Microblogging platform Twitter has been in the news constantly as new chief Elon Musk recently updated users on the firm’s efforts to “reduce the reach of hate speech” due to the drama.
Often criticized for allowing all kinds of negative comments in the name of free speech, of which the billionaire CEO is a big fan, Twitter is dealing with user feedback by identifying and removing hate speech. Claims to work to reduce accessibility.
Twitter Safety, the social media firm’s official account that updates people on the latest security tools, resources and updates, said the platform is seeing a decline in such content.
“This is an update on our efforts to reduce the reach of hate speech on Twitter.”
“We’re seeing a steady decline in reach for this content, with impressions accounting for less than 0.01% of all English-language tweet impressions on the platform since our last update,” the tweet said.
We continue to see a decrease in the reach of this content, with these impressions accounting for less than 0.01% of all English-language Tweet impressions on the platform since our last update.
— Twitter Safety (@TwitterSafety) January 12, 2023
In the same thread, the company shared the “original chart” from its internal analytics tool to ensure transparency. The tweet claimed that the chart was not a designed image.
We heard feedback that people want to see a longer lookback period for these insights, so we extended this to 120 days (previously ~60 days). We’re also sharing the actual chart from our internal analytics tool, rather than a designed image, to give further transparency. pic.twitter.com/aV7sY6pgVK
— Twitter Safety (@TwitterSafety) January 12, 2023
Twitter also said that it “listened to people’s feedback” and as a result, the visibility period for insights has been extended to 120 days, up from just 60 days earlier.
The internet had a mixed reaction.
“There seems to be a lot of focus on hate or hate speech. How do you explain that?” A concerned user expressed surprise.
“Great to see you take feedback into account,” praised another.
One user complained, “I reported some hate speech last week. It took you 7 days to say “that’s not hateful enough” so shut up. You all go to the toilet of this app.” doesn’t care, while one user complained. Another said he had “seen a lot of improvement since Elonmusk and the new team took over.”
