Twitter dismantles its Trust and Safety Council moments before meeting
- Reference: 1670959827
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2022/12/13/twitter_trust_and_safety_council/
- Source link:
Although an advisory association, it is just the latest in a series of sweeping cuts to Twitter under Elon Musk's tenure as owner and CEO, including laying off half of the company's 7,500 headcount and accepting more than 1,200 resignations.
The group learned of its fate mere moments before it was due to meet with company representatives on Monday in an email that was passed to [1]The Associated Press , which said Twitter was "reevaluating how best to bring external insights" and that the council was "not the best structure to do this."
[2]
"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."
[3]
[4]
Council member Alex Holmes [5]tweeted : "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.
"It is disappointing therefore that after much postponement, a meeting was cancelled and an email sent informing group that the council was disbanded. Over past week several members of council have had their personal safety and well-being impacted by the actions of Twitter staff.
[6]
"Many of us have been in this space for a number of years, each with different expertise, but all with a passion to see healthy and diverse conversations and safety exist on platforms. The way this has unfolded and way members have been treated is unfortunate and unacceptable."
He is referring to [7]utterances from Musk following the resignations of council members last week claiming that Twitter "refused to take action on child exploitation for years!" This even prompted founder Jack Dorsey to [8]chime in : "This is false."
But where Musk trolls, his legions of sycophants follow, and council members have faced persistent attacks online, which led them to request that Twitter stops misrepresenting their work. Comments by leadership were "endangering current and former council members," the email said.
[9]Musk roundly booed on-stage at Dave Chappelle gig
[10]OK, we know iPhones are expensive but... $11 a month for Twitter Blue on iOS?
[11]San Francisco investigates Hotel Twitter, Musk might pack up and leave
[12]Twitter tries to lure brands back with spend-matching scheme
Remember the ire heaped by Musk's followers on a diver the Twitter boss called "pedo guy" (without [13]defaming him, a jury ruled ) because he was trying to rescue kids trapped in a cave system in Thailand and thought the SpaceX CEO couldn't help?
Meanwhile, former head of trust and safety [14]Yoel Roth has reportedly been [15]forced from his home by harassment after [16]Musk tweeted : "Looks like Yoel is arguing in favor of children being able to access adult Internet services in his PhD thesis," along with a cherry-picked paragraph from his academic work. Really the [17]dissertation [PDF] isn't about that, but if the world's second richest man says it is, who cares, right?
[18]
About that – if there's another silver lining to the Twitter dumpster fire, 2022's feelgood tech news story, it's that Musk has slipped into the number two position on Forbes' [19]real-time billionaires list due to damage to his last publicly traded asset, Tesla. Bernard Arnault (and family) now sits in the top spot. CEO of LVMH, he owns a number of luxury goods companies including Christian Dior, Fendi, Givenchy, Marc Jacobs, Stella McCartney, Loewe, Loro Piana, Kenzo, Celine, Sephora, Princess Yachts, TAG Heuer, Bulgari, and Tiffany & Co.
Meanwhile, the followers of Musk's current internet persona are starting to tweet QAnon and Pizzagate theories, making his company's pledge to "make Twitter a safe, informative place" ring hollow. And this guy was surprised that he was [20]booed by thousands during a comedy gig on Sunday. ®
Get our [21]Tech Resources
[1] https://apnews.com/article/elon-musk-twitter-inc-technology-business-a9b795e8050de12319b82b5dd7118cd7
[2] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/personaltech&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2Y5kEFcf7eY9qQSf0EZD4lwAAAIw&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/personaltech&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44Y5kEFcf7eY9qQSf0EZD4lwAAAIw&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/personaltech&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33Y5kEFcf7eY9qQSf0EZD4lwAAAIw&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[5] https://twitter.com/abcholmes/status/1602469530286129152
[6] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/personaltech&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44Y5kEFcf7eY9qQSf0EZD4lwAAAIw&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[7] https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1601275244710621184
[8] https://twitter.com/jack/status/1601302412056473600
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2022/12/12/musk_chappelle_booed/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2022/12/12/twitter_blue_ios_relaunch/
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2022/12/09/sf_investigating_hotel_twitter_musk/
[12] https://www.theregister.com/2022/12/02/twitter_advertising_push/
[13] https://www.theregister.com/2019/12/07/elon_musk_defamation/
[14] https://www.theregister.com/2022/11/30/twitter_covid_misinformation/
[15] https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/12/12/musk-twitter-harass-yoel-roth/
[16] https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1601660414743687169
[17] https://repository.upenn.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3771&context=edissertations
[18] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/personaltech&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33Y5kEFcf7eY9qQSf0EZD4lwAAAIw&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[19] https://www.forbes.com/real-time-billionaires/#40e1d5843d78
[20] https://www.theregister.com/2022/12/12/musk_chappelle_booed/
[21] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Re: I must say…
I do hope the comments will do the article justice too. I've seen some horrible rhetoric here on this subject. I'd appreciate if everyone could keep it respectful.
