Twitter has been left vulnerable to an increase in hate speech following the resignation of its vice president of trust and safety, Ella Irwin, and the departure of the company’s head of brand safety and ad quality, A.J. Brown, along with program manager Maie Aiyed. The exits have left the company with fewer workers tasked with safety and content moderation, as Musk continues to reduce the workforce. Musk’s policies have been the subject of controversy, as he has rolled back policies that restricted the types of content allowed on the platform.
Twitter’s Policies Criticised by LGBTQ+ Advocates and Researchers
Following Musk’s recent comments that it is not against Twitter’s terms of service to misgender trans people, LGBTQ+ advocates and researchers have criticised his position, saying it invites bullying of trans people. Musk has also encouraged his 141.8 million followers to watch a video that was deemed transphobic by these groups. Numerous LGBTQ+ organizations have expressed dismay over Musk’s decision, saying the company’s new policies will lead to an uptick in anti-trans hate speech and online abuse.
Challenges Ahead for Twitter’s New CEO
Although former NBC Universal global advertising chief Linda Yaccarino has been hired as Twitter’s new CEO, it remains unclear how she will assuage advertisers’ concerns regarding racist, antisemitic, transphobic, and homophobic content in light of the recent departures and Musk’s ongoing role as majority owner and technology chief. Many advertisers remain on pause, as Twitter has limited reach compared to some other platforms. One big challenge for brands is that Musk and Twitter have not made clear what they count in their measurements assessing hate speech, spam, scams, and bots.
Experts and ad industry insiders have cast doubt on Musk’s claims that hate speech on the platform has declined since he took over the company in October. Some say Twitter is actively impeding independent researchers who are attempting to track such metrics. A recent study by researchers from Oregon State, the University of Southern California, and other institutions showed that hate speech has increased since Musk bought Twitter. They found that Twitter has made no progress on bots, which have remained as prevalent and active on the social media platform as they were prior to Musk’s tenure.
Getting data from Twitter is becoming harder, as the company recently started charging companies for access to its application programming interface, which allows them to incorporate and analyze Twitter data. The lowest-paid tier costs $42,000 for 50 million tweets. Researchers now have to rely on other potential routes to the data, and Twitter’s search function is less effective than in the past.
The Simon Wiesenthal Center, a Jewish human rights group, continues to find antisemitic posts on Twitter. The group recently conducted its 2023 study of digital terrorism and hate on social platforms and graded Twitter a D-, putting it on par with Russia’s VK as the worst in the world for large social networks. Rabbi Abraham Cooper, associate dean and director of global social action agenda at the center, called on Musk to meet with him to discuss the rise of hate speech on Twitter. He said he has yet to receive a response.
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