Monthly Archives: November 2022

Chinese police are searching phones for Instagram, Twitter, and Telegram as protests mount

Protestors in Hong Kong show solidarity with people in mainland China and hold blank sheets of paper as a symbol of censorship. | Photo by Anthony Kwan/Getty Images Police in China are checking people’s phones for the presence of foreign apps, including Instagram, Twitter, and the encrypted messaging app Telegram, according to reports from The…

Twitter staff cuts enabled spam porn deluge that drowned out China protest news

Enlarge (credit: SOPA Images / Contributor | LightRocket) This weekend, widespread protests erupted in China in what amounted to “the biggest show of opposition to the ruling Communist Party in decades,” AP News reported. Many protesters attempted to document events live to spread awareness and inspire solidarity across Twitter. Demonstrations were so powerful that Chinese…

Twitter overwhelmed by NSFW spam during protests in China

Twitter’s decimated moderation department is failing recent real world tests. Anthony Kwan/Getty Images As a wave of unprecedented citizen protests over China’s revived “zero COVID” lockdowns spread throughout major cities, so did an overwhelming flood of “Not Safe For Work” (NSFW) spam posts from what appear to be countless, long-dormant Twitter bot accounts. First highlighted…