Twitter

Twitter halts 'broken' verified-profile system

Typically, prominent people, including musicians, journalists and company executives, get a blue icon on their profile after proving their identity.

However, some far-right and white-supremacist accounts have now also been verified.

Twitter founder Jack Dorsey said the scheme would now be "reconsidered".

In a statement, the company said: "Verification was meant to authenticate identity and voice, but it is interpreted as an endorsement or an indicator of importance.

"We recognise that we have created this confusion and need to resolve it."

Twitter to expand 280-character tweets

The new limit will not apply to tweets written in Japanese, Chinese and Korean which can convey more information in a single character.

The move follows a trial among a small group of users which started in September in response to criticism that it was not easy enough to tweet.

The change is part of Twitter's plan to attract new users and increase growth.

Twitter brevity

During the test, only 5% of tweets sent were longer than 140 characters and only 2% more than 190, the social media site said in a blog post.

Trump's Twitter account briefly 'deactivated'

It said that the @realdonaldtrump account was "deactivated" by an employee, later clarifying that it was their last day in the job.

The account was down for 11 minutes, and Twitter is now investigating.

Mr Trump - who is an active Twitter user with 41.7 million followers - has not commented on the issue.

On Thursday evening, visitors to Mr Trump's page for a short time could only see a message that read "Sorry, that page doesn't exist!"

Twitter promises more ad transparency

It said it would be clearer about who funded ads and to what end, especially those pushing a political agenda.

The company, like several tech firms, is keen to show it can self-regulate after it was found that Russian-backed groups were exploiting its ad platform.

Several key senators, from both sides of the US political divide, have backed measures clamping down on online ads.

The Honest Ads Act would regulate ad sales on social networks, search engines, websites or apps that have more than 50 million US visitors each month for the majority of months in a year.

Justin Bieber becomes the second person to reach 100m Twitter followers

He follows Katy Perry (103m) who managed it in June, but is in front of Taylor Swift (85.5m) and Rihanna (79.9m).

Former US president Barack Obama comes in third though with 94.3m.

To celebrate, Bieber has been given his own emoji on the site, which fans can use by using the hashtag #100millionbeliebers.

It all started for him when he was 15 and needed the hits:

Check out my single "ONE TIME" on my myspace and spread the word for me. Thanks www.myspace.com/justinbieber

Trump ends his self-made crisis where it started: Twitter

His admission, on Twitter Thursday that he did not secretly record his conversations with fired FBI Director James Comey -- after earlier raising the possibility that he did -- capped a six-week charade that damaged his presidency and cast doubt on his personal credibility.

Twitter co-founder laments US President Donald Trump's election

In an interview with The New York Times, Evan Williams says Twitter's role in Trump's populist rise is "a very bad thing".

The president has credited Twitter with his election to the highest office in the land.

When confronted with that notion, Williams said: "If it's true that he wouldn't be president if it weren't for Twitter, then yeah, I'm sorry."

The 45-year-old Silicon Valley entrepreneur also said the internet is obviously broken because it rewards extremes.

Twitter user numbers overtaken by China's Sina Weibo

According to the Chinese company's first quarter results, it has 340 million active monthly users, 30% up on the previous year.

About 154 million people use the site daily, 91% of whom access it via mobile.

By comparison, Twitter, which is blocked in China, has around 328 million active monthly users.

"Our relentless focus to build the best social media experience in China is reflected in Weibo's strong performance," Gaofei Wang, Weibo chief executive, said in a statement.

Twitter forces US to drop demand for Trump critic's details

@ALT_USCIS anonymously criticised President Trump’s immigration policy, and claimed to be run by employees at the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services.

US government officials issued a summons for identifying information.

But Twitter said that demand had been withdrawn after it filed a lawsuit.

The @ALT_USCIS account's followers also ballooned from 38,000 to 158,000 during the lawsuit's single-day lifespan.

Twitter is suing the US government after it demanded it reveal the identity of an anti-Trump account.

The @ALT_USCIS profile was an anonymous profile account criticising President Trump’s immigration policy.

The account claimed it was being run by federal employees at the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services.

Twitter has requested a court block the Trump administration’s request, calling it a matter of free speech.

The challenge was filed in San Francisco, where the micro-blogging service is based.