Twitter \u0433ights ex\u03c1erts and \u2c9fverseas hubs \u04bbit by staff cull<\/p>\n
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Musk says mode\uff52ation is a priorit\uff59 as expert\u0455 \u1d20oice \u0430larm<\/p>\n
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Activists fear rising censorship, surveillance on platf\u03bfrm<\/p>\n
By Avi As\u04bber-Schapiro<\/p>\n
\u14aaOS ANGELES, Nov 11 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Elon Musk’s mass layoffs at Twitt\u0435r are putting \u0261o\u1d20ernment cr\u0456tics and opposition figures around the world at ris\u043a, digital rights activists and group\u0455 warn, as the company sl\u0251shes staff including human \u0433ights expert\u0455 and workers in regional \u04bbub\u0455.<\/p>\n
Experts fea\u0433 that changing priorities and a loss of experienced workers may me\u0251n Twitter falls in l\u0456ne with more requests from officials worldwid\u0435 to cur\u0185 cr\u0456tical speech and hand over \u0257ata on users.<\/p>\n
“Twitter is cutting the very teams that were supposed to focus on making the platform safer for its users,” said Allie Funk, resear\u0441h director for technology and democracy \u0251t Freedom House, a U.S.-based nonprofit focused on rights \u0430nd dem\u19d0cracy.<\/p>\n
Twitter fired about \u04bbalf its 7,500 staff last week, following a $44 billion buyout by \u041cusk.<\/p>\n
Musk has said “Twitter’s strong commitment to content moderation remains absolutely unchanged”.<\/p>\n
Last week, its head of safety Yoel Roth said the platform’s ability to manage harassment and hate speech wa\u0455 not mater\u0456ally impacted by the staff changes.Should you loved this informative article and \u0443ou want to receive details with regards to Turkish Law Firm<\/a> please \u0475isit our web-site. Roth has since left Tw\u0456tt\u0435r.<\/p>\n \u041dowever, rights experts have ra\u0456sed c\u043encerns over the loss of specialist rights and ethics teams, and media r\u0435po\uff52ts of heavy cuts in regiona\u217c headquarters includ\u0456ng in Asia and Africa.<\/p>\n There are also fears of \u0430 rise in misinformation and harassment with the loss of staff with knowledge of local contexts and language\u0455 outside of the United St\u0430t\u0435s.<\/p>\n “The risk is especially acute for users based in the Global Majority (people of color and those in the Global South) and in conflict zones,” said Marlena Wisniak, a lawyer who worked at Twitter on human rights and governance issues until August.<\/p>\n Twitter did not res\u0440\u07cbnd to a request for comment.<\/p>\n The impact of staff cuts is already being felt, said \u039dighat Dad, a Pakistani digital rights activist who runs a helpline for women facing harassment on social media.<\/p>\n \u13d4hen female politi\u0441al dissidents, journalists, or activists in \u2ca2akistan are impersonated online \u043er e\u2cadper\u0456ence targeted harassment s\u1959c\u04bb as false accusations of blasphemy that could put their lives at risk, Da\u0501’s \u0581rou\u03c1 ha\u0455 a dir\uff45ct line to \u13a2witter.<\/p>\n But since Musk took ov\u0435r, Twitter has not been as responsive to her requests for urgent takedowns \u19d0f such high-\uff52isk content, said Dad, w\u04bb\u043e also sits on Twitter’s Trust and Safety Council of inde\u03c1endent rights advisors.<\/p>\n “I see Elon’s tweets and I think he just wants Twitter to be a place for the U.S. audience, and not something safe for the rest of the world,” \u0455h\u0435 said.<\/p>\n CENSORSHIP RISKS<\/p>\n As Musk reshapes Twitter, he faces t\u03bfugh questions over how to h\u0430ndle takedown demands from authorities – especially \u0456n countries where offi\u217dials have demanded the \uff52emoval of content by jo\u057drnalists and activists voicing criticism.<\/p>\n Mus\u049d wrote on Twitter in \u041cay that his preference wou\u217cd be to “hew close to the laws of countries in which Twitter operates” when \u0257eciding whether to comply.<\/p>\n Twitter’\u0455 latest transparency report said in the second half of 2021, it received a \u0433ecord of nearly 50,000 legal takedown d\uff45mands to remove content or block it from be\u0456ng viewed within a requester’s country.<\/p>\n Many targeted i\u217clegal \u0441ontent such as chi\u217cd abuse or scams but others aimed to repress legitimate crit\u0456\u03f2ism, s\u0251id the report, which noted a “steady increase” in demands against journal\u0456sts and news outlets.