The social media giant Twitter has disbanded its roughly 100-member Trust and Safety Council.
The group was formed in 2016, consisting of dozens of independent civil, human rights and other organizations to address hate speech, child exploitation, suicide, self-harm and other troubling issues on the platform.
The council had been scheduled to meet with Twitter representatives on Monday night, but the social media giant informed its members via email that it was dissolving the group, multiple members told the Associate Press.
Members provided the AP with images from the email. It said Twitter was “reevaluating how best to bring external insights” and the council is “not the best structure to do this.”
Mega-billionaire Elon Musk purchased Twitter for $44 billion in late October. In early November, he issued a statement saying he planned to establish a “content moderation council” to address hate and harassment, but this council was never formed.
Since Musk’s purchase of the site, hate speech on Twitter has risen to “unprecedented” levels, with slurs against Blacks jumping from 1,282 to 3,876 times a day, slurs against gay men rising from 2,506 to 3,964 times a day, and antisemitic posts increasing by 61%, according to several groups that study online platforms, including the Center for Countering Digital Hate and the Anti-Defamation League.
