0 Have your say Scotland’s most prominent female politicians have spoken out about the online abuse including death threats they receive as they backed a campaign to force Twitter to take action against social media trolls. Nicola Sturgeon, Ruth Davidson and Kezia Dugdale have joined forces to support Amnesty’s new “ToxicTwitter” campaign, which highlights the online platform’s failure to prevent violence and abuse against women.The SNP and Tory leaders and the former Scottish Labour leader have described the distress caused by the misogynist, homophobic, obscene and violent language directed towards them. Along with other public figures, the three MSPs have shared videos of interviews in which they describe the appalling levels of abuse, which is often posted in the foulest terms imaginable.Ms Dugdale said she had felt it necessary to report three death threats to the police including one post that suggested she should be … [Read more...] about Sturgeon, Davidson and Dugdale unite to tackle Twitter trolls
$25bn float for Twitter as frenzy sends shares soaring 90%
Twitter's shares soared over 90% on their debut in New York today, valuing the microblogging site at $25 billion. Investors piled into shares, sending them as high as $50 after floating at $26. The peak beat spread-betting firm IG's forecast that the price could go as high as $43 (£26) in the first few hours on the New York Stock Exchange. The social media giant has been struggling to contain the hype by pricing itself conservatively as it sought to avoid a repeat of Facebook’s botched float on the rival NASDAQ stock exchange, when the shares tumbled. But Twitter’s bankers, led by Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, twice hiked the price from an initial range of $17-$20 to $20-$25 on Monday, before settling on a final price of $26 last night — a valuation of around $18 billion (£11.25 billion). IG analyst David Jones said: “It is clearly going to start off strongly, but Facebook started off strongly and then fell away by the end of the day. The … [Read more...] about $25bn float for Twitter as frenzy sends shares soaring 90%
£16 Twitter shares to go on sale
Shares in Twitter have been priced at 26 dollars (16.25) each ahead of the company's first day of trading on the New York Stock Exchange today. The share prices are above the range of 23 to 25 dollars (£14.30 and £15.60) announced on Monday. The company, which has more than 230 million users but is yet to make a profit since it was launched seven years ago, is valued at more than 18 billion dollars (£11.2bn). Twitter's public debut is the most highly anticipated since that of Facebook, in May last year. But it has priced itself at a mere fraction of Facebook's initial 104 billion-dollar (£65bn) valuation, in a likely attempt to avoid Facebook's fate of taking more than a year to surpass its initial public offering price. Twitter is offering 70 million shares for sale, along with an option to buy another 10.5 million. Mark Mahaney, from investment bank RBC Capital Markets, said he expected Twitter's shares to rise after listing. He told the BBC: "Just as Google, … [Read more...] about £16 Twitter shares to go on sale
50,000 join Twitter hunt to find widow’s missing dog Ted
A missing dog was reunited with its owner after more than 50,000 people joined an online hunt for him. Ted, a King Charles Spaniel, was snatched by a man from outside a north London Tesco Express. His owner, Philomena Hynes, left him attached to the railings by his leash for five minutes to buy groceries. Mrs Hynes, 75, a widow, said: “I was absolutely distraught when he was taken. “I couldn’t believe in my wildest that anybody could take a little Ted. “Those days were atrocious - I couldn’t sleep or eat, I was tearful all day. “I was weeping the street.” Detectives from Barnet police investigated the disappearance. The Hynes family pinned posters to lamp posts around North Finchley, but when that failed to turn up any leads they turned to social media. Mrs Hynes, a retired Islington education worker, said: “My grandchildren put it in (CORR) Twitter - it enabled quite a few people to go out there and look for him.” The appeal was … [Read more...] about 50,000 join Twitter hunt to find widow’s missing dog Ted
Bahrein: militante dos Direitos Humanos condenado por criticar poder no Twitter
Um novo protesto na capital do Bahrein degenerou em confrontos com as forças de segurança. Os manifestantes contestavam a detenção do sheik Ali Salman, líder do principal movimento da oposição xiita, mas também a condenação do célebre militante dos Direitos Humanos, Nabil Rajab, depois de usar o Twitter para criticar o poder sunita. … [Read more...] about Bahrein: militante dos Direitos Humanos condenado por criticar poder no Twitter