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A little more than a year ago, China had almost no diplomatic presence on Twitter. A handful of accounts, many representing far-flung diplomatic outposts, operated without apparent coordination or direction from Beijing. Today, the work of Chinese diplomats on Twitter looks very different: More than 170 of them bicker with Western powers, promote conspiracies about the coronavirus, and troll Americans on issues of race. The quadrupling in the past year and a half of China’s diplomatic presence on a site blocked within China suggests that turning to Western platforms to influence the information environment beyond China’s borders is no longer an afterthought but a priority. In pursuing increasingly assertive tactics to shape how China is perceived online, Beijing has borrowed elements of Russia’s playbook. China’s “wolf warrior” diplomats—a phrase that comes from a jingoistic Chinese film franchise and refers to a new approach among the Chinese diplomatic corps to more aggressively defend their home country online—propagate conflicting conspiracy theories about the origins of the novel coronavirus that are designed to sow chaos and deflect blame. It is using these so-called warriors, together with its sprawling state media apparatus and, at times, covert trolling campaigns, to amplify false theories on social media and in the news. And it is doing all this by leaning on the propaganda outlets run by Moscow, Caracas, and to a lesser extent, Tehran, and the network of contrarian agitators they leverage to promote anti-Western content. But Beijing has also developed several of its own plays. Its diplomats engage with Twitter accounts that bear hallmarks of inauthenticity, underscoring the challenge of generating grassroots support for its campaigns on a platform that is banned at home. It has deployed hashtag campaigns and dedicated social media accounts to flood conversations about its human rights record with positive content. We…

Key Words Published: Oct. 28, 2020 at 5:19 p.m. ET Miles Taylor, former Homeland Security chief of staff, says he wrote the anonymous New York Times op-ed against Trump in 2018

The Twitter logo is seen on a phone Alastair Pike/ AFP via Getty Images Text size A glance at Twitter’s stock chart ahead of Thursday’s third-quarter earnings suggests a company that has done well in 2020, despite the Covid-19 pandemic and the damage wrought to online advertising. Twitter (ticker: TWTR) shares are up roughly 60% this year, and nearly 50% since Barron’s wrote positively about the name in June, after CEO Jack Dorsey’s company began to get more aggressive about its content moderation practices. Unlike several of its rivals, such as Facebook (FB), Pinterest (PINS), and Snap (SNAP), Twitter revenue hasn’t proven as resilient, shrinking 19% during the second quarter, and is expected by sell-side analysts to shrink again by 6.2% in the third quarter. By contrast Facebook’s growth has slowed but continued to grow in the double digits, and Snap grew revenue by about 50% in the third quarter, which it reported last week. Snap’s outsize revenue beat, by more than $100 million, reporting sales of $678.7 million, and the positive commentary that followed has given analysts reason to say that there has been a rebound in the online advertising market. Estimates have become more bullish in the past four weeks: the consensus for adjusted earnings rose by 4.5%, and revenue models advanced 1.1%. Wall Street expects adjusted earnings of 5 cents a share, on revenue of $778.2 million, which suggests sales will fall 5.5% compared with a year ago. Analysts expect a GAAP loss of 10 cents a share. Investors will find out one way or another Thursday, when the company reports its results, this time after the closing bell, which is a departure from the company’s typical premarket release (a tradition that began because it cut a large number of employees as it announced results, and stuck…

October 27, 2020 | 7:47pm Enlarge Image Despite Twitter's best efforts to suppress The Post's stories about Hunter Biden's emails users can now share them. Teresa Kroeger Other outlets continue to verify The Post’s reporting on Hunter Biden’s efforts to monetize his family connections overseas. Yet Twitter, which sought to suppress our story, continues to bar The Post from the platform — two weeks later. The Post obtained a copy of Hunter Biden’s hard-drive, from a laptop left at a Delaware repair shop in 2019. Reporters found an e-mail in which an executive at Burisma, the Ukrainian energy firm that paid Hunter $50,000 a month, thanked Hunter for setting up a Washington meeting with his father, then-Veep Joe Biden. Other e-mails show Hunter negotiating a $10 million-a-year deal with a Chinese firm for “introductions alone.” And he’d hold, besides his own share, a 10 percent stake for “the big guy” in a company set up to do business with the Chinese. The country’s two social-media giants acted immediately after our stories went online, with Twitter locking The Post’s account and a Facebook exec bragging about suppressing the story. Then Tony Bobulinski, Hunter’s former business partner, confirmed not only the e-mails about China, but told The Post that Joe was “the big guy.” Meanwhile, neither Joe Biden nor Hunter Biden has argued the validity of the laptop nor the e-mails; the vice president simply claims the China deal never came to fruition. Receipts show the computer repair shop took in the laptop. Elected officials confirm the laptop was handed over to the FBI. It isn’t a hack. It isn’t Russian disinformation. It’s all true. So the only reason for social media to continue to punish The Post is not because of any “fake news” concerns — it’s because they’re mad about…

