Beyond the Pale: The Rhetoric of Hate and the Demand for Accountability

On June 19, 2026, the international community witnessed a moment that felt less like statecraft and more like a descent into the darkest chapters of human history. 

Israel’s Minister of National Security, Itamar Ben-Gvir, took to his official X account to post a message that has sent shockwaves through the global political landscape: 

"For every tear of an Israeli mother, a thousand Lebanese mothers must weep. All of Lebanon must burn."

Coming right after a confrontation on the northern border that claimed the lives of four Israeli soldiers, this wasn’t just a moment of heated political rhetoric. It was a declaration of collective punishment on a scale that is as chilling as it is indefensible.

Twitter | The limit of 140 characters would be extended to 280 for a tweet

It is a mini-revolution for the social network 

More than 10 years after its birth and plagued by great financial difficulties, Twitter tries to revive itself by doubling the length of its messages. A change that sparked an avalanche of comments on the network, but left analysts skeptical. "Trying to fit your thoughts into a single tweet - we've all gone through it - it's painful," the group wrote on its official blog Tuesday.

"We want everybody around the world to be able to express themselves easily on Twitter, so we're doing something new: we're going to try a bigger limit, 280 characters," says the American social network, which says this functionality is currently reserved for only a few users, before a possible generalization. "It's a small change, but a big step for us. 140, it was an arbitrary choice based on the 160 character limit of SMS. I am proud to see how the teams have been attentive to solve a real problem that people have when trying to tweeter. And while maintaining our conciseness, our rapidity and our very essence  ! "Tweeted the founding boss Jack Dorsey in a message in ... 280 characters.

jack 

✔@jack

This is a small change, but a big move for us. 140 was an arbitrary choice based on the 160 character SMS limit. Proud of how thoughtful the team has been in solving a real problem people have when trying to tweet. And at the same time maintaining our brevity, speed, and essence! https://twitter.com/twitter/status/912783930431905797 …

02:00 - 27 sept. 2017

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"Cause of frustration"

The lengthening concerns only the messages in Latin characters, explains the network, because it is mainly in English, Spanish, Portuguese or French that the limit of 140 characters seems to sometimes concern users, unlike those who tweet in Japanese, Korean or Chinese. According to the group, 9% of English tweets reached 140 characters (0.4% in Japanese) and "the character limit is a major cause of frustration for people who tweet in English." "When people do not have to put their thoughts in 140 characters, and even have margin, the announcement sparked an avalanche of reactions on the network, including the NSA, the US national security agency, tweeting: "We're going to need a bigger data center, while others are worried with humor from the prospect of seeing the American president, already frenzied twitters, have more space: 

Good. God. Donald. Trump. A. 280. Characters,  "wrote a user.

Lifting shields

Forced to renew due to financial difficulties - he lost another 116 million dollars in the second quarter, and the number of active twitters stagnates around 330 million - Twitter walks on eggs: early 2016, the hypothesis of the abandonment of the dogma of 140 characters had provoked a lifting of shields of certain users, fearing that the service loses its soul. "We know that there can be a sentimental attachment to the 140 characters ... But we tried (the new limit) and we fell in love with this new length", justifies Twitter, whose main audience is elected officials, journalists and celebrities.

But according to analysts, it is unlikely that this mini-revolution announced is the panacea. "The longer they lengthen (the length of the tweets), the more they start to look like Facebook . And if they start to look like Facebook, then Facebook will get them out of the game, it's already too late: at the time of virtual reality and vocal assistants, tweets are outdated. They are trying everything to try to monetize the service, but the problem is that it was not designed for that. "Twitter is struggling to straighten out as everyone moves in other directions,".

Twitter testing a new design and is closer to Facebook

Twitter like Facebook, often tested various changes to the platform and introduces changes, rather small, almost constantly. Often when testing certain social network functionality, It tests on a small number of users to be defined later on whether or not to launch massive group. Microblogging network is to present a few weeks ago a new design in its web version, which introduced changes refined typography and design and colors of the home section, which resulted in an appearance in clearer set. Now, Twitter tested a new series of changes, more radical than those who did get all users in January. With this redesign, the platform away from its traditional appearance and takes several elements of the profile of the social network rival Facebook. In this new test, the microblogging network shown in the user profile a box with his picture on the left located on a large cover photo, which stretches over the top of the page, according to the website Mashable , one of whose editors were among those users on Twitter Testing. This arrangement is reminiscent of the profiles of Facebook, which shows a very similar arrangement. Below the profile picture that proves Twitter, user information, as well as information about your activity on the platform included (followers, following, tweets, etc.). Also, the flow of tweets, traditionally ordered in portrait orientation, the test design is shown organized taking into account the flatness of the page, spreading sideways as large mosaics that place special emphasis on large images.

Mark Zuckerberg's letter to its 1,230 million users

" Today is the tenth anniversary of Facebook . has been an incredible journey so far and I'm very grateful to be part of it, " wrote Mark Zuckerberg, 29, in a message on his own profile on the social network. " It's rare to be able to impact the lives of so many people, "he added on the thank you note to users.

"It's rare to be able to impact the lives of so many people"

For businessman, Facebook succeeded because "just worried about connecting the world "and said he was"more excited about the next 10 years by previous ". Facebook's first decade was dedicated to network boot, but now they are given the tools to "help people worldwide to solve even larger and more important issues, "he said. The Facebook as originally called, emerged in a room of Harvard when Zuckerberg was 19. On Tuesday, he confessed that he never thought that social networking would become the global phenomenon it is today. "I remember being with my friends eating pizza one night in college shortly after launch Facebook . Les said he was excited to help connect the school community, but one day someone had to do a service to connect to the world "writes the businessman, now a most influential personalities in the world. "I always thought this was important. Give people the power to share and stay connected, allowing them to build their own communities When I reflect on the past 10 years, a question I ask myself is: why we who we built this ? were just students. had fewer resources than large enterprises. Had they focused on that, they could have done, "he reflects. "Thanks for letting me be a part of this adventure. " This phrase says goodbye to the millions of users.

