihu, Xiaohongshu, and Kuaishou, announced that they now required popular users’ legal names to be made visible to the public. Weibo stated in a public post that the new rule would first apply to all users with over 1 million followers, then to those with over 500,000.”

Around the Search & Social Media World 0
October 21, 2023

The Messenger: Weibo, a Chinese Social Media Giant, Will Force Its Most Popular Accounts to Reveal Their Identities

The Messenger: Weibo, a Chinese Social Media Giant, Will Force Its Most Popular Accounts to Reveal Their Identities. “Weibo, one of China’s most popular social media platforms, will make its most popular accounts display their real names, breaking with long-held tradition on the internet for users to be able to hide their identities. Weibo CEO Wang Gaofei said the policy will apply to users with over one million followers and comment on topics including politics, finance and entertainment, Reuters reports.”

Around the Search & Social Media World 0
October 11, 2023

Rest of World: Why thousands of young Chinese people use a pink dinosaur as their alias

Rest of World: Why thousands of young Chinese people use a pink dinosaur as their alias. “[Emily] Yuan is just one of tens of thousands of Chinese social media users who have adopted momo the pink dinosaur as their online alias, as a way to speak more freely, evade harassment, and protect their privacy. Today, you can find momos in all corners of the Chinese internet — from Douban forums on youth unemployment to Xiaohongshu posts recommending New York restaurants to Weibo threads discussing new TV shows. Douban’s momo group has over 11,000 members, while Xiaohongshu has over 10,000 users named momo, according to Chinese social media analytics site NewRank.”

Around the Search & Social Media World 0
August 21, 2023

Duke University: How to Depolarize Political Toxicity on Social Media

Duke University: How to Depolarize Political Toxicity on Social Media. “While social media is often blamed for exacerbating incivility and partisan polarization, research led by Duke University scholars found that anonymous online conversations using a mobile chat platform they developed can reduce political polarization. The research also showed how varying levels of anonymity can shape conversations about politics.”

Research & Opinion 0
July 11, 2023

Australian Associated Press: Google ordered to hand over details of anonymous sender

Australian Associated Press: Google ordered to hand over details of anonymous sender. “Google has been ordered to hand over the account information and IP address of a person who allegedly defamed a Victorian Labor candidate in an email. Nurul Khan was endorsed to run for the Labor Party in last year’s state election but an email littered with allegations against him was sent to ministers and news organisations on November 9.”

Security & Legal Issues 0
June 17, 2023

Judging the judges: New database lets law clerks speak out (Reuters)

Reuters: Judging the judges: New database lets law clerks speak out. “Lawyers often regard being a judicial clerk as one of the best professional experiences of their lives. But for Aliza Shatzman, it was the worst. After what she describes as a disastrous stint clerking for a judge (who is no longer on the bench) in Washington, D.C., Superior Court, Shatzman, 31, is on a mission. A year ago, she founded the nonprofit Legal Accountability Project, pledging to build a national database of reviews by former clerks to candidly — and if they prefer, anonymously — judge their judges as bosses and mentors.”

Security & Legal Issues 0
May 17, 2023

Ars Technica: Twitter sued over Saudi spying that allegedly landed popular user in prison

Ars Technica: Twitter sued over Saudi spying that allegedly landed popular user in prison. “While based in the United States from 2008 to 2014, human rights activist Abdulrahman Al-Sadhan tweeted critically about the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) to more than 160,000 followers. After he returned to Saudi Arabia in 2015, his anonymous account allegedly became unmasked by former Twitter employees who were charged with conspiring with the Saudi regime to silence dissidents. Now, his sister, Areej Al-Sadhan, is suing Twitter for allegedly violating its terms of service and giving her brother’s ‘identifying information to the government of Saudi Arabia’ when his Twitter speech should’ve been protected.”

Security & Legal Issues 0
January 15, 2023

MIT Technology Review: Inside the metaverse meetups that let people share on death, grief, and pain

MIT Technology Review: Inside the metaverse meetups that let people share on death, grief, and pain. “Death Q&A is a weekly hour-long session built around grappling with mortality, where attendees often open up about experiences and feelings they’ve shared with no one else. Bright, cartoon-like avatars represent the dozen or so people who attend each meetup, freed by VR’s combination of anonymity and togetherness to engage strangers with an earnestness we typically reserve for rare moments, if we reveal it at all.”

Around the Search & Social Media World 0
January 13, 2023

Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services: DHHS To Launch The IServe Nebraska Explore Benefits Tool

Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services: DHHS To Launch The IServe Nebraska Explore Benefits Tool. “The Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) will soon launch a new feature of the iServe Nebraska portal – Explore Benefits, an anonymous, mobile-friendly, pre-screening tool to help Nebraskans identify benefits for which they may qualify.” The tool will launch in both English and Spanish on January 27.

New Resources 0
December 27, 2022

Porn, Piracy, Fraud: What Lurks Inside Google’s Black Box Ad Empire (ProPublica)

ProPublica: Porn, Piracy, Fraud: What Lurks Inside Google’s Black Box Ad Empire. “Google’s embrace of publisher confidentiality means roughly 1 million publishers can remain anonymous to companies and individuals who buy ads on its network to reach customers. This opens the door to a range of abuses and schemes that steal potentially billions of dollars a year and put lives and livelihoods at risk due to dangerous disinformation, fraud and scams.”

Around the Search & Social Media World 0

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