Civil Rights Coalition Says Twitter Political Ad Ban Not Enough: Tech Giants Must Curb Hate in Paid and Unpaid Posts
“Technology companies have the power and capacity to make major changes to curb online hate, and they should use it”
Change the Terms, a coalition of over 55 civil rights groups committed to fighting online hate, responded today to the announcement from Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey that the company would no longer allow political advertisements on the platform.
Jessica J. González, co-founder of Change the Terms and Vice President of Strategy for Free Press said:
“It’s encouraging to see Twitter break ranks in Silicon Valley and attempt to stop exploitative political actors from endangering lives, spreading misinformation, and suppressing democracy. Twitter’s decision is not a comprehensive or long-term solution to address online hate, but the move is a step ahead of Facebook. Mark Zuckerberg should end his platform’s misguided free pass for politicians at the expense of public safety.
“It’s important to remember that politicians and bad actors spread hate beyond paid ads, including the white supremacist accounts that Twitter still hosts, like David Duke, Richard Spencer and 8chan. The decision to ban all political advertising helps prevent politicians’ paid-for hate and misinformation from spreading on Twitter, but ignores the racial animus at the core of the problem — one that must be addressed with civil rights in mind to have a lasting impact. Paid ads are just a small piece of an insidious issue: Hate speech, racism, white supremacy, and content that incites violence remain widespread online, and especially on Twitter. Banning political ads alone is not nearly enough to make Twitter a place for healthy conversations.
“Technology companies have the power and capacity to make major changes to curb online hate, and they should use it. They must take responsibility for reducing hate on their platforms, and that responsibility doesn’t stop and start with advertising — it includes all posts, particularly those from politicians which are boosted by social media algorithms and recommended to millions.”
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Change the Terms is a coalition calling on technology companies to institute and enforce service agreement prohibitions on hateful activities to protect public safety and respect diverse voices. The coalition includes more than 50 civil rights, human rights, technology policy and consumer protection organizations dedicated to encouraging internet companies, social media sites, payment processors and chat services to commit to fair, effective and transparent rules and practices for content moderation.
