Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey’s account hacked, racist tweets posted

Agencies
August 31, 2019

San Francisco, Aug 31: Twitter said Friday the account of chief executive Jack Dorsey had been “compromised” after a series of erratic and offensive messages were posted.

The tweets containing racial slurs and suggestions about a bomb showed up around 2000 GMT on the @jack account of the founder of the short messaging service before being deleted.

Some of the tweets contained the hashtag #ChucklingSquad which was believed to indicate the identity of the hacker group.

The messages contained racial epithets, and included a retweet of a message supporting Nazi Germany.

“We’re aware that @jack was compromised and investigating what happened,” a Twitter spokesperson said.

A barrage of comments fired off on the platform questioned why the Twitter co-founder didn’t secure his account with two-factor authentication, and how disturbing a sign it was that the service wasn’t to keep its own chief safe on the platform.

“If you can’t protect Jack, you can’t protect... jack,” one Twitter user quipped.

The news comes with Dorsey and Twitter moving aggressively to clean up offensive and inappropriate content as part of a focus on “safety.” “This might be the only way to get rid of racist tweets on this platform,” a Twitter user commented.

Twitter recently announced they would meet with Manchester United representatives regarding calls for more to be done in preventing racist abuse of footballers on social media platforms.

British-based security consultant Graham Cluley said the incident highlighted the importance of two-factor authentication, where a user must confirm the account via an external service.

“Everyone should ensure they have 2FA enabled, use unique password, and double check what apps they’ve linked to their accounts,” Cluley tweeted.

“Hard to say at moment how he was compromised, but one of those reasons most likely.” Cybersecurity researcher Kevin Beaumont said the account appeared to have been hijacked “via a third party called Cloudhopper, which Twitter acquired about 10 years ago and had access to his account.” Cloudhopper enables users to send tweets on their phones via SMS.

The incident raised fresh concerns about how social media users -- even prominent ones -- can have their accounts compromised and used for misinformation, a point highlighted by Canadian member of parliament Michelle Rempel Garner.

“Between bots, trolls and abuse, I’ve been skeptical about @Twitter as a viable platform for some time now,” Rempel Garner wrote.

“But the fact it took the platform’s owner (@jack) about 30 min to get his hacked account under control is deeply problematic, and makes me worry as an elected official.”

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News Network
May 24,2020

New Delhi, May 24: Overwhelmed by the donations that poured in from the society for his help, Phool Mia, the fruit seller in north Delhi's Jagatpuri area whose mangoes were looted by the ordinary people, said that those who helped him have made his "Eid" and have shown that "humanity is still alive".

Video footage that went viral on social media, shows that scores of passers-by looted the unattended crates of mangoes of a fruit seller after a fight broke out in the neighbourhood. The incident took place on Wednesday.

"My stock of mangoes worth Rs 30,000 was kept there. Some persons were fighting with each other fearing which I left the place to avoid any sort of altercation. When I returned, I saw that they were looting the mangoes kept there. There were 50-100 people who were involved in this act," Phool Mia, narrated the ordeal.

"A video got viral about the incident after which people donated to me on a portal. They empathised with me when I was ruined. I thank the media and all those people who have donated from the bottom of my heart as they made my Eid. Now, I would be able to celebrate Eid with my children. This shows humanity is still alive," he added.

However, four people have been arrested on the basis of video footage, Delhi Police said.

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News Network
February 1,2020

New Delhi, Feb 1: Activist Sharjeel Imam's mobile phone and laptop along with some anti-CAA posters have been seized from his house in Bihar's Jehanabad and rented flat in Vasant Kunj, police said on Friday.

Imam was arrested by the Delhi Police's Crime Branch from Jehanabad in a sedition case and he is being questioned by police for his alleged inflammatory speeches in Aligarh and at the Jamia Millia Islamia University here.

During investigation, a laptop and a desktop belonging to Imam were recovered from his rented flat at Vasant Kunj, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime) Rajesh Deo said.

His mobile phone was recovered from his house at his native place in Jehanabad's Kako area on the instance of his brother, he said.

Imam had prepared anti-CAA and anti-NRC pamphlets with "misleading and intimidating facts" and then distributed them in various mosques, the copy of which have been recovered, police said.

The shop from where he made photocopies of the pamphlets has also been identified, they added.

Imam was arrested on Tuesday. He was brought to Delhi on Wednesday and produced at the residence of Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Purushottam Pathak in the evening amid tight security after which police were granted his five-day custody.

The PhD scholar at the Jawaharlal Nehru University's Centre for Historical Studies has been booked for sedition and other charges in several states after videos of his alleged inflammatory speeches, made during protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), were circulated on the social media.

An FIR was registered against Imam by the Delhi Police on January 25 under IPC sections 124A (sedition) and 153A (promoting or attempting to promote disharmony or feelings of enmity on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, caste or community or any other ground whatsoever) among others.

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News Network
February 9,2020

Panaji, Feb 9: RSS general secretary Suresh Bhaiyyaji Joshi on Saturday said that anybody who wants to work (in India) will have to do so with the Hindu community and for their empowerment.

Addressing a lecture on the topic "Vishwaguru Bharat, an RSS perspective" at Dona Paula in Panaji, Mr Joshi referred to his communication with an intellectual who had said that India should become a "supre-rashtra" in the year 2020.

"Anybody who wants to work (in India) will have to work with the Hindu commumnity by taking them along and for their empowerment. Hindus have witnessed the rise and fall of India since the time immemorial. India cannot be separated from (the) Hindu (community). Hindus have always been at the centre of this nation," Mr Joshi said in Marathi.

He also added that since Hindus are not communal or antagonist, "nobody should be reluctant to work for the Hindu community".

The RSS leader further said, "The world says India will become a superpower in 2020, but I remember my conversation with an intellectual who had said that India should become a super-rashtra (super nation) in 2020".

Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant was among those who attended the lecture.

"To create awareness and unity amongst Hindus does not amount to (taking) an action against others (community). No one should feel it that way. We can say with utter self confidence before the entire world that Hindus becoming strong won't result in destructive activities, but (such proposition) will work for the society and humanity," he added.

Invoking history, Mr Joshi said Hindus never invaded other countries. "Whatever wars (they had fought) were for self defence. Everyone has the right to self defence," he said.

"It is India's duty to teach the world to walk on the path of ''samanvay'' (coordination). Nobody else other than India and Hindus can do this," Mr Joshi said.

He said some communities in the world keep preaching that only their path is "great".

"But we are from the (Hindu) community which says that we have our own path so as you. When the world will accept this ideology, then all the issues would get solved. It is the duty of India to take the world on that path," he added.

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