I got verified because someone took my picture, made a lookalike account & started following my colleagues.

I work with high risk people. This was dangerous.

If you can get a blue tick for $8 without identity verification... expect an absolute epidemic of 'verified' fakes.
A spasm of #VeriFakes would have been hard for pre-November Twitter staffing to manage.

But coming after big cuts in key roles?

Everyone should worry.
The potential for crime, harm to users & disinformation from #VeriFakes is enormous.

I sincerely hope that those remaining at Twitter have the room & support to think the problem through.

And implement workable strategies before the inevitable crisis.
Without a better plan, we'll just have to wait & see how many "El0n Mu5k Officlal" scams will need to happen before he reaches his pain point.

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More from @jsrailton

Nov 5
Imagine looking up at the night sky and thinking: unused advertising space!

Resist sky trash.
Don't be fooled. These things always start small.

Ad agencies have no right to help themselves to our night sky.
Fireworks have downsides, but they offer collective & free enjoyment.

Candy Crush #skytrash is the selfish commercial appropriation of a public good.

How soon till companies start charging to *not* fly these drone ads over choice views.
Read 4 tweets
Nov 5
WHOA: FBI found Rwandan intelligence targeted civilians on 🇺🇸US soil.

Rwandan agents sought to plant derogatory intel & manipulate American law enforcement into sharing intelligence & deporting dissidents.

By @CarlosMureithi & Kira Zalan @OCCRP occrp.org/en/investigati… ImageImageImageImage
2/ Remember, Rwanda kidnapped 🇺🇸 US resident Paul Rusesabagina.

His daughter @ckanimba, an American citizen was hacked with #Pegasus spyware.👇
3/ It appears that Rwanda also abused & manipulated @INTERPOL_HQ & their red notice system.

Countries abuse international systems & MLAT agreements when they believe they won't face consequences. ImageImage
Read 4 tweets
Nov 4
I watched 2000 Mules so you don't have to.

As I told @cnn's @donie, the 'research' backing the claims is a joke.

And that's not even counting the devastatingly obvious errors...

Let me give you some examples 1/
2/ 2000 Mules features a bunch of made up looking scenes that are best described as a mashup of a 90s hacker movie + CSI.

I guess this is supposed to make True the Vote's conclusions seem more credible.

Of course, in this data fever dream we have a guide... Absolute joke of a scene purporting to show a bunch of data
3/ Trump-pardoned felon Dinesh D'Souza deserves a Golden Raspberry for acting increasingly incredulous & shocked as the True the Vote people unwind their utterly-debunked claims...

But I'm getting ahead of myself. Dinesh D'Souza doing his best fake shocked face
Read 13 tweets
Nov 3
Netanyahu is back.

Cue fresh global hacking crises?

He previously encouraged the ~unchecked proliferation of mercenary spyware.

Predictably, governments, journalists & human rights defenders got hacked with #Pegasus.

His successor took some steps to rein things in.

But now?
Mark my words.

If Netanyahu returns to a familiar role of pushing mercenary spyware & fostering lax oversight, the result will be fresh national security & diplomatic crises.

Because it's a certainty that some customers will use the tech in reckless ways.

And get discovered.
NSO Group specifically was probably trying to weather the storm until Netanyahu's return.

Helping NSO out of it's financial jam will probably mean helping them cut new deals.

It's going to mean a lot of dictators getting hacking tools.

And a lot more victims.
Read 4 tweets
Oct 31
An 82yo man has fractured skull, victim of an attempted murder.

The lunatic reportedly brought zip ties.

Pelosi was the apparent target.

Meanwhile? Homophobic disinformation is trending thanks to a concerted effort...

...turbocharged by actions of Twitter's owner.
This ugly bit of orchestrated disinformation targeting an attempted murder victim would normally be a good case for possible moderation.

But disinformation pushers are betting Twitter employees are now afraid to act.

Especially after Musk's tweeting suggested tacit approval.
Groups doing disinformation are probing & pushing right now.

Trying to recapture as much ground as they they can while (they hope) content moderators fear for their jobs.

It's gross.

And it's going to keep happening.
Read 7 tweets
Oct 30
Elon Musk is an engineering marvel: so much fit into such a thin skin.
So much direct power over a platform + trying to compete for attention on it = a recipe for bad things.

If Musk cares about promoting vibrant free speech on Twitter, he should mindfully step away from constantly seeking attention on it.
Musk's history on Twitter also includes marshaling & nurturing an army of adoring voices who attack people that disagree with him.

If he truly believes in growing a mature discourse, he must stop feeding that machinery. Right now.

Otherwise he is going to destroy this place.
Read 4 tweets

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