Twitter disbands Trust and Safety Council – report

MANILA, Philippines – Twitter on Monday, December 12, US time, announced that it was disbanding its Trust and Safety Council, as reported by CNN, which obtained an email that the company sent to members of the council. 

The site reported that Twitter said in the email it was “reevaluating how best to bring external insights into our product and policy development work. As part of this process, we have decided that the Trust and Safety Council is not the best structure to do this.”

The council was made up of independent expert organizations globally that help craft the platform’s policies on various issues. These organizations “advocate for safety and advise us as we develop our products, programs, and rules,” Twitter had formerly stated on a webpage, which has now been taken down. A copy of the page is available on the Internet Archive. 

The council is also made of various groups focusing on the areas of online safety and harassment, human and digital rights, suicide prevention and mental health, child sexual exploitation, and dehumanization.

Twitter has also formerly said that the council “help us improve the health of the public conversation.” 

The development comes after Twitter rolled back its COVID-19 disinformation policy, and its head of trust and safety Yoel Roth said that Twitter was not safer under new owner Elon Musk.

The European Union has also warned Musk the company faces a ban over content moderation if it does not follow the bloc’s rules. The White House has also said it was keeping a close eye on disinformation on Twitter. 

CNN also reported that last week, three members of the council had already resigned in protest, saying the safety and wellbeing of Twitter users were on the decline despite Musk claiming the opposite. – Rappler.com