TWITTER TO BOOT USERS OVER COVID LIES

Soldiers, police going after newsmen for reporting on unrest in Myanmar

SAN FRANCISCO: Twitter said it will start labeling misleading tweets about Covid-19 vaccines and boot users who persist in spreading such misinformation. The messaging service introduced a “strike system” that will gradually escalate to a permanent ban after the fifth offending tweet. “We believe the strike system will help to educate the public on our policies and further reduce the spread of potentially harmful and misleading information on Twitter,“the company said in a blog post. Twitter users will be notified when a tweet is labeled as misleading or needs to be removed for breaking the platform’s rules, earning a strike, according to the company. The second and third strikes will each result in the violating account being blocked for 12 hours. With a fourth violation, an account will be sidelined for seven days. A fifth strike will get accounts permanently suspended. Twitter began calling on users to remove dangerously misleading Covid19 claims late last year. – AFP

YANGON: A Myanmar reporter was attacked in his home and detained by the military, his employer said yesterday, after days of crackdowns by the junta on anti-coup protesters.

Myanmar’s military has escalated force as it attempts to quell an uprising against its rule, deploying tear gas, rubber bullets and increasing live rounds.

Journalists have found themselves targeted by police and soldiers as they try to capture the unrest on the streets.

In recent days, several have been arrested, including an Associated Press photographer in Yangon.

A Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB) reporter live-streamed the Monday night attack on his apartment building in the southern city of Myeik as he pleaded for help.

Hours later, DVB said on Twitter that reporter Kaung Myat Hlaing had been taken from his home by security forces.

“DVB has no knowledge of where he was taken and which military authority took statement.

It added that Kaung Myat Hlaing’s latest reports were on a weekend military crackdown in Myeik, as well as on Monday’s demonstrations.

Loud bangs could be heard during Kaung Myat Hlaing’s live stream, which was hosted on DVB’s official Facebook page.

“If you are shooting like this, how will I come down?” he shouted at the security forces outside.

Meanwhile, police fired stun grenades to disperse protesters in the city of Yangon yesterday, witnesses said, as foreign ministers of neighbouring countries were due to hold talks with the military in an effort to quell deadly violence.

him,”

said

the

The talks will come two days after the bloodiest day of unrest since the military removed Aung San Suu Kyi’s elected government a month ago, unleashing anger and mass street protests across Myanmar.

Protesters, many wearing hard hats and clutching makeshift shields, gathered behind barricades in different parts of Yangon to chant slogans against military rule.

Crowds also gathered in other parts of the country, media reported.

“If we’re oppressed, there will be explosion.

“If we’re hit, we’ll hit back,” the crowd chanted at one Yangon protest before police moved in to break up it up with stun grenades, witnesses said. – AFP/Reuters