Of the multiple cuts carried out by Elon Musk since his arrival at Twitter, one of the most noticeable has been the one related to the moderation teams of the social network that he now directs. Thus, practically from the moment the massive layoffs began, the news also began to arrive indicating how many types of content, which previously were punished based on the rules of use of the service, were now published and kept in the social network without anyone doing anything about it.
Twitter moderation is a tricky business, as there are almost as many interpretations of Where is the line between moderation and censorship? as people who use the social network. However, there are certain types of messages, such as threats, clearly discriminatory expressions or content that violates copyright, which must be identified and eliminated by the moderation teams. The problem is that these, according to multiple sources, have been reduced to the minimum expression.
Thus, for example, in recent weeks it has emerged that many users are now using the social network to share links to download and/or watch movies and series protected by copyright, and that to the surprise of many, these messages are published and visible. This, given that we know how copyright managers and owners spend it, could end up being a huge problem for Twitter.
Some regulators, such as the European ones, They have been watching carefully the steps of Twitter with Elon Musk in charge. Let’s remember that even before the purchase operation was completed, it already ruled on it, so we could imagine that the organizations involved have not stopped observing the movements of the social network since then.
Now we have clear confirmation of this because, as we can read in Ars Technica, Brussels has told Musk to hire more human moderators and fact-checkers to review posts. Let’s remember that, unlike Facebook, Twitter does not have staff dedicated to verifying news and publications, which makes it a more suitable platform for the publication of false news.
Twitter commitment to the use of artificial intelligence for content moderation, as well as unpaid volunteers who report inappropriate content and false news to the social network. On this point, the European regulators are not against such means, but consider that, at least in their current state, they are insufficient, for which reason they urge the social network to, contrary to its trend in recent months, , increase your staff pool with more moderators.
