The advertising giant’s tailwinds are a dire sign of Elon Musk’s new vision for Twitter, which is one of mismanagement of employees, terrible site choices, and a climb to make up for as much lost revenue as possible. Defined by But Musk may already be closing that multi-billion dollar gap, according to new research from The Center for Countering Digital Hate.(opens in new tab) — just put the most problematic tweeters back on the site.
A report released on February 9 used the site’s new Public Tweet Impressions metric to calculate the approximate revenue earned by just 10 accounts that were previously banned from the site for violating user guidelines. bottom.The figure comes from troubled far-right influencer Andrew Tate, COVID-vaccine deniers Robert Malone, and Disinformation site Gateway Pundit can generate more than $19 million in advertising revenue annually.
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“This data shows that on an average day, tweets from 10 accounts received a total of 54 million impressions. can be expected to reach about 20 billion impressions in 2020,” said the report. “Assuming this percentage broadly represents how often Twitter delivers ads, we can estimate that 10 accounts would generate 2.9 billion ad impressions for him over the course of the year.”
Digital Hate Countermeasure Center(opens in new tab) is a non-profit advocacy and educational organization working to limit harmful online content. The organization focuses specifically on how institutional structures such as the site’s “online architecture” and economic incentives enable malicious actors.
“This estimate shows that Twitter will make millions of dollars from the deliberate decision to reinstate accounts that are already under enforcement action and are known to spread hate and dangerous hoaxes. ,” the organization wrote.
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Musk made a point of showing support for “free speech” by reinstating previously banned users across political lines. In November, the site revived polarizing accounts of comedian Kathy Griffin, writer Jordan Petersen, and conservative satirical publications. babylonby, After the return of former President Donald Trump and US Congressman Marjorie Taylor Greene.
Twitter appeared to have won press freedom the following month, as many tech journalists and journalists critical of Musk were suspended and reinstated on the site shortly thereafter. In January, the site revived the account of white supremacist Nick Fuentes.
That lack of discrimination (which can be impacted by the projected revenue brought to the site by these controversial figures) is part of the problem.Following initial rumors of Musk’s takeover, human rights groups have issued warning after warning(opens in new tab) On the Possibility of Spreading Pure Hate Speech(opens in new tab) On poorly moderated sites. In Musk’s first 24 hours on Twitter, researchers have already reported a spike in hate speech, and users are testing the limits of new “free speech absolutist” owners.
That number continues to grow, especially for members of the LGBTQ community.According to a new report by Amnesty International(opens in new tab),(opens in new tab) The social media giant has seen a spike in instances of hate speech against both LGBTQ activists and LGBTQ rights groups.
Based on a survey of 11 LGBTQ organizations with the most followers on Twitter and nine prominent LGBTQ advocates, 65% of respondents said, , often hateful and abusive,” and 88% have no support from Twitter to mitigate or remove abusive content they receive. About 60% of organizations say the presence of hate speech affects how they use their platforms, but the problem appears to be more serious for individuals.
Michael Kleinman, senior director of technology and human rights at Amnesty International, said: “Twitter sees itself as a ‘generic digital town square,’ but LGBTQ+ voices are constantly blaming hateful speeches and Too often they are denounced and silenced by harassment.” united states of america. “According to the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights,(opens in new tab), all businesses have a responsibility to respect human rights — disappointing to hear that the problem of hateful and abusive remarks on Twitter is getting worse, to say the least. “
In July, the LGBTQ organization GLAAD released its “Social Media Safe Index.” This gave Twitter a failing rating in establishing and implementing policies to protect users from sexual orientation and gender-based intimidation, hate speech, harassment, violence and attacks. Identity. In the era of Twitter 2.0, grades couldn’t improve — Musk destroyed his Trust and Safety Council on the platform(opens in new tab) In December, as well as its global human rights team.
If the existence of accounts that spread disinformation and hate speech brings money, what other incentives do profit-seeking CEOs like Musk have to implement some sort of safety measure?
Management is weighing the answer, but users must shoulder the burden, strengthen where the site fails, and act to protect themselves online.
