The social media platform’s new owner, Elon Musk, is trying to prove that members of the former leadership’s team allegedly suppressed right-wing votes by giving selected journalists access to some of the company’s internal communications tools, known as the “Twitter files”.
This week Musk disbanded a key advisory group, the Trust and Safety Council, made up of dozens of civic, human rights and other independent organizations. The company created the board in 2016 to address hate speech, bullying, child exploitation, suicide, self-harm and other issues on the platform.
What does development mean for what appears in your feed every day? On the one hand, the move shows that Musk is prioritizing enhancing the perception of political rights in the US via Twitter. It promises not so much unlimited freedom of speech as changes in which messages are amplified or hidden.
WHAT ARE TWITTER FILES?
Musk bought Twitter for $44 billion in late October and has since worked with a select group of journalists, including former Rolling Stone writer Matt Taibbi and columnist Barry Weiss. Earlier this month, they began posting — in the form of a series of tweets — about actions Twitter previously took against accounts it believed violated its content guidelines. They include screenshots of emails and message board comments that reflect Twitter’s internal conversations about the decision.
Weiss wrote on December 8 that “the author has extensive and growing access to the Twitter files. The only stipulation we agree on is that the material is posted to Twitter first.
Weiss on Monday published the fifth and final episode of the conversation that led to Twitter’s January 8, 2021 decision to shut down then-President Donald Trump’s account “because of the risk of inciting further violence” after the deadly US Capitol riots two permanent bans for days later – early . Internal reports indicated that at least one unnamed official cast doubt on one of the tweets inciting violence; also reveals the leaders’ reaction to an advocacy campaign by some officials urging tougher action against Trump.
WHAT IS MISSING?
Musk’s Twitter files reveal part of an internal decision-making process, mostly affecting far-right Twitter accounts that the company says violate its rules against hateful conduct, as well as those that violate the misinformation platform’s anti-proliferation rules are harmful to COVID-19.
However, the report is based largely on anecdotes about several high-profile accounts, and the tweets don’t disclose figures on the extent of the ban and which views were more affected. Journalists appear to have unrestricted access to Slack’s corporate message boards — visible to all employees — but rely on Twitter executives to provide other documents.
TWITTER FILE MENTIONED FOR SHADOWBANNING. WHAT’S THAT?
In 2018, after then-CEO Jack Dorsey said Twitter would focus on the “health” of conversations on the platform, the company outlined a new approach aimed at reducing user impact or annoying trolls with “Behavioral Signals” that tend to indicate when users are more interested in expanding. conversation rather than contribute.
Twitter has long said it uses a technique it calls “visibility filtering” internally to narrow the reach of some accounts that may violate its rules but are not banned. But he rejected accusations that he was secretly “preventing” conservative views.
Screenshot showing an employee’s view of the prominent user accounts found by the Twitter files shows how this filtering works in practice. It also prompted Musk to call for changes to make this more transparent.
“Twitter is working on a software update that will show your true account status so you’ll know exactly if you’ve been banned, why and how to appeal,” he tweeted.
WHO IS MONITORING TWITTER POSTS NOW?
Musk fired about half of Twitter’s employees after buying the platform, and then removed an unnamed number of contract employees focused on content moderation. Several of the employees taken soon left the company, including Yoel Roth, Twitter’s former head of trust and security.
The departures of so many employees have raised questions about how the platform can enforce its policies against harmful misinformation, hate speech, and threats of violence, both in the US and around the world. Automated tools can help identify spam and some suspicious accounts, but others are subject to more thorough human verification.
The cuts will likely force Twitter to focus its content moderation efforts in regions with stricter regulations for social media platforms, such as Europe, where tech companies could face hefty fines under the new Digital Services Act if they don’t make efforts to combat information that is corrupted. wrong. and hate speech, according to Bhaskar Chakravorty, dean of global business at Tufts University’s Fletcher School.
“The staff was devastated,” said Chakravorty. “The few remaining content moderators will focus on Europe because Europe is the creaking wheel.”
IS THERE AN EFFECT?
Since Musk bought Twitter, a number of researchers and advocacy groups have shown an increase in posts containing racial epithets or attacks against Jews, gays, lesbians and transgender people.
In many cases, the posts are written by users who say they’re trying to test Twitter’s new boundaries.
According to Musk, Twitter acted quickly to reduce the post’s overall visibility, and overall preoccupation with hate speech has decreased since he purchased the company, a finding disputed by researchers.
The most obvious signs of change on Twitter are previously suspended users whose accounts have been reinstated, lists created by Trump, satirical website The Babylon Bee, comedian Kathy Griffin, Canadian psychologist Jordan Peterson and, before being fired again, Ye. Twitter also reinstated neo-Nazi white supremacist accounts, including Andrew Anglin, creator of the white supremacist website Daily Stormer — along with QAnon supporters that Twitter’s old guard had removed en masse for spreading hate and misinformation to prevent on the platform.
In addition, some high-profile tweeters such as Republican Marjorie Taylor Green, previously banned for spreading COVID-19 misinformation, are again posting misleading claims about the safety of fake vaccines and treatments.
Musk, who makes false claims about COVID-19, returned this week with a tweet about the subject mocking transgender pronouns while filing criminal charges against Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s leading infectious disease expert and one of the leaders of the nation’s response to COVID.
Musk describes himself as “absolute free speech” and says he wants to allow all legal content on Twitter, while reducing negative and hateful postings. Rather than removing toxic content, Musk’s call for “free speech, not free access” suggests that Twitter can release such content without recommending or adding it to other users.
But after removing most of the Twitter executives and outside consultants who set the guidelines, Musk often acts as the arbiter of what crosses the line. Last month, Musk himself announced that he was suing Ye after the rapper formerly known as Kanye West posted an image of a swastika combined with a Star of David, a post that is not illegal but is highly offensive. The move has raised questions about what rules govern what can and cannot be posted on the platform.
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