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There must be a ton of ex (or current) Twitter employees on HN: can one of you verify if the user management tool shown in the photos is an actual thing and pro

by Jun8 4y ago

There must be a ton of ex (or current) Twitter employees on HN: can one of you verify if the user management tool shown in the photos is an actual thing and provide more information on how it works? As another sibling comment states, other platforms also do similar things. It's easy how such systems get started and evolve. In fact, given the severe downvoting I see on this and similarly polarizing threads on HN, I think if someone built a browser extension that hides comments by users from a user created list many people HN users would probably use it.

afavour 4y ago
It is, and none of this is new information, given this article from 2020: https://www.vice.com/en/article/jgxd3d/twitter-insider-access-panel-account-hacks-biden-uber-bezos https://www.vice.com/en/article/jgxd3d/twitter-insider-acces... A more pressing question, IMO: one of the screenshots shows a “direct messages” button. Does Weiss and/or Taibbi have unrestricted access to read users DMs right now?
- jdkee 4y ago
  "Does Weiss and/or Taibbi have unrestricted access to read users DMs right now?" Now that would be interesting.
  - sleepybrett 4y ago
    - sangnoir 4y ago
      Or anyone he considers his enemy/detractor. Anyone who has ever exchanged words with Elon, or even looked him the wrong way better have deleted their DMs - and asked their counter-parties to do the same - before Musk walked in the door at Twitter HQ. Let that sink in.
      - sleepybrett 4y ago
        deleted dms likely mean nothing, they probably just get marked in the db as 'deleted' and not displayed on normal clients... but to the elon/admin client no such restrictions
- Jun8 4y ago
  The 2020 article that you linked only mentions an internal tool that was used to change email addresses, it does not mention visibility filtering at all, which I believe is the new thing here.
  - purple_ferret 4y ago
    The images included have "Trends Blacklist" and "Search Blacklist" tags on accounts which seem to be the 'smoking gun' for Bari Weiss
    - afavour 4y ago
      Which is kind of funny since it’s been known these things exist since at least 2010: https://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/music-arts/justin-bieber-no-longer-trending-topic-twitter-article-1.183959 https://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/music-arts/justin-...
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
- propogandist 4y ago
  why do you want to distract readers with BS like access controls imposed on the journalists? the head of twitter security testified to Congress how twitter had poor security controls and audibility across the company. If that button does allow ability to read DM, Twitter employees have surely abused that for ages without repercussions. Let’s stay focused on the important details rather than worrying about established journalists exposing the power the former twitter employees wielded to sway public opinion
  - afavour 4y ago
    > If that button does allow ability to read DM, Twitter employees have surely abused that for ages without repercussions. How many employees have access to the tool? Do all users see that button? Seems pretty likely they’d have tiered access levels, no? What if access to user DMs was a hugely restricted piece of functionality and Musk just said “screw it” and gave it to two non-employees on a whim? You’re writing off a potentially huge breach in user trust, not to mention legal repercussions.
    - propogandist 4y ago
      Twitter employees were seen bragging about this long ago, as exposed by Project Veritas - https://twitter.com/Project_Veritas/status/1601037192788291584 https://twitter.com/Project_Veritas/status/16010371927882915... you are pushing fake news to distract from the core abuses, all to protect liberal interests
      - afavour 4y ago
        You’re running some tired schtick here. How is what I said “fake news”? If Musk opened up DM access to two non-employees that is a huge legal liability. You haven’t actually countered that point with anything, you’ve just waffled. You’ve also not explained why an audience like HN is incapable of discussing multiple issues in a discussion forum. Do you really think everyone here is so dumb? Let’s be real here: you don’t want any discussion that strays from the talking points dished out by Weiss because such discussion would show her talking points are largely nonsense. The Twitter Files is a house of cards but as long as the right people keep saying it isn’t the audience will keep huffing it like glue.

by Jun8 4y ago

afavour 4y ago

It is, and none of this is new information, given this article from 2020: https://www.vice.com/en/article/jgxd3d/twitter-insider-access-panel-account-hacks-biden-uber-bezos https://www.vice.com/en/article/jgxd3d/twitter-insider-acces... A more pressing question, IMO: one of the screenshots shows a “direct messages” button. Does Weiss and/or Taibbi have unrestricted access to read users DMs right now?

jdkee 4y ago
"Does Weiss and/or Taibbi have unrestricted access to read users DMs right now?" Now that would be interesting.
- sleepybrett 4y ago
  - sangnoir 4y ago
    Or anyone he considers his enemy/detractor. Anyone who has ever exchanged words with Elon, or even looked him the wrong way better have deleted their DMs - and asked their counter-parties to do the same - before Musk walked in the door at Twitter HQ. Let that sink in.
    - sleepybrett 4y ago
      deleted dms likely mean nothing, they probably just get marked in the db as 'deleted' and not displayed on normal clients... but to the elon/admin client no such restrictions
Jun8 4y ago
The 2020 article that you linked only mentions an internal tool that was used to change email addresses, it does not mention visibility filtering at all, which I believe is the new thing here.
- purple_ferret 4y ago
  The images included have "Trends Blacklist" and "Search Blacklist" tags on accounts which seem to be the 'smoking gun' for Bari Weiss
  - afavour 4y ago
    Which is kind of funny since it’s been known these things exist since at least 2010: https://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/music-arts/justin-bieber-no-longer-trending-topic-twitter-article-1.183959 https://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/music-arts/justin-...
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
propogandist 4y ago
why do you want to distract readers with BS like access controls imposed on the journalists? the head of twitter security testified to Congress how twitter had poor security controls and audibility across the company. If that button does allow ability to read DM, Twitter employees have surely abused that for ages without repercussions. Let’s stay focused on the important details rather than worrying about established journalists exposing the power the former twitter employees wielded to sway public opinion
- afavour 4y ago
  > If that button does allow ability to read DM, Twitter employees have surely abused that for ages without repercussions. How many employees have access to the tool? Do all users see that button? Seems pretty likely they’d have tiered access levels, no? What if access to user DMs was a hugely restricted piece of functionality and Musk just said “screw it” and gave it to two non-employees on a whim? You’re writing off a potentially huge breach in user trust, not to mention legal repercussions.
  - propogandist 4y ago
    Twitter employees were seen bragging about this long ago, as exposed by Project Veritas - https://twitter.com/Project_Veritas/status/1601037192788291584 https://twitter.com/Project_Veritas/status/16010371927882915... you are pushing fake news to distract from the core abuses, all to protect liberal interests
    - afavour 4y ago
      You’re running some tired schtick here. How is what I said “fake news”? If Musk opened up DM access to two non-employees that is a huge legal liability. You haven’t actually countered that point with anything, you’ve just waffled. You’ve also not explained why an audience like HN is incapable of discussing multiple issues in a discussion forum. Do you really think everyone here is so dumb? Let’s be real here: you don’t want any discussion that strays from the talking points dished out by Weiss because such discussion would show her talking points are largely nonsense. The Twitter Files is a house of cards but as long as the right people keep saying it isn’t the audience will keep huffing it like glue.