Elon Musk’s Twitter Disbands Trust and Safety Council Just Days After Its Members Speak Out | Science and technology news

Twitter has dissolved its Trust and Safety Council, the advisory group of nearly 100 independent civil, human rights and other organizations.

The company, now run by Elon Muskformed the council in 2016 to address hate speech, child exploitation, suicide, self-harm and other issues on the platform.

It had been planned to meet with him Twitter representative on Monday evening. But according to several members, Twitter emailed the group shortly before the meeting that it was disbanding them.

The council members, who provided images of the email from Twitter to the Associated Press, spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation

The email, signed “Twitter,” read: “Our work to make Twitter a safe, informative place will progress faster and more aggressively than ever before, and we’ll continue to welcome your ideas on how we can achieve that goal.” reachable .”

The platform had confirmed just four days ago that there would be a meeting with the council and an “open discussion and Q&A” with Twitter staff, including new Trust and Safety Director Ella Irwin.

The volunteer group provided expertise and guidance on how Twitter could better address hate, harassment and other harm, but had no decision-making authority and did not review specific content disputes.

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Shortly after buying Twitter for $44 billion in late October, Musk said he would form a new “Content Moderation Council” to make key decisions, but later changed his mind.

Last week, three council members announced their resignations in a public statement posted on Twitter, which read: “Contrary to what Elon Musk claims, the safety and well-being of Twitter users is declining.”