Twitter seems to dissolve the council that recommends safety measures in response to an uptick of hate speech on its site

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Twitter seems to have disbanded its Trust and Safety Council in an email sent Monday. This comes amid a recent uptake in hate speech on Twitter.

Twitter’s Trust and Safety Council was disbanded in the latest developments in Elon Musk’s turbulent takeover.

According to The Washington Post, on Monday, the company sent an email to the remaining members of council to announce the dissolution. The memo included the subject line “Thank You”.

Avi Asher-Schapiro obtained a copy of the email and found that the company stated it was “reevaluating” how to get outside insight into its product, policy work, as Twitter enters “a new phase.” The company stated that it has decided that the Trust and Safety Council was not the best way to accomplish this.

The council was established in 2016 and included several dozen people from independent organizations and civil rights leaders. They also included academics who helped “advocate safety” at the site. Most of those involved were volunteers.

Twitter appears to have taken down the website of the council as of Monday night. Insider reached out to Twitter and Musk for comment but they did not immediately respond.

The email that announced the end of the council came less than an hour after members of the group were scheduled to meet via Zoom with top Twitter executives about recent events at the company. This was according to people familiar with this matter.

The email stated that “Our work to make Twitter safe and informative will move faster and more aggressively than ever and we will continue to accept your ideas going forward about ways to achieve this goal.”

Musk appeared to reverse course last month after suggesting that a content moderation council be created for the site.

Three days ago, three members of the Trust and Safety Council quit. They cited a decline in safety and well-being of Twitter users since Musk’s takeover.

Two watchdogs, Anti-Defamation League and the Center for Countering Digital Hate, reported recently a sharp increase in hate speech. This included homophobic and racist slurs as well as posts that are antisemitic on the site.

Business Insider has the original article.
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By: esnodgrass@insider.com (Erin Snodgrass)
Title: Twitter appears to disband council responsible for recommending safety measures amid uptick in hate speech on the site
Sourced From: www.businessinsider.com/twitter-appears-to-disband-its-trust-and-safety-council-2022-12
Published Date: Tue, 13 Dec 2022 02:17:45 +0000