Twitter's policy states that targeting people based on their race, ethnicity, national origin, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, religious affiliation, age, disability, or disease "may be in violation of our hateful conduct policy". Musk's proposals would put him at loggerheads with Asian governments that want tech companies to quickly remove content they deem as inappropriate, and the European Union where new rules call for more aggressive online policing of hate speech. Rana Ayyub, a Muslim journalist who is often critical of Hindu right-wing politicians in India, has been trolled and threatened online for her work, while in Bangladesh, gay rights activists, atheist bloggers and academics have been targeted. "Across Asia, we have observed incitement to violence by political actors and extremists targeting human rights defenders and minorities amplified on Twitter" in countries including India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, he added.
Musk's intent to privatise Twitter and reduce content moderation raises concerns that "more rampant online abuse can translate to offline harms against people's security and liberties," he said. Read | Musk told banks he will rein in Twitter pay, make money from tweets "The problem of caste-targeted expression and discrimination is rife, which Twitter has failed to address in a nuanced and effective manner," said Raman Jit Singh Chima, Asia policy director at digital rights group Access Now. In India - which is the third most popular country in the world for Twitter with about 24 million users according to research site Statista - slurs and memes on social media regularly attack Muslims and Dalits. "We try to minimise the distribution and reach of harmful or misleading information, especially when its intent is to disrupt a civic process or cause offline harm." "We work hard to minimise toxic and illegal content," the company said on its website. Twitter - which has faced criticism for not doing enough to stop ethnic slurs, hate speech and incitement to violence in Ethiopia where there has been fighting since 2020 - did not respond to a request for comment. United Nations investigators said Facebook played a key role in spreading hate speech that fuelled violence against Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar in 2017, which refugees said included mass killings and rape by soldiers.
Read | Musk's Twitter free speech promise may be tested in Middle East "We could go down a very dark hole if we go down that path again," he said. "Incitement to violence against a minority group, like we saw with the Rohingya when the platforms did not take down hate speech and abuse, is a very real danger," Robertson, deputy director for Asia, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. But rolling back such curbs on hate speech would put vulnerable people at risk, said Phil Robertson of advocacy group Human Rights Watch. Musk has called himself a free speech absolutist and criticised Twitter's policy of moderating content. When using a search engine such as Google, Bing or Yahoo check the safe search settings where you can exclude adult content sites from your search results Īsk your internet service provider if they offer additional filters īe responsible, know what your children are doing online.Elon Musk's plan to acquire Twitter has alarmed human rights activists in Asia and the Middle East, where social media platforms have been accused of inciting violence. Use family filters of your operating systems and/or browsers Other steps you can take to protect your children are: More information about the RTA Label and compatible services can be found here. Parental tools that are compatible with the RTA label will block access to this site. We use the "Restricted To Adults" (RTA) website label to better enable parental filtering. Protect your children from adult content and block access to this site by using parental controls. PARENTS, PLEASE BE ADVISED: If you are a parent, it is your responsibility to keep any age-restricted content from being displayed to your children or wards. Furthermore, you represent and warrant that you will not allow any minor access to this site or services. This website should only be accessed if you are at least 18 years old or of legal age to view such material in your local jurisdiction, whichever is greater. You are about to enter a website that contains explicit material (pornography).