Charity leaders have rounded on Twitter after it suddenly dissolved the volunteer group which advised it on user safety, including hate speech and child abuse.
The Trust and Safety Council, formed in 2016 and which included approximately 100 independent, human rights and other organisations, was disbanded on Monday via email.
Alex Holmes, deputy chief executive of the anti-bullying charity The Diana Award, which was a member of the council, revealed on Twitter that the advisory group was scheduled to meet with Twitter representatives on the same day.
But members of the council received an email hours before the meeting informing them of the decision.
The email, widely circulated on Twitter, said: “As Twitter moves into a new phase, we are reevaluating how best to bring external insights into our product and policy development work.
“As part of this process, we have decided that the Trust and Safety Council is not the best structure to do this.”
Commenting on the disbandment, Holmes said: “The way this has unfolded and [the] way members have been treated is unfortunate and unacceptable.”
This follows a string of resignations from the council at the beginning of December, when three members stepped down citing concerns over owner Elon Musk’s leadership.
Numerous charity members of the council have expressed concern since the announcement.
Black-led feminist charity Glitch, which had been working with Twitter since 2020, told Third Sector that it worried about the “inconsistent, unprepared and confused leadership decisions” implemented since Musk became chief executive.
Gabriela de Oliveira, head of policy, research and campaigns at Glitch, said: “We are primarily concerned that Black women may increasingly be at greater risk of harm on the platform given we saw, for example, a 500 per cent increase in the use of the n-word on Twitter within hours of the leadership change.
“This shows the impact of decision-making within tech companies and the public profile of Musk as a ‘free speech absolutist’, on the level of harm experienced by groups like Black women.”
She added: “We know that this harm can be prevented, mitigated and stopped with the right investment and political will in leadership. But we’ve not seen that from Twitter since Musk’s takeover.”
Jacqui Morrissey, assistant director of policy and influencing at Samaritans, also a member of the defunct council, said: “We are extremely disappointed that Twitter has scrapped the Trust and Safety Council, as it is vitally important that platforms work with experts in areas of harm and take advice on how they can best protect their users.
“We will keep a close eye on how these concerning developments at Twitter play out as part of our work to make the internet a safer space for everyone.”