April 26, 2022

Several human rights groups have expressed concern about the issue of hate speech and the enormous power in Elon Musk’s hands after buying Twitter.

Human rights organizations such as Human Rights Watch, the American Civil Liberties Union, Amnesty International and several others have expressed concern about the agreement.

For human rights groups, a change in Twitter’s policy, which has played a significant role in curbing online hate speech, will have a devastating impact on the platform and people offline.

“Regardless of who owns Twitter, the company has human rights responsibilities to respect the rights of people around the world who rely on the platform. Changes to its policies, features and algorithms, big and small, can have disproportionate and sometimes devastating impacts, including offline violence,” said Deborah Brown, a digital rights researcher and advocate at Human Rights Watch.

“While Elon Musk is an ACLU card-carrying member and one of our most significant supporters, there’s a lot of danger having so much power in the hands of any one individual,” said Anthony Romero, executive director at the American Civil Liberties Union.

The sources for this piece include an article in Reuters.