Twitter trolls who suggested a ship carrying the first wave of the Windrush generation should have “sunk” have been taken down following public criticism. On June 22, 1948, HMT Empire Windrush arrived at Tilbury in Essex with around 500 workers aboard from Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago. They were among the first of the Windrush generation – people who had travelled to the UK between 1948 and 1971 from Caribbean countries as part of a scheme to help fill post-war labour shortages. On 75th anniversary of Windrush, Sunder Katwala, director of independent think tank British Future, told the PA news agency about a series of offensive tweets. One anonymous user with a profile image of a St George’s flag had suggested that the then-prime minister Clement Attlee “should have told the Royal Navy to sink it in the middle of the Atlantic”. The user had also argued that black and Jewish people could not be British. Initially, complaints about the account were rejected – despite MPs receiving assurances in the past that such comments probably violated Twitter rules. Mr Katwala was tagged in a further tweet by another user, which stated: “Should have sunk it just as we should be sinking the illegals coming to our shores.” He had reported that offensive post too, but on Thursday had yet to receive a response from moderators. PA had attempted to contact Twitter on Thursday for a comment. By Friday afternoon, both accounts appeared to have been removed or suspended from the micro-blogging site. Mr Katwala said: “It is good that the right decision has been made in this case after the indefensible decision to declare this incessant racism within the rules was challenged publicly. “My concern is that the Twitter moderation system is invariably getting the most clear cut cases wrong so users are not getting the protection they need most of the time.” Previously, the author and prominent social commentator had said that public figures including Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, ministers and MPs “face daily racism because of the failures of social media platforms”. “So you can’t participate in public space on equal terms without experiencing racism, even though in every other sphere of life, if you’re on the train, on the bus, or in the playground, or in business, people can’t do that anymore, because we have social norms and we uphold them. “There’s no enforcement at all of the most basic social norms even when put in the most vitriolic terms,” he said. Allowing the views of a tiny minority to be amplified on social media skewed how the younger generation saw progress in the real world, leaving an impression society was “going backwards, no forwards”, he suggested. Mr Katwala had said social media does have the ability to “step up” to tackle online hate, as happened after the Christchurch terror attack in New Zealand and after Euro 2020 racist abuse. But he added on Thursday: “It is very clear to me that Twitter is now taking the most extreme content considerably less seriously than two years ago. “How far that is a policy decision under new ownership and how far a reduction in staff capacity is less clear. “The type of very extreme content they would take down when challenged is much more likely to stay up for much longer now. If the platform is not going to act, the case for external regulation gets stronger.” Mr Katwala has recently published a new book, How To Be A Patriot, which is a personal account of what it is to be British. He joined a celebration of the 75th anniversary at the National Windrush Monument in Waterloo, south London, and at a special service at Southwark Cathedral. Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Meta rejects accusation of censorship of language around female body AI developing faster than laws aiming to regulate it, academic warns Facebook Marketplace is most complained-about online retail platforms

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NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jun 21, 2023--

Elon Musk’s X has been ordered by a judge to pay $1.1m in legal fees to its laid off former executives. Since Mr Musk’s takeover of X, the company formerly known as Twitter, the multibillionaire and X have faced a number of lawsuits. These include suits over the firm’s failure to pay its vendors and delays in paying rent for its office premises, as well as former employees suing Twitter alleging they were laid off without adequate notice. On Tuesday, Delaware Chancery Court judge Kathaleen St J McCormick ruled in favour of the company’s ex-chief Parag Agrawal and said X must pay $1.1m in legal fees linked with probes of the platform during Mr Musk’s 2022 takeover, Bloomberg first reported. After buying out the microblogging platform in November last year, the Tesla titan fired Mr Agrawal and Twitter’s then-lead policy officer Vijaya Gadde as well as a number of other executives. Mr Agrawal and Ms Gadde then sued Twitter/X for failing to pay for their legal bills, including for the latter’s appearance before the House Committee on Oversight and Reform. The lawsuit filing alleged the company paid only about $600,000 of what it owes, withholding $1.1m in fees for its lawyers’ work representing the former executives in an inquiry on the role played by social media on US elections. The filing alleged Twitter/X “breached the agreements and contravened the bylaws” by not paying the former staff. The latest ruling by the Delaware court judge observed that X “violated its duties to cover legal expenses generated by their work for the company”. While acknowledging that $1.1m is a lot of money, the judge still ruled in favour of the former Twitter executives. “I have reviewed the amount in question, and although it is high and probably higher than most humans would like to pay, it’s not unreasonable,” judge McCormick was quoted as saying by Bloomberg. X did not immediately respond to The Independent’s request for comment. The company is also being sued over its rebrand to X by an ad agency also named X, alleging the social media platform’s new name violates Florida common law because of “unfair competition and trademark and service mark infringement”. Read More Elon Musk’s mockery of Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky ‘unhelpful’ Elon Musk’s X Corp sued by another social network company named X ‘Reckless’ Elon Musk hit with $1m lawsuit for accusing student of being in Proud Boys ‘false flag’ attack Elon Musk’s X Corp sued by another social network company named X Elon Musk to live stream himself gaming on X in ‘everything app’ bid Musk confirms he is cutting election integrity staff from X/Twitter ahead of 2024

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SANTA MONICA, Calif.,--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 16, 2023--

Can your MacGyver air scrubber do the work of a purifier costing hundreds of dollars? Science says yes.

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Most presidents, current and former, typically spend America’s Independence Day celebrating the values of US society that bring its citizens together, joining in the festive and unifying themes of the national holiday. And then there’s Donald Trump. The former president spent July 4 fuming at his enemies on Truth Social, resharing a vulgar message aimed at President Joe Biden and the tens of millions of Americans who voted for him in 2020. ““F**k Biden and f**k you for voting for him”, read the post. Later, he continued his holiday rant by branding the president a “very dangerous idiot in the White House”. He also posted a bizarre image of himself imposed into the Revolutionary War, prompting social media users to suggest he is more like Benedict Arnold – the infamous US traitor – than the Founding Fathers. In other Trumpworld news, the company planning to merge with Truth Social has reached an $18m settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Digital World Acquisition Corp (DWAC) announced the tentative settlement on Monday, ending an SEC probe looking into whether it held talks with Truth Social’s parent company before going public – a violation of regulations. Read More Trump marks Independence Day by sharing vulgar attack on Biden and ominous 2024 warning Trump-appointed judge blocks Biden agencies from communicating with social media platforms Ex-New York congressman pardoned by Trump is planning to run again in Florida Truth Social’s merger partner reaches $18m settlement with SEC