Twitter wants to suppress the "dehumanizing language"



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Twitter CEO explains Alex Jones' time-out

Twitter wants to eliminate dehumanizing language on its platform – but before making a policy change, he asks the public to share his comments.

The company acknowledged Tuesday that its current rules do not address some abusive tweets that may not fall under the prohibition of "hate behavior." The "hate" policy prohibits users from directly attacking or threatening people on the basis of considerations such as race, ethnicity, sexual orientation or gender, for example. .

In one blog articleTwitter explained "dehumanizing language" by citing academics like Susan Benesch who explain that dehumanization is about people like insects, scorned animals, bacteria, and more. Such a speech could also have repercussions offline.

"It can make the violence acceptable: if people seem to be cockroaches or microbes, you can get rid of them," writes Benesch, an associate professor at the Berkman Center for the Internet and Society. Harvard University. "on the website of the Dangerous Speech project where she is director.

But before updating its rules, the company first solicits the reactions of the general public. In the blog post, Twitter included a survey, which will be broadcast live until October 9, to allow individuals to take part in updating the proposed policy.

The company said its political team worked closely with local non-governmental organizations and policy makers.

Proactive communication with users before an update of the policy is part of a recent attempt by Twitter to be more open about the problem of abuse on its platform.

The company has long been criticized for its whack-a-mole system for removing content and dealing with abuse. He struggled to moderate his platform without infringing on freedom of expression and to do so in a transparent manner.

In July, Twitter hired researchers to study the "health" of his "speech."

"Health" has been a buzzword lately. The company has cracked down on fake accounts, purged suspicious accounts of users' follow-up actions and removed apps violated his policies.

Dorsey said his team is focused on tackling harassment and hate speech. In an interview with CNN in August, Dorsey said, "We are taking many more actions than in the past." But much of the work is invisible to users, he said, at least in the short term.

CNNMoney (New York) First published on September 25, 2018: 1:17 PM ET

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