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Twitter blocked my account for a tweet I did not make

jacquesmattheij.com

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Re: Twitter blocked my account for a tweet I did not make

#171

Post by Brian_K_White »

tedivm wrote: post #148
jacquesm wrote: post #132

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> why aren't you deleting the tweet? Because deleting it would remove the one bit of evidence that this happened and may well wipe out the data that would allow establishing how this was done. > What if someone got hold of your password somehow? Theoretically possible, practically not very likely for all kinds of reasons which I won't go into here but which you are going to have to take my word for. Let's just say th…

> Because deleting it would remove the one bit of evidence that this happened and may well wipe out the data that would allow establishing how this was done. That's not how computers work. You'll mark it as deleted and then the "deleted" column (or field or whatever) will turn from false to true. No forensic evidence will be lost.

We all know that's likely, but we also all know that none of us can actually know that. I sure don't know what the db schema is or what the data retention schedule is or what edit means are available to insiders (employee or "visitor").

Re: Twitter blocked my account for a tweet I did not make

#172

Post by doldols »

bell-cot wrote: post #124
rosndo wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not really. If you weren’t a prolific HN commenter this would be the top comment here. Right now you’re making an extraordinary claim with zero evidence. Pointing this out isn’t “out of line”. E: As it turns out, not only was I not out of line, I was also entirely correct. You wrote this tweet Jacques, you just forgot. It’s not unusual at your age. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31240589 It’s time for you to ap…

From a quick glance at the "In Comments" section of the HN FAQ...yes, OP is quite correct that your "More likely story..." comment is way out of line. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsfaq.html

Sorry, I totally missed the “Blindly believe all outrageous claims posted on HN” part of the guidelines. My bad.

Re: Twitter blocked my account for a tweet I did not make

#173

Post by tablespoon »

bilkow wrote: post #96
rexreed wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A side question for folks who work on these sorts of social media / UGC sites. Wouldn't a shadowban / deletion of messages be a lot less antagonistic as a way of dealing with problematic posts instead of instant and total account ban? I mean, if Reddit can shadowban so that your account still works, even if the posts go into the "ether", why can't Twitter do this? Instaban seems a bit... harsh, even if merited? Could…

A shadowban is IMO worse than an instaban, you still aren't able to post anything, but it will look like you can. It also feels morally wrong to shadowban people and there's no process to appeal, it's not even straightforward to discover you've been shadowbanned, you need a bot or searching for your posts in a private window[0]. Agree on the "simple way" of warning the user and putting the post on a queue though. [0]…

> A shadowban is IMO worse than an instaban, you still aren't able to post anything, but it will look like you can. It also feels morally wrong to shadowban people and there's no process to appeal, it's not even straightforward to discover you've been shadowbanned, you need a bot or searching for your posts in a private window[0].

I think that's true on a first offense. But if the user has demonstrated they have no intent to behave or their offense is egregious or demonstrates they know what they're doing, then I don't think there's any problem with a shadowban.

Re: Twitter blocked my account for a tweet I did not make

#174

Post by jacquesm »

mdoms wrote: post #164
jacquesm wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I'm confused - was OP's account compromised, or not? I do not know. The tweet certainly looks like it was made by my account, but definitely not from this computer and definitely not using my password. I'm pretty precise about stuff like that and Twitter would be the least of my problems if my passwords were hacked. For now I am assuming either someone social engineered Twitter to change my password or a compromise…

This is so confusing that at this point it feels like you're intentionally withholding information. Answer the simple question, has your password changed? Because if not then we can concretely rule out social engineering attacks - if they didn't know your password to begin with then they couldn't change it back, and if they did there would be no need for a social engineering attack.

> Answer the simple question, has your password changed?

Already answered upthread, someone figured out a way to test this without logging out and the answer is no, it has not been changed.

So it has to be a technical trick of sorts. But what?

Re: Twitter blocked my account for a tweet I did not make

#175

Post by djur »

jacquesm wrote: post #121
ffhhj wrote: post #116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

》What is interesting is that the account was blocked within seconds of the tweet being posted Do you suspect inner job or flagging bot farm?

Good question, no idea, it could be either I guess. But the speed suggests at least some kind of targeting.

I once made an intemperate comment to someone arguing in favor of eugenics via involuntary sterilization that they should consider starting with themselves, if you get my meaning, and Twitter locked my account within 30 seconds. They have automated systems for threats of violence or encouragement of self-harm. (I was happy to delete the comment after using the opportunity to cool off and reflect for a couple days.)

Re: Twitter blocked my account for a tweet I did not make

#176

Post by jacquesm »

bryced wrote: post #163

Seems most likely you replied to this tweet and forgot. Your tweet makes sense in this context. "They arent bothering to train current conscripts. Some Russian soldiers say they are given a weapon and sent straight in. Learn on the job." 11:29 AM · May 2, 2022 https://twitter.com/Johnrigsby128/status/1521195277033648129

Ok interesting, but within that context the tweet at least makes some sense but does not call for someone to die explicitly... it just gets weirder...

Re: Twitter blocked my account for a tweet I did not make

#178

Post by malepoon »

jacquesm wrote: post #110
garrettgarcia wrote: post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your account being compromised doesn't necessarily mean your password was compromised. Attackers are constantly developing new ways of accessing people's accounts. There's no valid reason to assume that there was an "elaborate hack of Twitter." Even people who are very careful, as it sounds like you are, can be successfully targeted. I don't know if turning on 2FA would have prevented this, but it sure wouldn't have…

Then I'm super interested in the mechanism used because I was under the impression that as long as my password is secure my account is secure barring a hack of Twitter at an entirely different level. 2FA the way Twitter uses it (using SMS to phone number) would in my opinion be less secure rather than more secure because it opens up a whole slew of possible attacks that would then also involve my phone.

Twitter also supports WebAuthn security keys as 2FA, much stronger than SMS/TOTP.

Re: Twitter blocked my account for a tweet I did not make

#179

Post by neogodless »

jacquesm wrote: post #52
latchkey wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You don't have to use SMS for 2FA on twitter. Have you checked: https://twitter.com/settings/apps_and_sessions

That brings up a page where Twitter wants my phone number, which they can't have.

Oddly enough I was able to select between [ Text message, Authentication app, Security key ]. I chose Authentication app, and I was not asked for my phone number. Though your account may now be in a "special state" due to these circumstances.

EDIT: Ah I see elsewhere you said you don't use a smart phone (thus, no authentication app.)

Re: Twitter blocked my account for a tweet I did not make

#180

Post by jacquesm »

gorhill wrote: post #155

I tried to find a tweet which would be a best match if the subject tweet had been a reply to another tweet, here is a good candidate: https://twitter.com/Johnrigsby128/status/1521195277033648129

I can't see what it says there (still get the stupid 'phone number required' screen).
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