Did President Donald Trump place Amish supporters at a rally in Pennsylvania? One Twitter user appears to think so. They claimed that the president hired supporters for his rally on Monday in Lancaster County, a dominantly Amish (and apolitical) community."Trump's campaign should do their homework before hiring their 'supporters,'" one user wrote. They shared an image of the president at the rally with a man in a traditional Amish straw hat and beard, who also appeared to wear earbuds, behind him in clear view."The Amish fellow in the left of this picture is shown wearing earbuds and jacket with a zipper;the Amish shun both. And, wait for it........Amish don't VOTE!" they added.@realDonaldTrump Trump’s campaign should do their homework before hiring their “Supporters”. The Amish fellow in the left of this picture is shown wearing earbuds and jacket with a zipper;the Amish shun both. And, wait for it........Amish don’t VOTE! pic.twitter.com/X9c3XOXtOS— Newton Brock (@NewtonBrock3) October 26, 2020 In a video shared online, Trump mentions having the Pennsylvania Dutch in his crowd and giving a thumbs up. Several Amish men respond by giving him a thumbs up behind him.Listen to this Trump riff on the Amish: "We have Pennsylvania Dutch...They're great people...Pennsylvania Dutch are voting en masse...Hard workers, incredible craftsmen. You've done work for me over the years, I'll tell ya. They can throw up a barn in about two days" #TrumpRally pic.twitter.com/LGEUeg14fh— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) October 26, 2020 "Don't tell anybody, but the Pennsylvania Dutch are voting en masse. They're voting. I heard that the other day," Trump said a rally he held at the Lancaster Airport in Lititz, via Philadelphia Inquirer."They said, 'We work hard. We can't have a man who sleeps all day in the basement," the president added, taking aim at his election rival Vice President Joe Biden....

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In a May tweet, Jack Dorsey said Twitter will "point out incorrect or disputed information about elections globally." Courtesy of Twitter By Scott Nover 34 seconds ago Whether Twitter co-founder and CEO Jack Dorsey intended to or not, he and his company set new standards this year for how social media platforms moderate hate speech and misinformation.The timing was crucial, given that 2020 has been anything but normal. And in this presidential election year, with an international health crisis and social unrest thrown in for good measure, the conversation has played out online, with sometimes hateful and misleading or false rhetoric, in ways that have real-life consequences.Dorsey—Adweek’s Digital Executive of the Year—has made a point not to stand for it. His tough decisions have already put immense pressure on Twitter’s peers to clean up the misinformation and hate speech on their platforms—even when it comes from the president of the United States.As Dorsey recently explained, he and his company intend to learn from their past mistakes. “It would be silly for us not to change Twitter,” he told The New York Times in August. To him, the 14-year-old company “should become irrelevant if it doesn’t change, if it doesn’t constantly evolve and if it doesn’t recognize gaps and opportunities to get better.”Twitter’s decisions in June to fact-check and limit President Trump’s tweets set in motion an avalanche of activity in the social media industry. When Trump tweeted “when the looting starts, the shooting starts,” a direct threat to shoot protesters in Minneapolis in the aftermath of George Floyd’s death while in police custody, Twitter restricted that tweet, removed it from its algorithmic recommendations and added an interstitial so users would be warned before clicking on it.The platform’s actions at that time stood in stark contrast to those of Facebook, which...

