United News of Bangladesh

Twitter said Tuesday it will add a gray “official” label to some high-profile accounts to indicate that they are authentic, the latest twist in new owner Elon Musk’s chaotic overhaul of the platform’s verification system. The site’s current system of using what are known as “blue checks” confirming an account’s authenticity will soon go away for those who don’t pay a monthly fee. The checkmarks will be available at a yet-to-be-announced date for anyone willing to pay a $7.99-a-month subscription, which will also include some bonus features, such as fewer ads and the ability to have tweets given greater visibility than those coming from non-subscribers. Read: Elon Musk says will ban impersonators on Twitter The platform’s current verification system has been in place since 2009 and was created to ensure high-profile and public-facing accounts are who they say they are. Experts have expressed concern that making the checkmark available to anyone for a fee could lead to impersonations and the spreading of misinformation and scams. The gray label — a color that tends to blend into the background whether you use light or dark mode to scroll Twitter — is an apparent compromise. But it might lead to more confusion, as Twitter users accustomed to the blue check as a mark of authenticity will now have to look for the less obvious “official” designation. Esther Crawford, a Twitter employee who has been working on the verification overhaul, said Tuesday on Twitter that the “official” label will be added to “select accounts” when the new system launches. “Not all previously verified accounts will get the ‘Official’ label and the label is not available for purchase,” said Crawford, who recently was the subject of a viral photo showing her sleeping on the floor of a Twitter office while working to meet Musk’s deadlines. Crawford said those receiving the label include government accounts, commercial companies, business partners, major media outlets, publishers and some public figures. Read: Musk's takeover keeps Twitterati guessing on future direction There are about 423,000 verified accounts under the outgoing system. Many of those belong to celebrities, businesses and politicians, as well as media outlets. But a large chunk of verified accounts belong to individual journalists, some with tiny followings at local newspapers and news sites around the world. The idea was to verify reporters so their identities couldn’t be used to push false information on Twitter. Musk had previously floated designating official accounts in a way other than the blue check.

The environment required for rolling out 5G services in the country is already in place, Post and Telecommunications Minister Mustafa Jabbar said on Tuesday. The minister was speaking at a roundtable discussion on '5G Technology: Prospects and Actions' organised by Telecom Reporters' Network, Bangladesh (TRNB) and  mobile operator Robi at a city hotel. “Along with the business purpose of 5G, we all need to work towards solving the problems of the people,” he added. Read more: '5G can change the face of industry in Bangladesh' Speaking at the same event, Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) Chairman Shyam Sunder Sikder said an integrated market survey needs to be conducted to understand how the 5G services can be rolled out commercially. Association of Mobile Telecom Operators of Bangladesh (AMTOB) can play a leading role in this regard, he added. However, Hossain Sadat, corporate affairs officer of Grameenphone, said the ecosystem needs to be transformed to roll out 5G here. Besides, the towers will need a lot of electricity. “5G spectrum needs to be rolled out, we have 700 and 3.5 spectrum ready,” said BTRC system and service division director general Brigadier General Md Nasim Parvez "If necessary the existing policies will be changed for the welfare of all. Even if there is a need to share the spectrum, initiatives will be taken," he added. Read more: Modi unveils 5G mobile internet services in India At the event, the managing director of the state-owned Bangladesh Telecommunications Company Limited (BTCL) Md Rafiqul Matin said, “We are connecting the economic zones. We are trying to use a 5G connection when it rolls out. Working together with all the operators, we will move forward through infrastructure sharing.”

