<
https://theconversation.com/twitter-and-elon-musk-why-free-speech-absolutism-threatens-human-rights-193877>
"For a man who made a fortune from electric cars, the Twitter takeover has
turned into a fairly bumpy ride so far. Soon after buying the social media
company for US$44 billion (£38 billion), Elon Musk said he had “no choice”
about laying off a large proportion of the company’s staff.
He has already faced a backlash over his move to charge Twitter users a monthly
fee for their “blue tick” verified status. And those users should also be
concerned about plans from the self-proclaimed “free speech absolutist” to
reduce content moderation.
Moderation, the screening and blocking of unacceptable online content, has been
in place for as long as the internet has existed. And after becoming an
increasingly important and sophisticated feature against a rising tide of hate
speech, misinformation and illegal content, it should not be undone lightly.
Anything which weakens filters, allowing more harmful content to reach our
screens, could have serious implications for human rights, both online and
offline.
For it is not just governments which are responsible for upholding human rights
– businesses are too. And when different human rights clash, as they sometimes
do, that clash needs to be managed responsibly.
Social media has proved itself to be an extremely powerful way for people
around the world to assert their human right to freedom of expression – the
freedom to seek, receive and impart all kinds of information and ideas.
But freedom of expression is not without limits. International human rights law
prohibits propaganda for war, as well as advocacy of national, racial or
religious hatred that constitutes incitement to discrimination, hostility or
violence. It also allows for restrictions necessary to ensure that rights or
reputations are respected.
So Twitter, in common with other online platforms, has a responsibility to
respect freedom of expression. But equally, it has a responsibility not to
allow freedom of expression to override other human rights completely."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
