Twitter bets on Smyte tools to rein in online abuse

The dynamics of social networking are undergoing a sea change, thanks to the recent privacy scandals involving Facebook (FB) and Google (GOOGL). The recent wave of controversies over breach of privacy on social media platforms has prompted the law enforcement agencies to bring the firms under stringent scrutiny.

Rising to the occasion, Twitter (TWTR) is putting things in order to keep spammers and online hatemongers at bay. As the first step, the San Francisco, California-based message-sharing platform has acquired tech start-up Smyte, a specialist in anti-abuse software and de-spanning technology. However, the financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

As per the agreement, the technology team and assets will become a part of Twitter, while Smyte as a company will cease to exist with immediate effect.

Twitter has acquired Smyte, a tech firm specialized in anti-abuse software and de-spanning technology

The company expects the integration of Smyte’s tools would enhance the user experience by minimizing misuse of its micro-blogging platform and eliminating fraudulent activities. Twitter has long been facing criticism from various quarters for not being able to verify the credibility of the content published on it.

“Smyte’s products will help us address challenges in safety, spam and security more quickly and effectively. Their review tools and processes will be powerful additions to our own tools and technology that help us keep Twitter safe,” read a blog post by Twitter.

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The unique and user-friendly design of the messaging platform – where tweets are posted without moderation for both personal conversation and public announcements – makes Twitter also susceptible to manipulation.

With its reputation being hit by fake news and trolls, the company is trying everything to keep a tab on the unscrupulous users, including the use of behavioral signals and attaching special labels to tweets posted by popular personalities. And, Twitter sees a solution in Smyte for this yet-to-be-addressed challenge.

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Since its inception around four years ago, Smyte has provided software tools for online security to a large clientele, comprising both large corporates and medium-sized enterprises.

Twitter stock, which had hit a three-year high in mid-June, ended Friday’s regular session up 1.2% and dropped slightly in the after-market trading hours.