Data security, secure websites and pertinent, and publishing factual information are paramount to a business’ success and online presence. Being able to toot your horn as a leader in your field is important to any business owner. As a leader in your field, you want your social media account to give information that is 100% true. What’s more, you want your competition to be held at the same level of honesty and integrity.
Twitter understands this and so it has unveiled its new manipulated media label to flag bogus claims made by just about anyone on the platform.
Table of Contents
Why this update?
Last February, Twitter announced its plan to roll out the manipulated media label. This aims to combat the use of deep fake content, manipulated and deceptive, altered or fabricated media which for the most part involves labelling and warning users.
Tweets containing deceptive media, fabricated and synthetic media will be removed, especially if they cause harm or ask for sensitive information from users. This measure adds a layer of protection that helps secure your social media accounts online.
Twitter has redefined what harmful media means by unveiling this new label. Harm includes any threats to the privacy of users, the ability of a user or group to freely express themselves on the platform or participate in civic events online.
The policy is inclusive but not limited to online stalking, unwanted or obsessive attention, targeted content comprising of tropes, epithets or material designed to silence someone. More notably, it includes the suppression or intimidation of voters in presidential elections, namely the upcoming Presidential election.
Crackdown on fake news
According to Tech Crunch, “unlike Facebook’s deep-fake policy, which ignores disingenuous doctoring like cuts and splices to videos and out-of-context clips, Twitter’s policy isn’t limited to a specific technology, such as AI-enabled deep-fakes. It’s much broader.”
“Things like selected editing or cropping or slowing down or overdubbing, or manipulation of subtitles would all be forms of manipulated media that we would consider under this policy,” confirmed Yoel Roth, head of site integrity at Twitter.
What does this mean for your business’ Twitter Account?
You don’t have to worry about cyber criminals trying to pose as your Twitter account to gain access to your customer base and their sensitive information. By labelling manipulated media, Twitter has ultimately protected your brand’s image.
For example, a cybercriminal can take a video or tweet that has an internal link for your website and change it to a fake site to gain banking information or other sensitive information from your trusted customers. This is Twitter’s form of data security and we are here for it.
How does Twitter identify manipulated data?
The plan devised by Twitter to check if media has been manipulated is quite simple. A piece of media is determined to have violated the policy if it shows that it has been tampered with or spliced. Twitter says it examines the metadata, the context of the tweet and the Twitter user’s public information before it slaps the label on fake news and deep fakes.
Securing Your Business Social Media Accounts
Social media is also used as the public face of businesses or even entrepreneurs who use it as an advertising and marketing tool or an avenue to establish their brand’s reach and awareness. Hackers and other cybercriminals sometimes take over or clone a company’s social media to promote their brand, gain followers, collect sensitive private information or even spread a specific message. This form of hacktivism and cyber-criminal behaviour is an ongoing problem, especially with Twitter accounts.
Here are some tips to keep corporate social media accounts secure:
1. Monitor your social media accounts regularly
Keep a keen eye on what’s being posted on all your social media platforms.
2. Limit access to social account
Limiting access to only the necessary people perhaps yourself and your social media manager you can afford to have one. The fewer people with account access, the better for your business. This makes it easier to control the posts and avoid any deliberate sabotage.
3. Keep your accounts separate
Separate what is personal and what is professional—you don’t want to unintentionally post something private and personal on a corporate account.
4. Audit third-party applications
Then audit which tools and applications that have access to your accounts—regulate and frequently check which tools help with posting since they might be vulnerable to attacks.
5. Keep up to date with security threats
Be aware of the latest security solutions and upgrades. Some platforms might be moving away from passwords soon, or they may be implementing a new security feature that you may want to implement as soon as it’s rolled out.
6. Change passwords frequently
Like all users, practice good password hygiene and also implement strict policies about patching and updating. Try changing passwords weekly and always use a combination of letters, characters and numbers.
Protecting yourself from fake news and misinformation
One of the biggest issues facing social media platforms is their role in the distribution of fake news, deep fake and other manipulated media. Some platforms have already started addressing the subject, like Twitter, Facebook and are working to stop the issue, but there are still a lot of ways to use social media for spreading fake news.
Cyber-propaganda has been around for as long as we’ve had the internet, but 24/7 social media platforms allowed opportunistic hackers and cybercriminals to manipulate public perception quickly and efficiently.
Twitter bots used to push fake stories in political campaigns that were big enough to sway public opinion, thus causing the social media titan to add the manipulated media label. While fake Facebook stories are designed to catch likes and spread fake news, and popular platforms in other countries deploy similar tactics as well. News is easily created but difficult to verify and so you have to be on your guard at all times.
You keep your hosting account, website and other accounts online safe; your social media accounts are no different. Be vigilant and do weekly audits of all of your business accounts. Prevention is better than cure and you want to ensure your customers and your business are always protected.