How the reactions on Twitter played out during the Raiders’ 45-20 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday at Allegiant Stadium: Pregame Time to put on a show. #TBvsLV I #RaiderNation pic.twitter.com/sgFVt7VKkj — Las Vegas Raiders (@Raiders) October 25, 2020 First quarter Weekly reminder how good Agholor is… #Raiders — Tyler Brandt (@TheTylerBrandt) October 25, 2020 Straight down the field. Early lead in Vegas. #TBvsLV is live on FOX pic.twitter.com/YSHrTray6T — Las Vegas Raiders (@Raiders) October 25, 2020 If you want to beat the #Bucs you're more than likely going to have to take some chances and the #Raiders just took one and won — Roy Cummings (@RCummingsFHCN) October 25, 2020 Second quarter You know what they’re going to do but can’t stop it #RaiderNation #Raiders — Robert Collins (@poshfan69) October 25, 2020 An absolute dime from @TomBrady. @Buccaneers take a 21-10 lead. #GoBucs : #TBvsLV on FOX: NFL app // Yahoo Sports app: https://t.co/nCwBl54Akc pic.twitter.com/ubu9vsShrR — NFL (@NFL) October 25, 2020 Brady looks awesome today. Figures. #Raiders — John P (@marra14_john) October 25, 2020 Third quarter Tom Brady is attacking every weak link in the @Raiders secondary. It's a master class he's putting on — Vincent Bonsignore (@VinnyBonsignore) October 25, 2020 TD #Raiders! Back in it. — The GOAT House (@GoatHouseNFL) October 25, 2020 GABE JACKSON EJECTED BECAUSE OF THIS???? Coming over the top @NFL @nflcommish #Raiders #RaiderNation pic.twitter.com/HNMDx2bwlH — Frank Lucas (@Luke_The_Duke00) October 25, 2020 Fourth quarter Good thing the Raiders got those 3 points last drive — Adam Hill (@AdamHillLVRJ) October 25, 2020 Putting your faith in the Defense are we #Raiders #TBvsLV #RaiderNation pic.twitter.com/cIBfy8DID9 — Guillermo (@GoogilyElmo) October 25, 2020 Clean pocket for Brady all day…awful effort, Raiders D. Absolutely unacceptable.#RaiderNation #raiders — Thomas Cipolla (@CoachCipolla37) October 25, 2020 Pass rush non existent. Brady having...

UFC By Mike Bohn October 24, 2020 4:24 pm By Mike Bohn | October 24, 2020 4:24 pm Former champ Robert Whittaker put himself back in position to fight for gold once more on Saturday when he beat Jared Cannonier in the UFC 254 co-main event. Whittaker (22-5 MMA, 13-3 UFC) pulled off one of the most significant wins of his career when he beat Cannonier (13-5 MMA, 6-5 UFC) by unanimous decision in the pay-per-view matchup at Flash Forum at Yas Island in Abu Dhabi, putting himself back in position for a middleweight title shot. Check below for the top Twitter reactions to Whittaker’s victory over Cannonier at UFC 254. Andreas Hall Cannonier is KILLING Bobby Knucks legs. — Andreas Hale (@AndreasHale) October 24, 2020 Ben Askren Man Whittaker has to start checking these kicks — “Young Superstar” (@Benaskren) October 24, 2020 Brian Kelleher Love me that same side kick Whittaker is going to — Baldy Ed (@brianboom135) October 24, 2020 Belal Muhammad I wonder if they’re gonna let Jared touch his rocks in between rounds — Belal Muhammad (@bullyb170) October 24, 2020 Dan Tom Some more nice hard leg kicks from Cannonier to close the round, but lean toward the overall work of Whittaker who did better at taking initiative as the round went on — Dan Tom (@DanTomMMA) October 24, 2020 James Vick Whittaker looks good right now — James Vick (@JamesVickMMA) October 24, 2020 Lando Vannata Retweet if you think title eliminators should be 5 rounds. Whittaker vs Cannonier deserves a full 25. @ufc — Lando Vannata (@GroovyLando) October 24, 2020 Kenny Florian Cannonier doesn’t have a response for the blitz of Whitaker. Landed some nice leg kicks early tho. Whitaker fighting an excellent fight so far. #UFC254 — Kenny Florian (@kennyflorian) October 24, 2020 Phil...

The two and a half week-long #EndSARS protests in Nigeria against police brutality has garnered attention and raised awareness far beyond the country’s borders thanks to a savvy, well-planned out campaign boosted by Nigerian and global celebrities. But none of this would have been possible without the sheer reach and immediacy of major social media platforms.The peaceful protest started online using the #EndSars hashtag before spreading quickly to thousands of people joining protests on the streets of Nigeria’s big cities and then London, Toronto, Houston, and elsewhere, again thanks to social media.But all social media is not created equal.The campaign to shut down the controversial and brutal Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) thrived on Twitter in particular and a series of significant #EndSARS hashtags trended globally with millions of retweets. Even Twitter’s enigmatic founder Jack Dorsey joined young Nigerians in encouraging the global Twitter community to donate to the protest organizers using bitcoin.Twitter gave the EndSARS hashtag an official emoji and verified the Twitter accounts of several users at the forefront of the protest. This act of support contributed to the global credibility of the protest and boosted the movement both online and offline.But even as the hashtag picked up steam and was shared by the likes of Kanye West and Rihanna, over on Facebook and Instagram some of the posts with the #EndSARS hashtag were being incorrectly labeled as “fake news.”To make things worse, these “fake news” labels by Facebook and Instagram inadvertently helped to promote a self-serving, anti-fake news campaign by the Nigerian Army, which had come under intense scrutiny after men in military uniforms opened fire on unarmed, peaceful protestors at the Lekki Toll Gate in Lagos on Tuesday (Oct. 20). The Nigerian Army has claimed its soldiers were not involved in what some have labeled a “massacre”...