The Morning After: Senator calls for an end to ‘failed Big Tech self-regulation’

The Morning After: Senator calls for an end to ‘failed Big
Tech self-regulation’

Senator Ed Markey of Massachusetts is calling on Congress to pass new legislation to rein in tech companies after Twitter boss Elon Musk ignored an information request. “Elon Musk could respond to my tweets but failed to respond to my letter by yesterday’s deadline and answer basic questions about Twitter verification,” Markey tweeted on Saturday.

The senator sent a letter on November 11th about Twitter’s paid account verification feature. Following the initial rollout, trolls could impersonate celebrities, politicians and company brand accounts, the latter leading to real-world effects on stock prices.

Musk addressed one of Markey’s questions when he announced Twitter’s new verification system on Friday. It’ll feature manual authentication and different colored check marks for different types of users. "Gold check for companies, gray check for government, blue for individuals (celebrity or not) and all verified accounts will be manually authenticated before check activates," Musk said. He’s also said sign-ups have hit an all-time high.

– Mat Smith

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Getty Images

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NASA

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Charles Darwin's full correspondence is now available online You can read over 15,000 letters from the evolutionary science pioneer.

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UK aims to ban non-consensual deepfake porn Critics say other aspects of the proposed legislation pose dangers to privacy and security.

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