content moderation

Musk blames ‘activist groups’ for major advertisers pausing spending on Twitter • ZebethMedia

By zebethcontrolPosted on November 4, 2022Posted in advertising, content moderation, Government & Policy, report, Social, social media, TwitterNo Comments

As mass layoffs begin at Twitter, major advertisers are pausing their campaigns on the social network — a move that’s gotten the attention of newly-minted CEO Elon Musk. In a tweet this morning, Musk blamed a “massive drop” in Twitter revenue on “activist groups pressuring advertisers,” likely referring to an open letter sent Tuesday by civil society organizations urging Twitter advertisers to suspend their ads if Musk didn’t commit to enforcing safety standards and community guidelines. Musk bemoaned the activist efforts, claiming that “nothing has changed with content moderation” on Twitter. But recent developments tell a different story. Twitter has had a massive drop in revenue, due to activist groups pressuring advertisers, even though nothing has changed with content moderation and we did everything we could to appease the activists. Extremely messed up! They’re trying to destroy free speech in America. — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 4, 2022 Sarah Personette, Twitter’s chief customer officer, who managed the company’s relationships with advertisers, resigned from the company late last Friday. According to Bloomberg, Twitter shut off employee access to certain content moderation and policy enforcement tools, prompting workers to cite concerns about misinformation ahead of the U.S. midterm elections. (Musk later agreed to restore access to the tools.) And as a part of the layoffs today, Twitter eliminated its curation team, which was responsible for providing factual context — and corrections, if necessary — to trending terms and conversations on the platform. The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday that General Mills, Audi and Pfizer have joined the growing list of companies temporarily pausing their Twitter ads. (Automaker GM last week became the first major brand to announce a pause.) Oreo maker Mondelez and Volkswagen are also reevaluating their ad spend with the network, reportedly spooked by the departure of top executives over the past week including chief marketing officer Leslie Berland and VP of global client solutions Jean-Philippe Maheu. Mondelez, whose brands also include Ritz, Chips Ahoy!, Trident and Tate’s Bake Shop, is among the top largest 20 advertisers on Twitter in terms of ad spend. Given that ad sales accounted for more than 90% of Twitter’s revenue in Q2 2022, its pullback alone is likely to have a substantial impact on the platform’s bottom line. On Tuesday, a New York Times report revealed that that IPG — one of the world’s largest advertising companies, with customers such as Coca-Cola, American Express, Johnson & Johnson, Mattel and Spotify — issued a recommendation for clients to temporarily pause their spending on Twitter because of moderation concerns. According to the piece, the Global Alliance for Responsible Media (GARM), a coalition of platforms, advertisers and industry groups fighting harmful content on social media, also said it was monitoring how Twitter planned to uphold previous commitments to deal with content moderation. Musk has made increasing efforts to reassure advertisers that Twitter remains “brand safe,” publishing an open letter to advertisers saying that Twitter wouldn’t become a “free-for-all hellscape” and announcing plans to form a council to advise on content moderation. In recent days, Musk has also participated in video calls with ad companies including WPP PLC, according to the Wall Street Journal, during which he’s promised to rid Twitter of bots, add community management tools and introduce new ways to give advertisers the ability to choose which content to be near. Musk has little choice but to make good with Twitter’s sponsors. His deal to buy the company included making Twitter take on $13 billion in debt from banks, which means the social network will owe about $1 billion a year in interest payments.

Here’s what happened at Elon Musk’s meeting with civil rights leaders • ZebethMedia

By zebethcontrolPosted on November 2, 2022Posted in content moderation, Elon Musk, Social, TwitterNo Comments