It all goes to show that Tesla was successful despite Musk, not because of him.
Tesla and SpaceX supposedly have staff just to keep Musk from interfering with the company's operations. Twitter doesn't have that to protect itself from its Chief Twit.
Getting more like Chief Twat by the hour.
Snowflake journalism
Its apparent the author is just another melting snowflake, subtitling with a snicker, Im sure, that Musk "is number 2" and glorying in the fact he is no longer the richest person in the world (for now). Im personally happy that the council of 100 woke liberal progressives ar eno longer conceling what used the be the media mounth piece of the liberal progressive democratic party. If this is an example of what is to be considered the level of truthful, objective, ethical "technical journalism" offered by The Register, we can only hope tthat the day will come when it too learns "woke is broke".
Re: Snowflake journalism
It's called sensible, representative decision making. When everyone is allowed to vote (making the vote non-representative because it doesn't prioritise diverse votes), we get awful decision like Trump et al. being allowed to return and diminishing free speech on the platform by permitting hate against diverse individuals.
Re: Snowflake journalism
The biggest flaw on your argument is that if you posted something on twitter so clearly disagreeing with your overlord Musk it would already have been deleted in the name of "free speech" whereas here you are allowed not to agree with the authors of articles.
Re: Snowflake journalism
I do not understand the majority of the the haters on El Reg, the only goals appears to be hating this guy...
Why can't people stop with the hate for 5 minutes, stop judging everything that someone does every 2 seconds and do the adult thing and wait a little, be patient. Let's see if he can make a platform where people can speak openly without all the drama.
It's as though Social Media makes people maniacal.. It doesn't make sense, it should be a bastion of ideas and evolution, instead it's a cess-pit where even societie's intelligencia comes to vent one's spleen..
Think about it before replying, are you just adding to the hate or do you have something to offer.
Re: Snowflake journalism
free speech is DYING. To the mind of the privileged, it might seem that free speech is saying whatever you want but diverse free speech cannot flourish if everyone is permitted to spew disgusting hatred
To protect free speech, it is more important that everyone feels free to speak than the oppressors feel free to say everything to the opressed. As Bob Dylan once said "please get out of the new one if you can't lend a hand"
Re: Snowflake journalism
The only thing melting down around here seems to be your hysterical post.
It's all fun and games...
...Until we make fun of the thing you like. I bet if we wrote a gushing piece saying how Elon is a genius, and it's everyone else who is wrong, you'd be falling over yourself to thank our objective, truthful journalism.
C.
What a load of, er, "number 2"
Are you parodying American "conservative" whaarrrgarbl or did you actually mean for this pick-n'-mix of silly clichés to be taken seriously?
> Im sure, that Musk "is number 2"
I'd certainly agree that Musk is, in one particular sense, "number 2"!
Re: Snowflake journalism
If you think El Reg is so bad, why do you read its articles and write comments?
"Fair" story about Musk? Ha!
A fact-based article about Musk? Are you kidding? The Reg hates Musk and is against anything he does. We've seen the proof of how those committees operated. It was just one big liberal propaganda machine designed to bury opinions that were contrary while proclaiming it was all about "safety" and "fairness." People here like that approach though, like Big Brother knows what's best for you.
Apparently the writers here are also big believers in the government providing "cradle-to-grave" care that's barely one step ahead of the socialism (most) claim to despise. Notice that the plan to pay for all that utopia is always "tax the rich" -- as if anyone ever got rich in a socialist society!
And to think he insisted that all those hipsters return to the workplace when they were so chill at home! How DARE he treat it like a business?! Damn his success! (but tax it anyway)
Re: "Fair" story about Musk? Ha!
The site has become completely shit since it turned into a collection of far-left US-centric opinion pieces.
Make El Reg Great Again.
Re: "Fair" story about Musk? Ha!
I'm afraid we're swimming against the tide. I won't give up on El Reg... yet, but the clock is ticking.
Re: "Fair" story about Musk? Ha!
I'd like for those foaming-at-the-mouth Americans who think anything to the left of Genghis Khan is "far left" and consider their Democratic party to be "Marxist" to be made to live under an *actual* far-left Marxist society.
You know, just to see if they could tell the difference.
And also for a laugh. :-)
Given how much free porn including pedo stuff was available on Twitter, the trust and safety group never did their jobs.
They were combatting hatred. Priorities are important.
Err, you do know the trust & safety group were purely advisory, not Twitter employees, and had no power to make any changes on Twitter ?
Welcome to the Global Village
He is #2
you are #2042534683
your cubicle/domicile is marked with your number.
dinner will be served shortly please get in the queue....
Re: Welcome to the Global Village
Beware the big white bouncing ball.
"the world's second richest man"
Soon to be third, then fourth, etc.
He's on his way to irrelevance and, AFAIC, it can't happen quickly enough.
I must say…
I'm impressed at the quality of this article. Factual, balanced, and with minimal editorialising and sensationalism, while still allowing itself to be critical.
Well done, Richard! Much respect.