U.S. paid millions to Google, Facebook and other expenses related to espionage

The National Security Agency U.S. (NSA) paid millions of dollars to large Internet companies, including Yahoo!, Google, Microsoft and Facebook, to compensate for the costs related to requests for monitoring information, as reported by the newspaper 'The Guardian'. The newspaper, citing new documents provided by former CIA technician Edward Snowden, said that in this way the first test financial linkage between these internet companies and U.S. spy programs. These additional costs have to do with the new requirements imposed by the FISA Court , established by Act Foreign Intelligence Surveillance (FISA) and responsible for authorizing and supervising the activities of the NSA, which declared unconstitutional the Prism program, surveillance, in 2011. The suspension was decided after news that the NSA intercepted thousands of emails that violated the privacy of persons unrelated to terrorism. This forced the agency to change the way we collect electronic information.

Ensuring a legal framework

Thereafter, the agency began to request that the FISA Court sign it "certifications" annually to ensure a legal framework for such surveillance operations, although these were renewed only temporarily. "The problems of last year resulted in multiple extensions of the maturity dates of the certificates, causing billion costs to providers monitoring program to implement each of the following extensions. Such costs were provided by Special Resource Operations, "said one of the NSA's internal documents, dated in late 2012. Snowden told The Guardian that this body Special Resource Operations is the "crown jewel" . Coordinates all spy programs based on "corporate partnerships" with telecom companies and ISPs that provide access to communications data.

The role of the computer giants

Before disclosing new revelations, the British newspaper asked several of these companies about their role in these programs and whether they had received any financial compensation by the NSA. A spokesman for Yahoo! explained that "Federal law requires the U.S. government to reimburse all costs incurred providers to respond to mandatory legal procedures." "We have requested these reimbursements in accordance with the law," said Yahoo!, but eluded confirm their participation and role in these programs. For its part, Facebook said, also through a spokesman, that "never received compensation in relation to its compliance with a request of government data." Google issued a general declaration that "denied having joined the program Prism or other espionage," says The Guardian. After publishing this article, Microsoft said the British newspaper that "only complies with court orders because it is legally required and not because it compensated for the work".

Accused of murder for his comments on Twitter

Cody Hall, 18, ​​was charged with manslaughter after running over a cyclist when he was over 125 km / h in a 60km / h. now authorities want to charge him with murder directly after checking their website Twitter and see how boasted days before driving on several occasions over 200km / h, and intentionally. Hall boasted speeds lead to reckless and, moreover, took the death of a woman According to statements made ​​by the prosecution to San Francisco Chronicle , an analysis of the Hall driving record along with his Twitter posts, which boasted of reckless driving at speeds on public roads, served to change simple accident charges to murder. Hall had written several 'tweets 'in the saying "Live fast, die young" or "Who wants to come for a walk with me death?" . Also described his car as a "death trap". These tweets have been removed from public view, but they are available to the prosecution. Moreover, after Hall hit again once again boast of what he had done, assuming Hersevoort Diana's murder, a woman of 58 years who has taken his own life. It is believed that these messages posted on the microblog network could be used in court as an aggravating circumstance of the crime, accusing Hall of premeditation and "implied malice", as reported by the authorities. Hall was being held without bond in the death of Hersevoort Diana, 58, while driving his car on Wednesday, according to the San Francisco Chronicle . Now a jury who will decide whether the 'tweets' of Hall had implied the idea of committing a murder or just bluster is a teenager.

The social network that triggers teen suicide

At least five teenagers have committed suicide after visiting the social network Ask.fm . The father of the latest victim demanded that the British Prime Minister, David Cameron, to close the portal that "makes millions with the misfortunes of the people." Hannah Smith was 14 when he hanged himself after consulting Ask.fm to find a method to cure your eczema. The other social network users advised him "slit his wrists" and "drink bleach" , he told his sister Joanne, who explained that for four months Hannah endured constant humiliation by anonymous comments. Even when Joanne posted a message to honor the memory of his sister, his words were also subjected to aggressive attacks. The victim's father, David Smith, insists that Ask.fm should be closed and sent a letter to the leader of the UK, David Cameron, to call for an end to more teen deaths. "Sites like this are making millions of dollars with the misfortunes of the people.This is a mistake," said David Smith. "If I will not alert on the issue, another teenager could die next week. I want this issue resolved as soon as possible to save vulnerable children,"said the letter. Ask.fm is registered in Latvia and has over 60 million users . Although the register request an email address, name and date of birth, the system can send messages anonymously. According to British newspaper Daily Mail, at least five teenagers between 12 and 16 have committed suicide in the last year in the UK, Ireland and USA after visiting Ask.fm.Josh's parents Unsworth, found hanged in April, saying that the origin of the problem lies in the possibility of anonymity. "These sites are addictive and not containing insults, children keep coming back to these sites because they are curious to see what is said about them" , explains Josh's mother. This woman posted a petition online to close the site that already has over 10,000 signatures. In 2012, the social network that belongs to millionaires Terebins Ilja and Marks reported that employs " 50 moderators who monitor questions 30 million and 30 million page impressions a day. "