Neowin News Feed for: Abuse

Politicians in Scotland report hundreds of criminal social media comments

Paul Hill — Sat, 18 May 2024 08:24:01 +0000

Scottish politicians have completed a trial, which looked at how many abusive messages they got online. 38 of them got 8,000 threatening messages and over 400 abusive messages deemed to be criminal. Read more...

Microsoft Edge now blocks abusive notifications from bad websites

Paul Hill — Thu, 06 Jul 2023 21:32:01 +0000

Microsoft said it has been taking drastic actions against websites that send spammy notifications out to users. Edge now bans some sites from sending notifications and silences other websites. Read more...

Child safety groups urge Meta to halt metaverse rollout to minors

Usama Jawad — Fri, 14 Apr 2023 16:26:01 +0000

Child safety advocates have written a letter to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, asking him to stop plans to make his metaverse, Horizon Worlds, open to younger audiences, or risk losing their trust again. Read more...

Twitter web users can now soft block unwanted followers

Usman Khan Lodhi — Mon, 11 Oct 2021 21:32:01 +0000

The feature, tested with a small group of users since September, has been released to all web users today. The safety-focused feature will curb abuse and harassment on the platform. Read more...

Twitter will give you a heads up before entering 'intense' conversations

Usman Khan Lodhi — Wed, 06 Oct 2021 22:08:01 +0000

The latest Twitter experiment is aiming to promote harmony among users on the app. It lays out three bullet points when entering heated conversations, which serve as a reminder to remain cool. Read more...

Open letter demanding Apple stop deployment of photo scanning tech gets 5,000 signatures

Usama Jawad — Mon, 09 Aug 2021 07:38:01 +0000

An open letter demanding that Apple halt the rollout of its photo scanning tech and issue a statement to reaffirm its commitment to privacy now has signatures from over 5,000 individuals and firms. Read more...

Instagram's new keyword-based tool will filter out offensive DMs

Usman Khan Lodhi — Wed, 21 Apr 2021 10:50:01 +0000

Instagram has announced new tools to effectively stop harassment on its platform, including a keyword-based tool to filter out offensive direct messages and a preemptive blocking option. Read more...

Twitter is throwing out the old rule book and replacing it with a simpler one

Paul Hill — Thu, 06 Jun 2019 18:34:02 +0000

Twitter has overhauled its rules so that they are more understandable and much less of a chore for people to read and comprehend. They're accompanied with examples for a better understanding. Read more...

Twitter and Periscope to get stricter safety rules in August

Paul Hill — Sat, 28 Jul 2018 02:42:01 +0000

Twitter has unveiled its new community guidelines for Twitter and Periscope. The document, which is easy for anyone to read, is aimed at making live streamers and viewers safe from online abuse. Read more...

Twitter acquires Smyte to curb abusive behavior on its platform

Jay Bonggolto — Thu, 21 Jun 2018 16:02:02 +0000

Twitter's acquisition of the San Francisco-based technology company is intended to address challenges in safety, spam, and security on the platform using Smyte's review tools and processes. Read more...

PewDiePie bemoans foul play after DMCA takedown

Usama Jawad — Sat, 16 Sep 2017 09:58:02 +0000

Firewatch's developer recently filed a DMCA complaint against PewDiePie in protest of the YouTuber using a racial slur in an unrelated video. PewDiePie has now cried foul play over the DMCA takedown. Read more...

Pew Research Center: 41% of Americans experience online harassment

Paul Hill — Thu, 13 Jul 2017 13:14:01 +0000

The Pew Research Center has published a new study which shows that 41% of Americans have been abused online. The main venue for this abuse was social media websites, mainly Facebook and Twitter. Read more...

Twitter rolls out more anti-abuse features

Rich Woods — Tue, 15 Nov 2016 17:36:46 +0000

Twitter rolled out new features for its service today that are aimed at preventing abuse. Users will now be able to use the mute button in different ways, such as blocking keywords or hashtags. Read more...

Google's time to answer EU charges against its practices is almost up, despite 3 extensions

Vlad Dudau — Wed, 21 Sep 2016 10:40:01 +0000

Google is facing three distinct charges against it from the EU: Android abuse, unfair online shopping practices, and blocking ad competitors. The company only has a few weeks left to answer. Read more...

