Twitter has disbanded its Trust and Safety Council which was a group of about 100 independent civil, human rights, and other organizations formed in 2016 to confront hate speech, exploitation of children, suicidal behavior, self-harm, and other issues on the platform.
The council was supposed to meet with representatives from Twitter on Monday night. According to multiple members, Twitter notified the group through the use of email that it would be disbanding soon before the meeting.
The council members, who offered The Associated Press images of the e-mail from Twitter, were speaking on the subject of anonymity due to fear of retaliation.
“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.”
Source: india.com
The volunteer organization provided expert knowledge and direction over how Twitter can indeed better combat hate, bullying, and other harms, but it lacked judgment authority and did not look into specific content disputes.
“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.”
Source: india.com
Twitter, headquartered in San Francisco, clarified the meeting with the committee in an email on Thursday, promising an open discussion and Q&A with Twitter staff, which include Ella Irwin, the new head of trust and safety.
This happened on the very day that three Trust and Safety council members stepped down in a public announcement posted on Twitter, claiming that contrary to Elon Musk’s claims, the safety, and well-being of Twitter’s users are on the decline.
After Musk criticized them and Twitter’s previous management for supposedly not doing enough to prevent child sexual abuse on the platform, those former council members have become the target of online predators.
Musk wrote on Twitter that It is a crime that they have refused to act on exploitation and abuse for years.
Concerns were raised by some remaining Trust and Safety council members, who wrote an e-mail to Twitter demanding that the company stop misrepresenting its role on Monday.
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