Elon Musk tweeted Sunday that Twitter will permanently suspend any account on the social media platform that impersonates another. The platform's new owner issued the warning after some celebrities changed their Twitter display names — not their account names — and tweeted as ‘Elon Musk’ in reaction to the billionaire's decision to offer verified accounts to all comers for $8 month as he simultaneously laid off a big chunk of the workforce. “Going forward, any Twitter handles engaging in impersonation without clearly specifying “parody” will be permanently suspended,” Musk wrote. While Twitter previously issued warnings before suspensions, now that it is rolling out “widespread verification, there will be no warning.” Read more: Musk's takeover keeps Twitterati guessing on future direction In fact, “any name change at all” would compel the temporary loss of a verified checkmark, the world's richest man said. Comedian Kathy Griffin had her account suspended Sunday after she switched her screen name to Musk. She told a Bloomberg reporter that she had also used his profile photo. “I guess not ALL the content moderators were let go? Lol,” Griffin joked afterward on Mastodon, an alternative social media platform where she set up an account last week. Actor Valerie Bertinelli had similarly appropriated Musk's screen name — posting a series of tweets in support of Democratic candidates on Saturday before switching back to her true name. “Okey-dokey. I've had fun and I think I made my point,” she tweeted afterwards. Before the stunt, Bertinelli noted the original purpose of the blue verification checkmark. It was granted free of charge to people whose identity Twitter employees had confirmed; with journalists accounting for a big portion of recipients. “It simply meant your identity was verified. Scammers would have a harder time impersonating you,” Bertinelli noted. “That no longer applies. Good luck out there!” she added. The $8 verified accounts are Musk's way of democratizing the service, he claims. On Saturday, a Twitter update for iOS devices listed on Apple's app store said users who “sign up now” for the new “Twitter Blue with verification” can get the blue check next to their names “just like the celebrities, companies and politicians you already follow.” It said the service would first be available in the U.S., Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the U.K. However, it was not available Sunday and there was no indication when it would roll go live. A Twitter employ, Esther Crawford, told The Associated Press it is coming “soon but it hasn’t launched yet.” Read more: Twitter users will soon be able to purchase Blue Check for $7.99 per month Twitter did not respond on Sunday to an email seeking comment on the verified accounts issue and Griffin's suspension. Musk later tweeted, “Twitter needs to become by far the most accurate source of information about the world. That’s our mission.” If the company were to strip current verified users of blue checks — something that hasn't happened — that could exacerbate disinformation on the platform during Tuesday's midterm elections. Like Griffin, some Twitter users have already begun migrating from the platform — Counter Social is another popular alternative — following layoffs that began Friday that reportedly affected about half of Twitter's 7,500-employee workforce. They fear a breakdown of moderation and verification could create a disinformation free-for-all on what has been the internet's main conduit for reliable communications from public agencies and other institutions. Many companies have paused advertising on the platform out of concern it could become more unruly under Musk. Yoel Roth, Twitter’s head of safety and integrity, sought to assuage such concerns in a tweet Friday. He said the company’s front-line content moderation staff was the group least affected by the job cuts. Musk tweeted late Friday that there was no choice but to cut jobs “when the company is losing over $4M/day.” He did not provide details on the daily losses at Twitter and said employees who lost their jobs were offered three months’ pay as severance.

Walton Digi-Tech Industries launched a laptop packaging design contest Saturday. This contest, which is open to all, will run till November 30. The contestants will be able to submit multiple designs. A panel of judges will select 13 winners. "The top three winners of the 'Walton Laptop Packaging Design Contest' will get Tk2 lakh, Tk50,000 and Tk30,000, respectively. The other 10 winners will get Tk10,000 each," according to a media statement. Read: vivo announces the visual creator short film contest in Bangladesh Professor Nisar Hossain, dean of the Faculty of Fine Art of the University of Dhaka, was present as the chief guest at the launching programme in Dhaka. Professor Sheikh Afzal Hossain, chairman of the Department of Drawing and Painting of the University of Dhaka, Professor Shishir Bhattacharjee of the same department and Walton Digi-Tech Chairman SM Rezaul Alam were also present. Read: Walton CEO, CMO score Bangladesh C-Suite Awards

