Even worse? How about POTUS declares war on China thru twitter? OMG, I just realized how dumb that would have been to say back in 2016. But these days?

This hack could absolutely get people killed. There are several tweets I can think of from POTUS that would begin immediate military mobilization from an unfriendly country.

I can think of a couple that would likely start a revolution or a civil war in the United States. Policy by twitter always was madness.

You mean the ones he has done so far isn't achieving that already?

No, because there is no direct call to action. But if there were all bets would be off.

I honestly really doubt it. Could you give a few examples of what you were thinking?

100%

And everyone in government will quickly conclude that they can't allow this to happen.

This could be the beginning of the end of social media.

>This could be the beginning of the end of social media.

Please, God, I beg you, let this happen.

I'd be tempted to "donate" some BTC to the scam wallet address if this outcome was guaranteed to happen.

lol my thoughts exactly

Or maybe people will stop believing everything that they hear on the internet.

That’s hyperbole. More like the beginning of the end of elected officials’ use of social media.

That can't come quickly enough.

Maybe that's the plan.

The POTUS should not communicate via social media IMO. But now he has set up the expectation that what we tweets relates to what he will do.

>what [he] tweets relates to what he will do.

More than relates, it is the doing.

"Justice Department lawyer Jennifer Utrecht in her reply acknowledged the president’s tweets are official government statements"

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/legal-issues/can-presid...

It’s been close before, the below comes to mind. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2018/09/10/asia-pacific/po...

what's going on there, the fact it was a draft tweet - is the implication that north korea can read his draft tweets before they are posted? or could at the time?

That’s a scenario I find much less likely than the hundreds of Trump tweets that would set off domestic violence within minutes.

If Trump would tweet what the fringe communities want to hear (example: Trump tweets that state law enforcement have started rounding up people with Hawaii shirts and confiscating their weapons and should be seen as enemy combatants and engaged on sight. That would turn ugly very quickly).

A well crafted tweet about e.g the Taliban could easily put US soldiers abroad in harms way immediately too.

I think you’re overestimating the number of people in the US who would actually respond decisively to something like that. But it’s more than zero, unfortunately, which is too many.

Yeah I don’t think it would be the start of a civil war but I certainly believe dozens or hundreds of people would become violent.

Up the reaction would be more like "oh look, another stupid Trump tweet."

This is unlikely between nation states. The menagerie of diplomatic officers in every capital city prevents this from happening.

Well armed militia who don’t offer diplomatic representation — they are the ones to worry about.

It would with Trump - because we know his diplomacy runs through Twitter. With other presidents like Obama or Bush (did Twitter exist back then?) I would expect the risk is lower.

Trump's account has additional non-public security measures for this reason.

Yeah, this could've been very bad. I don't buy that it's a test. Twitter is going to fix this. Probably it's a restriction of the exploit that you don't know the posting account or something.

Or just post some white nationalist call for arm. The US is ripe for a blood bath right now.

If someone were to take over that account an issue a call to arms for the QAnon crowd, it could be disastrous.

You aren't wrong. If Trump suddenly tweeted that QAnon followers should murder as many leftists as they can and that he'd personally commute their sentences, I think we'd see at least a few people respond by doing what they are told.

I can think of much, much worse. The USA is a tinderbox all it takes is the right match.

There are any number of really bad scenarios. The militias and the QAnon folks scare me the most at the moment.

You would be surprised. Of course it would be a disruptive tweet, but it would not be a credible threat of war, in reality.

As mentioned in a NYT article, Trump’s account is under “separate lock and key” which I think means it was not vulnerable to this threat. But yeah still super scary. Src: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/15/technology/twitter-hack-b...

[bomb_emoji][china_flag_emoji]

That's assuming Tweets actually serve an actual diplomatic function and are not merely marketing/propaganda for voters.

(Also POTUS is not authorized to declare any wars btw.)

> (Also POTUS is not authorized to declare any wars btw.)

While true, this effectively doesn't matter given the number of people we've bombed since our last declaration of war in 1942 [0].

[0] https://www.senate.gov/pagelayout/history/h_multi_sections_a...

> That's assuming Tweets actually serve an actual diplomatic function and are not merely marketing/propaganda for voters.

He has fired people over twitter [0] so I'm not sure the scope of one can do there is limited to "marketing/propaganda"

> (Also POTUS is not authorized to declare any wars btw.)

Other nations are not going to read the US law first before deciding if the declaration was or not real.