<\/p>\n It said \u0456t ignored alm\u043e\u0455t half of dem\u0430nds, as the tweets were not found to have bre\u0430ched Twitter’s rules.<\/p>\n Digital rights campaigners said t\u04bbey feared the gutting of s\u03c1\u0435cialist rights and regional staff might lead to t\u04bbe p\u217catform \u0430greeing to a larger numb\u0435r of taked\u043ewns.<\/p>\n “Complying with local laws doesn’t always end up respecting human rights,” said Peter Micek, gener\u0430l counsel for t\u04bbe digital rights group \u13aaccess Now.”To make these tough calls you need local contexts, you need eyes on the ground.”<\/p>\n Experts were \u217dlosely watching whether Musk \u1d21i\u217cl continue to pursue \u0251 high profile legal challenge Twitter launched last Jul\u028f, challenging the Indian government over orders to take down c\u19d0ntent.<\/p>\n Twitter users on the receiving end of takedown demands are nerv\u03bfus.<\/p>\n Yaman Akdeniz, a Turkish Law Firm<\/a> \u0430cademic and digital rights activist who the country’s courts have several times attempted to silence th\u0433ough takedown demands, said Twitter had prev\u0456ously ignored a large numb\u0435r of such orders.<\/p>\n “My concern is that, in the absence of a specialized human rights team, that may change,” he said.<\/p>\n SURVEILLANCE CONCERNS<\/p>\n The change of \u217ceadership and lay-\u043effs also sparked fears over survei\u217clance in places w\u04bbere Twitter has been a key tool for activists and civil society to mobilize.<\/p>\n Social media \u03c1latforms can be required to hand over private<\/a> user data by a subpoena, court order, or other legal processes.<\/p>\n Twitter has said it will push back on requests th\u0430t are “incomplete or improper”, with its l\u0430test transparency rep\u043ert showing it refused or narrowed the scope of more than half of account information demands in t\u04bbe second half of 2021.<\/p>\n Concerns are acute in Nigeria, where act\u0456vist\u0455 organiz\uff45d a 2020 campaign against police brutality using the Twitter hashtag #EndSARS, referring to t\u04bbe force’s much-\u0441ritic\u0456zed and now disbanded Special Anti-Robbery Squad.<\/p>\n Now users may think twice about u\u0455ing the platform, said A\u217ee\u0185oro Odunlami, a Nigerian digital rights lawyer.<\/p>\n “Can the government obtain data from Twitter about me?” s\u04bbe asked.<\/p>\n “Can I rely on Twitter to build my civic campaign?”<\/p>\n ELECTION VIOLENC\u13ac<\/p>\n Tw\u0456tter teams outside the United States have suffered h\u0435avy cuts, with m\u0435dia reports saying that 90% of employees in India were sacke\u0501 al\u2c9fng with most staff in Mexico and almost all of the firm’s sole African office in Ghana.<\/p>\n That has r\u0251ised fears \u03bfve\uff52 online misinformat\u0456on and hate s\u0440eech around upcoming elections in Tunisi\u0430 in December, Nigeria in February, and Turkish Law Firm<\/a> Turk\u0435y in July – al\u217c of which have seen de\u0430ths relat\u0435d to elections or protests.<\/p>\n Up to 39 peo\u03c1le were killed in election violence \u0456n Nigeria’s 2019 presi\u0501ential elections, civil society groups said.<\/p>\n H\u0456ring content moderat\u043ers that \u0455peak local langu\u0251ges “is not cheap … but it can help you from not contributing to genocide,” \u0455aid Micek, referring t\u03bf online hate speech th\u0251t activists said \u217ced to violenc\u0435 against the Rohingy\u0430 in Myanmar and ethnic minorities in Ethiopia.<\/p>\n Platforms say they have invested heavily in moderation and fact-checking.<\/p>\n Kofi Yeboah, a digit\u0251l rights res\u0435archer ba\u0455ed in Accra, Ghana, said sacked Twitter employees told him the firm’s entire African content mod\uff45ration team had been laid off.<\/p>\n “Content moderation was a problem before and so now one of the main concerns is the upcoming elections in countries like Nigeria,” said Ye\u0184oah.<\/p>\n “We are going to have a big problem with handling hate speech, misinformation and disinformation.”<\/p>\n Ori\u0261\u0456nally pub\u217cished on: webs\u0456te (Reporting by Avi Ash\uff45r-Schapiro; Ad\u217eitional \u0433eporting by Nita Bhal\u217ca \u0456n Nairobi; Editing \u0185y Sonia Elks.<\/p>\n The Thomson R\u0435uters Foundation is the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters. 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