Technologies

Trump’s tweets blocked for election misinformation still spread to other sites

The same messages popped up on Facebook, Instagram and Reddit, NYU researchers found.

Twitter blocked users from retweeting, liking and replying to some of former US President Donald Trump’s tweets because the posts contained election misinformation, but that didn’t stop the politician’s messages from spreading to other social media platforms.

NYU researchers analyzed tweets from Trump that Twitter flagged for misinformation between Nov. 1, 2020, and Jan. 8, 2021. They also identified public posts on Facebook, Instagram and Reddit that contained the same messages as the Trump tweets. Though limiting engagement with Trump’s tweets did curb their spread on Twitter, the same messages were posted more often on Facebook, Instagram and Reddit than tweets that just included a warning label or weren’t restricted, researchers found. Trump’s tweets appeared on other social media platforms in the form of links, quotes or screenshots.

Tweets from Trump that Twitter merely labeled for containing false claims about election fraud also received more user engagement than tweets without warning labels.

Researchers stopped short of concluding that labeling misinformation doesn’t work, because Trump’s unfounded claims about election fraud may be the types of tweets that could’ve spread widely even if the platform didn’t flag them.

The findings, though, highlight some of the limitations of content moderation, especially when moderation isn’t consistent across other social media platforms. Researchers pointed out that people might’ve just turned to other social networks as an alternative to Twitter or posted Trump’s false claims on other sites in protest. Since the 2020 US presidential election, Twitter and Facebook have labeled other content, including COVID-19 misinformation.

«The interconnected nature of these platforms and the online social media environment presents challenges for content moderation, where the policies are chosen and enforced by individual platforms without coordination with other platforms,» said a research article published Tuesday in the Harvard Kennedy Misinformation Review.

Though many social networks say they want to curb the spread of misinformation, they have differences in how they moderate content. Following the deadly Jan. 6 Capitol Hill riot, Twitter permanently banned Trump from its platform out of concern that his remarks could incite more violence. Facebook suspended Trump and later asked its content oversight board to review the suspension. Then it decided to bar him from the platform until at least January 2023. In July, Trump sued Facebook, Twitter and Google, accusing the companies of violating the First Amendment, even though its free speech protections apply only to the government censoring speech and don’t mean private companies can’t decide what types of speech they allow on their platforms.

A Twitter spokeswoman said Wednesday that as conversations about the 2020 election increased, Twitter thought it was «critical» to take «swift enforcement action on misleading content that could contribute to offline harm.»

«We continue to research, question, and alter features that could incentivize or encourage behaviors on Twitter that negatively affect the health of the conversation online or could lead to offline harm,» the spokeswoman said in a statement.

From November 2020 to January 2021, Twitter added a label to 303 of Trump’s tweets about politics. It restricted engagement on 16 of Trump’s tweets. During that period, Trump’s account posted 830 tweets about politics that didn’t get flagged, according to the research.

Technologies

Roblox Will Pay $12 Million to Settle Nevada Child Safety Lawsuit

The deal with the Nevada attorney general will require Roblox to have stricter safeguards to protect children online.

Popular gaming platform Roblox agreed to pay more than $12 million and implement new safety features as part of a settlement with the state of Nevada. This settlement comes amid several lawsuits accusing the company of an alleged lack of protection of children on the platform.

The agreement resolves potential litigation over allegations that Roblox failed to adequately safeguard children while they played the online game, Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford said in a press release on Wednesday.

As part of the deal, Roblox will spend $10 million over three years to encourage children to engage in non-digital activities, as well as institute age verification for all users. This will include «facial age estimation technology and government-issued ID for age assurance, and will use behavioral monitoring to identify users who may have been aged incorrectly,» according to the press release.

«The injunctive relief that Roblox has agreed to will give parents the tools they need to protect their children on the platform; institute default protections to block predators from engaging with children; and ensure that messages involving minors are not encrypted,» Ford said in the press release.

