The Australian government’s cyber watchdog has demanded an explanation from Twitter on how the social media platform deals with online hatred. Twitter is owned by the multibillionaire Elon Musk.
Twitter had a deadline of 28 days to react to the regulator. Otherwise, it might be subject to fines that could reach into more than hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Last year, Mr. Musk purchased the company for $44 billion (A$64 billion; £34.5 billion), and he has pledged to defend free expression on the platform.
According to Julie Inman Grant, a legal notice was filed to Twitter demanding an explanation after it was determined that one-third of all complaints received concerning online hatred concerned the site.
This is despite the fact that Twitter has a significantly smaller user base compared to TikTok, Facebook, and Instagram.
The corporation has been given a deadline of 28 days to provide a response to the watchdog, failing which it would be subject to penalties of up to A$700,000 (£371,570; $475,300) each day for continuous violations.
“Twitter appears to have dropped the ball on tackling hate,” said Ms. Inman Grant.
She went on to say that “we are also aware of reports that the reinstatement of some of these previously banned accounts has emboldened extreme polarizers, peddlers of outrage and hate, including neo-Nazis both in Australia and overseas.” “We are also aware of reports that the reinstatement of some of these previously banned accounts has emboldened.”
The proposal is a continuation of the regulator’s drive to put greater accountability requirements on the social media business.
Ella Irwin, Twitter’s second head of trust and safety since Mr Musk took ownership of the company, left at the beginning of this month. Yoel Roth, who had served in the role before her, resigned in November 2022, exactly one month after Elon Musk assumed leadership.
Since the takeover, the topic of content moderation has emerged as one of the most important concerns, and it is the responsibility of the head of trust and safety.
The day after Mr Musk publicly criticized a content moderation decision, Ms Irwin abruptly left Twitter, despite the fact that she had not publicly stated the reason why she left the platform.
According to him, the choice made by “many people at Twitter” to restrict access to a video following complaints of inappropriate gender portrayal was “a mistake.”
“Whether or not you agree with using someone’s preferred pronouns, it is at most rude to not do so,” he added. “However, you are not breaking any laws by failing to do so.”
After only a few days, Mr. Musk was succeeded in his position as chief executive of Twitter by Linda Yaccarino, who had previously served in the same capacity at NBCUniversal.
Ms. Irwin’s decision to step down came one week after the social media platform she worked for withdrew from a voluntary guideline developed by the European Union to combat disinformation.
In the meantime, a significant number of advertisers have pulled out.
Ms. Yaccarino is credited with helping to shepherd NBCUniversal through the disruption brought by digital firms, restructuring advertising sales, and spurring industry-wide conversations about data gaps as consumers transition online when she served in a previous post as president of the company.
