social media policy
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X does not enforce its policy on hate-speech
A few days ago, at the start of September 2024, Brazil banned X (Twitter) following Elon Musk’s refusal to suspend what Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes described as far-right accounts spreading misinformation. Brazil’s supreme court voted to ban the platform and Moraes has given companies like Apple and Google five days to remove…
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Blur faces: Signal’s anonymity tool
The encrypted messaging App Signal has released an update to support the protests in the United States. They explain: “At Signal, we support the people who have gone into the streets to make their voices heard. We believe that something in America needs to change, and even if we don’t know exactly how, we support…
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Tackling Hate on Twitter – Civil Society and the Bots
Last year we received a suspicious tweet directed to us, followed by one from another account warning us the first account was a troll. That was how we met Impostor Buster, the author of the second account. Impostor Buster was not a person, but an automated piece of software designed by a software developer on one…
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Twitter getting tougher on hate
On the advice of its Trust and Safety Council, Twitter has expanded its understanding of prohibited hate. For the first time Twitter will consider content on users profiles not just their tweets. This means hate speech found in account names, description and profile images will now be considered. The change appears to be an extension…
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Can reporting news be hate?
Earlier today OHPI received an e-mail with the message “Very Offensive Y tube video , pl stop this hateful obnoxious video”. It linked to a YouTube video titled “Indian Hindus Force Muslims To Eat Cow Poop & Urine in Ramadan”. The video was posted by a user called “A Muslim” and it’s description is: Hindus…
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A response to Eric Schmidt’s memo to tech companies
Eric Schmidt, the executive chairman of Google, has written an editorial in the NYT setting out a memo for tech companies, governments and social media users on their role in fighting online hate entitled “How to build a better web“. In the article he warns against censorship by the state, and says that: “It’s our…
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Facebook to add a new “dislike” button
Mark Zuckerberg has announced that Facebook will soon be adding a dislike button feature to its system. We welcome the addition of a dislike button which users have been calling for over many years. At the same time we believe there were good reasons to not have such a feature and that it’s addition poses risks…
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Virginia shooting: Lessons for social media companies
The shooting last night of two journalists in Virginia, US, has again sparked debate about the policies of social media companies. The shooter Vester Lee Flanagan shot the murders and uploaded them on Twitter and Facebook. Twitter suspended his account within 8 minutes of the video being uploaded, and Facebook too removed his profile and…
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“Virality on the Internet” and OHPI
In a recent article, Reddit moderators talk about the challenges of moderating the online discussion platform. A few things the article highlights are: The company is bound by US laws, which are clearly on the side of unfettered free speech regardless of context. Other countries take on a more nuanced view of things. We have…
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Reddit announces fresh code of conduct
Last September, the online discussion platform Reddit came into severe public scrutiny. One of its pages (or subreddits as they are called on the platform) had been instrumental in the widespread distribution of stolen celebrity nude photos. Since then, the hate speech and hateful behaviour tolerated on the platform has come under severe criticism, as…