The discourse was never all that civil on Twitter. The loudest voices have often drowned out softer, more nuanced takes. After all, it’s much easier to rage-tweet at a perceived enemy than to seek common ground, whether the argument is about transgender kids or baseball. In the chaos that has enveloped Twitter the platform — and Twitter the company — since Elon Musk took over, it has become clear this isn’t changing anytime soon. In fact, it’s likely to get much worse before it gets better — if it gets better at all. Musk, with his band of tech industry loyalists, arrived at Twitter just over a week ago ready to tear down the blue bird’s nest and rebuild it in his vision with breakneck speed. He quickly fired top executives and the board of directors, installed himself as the company’s sole director (for now) and declared himself “Chief Twit,” then “Twitter Complaint Hotline Operator” on his bio. Read: Influencers debate leaving Twitter, but where would they go? On Friday, he began mass layoffs at the San Francisco-based company, letting go about half of of its workers via email to return it to staffing levels not seen since 2014. All the while, he’s continued to tweet a mix of crude memes, half-jokes, SpaceX rocket launches and maybe-maybe not plans for Twitter that he seems to be workshopping on the site in real time. After floating the idea of charging users $20 a month for the “blue check” and some extra features, for instance, he appeared to quickly scale it back in a Twitter exchange with author Stephen King, who posted, “If that gets instituted, I’m gone like Enron.” “We need to pay the bills somehow! Twitter cannot rely entirely on advertisers. How about $8?” Musk replied. On Saturday, the company announced a subscription service for $7.99 monthly that allows anyone on Twitter to pay a fee for the check mark “just like the celebrities, companies and politicians you already follow” as well as some premium features — not yet available — like getting their tweets boosted above those coming from accounts without the blue check. The billionaire Tesla CEO also has repeatedly engaged with right-wing figures appealing for looser restrictions on hate and misinformation, received congratulations from Dimitry Medvedev, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s top associate and tweeted — then deleted — a baseless conspiracy theory about House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband, who was attacked in his home. More than three dozen advocacy organizations wrote an open letter to Twitter’s top 20 advertisers, calling on them to commit to halting advertising on the platform if Twitter under Musk undermines “brand safety” and guts content moderation. “Not only are extremists celebrating Musk’s takeover of Twitter, they are seeing it as a new opportunity to post the most abusive, harassing, and racist language and imagery. This includes clear threats of violence against people with whom they disagree,” the letter said. One of Musk’s first moves was to fire the woman in charge of trust and safety at the platform, Vijaya Gadde. But he has kept on Yoel Roth, Twitter’s head of safety and integrity, and has taken steps to reassure users and advertisers that the site won’t turn into a “free-for-all hellscape” that some fear it might. Read: Musk fires Twitter's board of directors becomes board's sole member On Friday, he tweeted that “Twitter’s strong commitment to content moderation remains absolutely unchanged. In fact, we have actually seen hateful speech at times this week decline (asterisk)below(asterisk) our prior norms, contrary to what you may read in the press.” A growing number of advertisers are nevertheless pausing spending on Twitter while they reassess how Musk’s changes might increase objectionable material on the platform. Musk also met with some civil rights leaders “about how Twitter will continue to combat hate & harassment & enforce its election integrity policies,” according to a tweet he sent Nov. 1. But representatives of the LGBTQ community were notably absent from the meeting, even though its members are far more likely to be victims of violent crime than those outside of such communities. Twitter did not respond to a message for comment on whether Musk plans to meet with LGBTQ groups. The mercurial billionaire has said he won’t make major decisions about content or restoring banned accounts — such as that of former President Donald Trump — before setting up a “content moderation council” with diverse viewpoints. The council, he later added, will include “the civil rights community and groups who face hate-fueled violence.” But experts have pointed out that Twitter already has a trust and safety advisory council to address moderation questions. “Truly I can’t imagine how it would differ,” said Danielle Citron, a University of Virginia law professor who sits on the council and has been working with Twitter since its infancy in 2009 to tackle online harms, such as threats and stalking. “Our council has the full spectrum of views on free speech.” Some amount of chaos is expected after a corporate takeover, as are layoffs and firings. But Musk’s murky plans for Twitter — especially its content moderation, misinformation and hate speech policies — are raising alarms about where one of the world’s most high-profile information ecosystems is headed. All that seems certain is that for now, at least, as Elon Musk goes, so goes Twitter. Read: Musk says Twitter blue tick being revamped “I hope that responsibility and maturity will win the day,” said Eddie Perez, a former Twitter civic integrity team leader who left the company before Musk took over. “It’s one thing to be a billionaire troll on Twitter and to try to get laughs with memes and to yuk it up. You are now the owner of Twitter and there’s a new level of responsibility.” For now, though, the memes appear to be winning. This concerns experts like Perez, who worry Musk is moving too fast without listening to people who have been working to improve civility on the platform and instead using his own insular experience as one of the platform’s most popular users with millions of fawning fans who hail his every move. “You have a single billionaire that is controlling something as influential as a social media platform like Twitter. And you have entire nation states (whose) political goals are inimical to our own, and they are trying to create chaos and they are directly courting favor” with Musk, Perez said. “There’s just no world in which all of that is normal,” he added. “That should absolutely concern us.” Twitter didn’t start out as a cesspool. And even now there are pockets of funny, weird, nerdy subgroups on the platform that remain somewhat insulated from the messy and confrontational place it can appear to be if one follows too many hotheaded agitators. But as with Facebook, Twitter’s rise also coincided with growing polarization and a measurable decline in online civility in the United States and beyond. “The big understanding that occurred between 2008 and 2012 is that the way to get traction, the way to get attention on any social media, Twitter included, was to use incendiary language — to challenge the basic humanity of the opposition,” said Lee Rainie, director of internet and technology research at the Pew Research Center. Things continued to devolve as the 2016 U.S. presidential election approached and passed, and the new president cemented his reputation as one of Twitter’s most incendiary users. After it was revealed that Russia used social media platforms to try to influence elections in the U.S. and other countries, the platforms found themselves became central figures in the political debate. “Do they have too much power? Do their content moderation policies privilege one side or another?” Rainie said. “The companies themselves found themselves in the thick of the most intense arguments in the culture. And so that’s the environment that Elon Musk is entering now.” And beyond the bluster and the outsized personality, Musk’s own description of his new job — “Twitter Complaint Hotline Operator” — may turn out to be his biggest challenge yet.

