Ever since Elon Musk took over Twitter last year, there has been a spike in the number of misogynistic and abusive profiles.
After layoffs in several key departments, microblogging platform Twitter is now unable to monitor content and protect users from trolling, misinformation and child sexual exploitation, BBC on Monday reported quoting company insiders.
Ever since Elon Musk took over Twitter last year, there has been a spike in the number of misogynistic and abusive profiles. Moreover, the features required to protect users from trolls are “proving difficult to maintain”.
Among many features that have been sacked is the “nudge” button. Lisa Jennings Young, the designer of the button, told BBC that it reduced trolling by up to 60 per cent. This feature sent alerts to the users before they posted a message with trigger or harmful words. It could also block abusive accounts automatically.
However, Young’s entire team was laid off in late November.
BBC also stated that accounts dedicated to sending out hate, have also been set up since Musk’s takeover. Several of these accounts have been accused of promoting misogyny and hate. According to the UK-based think tank Institute for Strategic Dialogue, since Musk’s takeover, the number of abusive and misogynistic profiles has gone up by 69 per cent.
Twitter also had a team to protect the users against “influence operations” – state-sanctioned campaigns targeting journalists and dissidents. According to Ray Serrato, who was on this team, they would identify suspicious activity daily before Musk. But now, the team has been reduced from a 20-member group to just six or seven.
“Twitter might have been the refuge where journalists would go out and have their voice be heard and be critical of the government. But I’m not sure that’s going to be the case anymore,” he told BBC.
Moreover, reports have also suggested that all of Twitter’s communications team has either resigned or been sacked. Twitter’s policies say that “defending and respecting the user’s voice” remains one of its “core values”. However, if this still holds true will most likely be unveiled in the coming days.
