Australian Watchdog Says Twitter Top Platform for Online Hate 2f2f5z Demands Explanation as Company Faces Fine

Commissioner Julie Inman Grant said she has sent a legal notice to Twitter demanding an explanation. t89

By Reuters | Updated: 22 June 2023 11:25 IST

Photo Credit: Reuters 3v6d2p

Elon Musk bought Twitter for $44 billion (roughly Rs. 3,61,687 crore) in October

Highlights

Elon Musk reinstated 62,000 banned s since his takeover
He promised to restore its commitment to free speech
The microblog has become the Australia's most complained-about platform

ment

An Australian cyber regulator on Thursday said it has demanded Elon Musk lifted bans on a reported 62,000 s.

The demand builds on a campaign by the eSafety Commissioner to make the website more able after Musk, one of the world's richest people, bought it for $44 billion (roughly Rs. 3,61,687 crore) in October with a promise to restore its commitment to free speech.

The regulator has already called on Twitter to detail its handling of online child abuse material which it said has picked up on the website since Musk's takeover and subsequent job losses, including content moderation roles.

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Commissioner Julie Inman Grant said she has sent a legal notice to Twitter demanding an explanation after one-third of all complaints she received about online hate concerned Twitter, even though the platform has far fewer s than Instagram.

"Twitter appears to have dropped the ball on tackling hate," Inman Grant said in a statement, which noted that the platform had reportedly reinstated 62,000 banned s since Musk's takeover, including high-profile s of individuals who espouse Nazi rhetoric.

"We need ability from these platforms and action to protect their s, and you cannot have ability without transparency and that's what legal notices like this one are designed to achieve," she said.

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Twitter must respond to the eSafety Commissioner within 28 days or face a fine of nearly A$700,000 ($473,480 or roughly Rs. 3.8 crore) per day. It declined to comment when ed by Reuters.

The demand comes as Australia approaches a referendum this year on whether to recognise Indigenous people in the constitution, prompting an increasingly intense debate about race.

Prominent indigenous television host Stan Grant had cited targeted abuse on Twitter when he announced a break from the media last month, the commissioner noted.

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Specialist broadcaster National Indigenous Television also said it was taking a break from Twitter due to "the racism and hate that we experience every day on this platform", it said in a tweet last month.

Inman Grant said her letter called for Twitter to explain its impact assessments when reinstating banned s, how it engaged with communities who were subject to online hate, and how it was enforcing its own policies which ban hateful conduct.

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