Even years later, Twitter doesn’t delete your direct messages

When does “delete” really mean delete? Not always or even at all if you’re Twitter . Twitter retains direct messages for years, including messages you and others have deleted, but also data sent to and from accounts that have been deactivated and suspended. Security researcher Karan Saini found years-old messages found in a file from an […]

View More Even years later, Twitter doesn’t delete your direct messages

Manipulating an Indian politician’s tweets is worryingly easy to do

Here’s a concerning story from India, where the upcoming election is putting the use of social media in the spotlight. While the Indian government is putting Facebook, Google and other companies under pressure to prevent their digital platforms from being used for election manipulation, a journalist has demonstrated just how easy it is to control […]

View More Manipulating an Indian politician’s tweets is worryingly easy to do

Spotify buys Gimlet and Anchor in podcast push, earmarks $500M for more deals

Spotify is going after podcasts in a major way in 2019. The music streaming service today confirmed that it has snapped up two podcast networks — Gimlet and Anchor — in undisclosed deals. But that’s not all, the firm said it has plans to spend a further $400-$500 million “on multiple acquisitions in 2019” to get […]

View More Spotify buys Gimlet and Anchor in podcast push, earmarks $500M for more deals

Scooter startup Bird tried to silence a journalist. It did not go well.

Cory Doctorow doesn’t like censorship. He especially doesn’t like his own work being censored. Anyone who knows Doctorow knows his popular tech and culture blog Boing Boing, and anyone who reads Boing Boing knows Doctorow and his cohort of bloggers. The part-blogger, part special advisor at the online rights group Electronic Frontier Foundation, has written […]

View More Scooter startup Bird tried to silence a journalist. It did not go well.

UK police release airport drone suspects and admit there may not have been any drones after all

Less than a week after mystery drones grounded flights at the U.K.’s second largest airport, wreaking havoc on as many as 140,000 people’s travel plans for the Christmas period, police have admitted that there may in fact not have been any drones at all. Gatwick airport reopened on Friday after a one-day shutdown but it appears that investigators […]

View More UK police release airport drone suspects and admit there may not have been any drones after all

Indonesia e-commerce leader Tokopedia raises $1.1B from Alibaba and SoftBank’s Vision Fund

Indonesia-based e-commerce firm Tokopedia is the latest startup to enter the Vision Fund after it raised $1.1 billion Series G round led by the SoftBank megafund and Alibaba. SoftBank and Alibaba are existing investors in the business — the Chinese e-commerce giant led a $1.1 billion round last year, while SoftBank recently transitioned its shareholding […]

View More Indonesia e-commerce leader Tokopedia raises $1.1B from Alibaba and SoftBank’s Vision Fund

Payment service Toss becomes Korea’s newest unicorn after raising $80M

South Korea has got its third unicorn startup after Viva Republica, the company beyond popular payment app Toss, announced it has raised an $80 million round at a valuation of $1.2 billion. This new round is led by U.S. firms Kleiner Perkins and Ribbit Capital, both of which cut their first checks for Korea with this […]

View More Payment service Toss becomes Korea’s newest unicorn after raising $80M

White House shares manipulated Infowars video to justify CNN press ban

Read this slowly: The White House’s press secretary has tweeted a manipulated video shared by the editor-at-large of conspiracy theorist outlet Infowars to attempt to justify its decision to suspend the press credentials of CNN’s chief white house correspondent. CNN’s Jim Acosta had his press pass pulled by the White House earlier today after press secretary […]

View More White House shares manipulated Infowars video to justify CNN press ban

Bots Distorted the 2016 Election. Will the Midterms Be a Sequel?

Tiffany Olson Kleemann Contributor Tiffany Olson Kleemann is the chief executive officer of Distil Networks. She formerly served in executive roles at Symantec and FireEye and was deputy chief of staff for cybersecurity operations under President George W. Bush. The fact that Russian-linked bots penetrated social media to influence the 2016 U.S. presidential election has […]

View More Bots Distorted the 2016 Election. Will the Midterms Be a Sequel?

Richard Branson steps down as chairman of Virgin Hyperloop One

Richard Branson has reportedly stepped down from the chairman role of Virgin Hyperloop One. In a statement, cited by Reuters, Branson said that the company would require a more time than he could devote to the company. “At this stage in the company’s evolution, I feel it needs a more hands-on Chair, who can focus on […]

View More Richard Branson steps down as chairman of Virgin Hyperloop One

Saudi Arabia’s ‘Davos in the Desert’ website was hacked and defaced

The website of the Saudi government’s upcoming Future Investment Initiative conference was hacked and defaced with images of the murdered Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Several reporters tweeted screenshots of the site after its defacement, purporting to show Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman — the kingdom’s de facto ruler — brandishing a sword. A portion of […]

View More Saudi Arabia’s ‘Davos in the Desert’ website was hacked and defaced

A Twitter employee groomed by the Saudi government prompted 2015 state-sponsored hacking warning

An explosive report in The New York Times this weekend sheds new light on the apparent targeting of Twitter accounts by “state-sponsored actors” three years ago. It comes in the wake of the confirmed death of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi on Friday, two weeks after he disappeared in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. Khashoggi […]

View More A Twitter employee groomed by the Saudi government prompted 2015 state-sponsored hacking warning