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Twitter blue checkmark: A symbol of shame?

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After receiving a severe backlash from verified users who lost their blue checkmarks from their accounts, Twitter started to provide verification marks to celebrities. But this time, they are unwilling to accept it.

People who refused to have the verification badge include the rapper Lil Nas X, The New York Times, the scientist Neil deGrasse Tyson, journalist Kara Swisher, and satire account @dril, among others.

While people who have passed away have also had their verified status restored. Some of those accounts include Bob Saget, Kirstie Alley and Barbara Walters. 

Apparently, Elon Musk’s ignited chaos has largely damaged the honour and authenticity of the blue checkmark at a critical point when he has been eyeing to raise revenue from it. But the attempt proved otherwise as its advertising business witnessed a decline.

A number of high-profile personalities announced that they had been punished with the verification marks of Twitter, CNN reported.

People including actor Chrissy Teigen reported difficulties in attempting to remove the blue checkmark. She also tried to remove it by changing her display name and then ultimately met with success.

She wrote on Twitter: “It attached itself to me. How did it happen so fast? like the movie It Follows.”

The setback from a celebrity shows the gap in the strategy and execution of the plan and also shows how disconnected Elon Musk is from the high-profile Twitter users whose content has long kept the microblogging website afloat.

Cost of blue checkmark higher than revenue

After acquiring the social media giant for $44 billion last year, Musk said that the blue mark will not be only limited to high-profile users but to those who pay $8. 

He also said: “Power to the people! Blue for $8/month.”

The Twitter’s CEO’s decision to implement his plans were not welcomed. They had consequences such as a threat of spreading fake news via fake accounts made in the name of popular figures.

Similarly, Musk’s decisions have forced him to revert back to the old system where only a few had blue badges.

With the direction Musk has taken, those who have the badges are seen as loyal to the Twitter CEO but others are embarrassed to have badges on their account.

MSNBC host Mehdi Hasan noted on Twitter: “So, how do all the Musk fanboys and MAGA folks on this site feel about the fact that your conquering hero said he’d bring ‘equality’ and ‘people power’ to this site and then charged you all for Twitter Blue while giving it to people like me for free? Do you feel… owned?”

Many high-profile users have refused to pay for the badge — such as NYT and actor William Shatner — which paint a bleak picture of how would  Twitter raise its revenue parallel to the egalitarianism which Musk intended to promote.

People who refused to pay included LeBron James, Stephen King and Shatner. In response, Elon Musk said he was paying for their subscriptions.

The accounts that lost the mark were restored including President Joe Biden and Pope Francis with labels as “a government or multilateral organisation account.”

Nevertheless, it is a reminder that social media would not be democratised as Silicon Valley tried to do because there are still people who are to enjoy special privileges even on social media with reference to their status in the real world. 

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Cybersecurity firm reports exposure of sensitive DeepSeek data on the internet.

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The New York-based cybersecurity firm Wiz has discovered a cache of sensitive data from the Chinese artificial intelligence business DeepSeek that was mistakenly exposed to the public internet.

In a blog post released on Wednesday, Wiz reported that examinations of DeepSeek’s infrastructure revealed that the company had inadvertently exposed over a million lines of unencrypted data. The materials were digital software keys and chat logs that seemingly documented prompts transmitted from consumers to the company’s complimentary AI assistant.

The chief technical officer of Wiz stated that DeepSeek promptly safeguarded the data following the notice from his organisation.

“It was removed in under an hour,” stated Ami Luttwak. “However, this was exceedingly easy to locate, leading us to believe we are not the sole discoverers.”

DeepSeek did not promptly respond to a request for comment.

DeepSeek’s rapid success after the introduction of its AI helper has exhilarated China and incited concern in America. The Chinese company’s evident capacity to rival OpenAI’s skills at a significantly reduced cost has raised concerns regarding the viability of the business models and profit margins of U.S. AI behemoths like Nvidia and Microsoft.

By Monday, it surpassed the U.S. competitor ChatGPT in downloads from Apple’s App Store, prompting a worldwide decline in technology stocks.

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WhatsApp launches bulk channel management functionality

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WhatsApp has initiated testing of a bulk channel administration feature on iOS for select beta users, enabling the simultaneous selection of many channels, hence enhancing the efficiency of managing following channels.

This essential update enables users to perform bulk activities, including muting many channels simultaneously, designating them as read, and altering notifications. If the chosen channels are muted, users will now have the option to activate notifications. Users can swiftly silence unmuted channels in one action.

Additionally, this feature enables users to unfollow many channels simultaneously, thereby optimizing the process of decluttering their channel list. This change is particularly beneficial for users that oversee numerous subscriptions, as reported by WABetaInfo.

Previously, users were required to manage each channel individually, rendering tasks such as muting or designating channels as read laborious and time-consuming.

The functionality provides enhanced flexibility and control over channel subscriptions, enabling users to efficiently manage notifications. The solution streamlines laborious operations for consumers who subscribe to numerous channels, hence enhancing their entire experience.

Accessibility
The bulk management feature is presently accessible exclusively to a limited number of beta testers who installed the latest WhatsApp beta for iOS using the TestFlight application. WhatsApp, owned by Meta, plans to expand the feature’s availability to a larger user base in the next weeks.

This update demonstrates WhatsApp’s dedication to enhancing user experience by offering a clear and efficient method for managing channels and notifications.

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Pakistani internet slowdown: ongoing submarine cable issue

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Even after two weeks, the global submarine cable AAA-1 problem that was discovered on January 2 near Qatar has not been fixed, causing sluggish internet connection in several Pakistani towns.

According to a representative for Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL), the issue has affected customers’ capacity to effectively access social media applications and browse the online. Even with initiatives to fix the problem, social networking sites still lag during busy times.

Internet traffic has been redirected via alternate channels to lessen the impact, and more capacity has been set up to stabilize the service.

The PTCL representative promised that “Internet service across the country is operating normally, and there will be no issues with web browsing,” noting that social media applications’ lag is common during

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