The advisory group of Twitter has been dissolved by the new CEO of the platform, Elon Musk. The Trust and Safety Council was a group of around 100 independent organizations that was formed in 2016. It looked after civil, and human rights to address hate speech, exploitation of children, suicide, self-harm, and other problems.
Before the scheduled meeting of the council on Monday with Twitter executives, the platform notified the group that the group will be dissolved via email.
As per images of the email accessed by AP, Twitter said it was “reevaluating how best to bring external insights” and the council is “not the best structure to do this.”
“Our work to make Twitter a safe, informative place will be moving faster and more aggressively than ever before and we will continue to welcome your ideas going forward about how to achieve this goal,” the mail, signed as “Twitter” added.
“…red lines have been crossed. We know from research by the Anti-Defamation League and the Centre for Countering Digital Hate that slurs against Black Americans and gay men have jumped 195 percent and 58 percent respectively since Musk’s take over. Antisemitic posts have soared more than 61 percent in the two weeks after Musk’s acquiring Twitter,” one of them said in the note.
“Our work to make Twitter a safe, informative place will be moving faster and more aggressively than ever before and we will continue to welcome your ideas going forward about how to achieve this goal,” said the email, which was signed “Twitter.”
The group mainly focused on eradicating nuisance and violence by providing suggestions as to how the platform can perfectly combat hate, harassment, etc. However, many complaints were filed against them over not having any solid decision-making power or combating disputes.
Therefore, Elon Musk after the acquisition declared the formation of a new group “content moderation council” to accelerate decision-making.
“Twitter’s Trust and Safety Council was a group of volunteers who over many years gave up their time when consulted by Twitter staff to offer advice on a wide range of online harms and safety issues,” tweeted council member Alex Holmes. “At no point was it a governing body or decision making.”
On Thursday, the council was informed about the meeting by mail, an “open conversation, and Q&A” with Ella Irwin, the new head of trust and safety.
On the same day, three members of the council resigned after posting a statement that stated “contrary to claims by Elon Musk, the safety and well-being of Twitter’s users are on the decline.”
The resigned members faced hatred over the platform after Elon criticized them for doing enough to lessen the exploitation of children over the platform.
“It is a crime that they refused to take action on child exploitation for years!” Musk tweeted.
Many members shared their concerns on Monday urging the platform to stop defaming the council.
Those inaccurate accusations by Twitter managers were “endangering current and former Council members,” the email said.
However, many claimed that the company had groups that concentrated on the exploitation of children. This comprised the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, the Rati Foundation, and YAKIN, or Youth Adult Survivors & Kin in Need.
