Tag: #Twitter

Twitter introduces Arabic (feminine)’ language

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NUT Desk- Twitter (TWTR.N) on Tuesday introduced an “Arabic (feminine)” language setting enabling the social media site to speak to users using feminine grammar, part of what it said was an inclusion and diversity drive.

“We want our service to reflect the voices that shape the conversations that take place on our service,” said Rasha Fawakhiri, Twitter’s communications head for the Middle East and North Africa.

In Arabic, verbs agree with the gender of their subject. Masculine forms are used to address mixed or unknown audiences and are the default in most texts.

Twitter did not introduce a non-binary gender language option in Arabic, but Fawakhiri said the company has other gender neutral projects in the works for the site. It has plans to add a designated gender pronoun field to Twitter profiles so people can display how they prefer to be addressed.

Until now, the instruction for the user to Tweet in Arabic had appeared only in the masculine form “gharrid”. With a change of settings, this command can now appear on Twitter as “gharridi”, the feminine form.

Twitter says it is the first social media site to introduce an “Arabic (feminine)” language option. Dubai-based global logistics company Aramex (ARMX.DU) in April added a similar language option to its corporate website.

Russia, after Twitter slowdown, accuses US of using IT to engage in unfair competition

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MOSCOW: Russia on Saturday accused the United States of using IT opportunities to engage in unfair competition and of social media platforms arbitrarily and indiscriminately censoring content.

Russia this week said it was slowing down the speed of Twitter in retaliation for what it described as a failure to remove banned content. It threatened to block the U.S. platform outright, a move which escalating a row between Moscow and U.S. social media firms.

Twitter currently labels some Russian media “state-affiliated media”, a move decried by Moscow. President Vladimir Putin signed laws in December handing Russia new powers to restrict U.S. social media giants.

“[The platforms] do not, in principle, have unified standards for managing themselves. This is a semantic and technological stalemate,” Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova wrote on Facebook on Saturday.

“Digital content is arbitrarily and indiscriminately censored by certain moderators without the decision of a court or a relevant, competent authority.”

Twitter on Tuesday said it was deeply concerned by increased attempts to block and throttle online public conversation and that it was worried about the impact on free speech of the Russian action to slow down its service.

“Washington’s goal is obvious – to use IT opportunities for unfair competition in all spheres,” Zakharova said.