Seven civilian rights and argumentation groups were connected the telephone with the tech billionaire, who handled the gathering solo, seemingly without further unit joining him. The gathering was portion of Musk’s effort to acceptable up a “content moderation council,” which would presumably constabulary users and contented connected the level — and assistance easiness concerns from disquieted advertisers.
Musk said Tuesday night that helium wanted his assembly to “include representatives with wide divergent views, which volition surely see the civilian rights assemblage and groups who look hate-fueled violence.”
Twitter has acknowledged a surge successful hateful content successful the days since Musk took over. And portion Musk himself has said helium didn’t privation the tract to go a “hellscape,” a tweet from his relationship connected Sunday that forwarded a mendacious communicative astir Paul Pelosi has stirred contention and led immoderate advertisers to consider pausing their concern dealings with Twitter.
Some of the participants connected Tuesday’s telephone stay wary of Musk. “We are cautiously optimistic, but much important than thing else, it is the outcome: Will the safeguards beryllium successful spot for this predetermination rhythm that were already successful spot and tin they beryllium enhanced?” said NAACP President Derrick Johnson, who participated successful the call.
Jessica Gonzalez, co-CEO of media advocacy radical Free Press, said she’s going to hold and spot if Musk — who’s known to alteration absorption rapidly — volition enactment the course. “These are words and we volition clasp him accountable based connected his actions, not connected his words,” she said.
Participants connected the Zoom call included Free Press, the Anti-Defamation League, the Asian American Foundation, Color Of Change, the George W. Bush Presidential Center, the NAACP and the erstwhile CEO of LULAC, a nonprofit representing Hispanic communities successful the U.S.
Free Press, ADL, Color Of Change, the NAACP and LULAC are members of the Stop Hate for Profit coalition, which aims to clasp societal media companies accountable for hatred code connected their sites.
With midterms little than a week away, the groups stressed the value of keeping existing safeguards to forestall predetermination misinformation. “We requested that they clasp and enforce the predetermination integrity measures that Twitter had successful spot erstwhile helium got there,” Gonzalez said.
Focusing past the midterms
Yael Eisenstat, caput of the Anti-Defamation League’s Center for Technology and Society — who was connected the telephone — said it came unneurotic wrong 24 hours, aft Musk reached retired to ADL president Jonathan Greenblatt who is simply a person successful the Stop Hate for Profit coalition.
Eisenstat urged the world’s richest antheral to grow Twitter’s contented policies — peculiarly those related to elections — to spell beyond the Nov. 8 midterms, informing that election-denying rhetoric does not spell distant aft the polls close.
“Following an predetermination tin beryllium a captious play and a unsafe period,” she said. “We privation these policies to not conscionable beryllium successful effect, but besides to really beryllium resourced and enforced.”
She said Musk declined to stock however agelong the company’s predetermination misinformation policies volition beryllium successful spot aft the elections end.
Little clarity connected moderation council
Musk besides discussed his thought of creating a “council” to reappraisal contented and policies related to perchance harmful material, but helium did not laic retired immoderate circumstantial adjacent steps.
However, the groups reminded Musk that immoderate specified enactment should see those who are targeted with hate-filled online language.
NAACP’s Johnson said helium was skeptical that a assembly could beryllium effective.
“The question for america is what benignant of existent authorization would this assembly have, what benignant of existent input it would person and whether oregon not this assembly volition beryllium successful a presumption wrong the instauration to really adhd their dependable to support radical and to support communities,” Johnson said. “That’s inactive outstanding.”
However, LULAC — the oldest Hispanic advocacy enactment successful the state — said that the group’s erstwhile CEO Sindy Benavides, who participated successful the call, did not correspond LULAC, arsenic she was terminated from her position connected Oct. 22. LULAC was not really represented successful the meeting, David Cruz, the group’s communications manager said.
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