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Twitter Inc. suspended more than one million accounts a day in recent months to reduce the flow of misinformation on the platform, the Media reported.

Twitter and other social media platforms such as Facebook Inc. have been under scrutiny by United States lawmakers and international regulators for doing too little to prevent the spread of false content.

The companies have been taking steps such as deleting user accounts, introducing updates and actively monitoring content to help users avoid being victims to fake content.

Twitter suspended more than 70 million accounts in May and June, and the pace has continued in July, the media reported on Friday, citing data it obtained.

“It’s hard to believe that 70 million accounts were affected when Twitter has only 336 million monthly active users (MAU),” Wedbush analyst Michael Pachter said.

Twitter’s MAU is expected to grow nearly three per cent to 337.06 in the second quarter, according to media.

“My guess is that a large number of these suspended accounts were dormant … it should have little impact on the company,” Pachter told the media.

If the 70 million were mostly active accounts, the affected accounts would have been “screaming bloody murder”, added the analyst.

According to a Washington Post source, however, the aggressive removal of unwanted accounts may result in a rare decline in the number of monthly users in the second quarter.

“Due to technology and process improvements during the past year, we are now removing 214 per cent more accounts for violating our spam policies on a year-on-year basis,” the company said in a blog post last month.

In May, it identified and challenged more than 9.9 million “potentially spammy” or automated accounts per week, compared with 6.4 million in December 2017.

Shares of Twitter fell marginally to 46.50 dollars after the bell on Friday. (Reuters/NAN )

Edited by Udochukwu Ifionu/Silas Nwoha

NAN

Nigerian Institute of Transport Technology (NITT) and Nigerian College of Aviation Technology (NCAT) both in Zaria have set up a four-man committee to explore possible areas of collaboration.

The information is in a statement by Mr Paul Mshelizah, the Assistant Director and NITT Head of Publicity and Public Relations in Zaria, Kaduna State on Saturday.

He stated that the committee was set up when the acting Director-General of NITT, Dr Abimbola Odumosu visited the NCAT Rector, Capt. Abdulsalami Mohammed in Zaria.

Mshelizah listed the committee members as Dr Danjuma Ismaila (NITT), Mr Elkana Ngbale (NITT), Mr Waheed Yusuf (NCAT) and Mr Y.A Baba (NCAT).

He noted that the committee was charged with the responsibility of finding out mutually beneficial areas of synergy between the two organisations.

He quoted the NITT acting director-general as stressing the need for the two institutions to collaborate, given their distinctive spheres of specialisation.

Odumosu also said that although the organisations had been collaborating, there was still room for improvement.

According to him, collaboration should be based on “sustainable and empirical research on all modes of Transport, Information Data Bank for enhanced risk analysis, and staff exchange to save cost.”

He suggested that NCAT could make use of the facilities at NITT’s study centre in Lagos during its outreach training programmes.

The NCAT rector thanked the NITT management for the visit and assured it of maximum cooperation.

Mohammed said such collaboration was critically important, while assuring that lack of such could be counterproductive.

He said “the lack of collaboration is the bane of private airlines in Nigeria, which often result in unhealthy competition.

“The idea of collaborating on research and development is both timely and welcome.”

He acknowledged the dearth of research and development at NCAT, but promised to address it, especially with the prospective collaboration with NITT.

On information Data Bank, the rector pledged to make aviation accident reports available to NITT.

Mohammed frowned at the tampering of the black box by certain first responders which unfortunately culminated in non-recovery of the box.

“However, I am optimistic that the enlightenment programme for the police initiated by the Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB) on the location, recognition and/or identification of the black box will yield a positive result.

“NCAT will co-opt more ICAO compliant NITT staff as resource persons and I have directed Personal Assistant to assess NITT’s facilities in Lagos and report back to me,” he said.

The Niger Government on Friday said it would establish Contributory Social Health Insurance Scheme to provide affordable and quality healthcare services in the state.

Dr Mustapha Jibril, the state Commissioner for Health, told newsmen in Minna that the proposed Bill would target both the public and private sectors.

“A memo to establish Niger State Contributory Social Health Insurance Scheme has been approved by the State Executive Council to ensure affordable and quality healthcare for the people,’’ he said.

Jibril said that the move to present the health bill before the State House of Assembly became necessary as affordable and quality healthcare was the right of the people.

“The government came up with the scheme because many people find it difficult to pay for quality healthcare services.
Through the scheme our people can afford to pay their hospital bills,’’ he said.

He said under the scheme civil servants and public officers, including political appointees, in the state would contribute 2.5 per cent, while the state government would match it with another 2.5 per cent to accommodate the formal sector.

The commissioner said that government would also contribute one per cent of its annual consolidated revenue fund to the scheme to cater for the less privileged.

Besides, he said the bill would cover pregnant women, children under five years, people with disability, surgery, routine immunisation and family planning services, among others.

Jibril said that the document, which would soon be forwarded to the legislature, has stakeholders such as the state government, Nigeria Labour Congress and Nigeria Union of Teachers. (NAN)