Posts and Telecommunications Minister Mustafa Jabbar on Sunday urged mobile operators to come up with a fixed rate for the internet packages they provide. Currently, the package rate is not acceptable and mobile data should be provided at a fixed rate, he said after inaugurating the latest benchmarking system at the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) to monitor the quality of service of mobile operators in the city. Read more: 5G internet within December: BTRC “Operators introduce and sell packages as they wish, there must be an acceptance when you sell the package,” Jabbar said. The minister also said the operators are unable to meet customer demand because 2018 spectrum and 2022 spectrum purchases are yet to be rolled out, he added. “And so, the customer service has to be questioned. We have put the operators under pressure. They have never before been under such pressure,” he added. Read more: Palak calls for Global Internet Governance Council & Frontier Technology Guidelines under UN The minister urged the BTRC to take steps to resolve the data package rate issue.

Pariss Chandler built a community for Black tech workers on Twitter that eventually became the foundation for her own recruitment company. Now she’s afraid it could all fall apart if Twitter becomes a haven for racist and toxic speech under the control of Elon Musk, a serial provocateur who has indicated he could loosen content rules. With Twitter driving most of her business, Chandler sees no good alternative as she watches the uncertainty play out. “Before Elon took over, I felt like the team was working to make Twitter a safer platform, and now they are kind of not there. I don’t know what’s going on internally. I have lost hope in that,” said Chandler, 31, founder of Black Tech Pipeline, a jobs board and recruitment website. “I’m both sad and terrified for Twitter, both for the employees and also the users.” Those qualms are weighing on many people who have come to rely on Twitter, a relatively small but mighty platform that has become a digital public square of sorts for influencers, policy makers, journalists and other thought leaders. Musk, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, took over Twitter last week in a $44 billion deal, immediately making his unpredictable style felt. Read: Musk fires Twitter's board of directors becomes board's sole member Just days later, he had tweeted a link to a story from a little-known news outlet that made a dubious claim about the violent attack on Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband at their California home. He soon deleted it, but it was a worrying start to his tenure for those concerned about the spread of disinformation online. Musk has also signaled his intent to loosen the guardrails on hate speech, and perhaps allow former President Donald Trump and other banned commentators to return. He tempered the thought after the deal closed, however, pledging to form a “content moderation council” and not allow anyone who has been kicked off the site to return until it sets up procedures on how to do that. Yet the use of racial slurs quickly exploded in an apparent test of his tolerance level. “Folks, it’s getting ugly here. I am not really sure what my plan is. Stay or go?” Jennifer Taub, a law professor and author with about a quarter million followers, said Sunday, as she tweeted out a link to her Facebook page in case she leaves Twitter. For now, Taub plans to stay, given the opportunity it provides to “laugh, learn and commiserate” with people from across the world. But she’ll leave if it becomes “a cesspool of racism and antisemitism,” she said in a phone call. “The numbers are going down and down and down,” said Taub, who has lost 5,000 followers since Musk officially took over. “The tipping point might be if I’m just not having fun there. There are too many people to block.” The debate is especially fraught for people of color who have used Twitter to network and elevate their voices, while also confronting toxicity on the platform.

