60% of LGBTQ+ Organizations and Activists Surveyed Report an Increase in Abusive Speech Since Elon Musk’s Takeover as Twitter CEO. Twitter is failing to protect LGBTQ+ organizations and individuals that advocate for members of the LGBTQ+ community from online violence and abuse, according to a new survey from Amnesty International USA (AIUSA), GLAAD and the Human Rights Campaign (HRC). Further, harassment of LGBTQ+ activists has intensified since Elon Musk acquired Twitter in October 2022. All respondents reported that they have encountered hateful and abusive speech on Twitter. 60% of survey respondents reported that they had experienced an increase in abusive and hateful speech on Twitter since Elon Musk took over as CEO. The other 40% reported that they had experienced the same level of abusive and hateful speech as before. None of the survey respondents reported a decrease in abusive and hateful speech. The targeted survey included 11 LGBTQ+ organizations, as well as 9 high profile LGBTQ+ individuals who advocate on LGBTQ+ issues. The survey focused on select organizations and individuals with large Twitter followings, with 70% of respondents having at least 10,000 Twitter followers. The goal of the survey was to take a snapshot of the environment facing LGBTQ+ organizations and activists in the wake of significant changes at Twitter, including the company firing its Global Human Rights Team and many of its Trust and Safety staff, amongst others. The survey included a series of questions asking respondents whether they experienced a change in the frequency of hateful and abusive speech on Twitter once Elon Musk become the company’s CEO, whether they reported hateful and abusive speech to the company, how such hateful and abusive speech impacted how they used the platform, and how their experience on Twitter compared to other social media platforms. “Twitter must do more to protect LGBTQ+ activists and organizations on the platform. Twitter considers itself a ‘common digital town square,’ yet it’s a town square where LGBTQ+ voices are all too often shouted down and silenced by constant hateful speech and harassment. According to the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, all companies have a responsibility to respect human rights – it’s disappointing, to say the least, to hear that the problem of hateful and abusive speech on Twitter is only getting worse,” said Michael Kleinman, Senior Director of Technology and Human Rights at Amnesty International USA. Nine of the respondents tried to report this abuse to Twitter – 88% (eight out of nine respondents) reported that Twitter took no action to mitigate or take down the reported content.
via ai usa: HATEFUL AND ABUSIVE SPEECH TOWARDS LGBTQ+ COMMUNITY SURGING ON TWITTER UNDER ELON MUSK
