Last Update: June 22, 2023, 06:47 AM IST
Twitter must respond to the eSafety Commissioner within 28 days or face a fine of around A$700,000 ($473,480) per day.
This demand has come when Australia is going to hold a referendum this year on the issue of recognizing indigenous people in the constitution.
An Australian cyber regulator said Thursday it has demanded Twitter explain how it handles online hate as the microblog became the country’s most complained-about platform after new owner Elon Musk lifted a ban on an alleged 62,000 accounts. Is.
The demand builds on a campaign by the eSafety commissioner to make the website more accountable after Musk, one of the world’s richest men, bought it for $44 billion in October with a promise to restore his commitment to freedom of expression. I bought
The regulator has already asked for details on Twitter’s handling of online child abuse content, which it said has taken up on the website since Musk’s acquisition and subsequent job loss, including content moderation roles.
Commissioner Julie Inman Grant said she sent a legal notice to Twitter demanding an explanation after a third of all complaints received about online hate relate to Twitter, even if the platform compares to TikTok or Meta’s Facebook and Instagram has very few users.
Inman Grant said in a statement, “It appears that Twitter has dropped the ball on dealing with hate.” Which states that since Musk’s acquisition, the platform has reportedly restored 62,000 banned accounts, including high-profile accounts of individuals who supported Nazi rhetoric.
“We need action from these platforms for accountability and to protect their users, and without transparency you can’t have accountability and this is what legal notices like this are designed to achieve,” he added.
Twitter must respond to the eSafety Commissioner within 28 days or face a fine of around A$700,000 ($473,480) per day. It declined to comment when contacted by Reuters.
The demand comes as Australia is set to hold a referendum this year on whether to recognize indigenous peoples in the constitution, sparking an intense debate about race.
The commissioner said prominent Indigenous television host Stan Grant had cited targeted abuse on Twitter when announcing his break from the media last month.
Specialist broadcaster National Indigenous Television also said in a tweet last month that it was taking a break from Twitter because of “the racism and hate we experience every day on this platform”.
Inman Grant said his letter asked Twitter to explain its impact assessment when restoring banned accounts, how it engages with communities that were subjected to online hate, and how it plans to implement its policies. is doing that bans hateful conduct.
($1 = 1.4784 Australian dollars)
(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed – reuters,
