Politicians may soon lose the special status protecting them from fact-checking and censorship on Facebook; according to reports about upcoming policy changes at Mark Zuckerberg’s social media behemoth. Facebook – which also owns Instagram and WhatsApp – will treat accounts of politicians and public figures just like everyone else’s, and disclose when special newsworthiness exemption gets invoked to shield them from having “violating” content deleted, The Verge reported on Thursday. The Verge cited “two people familiar with the changes.” Facebook declined to comment for the story and has not announced any changes on its official pages. According to the…
Author: Abiodun A.
Over 50 members of the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) terrorist group have been killed in Borno State, the military authorities confirmed on Wednesday. The Army spokesman, Brigadier General Mohammed Yerima, who confirmed this via a statement said the terrorists were killed while launching a futile attack on Damboa Local Government Area of the northeastern state. Troops involved in today’s exercise were part of Operation Hadin Kai in conjunction with Air Component of the Operation “The terrorists attacked the town in multiple waves with Armoured Personnel Carriers and 12 Gun Trucks all mounted with Anti-Aircraft Guns, as well as…
Bandits have attacked a Fulani settlement on the outskirts of Anka town along the Bagega-Anka Road in Zamfara State. Sources told Infostride News that the armed men stormed the area at about 5pm on Wednesday and began to shoot sporadically. But the bandits were engaged in a gun duel by the policemen who were stationed in a mining company along the road, an eyewitness said on Thursday. He stated that no life was lost in the attack, but the bandits rustled an unspecified number of cows belonging to members of the community. The witness said a motorcycle belonging to the…
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) operatives in Lagos has intercepted total of 34,950 capsules of Tramadol and Diazepam suspected to be heading to insurgents’ camps in Borno state. A 25-year-old suspect, Mohammed Isah was nabbed by the agency while trying to move the drugs from Lagos to Borno. He was arrested on Tuesday 1st June 2021 at SD Motors park, Agege, Lagos with 12,390 capsules of Tramadol weighing 4.8kg and 22,560 tablets of Diazepam with a total weight of 14kg, bringing the total weight of the exhibits to 18.8kg. This was disclosed in a statement signed on Saturday…
The Rivers State Police Command has arrested the three members of a robbery gang that specializes in robbing unsuspecting persons of their belongings around the Choba/ Obiri Ikwerre axis of the State. They were nabbed, after successfully robbing one Mr. Simon Ibrahim who was on his way to make a deposit at a bank but was lured by the gang, who were driving in a Mazda car. However, luck ran out on them when the victim raised an alarm that alerted the police, and they were immediately arrested and taken to the Choba police station. Police authorities say further investigations…
Ten persons have been arrested in connection with the recent killing of security operatives and attacks on police facilities in Akwa Ibom State, authorities have said. The arrests were made during a series of raids on locations of criminal elements by the Joint Task Force (JTF) comprising operatives of the Nigerian Army, the Police, the Department of State Services (DSS), and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC). In a statement on Thursday, the Commissioner of Police in Akwa Ibom, Andrew Amiengheme, noted that the security operatives recovered several items, including vehicles, arms, ammunition, as well as some cash…
Facebook on Friday set its ban on former US president Donald Trump for two years, saying he deserved the maximum punishment for violating platform rules over a deadly attack by his supporters on the US Capitol. The two-year ban will be effective from January 7, when Trump was booted off the platform, and comes after Facebook’s independent oversight board said the indefinite ban should be reviewed. “Given the gravity of the circumstances that led to Mr. Trump’s suspension, we believe his actions constituted a severe violation of our rules which merit the highest penalty available under the new enforcement protocols,”…
Bandits have attacked communities in Igabi and Chikun Local Government Areas of Kaduna State killing five persons and leaving two others injured. A church building belonging to the Assemblies of God church and one house was burnt by the attackers during the operation. This was confirmed by the state Commissioner for Internal Security and Home Affairs, Samuel Aruwan. He said spouses of some pastors who also sustained injuries in the attack are presently receiving medical attention in a private facility and citizens will be updated on further developments emerging from the area. Similarly, security agencies also confirmed the killing of…
The ministry of electronics and information technology on Saturday sent a sternly-worded letter to microblogging platform Twitter; to share compliance details with the new intermediary guidelines, all clauses of which came into effect on May 25; saying that Twitter’s refusal to follow the rules demonstrates a “lack of commitment towards providing a safe experience to the people of India”. “Despite being in operation in India for over a decade, it is beyond belief; that Twitter Inc. has doggedly refused to create mechanisms that; will enable the people of India to resolve their issues on the platform in a timely and…
Nigerians, who rank among the most vocal and frequent users of popular micro-blogging site, Twitter, now have to contend with no longer having access to the medium. The development comes in the wake of the indefinite suspension of the operations of the social network in Nigeria. Infostride News earlier reported that the suspension was made public by the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed. Mohammed announced the suspension in a statement in Abuja on Friday, June 4. Specifically, the minister cited the persistent use of the platform for activities capable of undermining Nigeria’s corporate existence. The statement was…