Roblox also committed to spending $1 million over two years on a campaign to educate minors and adults about online safety and another $1.5 million to develop a law enforcement liaison position to work with state law enforcement agencies over concerns about the platform.

Roblox Chief Safety Officer Matt Kaufman said it’s part of the company’s «work to establish a new standard for digital safety.»

«This resolution creates a blueprint for how industry and regulators can work together to protect the next generation of digital citizens,» Kaufman said Thursday. «We have no finish line when it comes to safety.»

Roblox is under significant legal pressure amid more than 140 lawsuits, according to Reuters. The suits, filed in 2025, allege the company knowingly created a gaming platform that allowed child predators to target minors.

The company also faces lawsuits from state attorneys general in Texas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Iowa, Nebraska, Tennessee and Florida over similar accusations.

Age-based accounts coming soon

Two days before the settlement announcement, Roblox CEO and founder David Baszucki revealed new accounts for younger Roblox users.

Roblox Kids will be available for children between the ages of 5 and 8, and Roblox Select is for those ages 9 to 15. Roblox is reportedly used by nearly half of US children under 16. Children who are older than 16 will be in their own age group, simply called «Roblox.»

Kids and Select accounts would be available in those age groups as determined by Roblox’s age-check technology or by a verified parent.

Unmonitored chat in the game has been a point of criticism for the platform, as it allows predators to chat with children. Kids’ accounts will have chat turned off by default, with limited access to Minimal or Mild games as determined by the platform. Select accounts will have chat with safeguards and access to games with Moderate content, which is described by the platforms as having «moderate violence, light realistic blood, moderate crude humor, unplayable gambling content, and/or moderate fear.»

These new age-based accounts will roll out sometime in early June.

Technologies

Opera Adds Browser Connector Feature to Integrate AI Chatbots Into Browsers

New feature will allow users to include the AI tools of their choice.

Opera announced Thursday the launch of a new tool that allows users of its browsers to include more AI chatbots in their browsing experience.

Browser Connector is a free feature for Opera One and Opera GX browsers that allows users to integrate AI tools such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Anthropic’s Claude into their live browsing sessions via Model Context Protocol. MCP is an open standard developed by Anthropic that allows for a secure two-way connection between AI models, external data sources and tools such as search engines.

(Disclosure: Ziff Davis, CNET’s parent company, in 2025 filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging it infringed Ziff Davis copyrights in training and operating its AI systems.)

Last month, Opera introduced MCP compatibility to Opera Neon, its subscription-based agentic AI browser. Opera says the new feature willallow a user’s AI of choice to provide real-time context of open tabs and active content.

«With Browser Connector, Opera ensures users aren’t bound to a single company’s ecosystem, but are instead free to combine the best tools for their specific needs,» Mohamed Salah, senior director of product at Opera, said in a statement.

To enable the feature, which is now available in Early Bird mode, users need to go to Settings in the browser, search for «AI Services» and install the Browser Connector feature. They then have to connect ChatGPT or Claude to the feature.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints and Answers for April 17, #571

Here are hints and the answers for the NYT Connections: Sports Edition puzzle for April 17 No. 571.

Looking for the most recent regular Connections answers? Click here for today’s Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle and Strands puzzles.

Today’s Connections: Sports Edition is a tricky one, especially the purple category. If you’re struggling with today’s puzzle but still want to solve it, read on for hints and the answers.

Connections: Sports Edition is published by The Athletic, the subscription-based sports journalism site owned by The Times. It doesn’t appear in the NYT Games app, but it does in The Athletic’s own app. Or you can play it for free online.

Read more: NYT Connections: Sports Edition Puzzle Comes Out of Beta

Hints for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections: Sports Edition puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Yellow group hint: «Yer out!»

Green group hint: They score goals.

Blue group hint: Daddy dearest.

Purple group hint: Home, home on the…