Is Twitter Finally Suspending Fake Profiles in an Engaged Way?
By: Daniel Roncaglia
Tags: Twitter, Technology, Policy, Fake News, Journalism

For the past decade, Twitter has been the preferred platform for news. Politicians, journalists, analysts, content creators, and readers spent hours following “what is happening.”

Smarties soon realized the potential for misinformation that could spread through social media. Donald Trump in the U.S. and Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil rise to power as masters of social media manipulation.

In 2020, the movement against this toxic environment reached a financial point. For the first time, giants stopped advertising on the networks.

In August, Twitter announced a new transparency center.

“Transparency is core to the work we do at Twitter,” the company announced.

Rules enforcements

At this launch, Twitter released too a report about the rules enforcements.

From July 2018 to December 2019, there are 2.3 million accounts suspended.

The report highlights the 27% increase in the second half of 2019 compared to the previous period.

In the same period of one year and a half, according to the company, 2.3 million accounts activated. The content removed was 2.9 million.

With the number of active users, the average of 200,000 suspensions per month doesn’t seem engaged.

The monetized daily active swine reached 186 million in the second quarter of 2020. In the same period last year, it was 135 million.

To get an analysis is necessary to wait for Twitter to release updated information.

One of the most common criticisms of network platforms is precarious communication channels.

Twitter claims to have a global team working 24/7 in all supported languages. “Our goal is to apply the Twitter Rules objectively and consistently.”

Reporting false profiles

So, I finally decided to test the reporting system of Twitter. It is almost a therapeutic activity.

Yesterday, I finally received a notification from Twitter. They remove a fake profile for abusive purposes after the complaint.

From 45 complaints made, I got a response.

The fake profiles are more sophisticated nowadays.

Alter each tool that detects fraudulent information; hate networks create other ways.

Some of these profiles have a user story, a link to an Instagram, or even a YouTube profile. They have a personal history of jobs and studies.

These guys create believable personas. These have included photos of family and friends, who are also fake profiles.

It is a professional work. People are making a lot of money from it.

Timeline environment

The company’s latest reports provide more accurate data on the issue.

The platform indicates a responsibility to protect the integrity of the public debate. The company believes that it can give a better understanding of inauthentic campaigns.

One concern is the electoral influence of state organizations on the timeline. The first data made public about this are from October 2018.

“We are learning, evolving and building a technological and personnel approach to combat campaigns of inauthentic influence.”

Twitter disclosed 83,673 accounts linked to state-backed information operations. Em June, they are disclosing 32,242 these accounts from China, Russia, and Turkey.

Another critical data is legal demands. In the second half of 2019, was 27,538 demands to remove content from 98,595 accounts.

According to Twitter, this is the highest number of requests and accounts since 2012. Of the demands, 35% have the content removed.

In total, 193 reports by verified journalists and the media were subject to demands.

About platform manipulation, the semester also registered 4.6 million spam reports.

Twitter also provides data on information requests, trademark, and copyright notifications.

Commitment

There is a dispute to make the social media experience more enhanced.

Besides the advertiser, people show that they were already tired of abusive content.

This year could have a signal that tech-companies increased the commitment against violations.

Companies will need to put part of their profits into effective investigative operations. Twitter’s total revenue was $ 683 million in the second quarter, during the pandemic.

Will there be a new normal on social media?