Twitter updates its rules to combat abuse on the platform

Paul Hill — Wed, 30 Dec 2015 03:10:01 +0000

Twitter has announced an updated rules page in its latest attempt to stem abuse on the platform. The new rules include more actions which could lead in a ban from the service. Read more...

Twitter to start banning accounts for promoting violence

Jett Goldsmith — Wed, 22 Apr 2015 07:32:01 +0000

Twitter has updated their abuse policies in a move to crack down on harmful content. Now, promoting violence may be met with a temporary account ban, and accounts may be locked for harassment. Read more...

Uber to launch an in-app 'panic' button in India soon

Usama Jawad — Sat, 07 Feb 2015 16:16:01 +0000

Following several allegations of Uber drivers sexually abusing their passengers, the service has now decided to launch an in-app panic button for its customers in India. Read more...

Twitter will kick trolls right and left and make sure nobody hears them

Vlad Dudau — Thu, 05 Feb 2015 08:56:01 +0000

The social network is apparently getting serious about abuse on its platform. Twitter's CEO said he takes personal responsibility and things will really change and abuse and trolling will be tackled. Read more...

British MP receives image of knife-wielding masked man and other threats on Twitter

Vlad Dudau — Tue, 06 Aug 2013 11:53:30 +0000

After many women in the public eye have started to speak out against the abuse and threats that they receive on the internet a number of them have started to receive life threats from Twitter users. Read more...

Cyberstalking study encourages social networking sites to do more

Byron Hinson — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 12:35:53 +0000

A British study into cyber stalking has concluded that social networking sites such as Facebook should be making it much easier for users to report online-based abuse. According to an article on the BBC, the group... Read more...

New report says Foxconn employees abused

Tom Dwyer — Sun, 10 Oct 2010 14:46:44 +0000

Foxconn, the world’s largest manufacturer of electrical components, is facing a leaked report that states the company abuses its employees. The report also says that the company has been responsible for harsh punishment, illegal labor... Read more...

Four-fold increase in child abuse found on Web

Tue, 17 Apr 2007 14:04:46 +0000

In its annual report, British-based Internet monitoring group Internet Watch Foundation found that in the last three years there has been a four-fold increase in the number of child pornography images involving severe abuse such... Read more...

Microsoft helps fight online child abuse in India

Sat, 20 Jan 2007 16:50:19 +0000

What is that evil, evil Microsoft up to now? The software giant is working with the International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children (ICMEC) and the international police force Interpol to help Indian law enforcement... Read more...

Google Maps Call Feature Ripe for Abuse

Mon, 20 Nov 2006 11:55:30 +0000

Google has added a new feature to its Maps product. Now upon locating a business on Google Maps, you are given the option of calling the phone number listed in the directory. As Google explains... Read more...

Apple security - silence then abuse

Steven Parker — Fri, 06 Oct 2006 22:36:27 +0000

Here we go again. Security experts warn that there is a hole in one of Apple's products, Apple says there isn't a problem, and a month later it releases a fix for it. A journalist... Read more...

Windows Live Messenger users to report child abuse

Tom Warren — Wed, 23 Aug 2006 18:38:59 +0000

Users of Windows Live Messenger can now report suspected sexual predators of children with a mouse click. A "report abuse" icon will soon appear on the chat software as a result of work by... Read more...

US needs to step up fight against online child abuse

Thu, 20 Jul 2006 09:22:06 +0000

The Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) has claimed that 50% of all online child abuse pictures can be traced back to the US in a recent report. The IWF is keen to stress that the reason... Read more...

Laptop Abuse

Fri, 24 Jun 2005 08:58:19 +0000

As most everyone knows, laptop computers are now outselling desktops and a lot of people will soon learn just how durable (insert sarcasm) they are. If you drop your laptop like I do to... Read more...

Microsoft Employees Abuse Software Purchase Programme

Tom Warren — Tue, 11 Jan 2005 12:17:11 +0000

ZDNet UK is reporting that Microsoft UK has fired 7 employees from the global technical support centre and services team. The employees have been dismissed after it was discovered that they were abusing system privileges,... Read more...

Microsoft investigating extent of abuse in software sales system

Fri, 20 Dec 2002 10:22:17 +0000

More Microsoft Corp. employees could be arrested for stealing and reselling the company's software, as could buyers of that stolen software. An "ongoing investigation" is asking who at Microsoft besides Daniel Feussner... Read more...