Twitter has disbanded the much-ballyhooed “Trust and Safety’ advisory group as Elon Musk seeks to find a way to moderate content on the social media platform without relying on censoring opinions or ideas.
According to Twitter staffers, the Trust and Safety groups did not have any power. But content moderators on the platform regularly consulted with members of the group who provided expertise and guidance on how Twitter could better combat hate, harassment, and other harms.
One of the Trust and Safety committee members, Alex Holmes, claims it was not a “governing body.
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.
At no point was it a governing body or decision making.
— Alex Holmes 🏳️🌈 (@abcholmes) December 13, 2022
He doesn’t get it. He and his fellow “Trust and Safety” censors were determining what was “hate speech” and what was “harmful.” “Content moderation,” my butt. When you come at an issue with a certain political perspective — right, left, or center — you are going to advise Twitter staff based on that ideological lens through which you see the world.
The problem with the “Trust and Safety” group was its makeup. The advisory group consisted of around “100 independent civil, human rights and other organizations that the company formed in 2016 to address hate speech, child exploitation, suicide, self-harm and other problems on the platform,” according to the Associated Press.
The council had been scheduled to meet with Twitter representatives Monday night. But Twitter informed the group via email that it was disbanding it shortly before the meeting was to take place, according to multiple members.
The council members, who provided images of the email from Twitter to The Associated Press, spoke on the condition of anonymity due to fears of retaliation. The email said Twitter 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,” said the email, which was signed “Twitter.”
Whatever Musk replaces the advisory council with, it’s going to be an improvement, especially when you consider who is leaving the company.
Former Twitter employee Patricia Cartes, whose job it was to form the council in 2016, said Monday its dissolution “means there’s no more checks and balances.” Cartes said the company sought to bring a global outlook to the council, with experts from around the world who could relay concerns about how new Twitter policies or products might affect their communities.
She contrasted that with Musk’s current practice of surveying his Twitter followers before making a policy change affecting how content gets moderated.
“He doesn’t really care as much about what experts think,” she said.
How dare he not “care as much about what experts think”! That one statement says everything about why it was necessary to deep-six the Twitter Trust and Safety group.
Right now, the right- and left-wing trolls are testing the limits — and the patience — of Musk and Twitter management. Of course, there’s been an explosion of hate speech, racism, threats, and other unacceptable postings. Stupid is as stupid does. The brainless haters are celebrating their newfound freedom. Predictably, the left is having a fit and is calling for the end of Twitter and of Musk, while demanding their old Twitter back.
Fortunately, that’s not going to happen. And since Twitter still has an outsized influence on politics and culture, the platform and its new owner aren’t going anywhere.
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