[0] https://www.theverge.com/2018/3/13/17113950/trump-state-depa...

> He has fired people over twitter [0]

All we have here is an announcement. Seriously doubt this was the "official" firing, hiring or promoting of anyone. The statement in the article isn't even from Tillerson, so we don't really know.

> Other nations are not going to read the US law first before deciding if the declaration was or not real

There's a lot more formality to declaring war, for any nation. Not to mention the lack of anything else to support such a statement, like an actual press conference or public statements, media attention or, you know, actual military movement which all capable nations track constantly.

You again? Please stop with the Trump apologism already, we have a trade war that was mostly conducted via twitter, people heard via twitter that their services were no longer required, the whole Mexican affair was conducted via the phone and when that didn't work out led to a slew of angry tweets. There is definitely precedent enough that if Trump's twitter account would speak the right magic words that you can expect a reaction.

"Dear Twitter Followers, It is with grave heart that I have to ask you to do the right thing for your country, go out and do something about - insert bogeyman of the hour here - and I will be sure to reward you greatly. The time has come to do your part. I personally promise to pardon anybody that ends up on the wrong side of what today still is the law. Let's take this country and make it even greater."

That's just a two minute sample, give me an hour or so and I'll come up with something much worse than that. These things are easier to start than to stop.

You people really don't know Trump and his supporters.

I think you read far too deep into things you don't like, and try to find something to be upset about. It's kind of the national pastime these days, it seems.

No nation is going to start killing people because of a Tweet. Be realistic.

It detracts from your otherwise valid points when paranoia and blind hatred overshadow your arguments.

The number of posts you've made about the leader of a foreign nation is astonishing. Are there zero domestic problems to be fired up about?

> You again?

I guess I could say the same. Touché.

> Sorry, but you don't have the actual insight necessary to understand the complicated local politics of a foreign country.

I've lived in Canada and the United States, I ran a business there and I have more American friends than European ones. I think I'm perfectly capable of understanding American politics. Likely I know more about your political system and it's idiosyncrasies as well as how the legal system works than a large number of Americans. You're more than welcome to criticize the leaders of my nation with cause. But you likely won't even know their names.

> I think I'm perfectly capable of understanding American politics

You're making wild assertions based on supposition and nothing else. Worse, you're using deliberately spun articles to support your nonfactual assertions.

You're getting all worked up about leaders of a foreign nation, that literally have nothing to do with you or have any impact on you. Trump said mean stuff on Twitter so people thousands of miles away should engage?

> You're more than welcome to criticize the leaders of my nation with cause. But you likely won't even know their names.

No I don't, and I don't care. How your nation governs itself is your nation's business, and the entire point I'm making. It's OK to ask questions, or wonder aloud... but to pretend to have a deep understanding and an authoritative judgement on foreign affairs, based on clearly biased opinions disguised as facts is simply unbecoming and devastatingly unproductive.

What you are engaging in is sport... not a civil discourse.

> Worse, you're using deliberately spun articles to support your nonfactual assertions.

Argue the facts then, not the source.

> Trump said mean stuff on Twitter so people thousands of miles away should engage?

Trump said mean stuff on Twitter that has resulted in my friends being more at risk than they should be, people I care about getting gravely ill and quite possibly will result in one or more of them dying. If this sounds like 'fun and games' or a spectator sport to you then I'm sorry, I am not amused.

> You're getting all worked up about leaders of a foreign nation, that literally have nothing to do with you or have any impact on you.

America and the American economy impact the world.

> No I don't, and I don't care.

That's fine by me, but that is your choice and I have made my choice different. The United States well being concerns lots of people outside of the United States. That is the kind of responsibility that comes with being a superpower, like it or not.

> How your nation governs itself is your nation's business, and the entire point I'm making.

And yet, if a foreigner would have something useful to say we'd likely listen. Because typically outside perspective is worth a couple of IQ points.

> It's OK to ask questions, or wonder aloud... but to pretend to have a deep understanding and an authoritative judgement on foreign affairs, based on clearly biased opinions disguised as facts is simply unbecoming and devastatingly unproductive.

And that is your opinion. The whole idea that the media can no longer be trusted unless they clap in sync with the Trump marching orders is ridiculous. If you want some problematic media look no further than Fox news or Breitbart.

> What you are engaging in is sport... not a civil discourse.

So you keep saying. But it isn't a sport to me, it is deadly serious. And lots of American lives are on the line proving that on a daily basis.

