Grandparent scam: London, Ont., senior beats fraudsters not once, but twice
It was a typical Tuesday for Mabel Beharrell, 84, until she got the call that would turn her world upside down. Her teenaged grandson was in trouble and needed her help.
Twitter has suspended rapper Ye after he tweeted a picture of a swastika merged with the Star of David.
It is the second time this year that Ye has been suspended from the platform over antisemitic posts.
Twitter CEO Elon Musk confirmed the suspension by replying to Ye's post of an unflattering photo of Musk. Ye called it his "final tweet."
"I tried my best. Despite that, he again violated our rule against incitement to violence. Account will be suspended," Musk tweeted.
Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, has made a series of antisemitic comments in recent weeks. On Thursday, Ye praised Hitler in an interview with conspiracy theorist Alex Jones.
Ye's remarks have led to his suspension from social media platforms, his talent agency dropping him and companies like Adidas cutting ties with him. The sportswear manufacturer has also launched an investigation into his conduct.
Ye was suspended from Twitter in early October after saying in a post that he was going to go "death con 3 on JEWISH PEOPLE." His account was reinstated by the end of the month just as Musk took control of the company, but the billionaire tweeted that "Ye's account was restored by Twitter before the acquisition. They did not consult with or inform me."
Twitter's longtime practice before Musk took over was to suspend offending users temporarily and to escalate that to a permanent ban only if they kept breaking the rules. Musk has said he wants to avoid permanent bans and that speech should be allowed so long as it doesn't break the law in the countries where Twitter operates.
But Musk is now under pressure to clean up Twitter after changes he made following his purchase of the platform resulted in what watchdog groups say is a rise in racist, antisemitic and other toxic speech.
A report published Friday by the Anti-Defamation League said Musk's moves have empowered extremists on the platform. The ADL said that in its role as a "trusted flagger" of antisemitic tweets, it reported two batches to the company on Nov. 2 – just days after Musk took over – and again on Nov. 17 after he had changed its policies and slashed Twitter's workforce.
"In two weeks, Twitter went from taking action on 60% of antisemitic tweets to taking action on only 30%," the group said.
ADL said it has noted both more antisemitic content and less moderation of antisemitic posts, a situation it says is likely to grow worse because of the cuts to Twitter's content-moderation staff.
A top European Union official warned Musk this week that Twitter needs to do a lot more to protect users from hate speech, misinformation and other harmful content ahead of tough new rules requiring tech companies to better police their platforms, under threat of big fines or even a ban in the 27-nation bloc.
Ye's Twitter ouster came after his bid to buy the right wing-leaning social media site Parler was called off. Ye had offered Parler in October, but Parlement Technologies, which owns Parler, said Thursday that the deal had fallen through.
"This decision was made in the interest of both parties in mid-November," Parlement Technologies said.
Parler is a small platform in the emerging space of right-leaning, far-right and libertarian social apps that promise little to no content moderation to weed out hate speech, racism and misinformation, among other objectionable content. None of the sites have come close to reaching mainstream status.
The rapper now appears to have migrated to another right-wing platform, former U.S. president Donald Trump's Truth Social, where an account under Ye's name posted about Musk on Friday. A representative for Truth Social didn't respond to a request for comment but Ye's profile carried a red check mark "reserved for well known, highly searched VIPs" to show the account is genuine.
It was a typical Tuesday for Mabel Beharrell, 84, until she got the call that would turn her world upside down. Her teenaged grandson was in trouble and needed her help.
The deaths of four people on a farm near the Saskatchewan village of Neudorf have been confirmed a murder-suicide.
The Canada Revenue Agency announced Thursday it will not require 'bare trust' reporting from Canadians that it introduced for the 2024 tax season, just four days before the April 2 deadline.
The Parole Board of Canada has granted full parole to one of three men convicted in the brutal murders of three McDonald's restaurant workers in Cape Breton more than 30 years ago.
Nearly 20 hours after a man climbed and remained perched on top of the Reconciliation Bridge in downtown Calgary, the situation came to a peaceful resolution.
Ontario released its annual sunshine list Thursday afternoon, noting that the largest year-over-year increases were in hospitals, municipalities, and post-secondary sectors.
Genetic analysis has shed light on a long-standing mystery surrounding the fates of U.S. President George Washington's younger brother Samuel and his kin.
A spokesman for a regional Muslim advocacy group says Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre's stance on the Israel-Hamas war could complicate his party's relationship with Muslim Canadians.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump is officially selling a copy of the Bible themed to Lee Greenwood’s famous song, 'God Bless the USA.' But the concept of a Bible covered in the American flag has raised concern among religious circles.
B.C. conservation officers recently seized a nine-foot-long Burmese python from a home in Chilliwack.
A New Brunswicker will go to bed Thursday night much richer than he was Wednesday after collecting on a winning lottery ticket he let sit on his bedroom dresser for nearly a year.
The Ontario government is introducing changes to auto-insurance, but some experts say the move is ill-advised.
A Toronto restaurant introduced a surprising new rule that reduced the cost of a meal and raised the salaries of staff.
Newfoundland’s unique version of the Pine Marten has grown out of its threatened designation.
A Toronto man is out $12,000 after falling victim to a deepfake cryptocurrency scam that appeared to involve Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
It started small with a little pop tab collection to simply raise some money for charity and help someone — but it didn’t take long for word to get out that 10-year-old Jace Weber from Mildmay, Ont. was quickly building up a large supply of aluminum pop tabs.
There’s a group of people in Saskatoon that proudly call themselves dumpster divers, and they’re turning the city’s trash into treasure.
Ontario is facing a larger than anticipated deficit but the Doug Ford government still plans to balance its books before the next provincial election.