INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Twitter says it going to change the way it creates rules regarding the use of its service to also now include community feedback
Previously, the company followed its own policy development process, including taking input from itsTrust and Safety Counciland various
Now, it says it going to try something new: it going to ask its users.
According to announcement published this morning, Twitter says it
will ask everyone for feedback on a new policy before it becomes a part of Twitter official Rules.
It kicking off this change by asking for
feedback on its new policy around dehumanizing language on Twitter, it says.
Our hateful conduct policy is expanding to address
dehumanizing language and how it can lead to real-world harm
The Twitter Rules should be easier to understand so we&re trying something new and asking you to be part of the development process
Read more and submit feedback.
mdash; Twitter Safety (@TwitterSafety) September 25, 2018
Over the past three months, Twitter has been
working to create a policy that addresses language that &makes someone feel less than human& & something that can have real-world
repercussions, including &normalizing serious violence,& the company explains.
To some extent, dehumanizing language is covered under
Twitter existinghateful conduct policy, which addresses hate speech that includes the promotion of violence, or direct attacks or threats
against people based on factors like theirrace, ethnicity, national origin, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, religious
affiliation, age, disability, or serious disease.
However, there are still ways to be abusive on Twitter outside of those guidelines, and
dehumanizing language is one of them.
The new policy is meant to expand the hateful conduct policy to also prohibit language that
dehumanizes others based on & their membership in an identifiable group, even when the material does not include a direct target,& says
Twitter.
The company isn''t soliciting user feedback over email or Twitter, however.
Instead, it has launched a survey.
Available until
October 9 at 6:00 AM PT, the survey asks only a few questions after presenting the new policy language for you to read through.
For example,
it asks users to rate the clarity of the policy itself on a scale of one to five
It then gives you 280 characters max & just like on Twitter & to suggest how the policy could be improved
Similarly, you have 280 characters to offer examples of speech that contribute to a healthy conversation, but may violate this policy &
Twitter attempt at finding any loopholes or exceptions.
And it gives you another 280 characters to offer additional feedback or
thoughts.
You also have to provide your age, gender, (optionally) your username, and say if you&re willing to receive an email follow-up
if Twitter has more questions about your responses.
Twitter doesn''t say how much community feedback will guide its decision-making, though
It simply says that after the feedback, it will thencontinue with itsregular process, which passes the policy through a cross-functional
working group, including members of its policy development, user research, engineering, and enforcement teams.
The idea to involve the
community in policy-making is a notable change, and one that could make people feel more involved with the definition of the rules, and
therefore & perhaps! & more likely to respect them.
But Twitter issues around abuse and hate speech on its network don''t really stem from
poor policies & its policies actually spell things out fairly well, in many cases, about what should be allowed and what should not.
Twitter
problems tend to stem from lax enforcement
The company has far too often declined to penalize or ban users whose content is clearly hateful in its nature, in an effort to remain an
open platform for &all voices& & including those with extreme ideologies
Case in point: it was effectively the last of the large social platforms to ban the abusive content posted by Alex Jones and his
websiteInfowars.
Users also regularly complain that they have been subject to tweets that violate Twitter guidelines and rules, but no
action is taken.
It interesting, at times, to consider how differently Twitter could have evolved if community moderation & similar to the
moderation on Reddit or even the moderation that takes place on open source Twitter clone Mastodon & had been a part of Twitter service from
Or how things would look if marginalized groups and those who are often victims of harassment and hate speech had been involved directly
with building the platform in the early days
Would Twitter be a different place
But that not where we are.
The new dehumanization policy Twitter is asking about is below:
Twitter
Dehumanization Policy
You may not dehumanize anyone based on membership in an identifiable group, as this speech can lead to offline
harm.
Definitions:
Dehumanization: Language that treats others as less than human
Dehumanization can occur when others are denied of human qualities (animalistic dehumanization) or when others are denied of human nature
(mechanistic dehumanization)
Examples can include comparing groups to animals and viruses (animalistic), or reducing groups to their genitalia
(mechanistic).
Identifiable group: Any group of people that can be distinguished by their shared characteristics such as their race,
ethnicity, national origin, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, religious affiliation, age, disability, serious disease,
occupation, political beliefs, location, or social practices.