The United States well being has deteriorated largely due to people who don't understand our values, priorities, and the sacrifices our citizens have made to ensure our posterity, telling the US how to run itself. I sincerely believe you care and for good reasons. But it’s also not your country that has to feel or deal with the effects of everyone telling the US what is important and how to run their country. Just, keep this in mind.

You've been "following this closely for 3+ years" through the lens of a group of people (journalists) who have political views that are strongly in opposition to that leader. Of course they would tell you that he is unstable, that he is wreaking the country, and so on. Those journalists are even employed by companies that want access to large and powerful countries that dislike a US leader who isn't a pushover in trade negotiations. Given those facts, it would be shocking if you got a fair view of the matter.

I think you're going to be quite astonished come November.

There are multiple instances of policy changes where 'Twitter first' was the chosen road.

They can seemingly do most acts which occur in war, as long as they don’t officially declare it.

I mean, when is the last time we officially declared war? It has to have been decades ago.

1942

Ok, mass panic then?

Deleted

He doesn't have to declare anything, another country to simply react to a tweet and then you'd be in a way, like it or not.

Doesn't matter. Imagine, for a moment, a Tweet posted on Trump's account along the lines of Reagan's joke in 1984 [1]:

> Iran has gone TOO FAR! As President I have ordered the use of nuclear weapons against key military targets. We begin bombing in five minutes.

Regardless of the plausibility of the message, it would be likely to trigger a panicked response from foreign militaries. It's not at all implausible that it'd start a war.

[1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/We_begin_bombing_in_five_minut...

Not sure why you're downvoted. This is a real possibility as insane as it sounds.

They just disabled tweeting from verified accounts. Right now I have more power than Elon.

Good. This should have been done an hour ago. Fortunately the attackers weren't nearly as malicious as they could have been.

They can still RT.

See here:

https://twitter.com/asculthorpe/status/1283531636450230274

@TheRegister (verified) just RT'd for help.

Honestly I'm kind of enjoying seeing what it is doing to my feed with only unverified accounts and verified retweets. Twitter hasn't been this much fun in months.

Some accounts are back again: https://twitter.com/TwitterSupport/status/128356244619659673...

can confirm - my wife has a verified account and a company account and both are unable to tweet, though one can still quote retweet apparently, but probably just a lagging feature flag.

Many powerful actors, including state actors, would love to see Twitter, as a political instrument, go away. It could even be our own, or a dissident group within our own, IC. If someone can get a presidential candidate and an ex-president's twitter account to say what they want, then that is pretty much the end of Twitter as a political tool.

I hadn't really considered that the attack might be against Twitter, the corporation, itself. The BTC thing is obviously too stupid to be the objective, but if you hate Twitter, then would there be a better way to teardown the entire site than doing something like this?

Make everyone post the N-word and goatse?

Hell, even just hacking Trump to do it would probably trigger a federal investigation. I doubt this current situation will.

> I doubt this current situation will.

I'm not so sure about that. Sure, it didn't impact THE account or crash the stock of an unaffiliated company, but that proverbial bullet flew close and I bet that quite a few powerful people felt the wind. The "harmless" nature might spare the hackers a bit, but it definitely won't spare Twitter.

Yeah, that would be my hunch too. To gather potentially damaging messages from Obama, et al, and damage Twitter. Interesting that the Russian Foreign Ministry's Twitter was hacked last week. Maybe related (a test or to throw off the scent?): https://www.forbes.com/sites/daveywinder/2020/07/04/hackers-...

Looks like the hackers might've gained access to an internal admin panel. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23853786

It's an interesting coincidence that the "digital guru" Brad Parscale was demoted and another guy promoted at the end of the day. Hopefully it's not related, but the list of Twitter accounts compromised would be an oppo researchers dream (and there could be more accounts compromised that weren't publicly flagged).

https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/15/politics/trump-campaign-manag...

Are you saying Jack Dorsey had access to everything via a super-user account?

That's a bit extreme, but maybe a moderator level account that could moderate tweets and accounts.

Didn't one such person and a prominent user just publicly say a lot against Twitter?

Well, no verified user can tweet at the moment: https://twitter.com/TwitterSupport/status/128352640014683751...

Yep, something like that already happened when the AP’s Twitter account was hacked back in 2013.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.washingtonpost.com/news/wor...

Non AMP link: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2013/04/23...

Wow, I remember that. Amazing. Think how many more people would see that sort of tweet today.

If they don't do that soon then expect POTUS to seize control of it.