Skip to main content

Twitter expands security with authentication tools for withheld tweets

twitter
Emevil/123RF
New device or lost Twitter password? Twitter is making its two-factor authentication process even more secure by adding support for Authenticator and Authy, services that are considered less easily hacked. The added security also comes as Twitter launches new tools designed for greater transparency over tweets and accounts that are withheld in compliance with local laws or government requests.

Twitter’s login uses a two-factor model that requires a phone number for added user protection when logging in on a new device. With the change, users will still need to enter a phone number to get a text with the verification code. But users now have the option to use third-party authenticator apps that allow that code to disappear after about 30 seconds, as The Verge explains, making it harder for a hacker to find the authentication code.

Like before, users have to go into their settings and turn on the two-factor authentication first to add the extra security. With the update, users can also choose Authenticator or Authy inside of the privacy settings by accessing the “review your login verification methods.”

Along with the added security, Twitter is also alerting users with more details when content has been banned by operation of law. Country Withheld Content (CWC) has been around since 2012, a tool that blocks out the content of a tweet prohibited by law rather than just removing the tweet from the feed. The tool is used for laws as well as for court orders in individual cases. For example, the German Network Enforcement Act requires that Twitter blocks “hate speech” for users in Germany.

Now, that same CWC tool will tell users why they can’t see that content. For tweets, the CWC replaces the message with a note saying that the tweet from that user was withheld and where. For court orders and similar restrictions, the alert says that the tweet was withheld “in response to legal demand” while local laws are noted with “based on local law(s).”

Similar changes were also made to the CWC tool when entire accounts are blocked.

Twitter says the update is designed for more transparency, allowing the platform to still comply with laws and court orders while letting users know which of those categories the block falls under. This expands on the company’s related current efforts, including regular transparency reports.

Editors' Recommendations

Hillary K. Grigonis
Hillary never planned on becoming a photographer—and then she was handed a camera at her first writing job and she's been…
Edited tweets may be coming to your Twitter timeline soon
Twitter app on the OnePlus 10T.

You may soon see edited tweets on your timeline because Twitter has begun testing its Edit Tweet feature.

On Thursday, Twitter offered up an update on its long-awaited tweet editing feature via a tweet and a blog post. Twitter published a blog post that details the nature of the test and what the current version of the Edit Tweet feature entails.

Read more
Twitter statuses can warn people when your tweet is a hot take
A Twitter icon on a blue background on a smartphone's screen, all on a white background.

Remember that AIM away message-like status feature Twitter was spotted working on a few months back? It looks a bit different now and is finally being tested with some Twitter users. Based on screenshots we've seen shared on Twitter, it looks less like AIM and more like Facebook's "How are you feeling?" statuses.

On Wednesday afternoon, TechCrunch reported that there were Twitter users "reporting that they can now post Twitter statuses, which lets them tag posts like they’re retro MySpace moods."

Read more
TikTok adds Twitter- and Instagram-like content control tools
Screenshots of TikToks new age restriction features.

It's been said that other platforms have been mimicking TikTok's coolest features, but now it looks like the popular short-form video app is learning from its social media predecessors as well. TikTok is rolling out a few new content control features and they remind us of the sort of content controls you'd see on other platforms like Twitter and Instagram.

On Wednesday, TikTok announced the rollout of three new content curation and control features: content filters, age restrictions on content, and limiting content recommendations for certain topics.

Read more