(Photo : Saul Martinez/Getty Images)
Some fear that the move may take away the "beauty" of Twitter as a social media platform.
Twitter, owned by tech mogul Elon Musk, has disbanded its Trust and Safety Council, an advisory body made up of over 100 independent civil rights, human rights, and other groups.
Established in 2016, the council aimed to address issues including hate speech, child exploitation, suicide, self-harm, and other risks on the social media network site.
Monday night was supposed to be the meeting between the council and Twitter officials. According to some attendees, Twitter abruptly disbanded the group by emailing members just before the scheduled meeting, according to AP News.
Trust and Safety Council To Be Revamped
Some members of the council shared screenshots of the email with The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity. The email stated that the social media company was "reevaluating how best to bring external insights" and that the Trust and Safety Council is not the best outfit to conduct such a measure.
In the email that had "Twitter" in the signature, the tech firm noted its task was "to make Twitter a safe, informative place, and we will be moving faster and more aggressively than ever before." It added that Twitter will welcome opinions "going forward" to attain the objective.
The volunteer committee offered advice on how Twitter should better fight hatred, harassment, and other evils but lacked any decision-making power or content approval authority, as per a report from 6 Action News. Elon Musk announced a new group that will moderate content to assist in making big decisions after purchasing Twitter for $44 billion in late October. However, the Twitter CEO did not pursue his plan.
San Francisco-based Twitter confirmed the meeting with the council on Thursday in an email, promising an "open" discussion with staff members, including Ella Irwin, the new director of trust and safety.
Hate Speech on Twitter Surges
Since Elon Musk took over Twitter, hate speech has increased, according to the results of several studies.
Research points out that racist insults, antisemitic, and sexist tweets have surged, according to the Center for Countering Digital (CCDH).
In addition, the Network Contagion Research Institute (NCRI) discovered that the N-word spiked by about 500% in the 12 hours after the completion of Elon Musk's plan to purchase Twitter.The new head of Twitter has also made significant changes to how the material is moderated on the network.
Last week, as reported by The Independent, Eirliani Abdul Rahman, Anne Collier, and Lesley Podesta resigned from Twitter's Trust and Safety Council, stating that the safety and wellness of Twitter's users are on the decline, in contrast to Elon Musk's claims.
In a joint statement, they noted that the founding of the Twitter Trust and Safety Council defined the firm's "commitment to move away from a US-centric approach to user safety, stronger collaboration across regions, and the importance of having deeply experienced people on the safety team."
The three remarked that the last pledge is no longer clear in light of Twitter's recent announcement that it would depend more heavily on "automatic content moderation."
Three of us resigned from Twitter’s Trust & Safety Council today: @eirliani @podesta_lesley and me. Here’s why https://t.co/h05TblfGIO pic.twitter.com/iqcHvhbgms
— annecollier (@annecollier) December 8, 2022
Members also noted that the new Twitter method relies on algorithmic tools, which can only safeguard users against "ever-evolving abuse and hate speech" if large discernible patterns have emerged.
They expressed concern that Twitter will split into two tiers, with the wealthy enjoying its perks and the rest of its users left out, which will "take away the credibility of the system" and the "beauty of Twitter" being a platform that gives voice to everyone.
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