Chris Monahan
Twitter CEO Elon Musk on Wednesday announced that he talked with ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt and other “civil society leaders” about how Twitter “will continue to combat hate and harassment” and will “not allow anyone who was de-platformed for violating Twitter rules back on” the site without “a clear process for doing so.”
“Talked to civil society leaders @JGreenblattADL, @YaelEisenstat, @rashadrobinson, @JGo4Justice, @normanlschen, @DerrickNAACP, @TheBushCenter Ken Hersch & @SindyBenavides about how Twitter will continue to combat hate & harassment & enforce its election integrity policies,” Musk said.
Talked to civil society leaders @JGreenblattADL, @YaelEisenstat, @rashadrobinson, @JGo4Justice, @normanlschen, @DerrickNAACP, @TheBushCenter Ken Hersch & @SindyBenavides about how Twitter will continue to combat hate & harassment & enforce its election integrity policies
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 2, 2022
“Twitter will not allow anyone who was de-platformed for violating Twitter rules back on platform until we have a clear process for doing so, which will take at least a few more weeks,” he said in a follow-up tweet.
Twitter will not allow anyone who was de-platformed for violating Twitter rules back on platform until we have a clear process for doing so, which will take at least a few more weeks
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 2, 2022
The ADL on Monday threatened Musk with “dire consequences” if he replatformed “dangerous individuals” like Alex Jones, Nick Fuentes, Steve Bannon, Andrew Tate, and David Duke.
Musk’s stated goal to restore free speech to Twitter has now been abandoned.
.@elonmusk Today During Ted2022 On Why He Is Offering to Buy Twitter
“My strong intuitive sense is that having a public platform that is maximally trusted & broadly inclusive is extremely important to the future of civilization.”
“I don’t care about the economics at all.” pic.twitter.com/AxYsHEPY68
— The Columbia Bugle (@ColumbiaBugle) April 14, 2022
All it took to get Musk to cave was the ADL organizing a global advertiser boycott against him.
This was certainly a productive meeting & I appreciate @ElonMusk’s willingness to hear our concerns. With these 3 commitments, we’re cautiously optimistic about the future of @Twitter & will provide input & insight whenever possible. Ultimately, actions speak louder than words. https://t.co/RJef97ERBt
— Jonathan Greenblatt (@JGreenblattADL) November 2, 2022
We expect:
– A transparent process for re-platforming ppl who have violated Twitter’s policies &/or incited hate & violence
– Enforcement of election integrity policy
– A content moderation council with reps from the civil rights community & groups who face hate-fueled violence— Jonathan Greenblatt (@JGreenblattADL) November 2, 2022
This was certainly a productive meeting & I appreciate @ElonMusk’s willingness to hear our concerns. With these 3 commitments, we’re cautiously optimistic about the future of @Twitter & will provide input & insight whenever possible. Ultimately, actions speak louder than words. https://t.co/RJef97ERBt
— Jonathan Greenblatt (@JGreenblattADL) November 2, 2022
Greenblatt put out a statement on Wednesday through his global boycotting pressure operation “Stop Hate For Profit”:
Stop Hate For Profit Statement On Meeting With Elon Musk
New York, NY, November 2, 2022 — The Stop Hate for Profit Coalition has been alarmed about the recent and potential changes being discussed for Twitter. We have already seen an uptick in extremist activity, racism, antisemitism, homophobia, disinformation and more. Advertisers share our concerns, and we have been in conversation with them about whether Twitter remains a safe place for advertising.
We discussed our profound concerns with Elon Musk yesterday, and had a productive conversation. We appreciate that he committed to not re-platforming anyone until there is a clear and transparent process; maintaining the infrastructure, enforcement and policies for election disinformation until at least after mid-term elections have been finalized; and including representatives of groups who face hate-filled violence in designing and participating in content moderation policies and processes, including a proposed council.
However, this is just the tip of the iceberg. Much more needs to be done to reduce lies and hate on Twitter, and backtracking on the last year of progress on the platform is not an option for users, advertisers or society overall.
Actions speak louder than words, and we will be monitoring Twitter’s policies and enforcement in the coming days.
Musk has kept Trump-hating lunatic Yoel Roth as the site’s chief censor.
Roth wrote his dissertation on Grindr and gay hook up apps.
Musk said on Monday that he recommends people follow Roth “for the most accurate understanding of what’s happening with trust & safety at Twitter.”
I recommend following @yoyoel for the most accurate understanding of what’s happening with trust & safety at Twitter
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 1, 2022
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 30, 2022
Roth boasted that he’s banning people en masse for “hateful conduct” and working on Facebook-style algorithms to pre-censor content before it’s seen (exactly as the ADL has been calling for).
Since Saturday, we’ve been focused on addressing the surge in hateful conduct on Twitter. We’ve made measurable progress, removing more than 1500 accounts and reducing impressions on this content to nearly zero. Here’s the latest on our work, and what’s next.
— Yoel Roth (@yoyoel) October 31, 2022
Our primary success measure for content moderation is impressions: how many times harmful content is seen by our users. The changes we’ve made have almost entirely eliminated impressions on this content in search and elsewhere across Twitter. pic.twitter.com/AnJuIu2CT6
— Yoel Roth (@yoyoel) October 31, 2022
Impressions on this content typically are extremely low, platform-wide. We’re primarily dealing with a focused, short-term trolling campaign. The 1500 accounts we removed don’t correspond with 1500 people; many are repeat bad actors. pic.twitter.com/qoMFLZJYrA
— Yoel Roth (@yoyoel) October 31, 2022
Impressions on this content typically are extremely low, platform-wide. We’re primarily dealing with a focused, short-term trolling campaign. The 1500 accounts we removed don’t correspond with 1500 people; many are repeat bad actors. pic.twitter.com/qoMFLZJYrA
— Yoel Roth (@yoyoel) October 31, 2022
Many of you have said you’ve reported hateful conduct and received notices saying it’s not a violation. Here’s why, and what we’re doing to fix it:
— Yoel Roth (@yoyoel) October 31, 2022
To try to understand the context behind potentially harmful Tweets, we treat first-person and bystander reports differently.
First person: This hateful interaction is happening to or targeting me.
Bystander: This is happening to someone else.
— Yoel Roth (@yoyoel) October 31, 2022
Meet the new boss, same as the old boss!
This article was first published in Information Liberation and Richardson Post.