Instagram is rolling out new features, including a tool for making and selling digital collectibles, to help content creators earn revenue directly from their Instagram audience. Users of the Meta-owned online photo-sharing and social networking service can soon support content creators by buying their non-fungible tokens (NFTs) directly within the platform. "Creators will soon be able to make their own digital collectibles on Instagram and sell them to fans, both on and off Instagram. They'll have an end-to-end toolkit – from creation (starting on the Polygon blockchain) and showcasing, to selling," Meta said. "We're testing these new features with a small group of creators in the US first, and hope to expand to more countries soon," it added. Read more: Is your Instagram crashing?Meta said it is also expanding the types of digital collectibles that the users can showcase on Instagram to include video and adding support for the Solana blockchain and Phantom wallet, in addition to the blockchains and wallets that it already supports.  Also, Instagram creators can now earn money from fans who love their Reels. To support their favourite creators, fans can send gifts on Reels by buying Stars on Instagram.  Read more: Restricted from Twitter, Instagram; Kanye to buy conservative social network Parler Meta has been adding features for content creators to help them reach an audience, grow their communities, and make money on its social media apps as it competes with TikTok and others at a time when influencers are driving revenue to these platforms through advertising.

Global ICT infrastructure and solutions provider Huawei, has come up with a 5G network, 4L autonomous driving and other technological innovations to make ports smart, safer and efficient. Recently, a smart terminal was built by Tianjin Port Group (TPG), together with Huawei and other partners. This initiative was taken to deal with port congestion that caused severe disruptions in global supply chains, goods handling problems and other port-related issues resulting in a decrease in overall efficiency. At the Tianjin Port, under the guidance of the BeiDou navigation satellite system, the whole process of moving the container trucks to the automatic locking and unlocking stations can now be completed in one go. "The intelligent and digital transformation of the port has led to tangible benefits and increased efficiency. Now, each container at the Tianjin Port consumes 20 percent less energy, and cranes are 20 percent more efficient on average, with each crane operating 39 container units per hour," Huawei said in a statement. Read: Huawei launches all-band 5G solution series Jason Li, board member of Huawei Bangladesh, said: "Smart ports and terminals can be the focal point in the next few years for realising the Smart Bangladesh vision. If Bangladesh can turn Chattogram and Mongla ports into smart ones, it will have very positive impacts on the economy and also help to address the problems in daily operations at ports." Tianjin port is one of China's most technologically advanced ports and a vital hub for the One Belt One Road initiative. It has a 300000-ton-class wharf with a channel depth of 22 meters. It has 192 berths of various types and 128 berths above the 10,000-ton-class. By the end of 2021, the port's cargo throughput reached 435 million tons, ranking ninth in the world, while the container throughput exceeded 18.35 million TEUs, ranking the eighth port in the world.

Meta-owned messaging service WhatsApp rolled out “Communities” — a new feature offering larger, more structured discussion groups — today. The feature will bring together separate groups under bigger umbrellas where administrators can send alerts to a community of thousands. Designed to help organisations, clubs, schools, and other private groups communicate better, this latest feature will allow people to receive updates sent to the entire community and easily organise smaller discussion groups. Read: WhatsApp services restored after longest reported outage "Today we're launching Communities on WhatsApp. It makes groups better by enabling sub-groups, multiple threads, announcement channels, and more," Meta CEO and founder Mark Zuckerberg said in a video message today. “We're also rolling out polls and 32-person video calling too. All are secured by end-to-end encryption so your messages stay private,” Zuckerberg added. WhatsApp will now allow chat groups to have up to 1,024 users, much higher than the 256 participants restriction it had until recently, according to a company statement. Read: WhatsApp pushes privacy update to comply with Irish ruling Telegram and Discord, rivals of WhatsApp, allow thousands of members in group chats. According to Meta's Twitter handle, WhatsApp's new feature will be available to everyone over the next few months.