Elon Musk has agreed to restore Twitter content moderation tools that had been blocked for some workers by the end of the week, according to leaders of leftist groups including the ADL and NAACP who met with Musk eager to expand censorship on the platform.
Bloomberg reports that Twitter’s new owner Elon Musk recently promised civil rights leaders that he will restore access to content moderation tools that some staff had been locked out of by the end of the week.
NEW YORK, NY – OCTOBER 02: Director of the Anti-Defamation League Jonathan Greenblatt speaks on stage during the 2015 Concordia Summit at Grand Hyatt New York on October 2, 2015 in New York City. (Photo by Leigh Vogel/Getty Images for Concordia Summit)
Stacey Abrams speaks during the NAACPs 110th National Convention at Cobo Center on July 22, 2019 in Detroit, Michigan. (JEFF KOWALSKY/AFP via Getty Images)
During a Zoom meeting with the heads of some of the country’s leading leftist organizations, including the NAACP, Color of Change, and the ADL, Musk committed to restoring access to the tools.
Civil rights organizations raised worries about Musk’s plan to eliminate censorship on the platform and restore the accounts of users who had been expelled. According to Bloomberg, Twitter recently limited the number of people with access to the dashboard of tools that the Trust and Safety team utilizes to enforce policy actions.
Breitbart News recently reported that following Musk’s recent announcement that Twitter would be unbanning a number of blacklisted users, he has since stated that they won’t be allowed to return to the platform for “at least a few more weeks,” or in other words, until after the midterm elections have passed.
ADL representative Yael Eisenstadt, Jessica Gonzalez, the head of digital rights group Free Press, and Rashad Robinson, the president of Color of Change, who were present at the meeting, said that Musk agreed with their concerns about speech on the platform and would work with them.
Musk, the sole Twitter representative on the virtual call, said he would create speech policies to protect “disadvantaged communities” and make the reasoning behind decisions to restore accounts of individuals who have been barred from the platform more transparent — without mentioning former President Donald Trump by name.
“He said he would continue consulting with the people of color, religious minorities and people most impacted by hate and disinformation on the platform,” said Free Press’s Gonzalez.
Musk commented on the meeting using his own platform:
Talked to civil society leaders @JGreenblattADL, @YaelEisenstat, @rashadrobinson, @JGo4Justice, @normanlschen, @DerrickNAACP, @TheBushCenter Ken Hersch & @SindyBenavides about how Twitter will continue to combat hate & harassment & enforce its election integrity policies
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 2, 2022
Twitter's content moderation council will include representatives with widely divergent views, which will certainly include the civil rights community and groups who face hate-fueled violence
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 2, 2022
The news drew the ire of many conservatives, including author and podcast Catturd.
When it comes to unfairly suspended accounts being reinstated, it looks like @elonmusk is only listening to the same assholes responsible for the BS and other far left groups who could always say anything they wanted. The only group targeted – Conservatives – are getting shafted.
— Catturd ™ (@catturd2) November 2, 2022
Read more at Bloomberg here.
Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship. Follow him on Twitter @LucasNolan
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