Twitter has dissolved its Trust and Safety Council, the advisory group of around 100 independent civil, human rights and other organizations.
The company formed the council in 2016 to address hate speech, child exploitation, suicide, self-harm and other problems on the platform.
According to multiple members, the council had scheduled to meet with Twitter representatives on Monday, December 12, 2022 but Twitter informed the group via email that it was disbanding it shortly before the meeting was to take place.
Council members who spoke on the condition of anonymity revealed that, 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,” the email From Twitter stated.
The volunteer group provided expertise and guidance on how Twitter could better combat hate, harassment and other harms but didn’t have any decision-making authority and did not review specific content disputes.
Shortly after buying Twitter for $44 billion in late October, Musk divulged that he would form a new “content moderation council” to help make major decisions but later changed his mind.
“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 or decision making body.”
Council Member, Alex Holmes.
Last week, three council members resigned, citing concern for the safety of Twitter users.
“It is clear from research evidence that, contrary to claims by Elon Musk, the safety and wellbeing of Twitter’s users are on the decline,” Council Member Anne Collier had tweeted.
Those former council members soon became the target of online attacks after Musk amplified criticism of them and Twitter’s past leadership for allegedly not doing enough to stop child sexual exploitation on the platform.
The Trust and Safety Council, in fact, had one of its advisory groups that focused on child exploitation.
This included the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, the Rati Foundation and YAKIN, or Youth Adult Survivors & Kin in Need.
No More Checks And Balances
Former Twitter employee, Patricia Cartes, whose job was to form the Trust and Safety council in 2016, said on Monday, December 12, 2022 that its dissolution “means there’s no more checks and balances.”
Cartes iterated that 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.
The former Twitter employee contrasted that initiative 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.
About half of the social media site’s workforce, around 3,700 employees have been laid off since Elon Musk took charge of the company and introduced a cost-cutting drive.
More than a 1,000 have resigned, among them Yoel Roth, the company’s former Head of Trust and Safety.