After meeting with a group of civil rights leaders about his content moderation plans, new “Chief Twit” Elon Musk has committed to uphold existing election integrity policies until at least after the results of next week’s U.S. midterm elections have been certified. According to statements from leaders who attended the meeting, the mogul said he will not reinstate previously banned Twitter users until there is a transparent process for doing so. Musk also committed to including representatives from groups that suffer from hate-fueled violence in his proposed content moderation council. “Twitter will not allow anyone who was de-platformed for violating Twitter rules back on [the] platform until we have a clear process for doing so, which will take at least a few more weeks,” Musk wrote in a tweet about the meeting. He did not elaborate on which users would qualify to be reinstated. Musk has not always followed through on promises he has made about his business plans, making it hard to take his plans at face value. But for now, he has claimed he won’t be making vital content moderation decisions alone. According to Musk’s tweets, his meeting included representatives from Free Press, the Asian American Foundation (TAAF), Color of Change, the NAACP, the Bush Center, the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) and the Anti-Defamation League (ADL). ZebethMedia reached out to these groups to independently confirm their attendance; all but the Bush Center, LULAC and TAAF have confirmed thus far. “The NAACP met with Elon Musk to express our grave concerns with the dangerous, life-threatening hate and conspiracies that have proliferated on Twitter under his watch. According to a report, hate speech increased by approximately 500% in the first 12 hours following his acquisition. Now let that sink in,” said NAACP President Derrick Johnson in an emailed statement. “Nazi memes, racial slurs, and extreme far-right propaganda do not belong in the ‘town square’ of any democracy or online platform. […] In the immediacy, it is critical that Twitter’s existing election integrity policies remain in effect until at the very least after the midterm elections have been certified.” Multiple leaders present at yesterday’s meeting have been vocal critics of Musk’s ideas for Twitter. The CEO of the ADL, Jonathan Greenblatt, wrote a statement after Musk took leadership of Twitter on Thursday, expressing the organization’s concern about the safety of marginalized groups on the platform. “We are concerned that Mr. Musk’s acquisition of Twitter may accelerate what ADL has seen repeatedly: the pushing out of marginalized communities from social media,” the statement reads. “As with Telegram, Gab, Parler, Rumble, and other platforms that refuse to address incitement and slander in the name of free speech, such platforms have become hotbeds for radicalism and hate. This invariably reduces the diversity of views on these services and narrows rather than expands the public conversation.” This was certainly a productive meeting & I appreciate @ElonMusk’s willingness to hear our concerns. With these 3 commitments, we’re cautiously optimistic about the future of @Twitter & will provide input & insight whenever possible. Ultimately, actions speak louder than words. — Jonathan Greenblatt (@JGreenblattADL) November 2, 2022 After he and ADL Vice President Yael Eisenstat participated in the virtual call with Musk, Greenblatt said that he is “cautiously optimistic” about Musk’s promises. Free Press has also taken action to respond to Musk’s ownership of Twitter. Yesterday, Free Press and dozens of other civil society groups published an open letter, calling on top-20 advertisers to demand that Musk uphold the network’s existing content moderation policies. “These commitments are a good first step but really just the beginning of a long process,” wrote Free Press co-CEO Jessica J. González in a statement. “As the report Free Press published last week shows, hate, abuse and conspiracy theories are rampant on Twitter. There is much more to do to make Twitter a space for robust and healthy dialogue.” Musk had already stated that he wants to build a content moderation council, which will discuss issues like the ban on former President Donald Trump’s account, which Musk has said he believes was a mistake. Twitter permanently banned Trump’s account in the days after the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol because his tweets violated Twitter’s Glorification of Violence policy. Even though Musk claims he will not re-platform any banned users until a clear process is established, users are concerned about how these plans will impact vulnerable groups, like the LGBTQ community. Last week, Musk replied to a tweet from the daughter of academic and self-help author Jordan Peterson, who was suspended from the platform for deadnaming trans actor Elliott Page and calling Page’s surgeon a “criminal physician” over the summer. When she asked if he would bring her father back on the platform, he replied: “Anyone suspended for minor & dubious reasons will be freed from Twitter jail.” Even Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) has tweeted at the SpaceX and Tesla CEO about reversing Peterson’s ban. Anyone suspended for minor & dubious reasons will be freed from Twitter jail — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 28, 2022 Even though Musk promised these civil rights leaders that his content moderation council will include members of groups who face hate-fueled violence, this claim is at odds with Musk’s recent platforming of anti-LGBTQ conspiracy theories. Musk’s own Twitter history doesn’t set a reassuring precedent either. In April, he posted a meme making fun of Twitter’s head of policy and trust, Vijaya Gadde (who he fired immediately upon securing his takeover). The post, which criticized her for having a left-wing bias, incited a torrent of abusive, racist tweets at the executive. Earlier this month, Musk also warmly welcomed Ye (formerly Kanye West) to Twitter after he was suspended from Instagram for posting antisemitic messages. But 12 hours later, Ye was suspended from Twitter as well — he had continued his antisemitic tirade on the platform now owned by Musk, threatening that he was “going death [sic] con 3 On JEWISH PEOPLE.” For the last week, Musk’s

Truth Social debuts in the Google Play Store • ZebethMedia

By zebethcontrolPosted on October 13, 2022Posted in content moderation, Google, Social, truth socialNo Comments

Though it’s been available for the iPhone for months, Truth Social is now listed in Google’s app marketplace for the first time. Axios first reported Wednesday that Truth Social, former President Trump’s social network, cleared the necessary hurdles to get approval from Google. The app became available on Android shortly after and is now live in the Play Store, extending its reach to Google’s mobile operating system. Axios reported back in August that Google opted to block Truth Social from the Play Store after it discovered a number of posts that broke its rules, including content containing physical threats and incitements to violence. Truth Social was never formally banned from the Play Store, though its approval was on ice until sufficient changes were made. Unlike on iOS, there are other distribution options available for Android apps that don’t get formal approval from Google. Google tolerates sideloading apps through other avenues and Truth Social recently offered the app as a direct download — the same strategy that fellow “free speech” app Parler previously employed to circumvent a similar situation. Google told Axios that Truth Social agreed to enforce its policies against some forms of content, including posts that incite violence, in order to get approved. It’s not immediately clear how the app will handle hate speech — unlike the mainstream social networks it seeks to supplant, Truth Social doesn’t have rules against hate — but Google’s rules for user-generated content explicitly forbid content that incites hatred.