"Free speech absolutism is a nice idea," but the vast majority of content moderation isn't controversial political discussion Musk posits it to be, and so these values don't necessarily work in practice, Zhang said. In South Korea, databases of real name authentication were repeatedly hacked as they formed a treasure trove of personal information, she said. Policies that require real names on Facebook have been used to push out precarious communities such as transgender people, drag queens and sex workers, the statement said.Ī lot of users understandably distrust social media, don't want to provide identification and drop out, said Sophie Zhang, a former data scientist at Facebook.
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“Any free speech advocate (as Musk appears to view himself) willing to require users to submit ID to access a platform is likely unaware of the crucial importance of pseudonymity and anonymity," several leaders from the digital rights nonprofit Electronic Frontier Foundation wrote in response to the news of Musk’s purchase. Musk’s intimations that he may follow suit have already prompted criticism. For instance, Musk has already said he wants to begin “authenticating all humans” on Twitter - a move that, though vague, could align his platform more with Zuckerberg’s, where users are expected to post under whatever name “they go by in everyday life. The dynamic of Twitter leading the pack could also flow in the opposite direction under Musk, with the new Twitter owner taking cues from his more veteran counterpart over at Facebook. Musk's purchase of the company and the pivot toward the laissez faire moderation ethos he favors might push other social media platforms to backtrack as well and relax their moderation standards, she said. “Twitter has historically served as one of the more forward-thinking social media platforms that has always tested new ideas and concepts,” said Jennifer Edwards, executive director of the Texas Social Media Research Institute at Tarleton State University. Therefore, going beyond the law is contrary to the will of the people," Musk said on Twitter. If people want less free speech, they will ask government to pass laws to that effect. "I am against censorship that goes far beyond the law.
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Musk, who has said he embraces a philosophy of free speech absolutism, has made it clear he wants a platform with less enforcement, writing in a series of tweets Tuesday that he favors moderation only when legally required. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) one day after Twitter permanently banned Greene for repeatedly spreading misinformation about COVID-19.īut Elon Musk's successful bid to buy Twitter could change the company's trajectory. This year, Facebook announced a 24-hour suspension of the account of Rep.
The move distinguished Twitter from Facebook, whose chief executive, Mark Zuckerberg, indicated it was not inclined to similarly take action, and paved the way for a slew of social media companies that later suspended Trump from their platforms days before the end of his term. In summer 2020, Twitter slapped a warning label over then-President Trump's tweet threatening a harsh crackdown on protests in Minneapolis as violating its rules about "glorifying violence," and soon after flagged two more election-related tweets for fact-checking. Facebook did not ban Yiannopoulos and Jones until May 2019.
It permanently suspended right-wing provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos in July 2016 and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones in September 2018. Twitter, for instance, led efforts to create safety policies and enforce high-profile violations of its rules. Though Gamergate illustrated just how inept social media platforms were at protecting their users, Twitter’s prompt action served as an early example of the company’s relative willingness to address criticism and work to tamp down on abuse, Wu said.Īlthough social media platforms have struggled to respond to misinformation, hate speech, election interference and incitement to violence, Twitter has over the years taken a more nuanced and thorough approach, developing, revising and expanding an extensive policy framework. This was in the early days of content moderation in a social media ecosystem with far fewer rules, but still, Twitter moved quickly to remove the video, preventing it from going viral, Wu said. The skull video was only one of many such disturbing and bizarre posts targeting Wu and other women online as part of a harassment campaign dubbed Gamergate. In 2015, a man wearing a skull mask posted a video outlining his plans to murder Brianna Wu. But Elon Musk seems intent to change the company's trajectory. Twitter's approach to moderating users behavior has influenced the entire social media ecosystem.