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Far-right activists, neo-Nazis are weaponizing Twitter's new rule against anti-extremism researchers
Black-HeartedEvilPopehat RetweetedNew: Far-right activists and neo-Nazis are weaponizing Twitter’s new rule against anti-extremism researchers. Fears of a chilling effect for those documenting real-world hate: "Emboldening to the fascists"
Link to tweet
Technology
Far right is using Twitter’s new rule against anti-extremism researchers
Researchers fear the new ban on posts sharing people’s private information will be ‘emboldening to the fascists’ eager to keep their identities concealed. ‘Things now unexpectedly work more in our favor,’ one Nazi sympathizer wrote.
By Drew Harwell
Yesterday at 5:08 p.m. EST
Neo-Nazis and far-right activists are coaching followers on how to use a new Twitter rule to persuade the social media platform to remove photos of them posted by anti-extremism researchers and journalists who specialize in identifying episodes of real-world hate.
Advocates said they worry the new policy will suppress efforts to document the activities of the far right and will prove to be a gift to members of hateful movements eager to keep their identities concealed. ... “It’s going to be emboldening to the fascists,” said Gwen Snyder, an anti-fascist researcher and organizer in Philadelphia.
Snyder’s Twitter account was suspended early Thursday after someone reported a 2019 tweet of hers showing photos of a local mayoral candidate attending a public rally alongside the extremist group the Proud Boys. After The Washington Post asked about the suspension, Twitter spokesperson Trenton Kennedy said the tweet was not in violation and that “our teams took enforcement action in error.”
On Tuesday, Twitter said its new “private information policy” would allow someone whose photo or video was tweeted without their consent to request the company take it down.
Twitter said the rule would help “curb the misuse of media to harass, intimidate and reveal the identities of private individuals, which disproportionately impacts women, activists, dissidents, and members of minority communities.”
{snip}
By Drew Harwell
Drew Harwell is a technology reporter covering artificial intelligence and the algorithms changing our lives. Twitter https://twitter.com/drewharwell
Far right is using Twitter’s new rule against anti-extremism researchers
Researchers fear the new ban on posts sharing people’s private information will be ‘emboldening to the fascists’ eager to keep their identities concealed. ‘Things now unexpectedly work more in our favor,’ one Nazi sympathizer wrote.
By Drew Harwell
Yesterday at 5:08 p.m. EST
Neo-Nazis and far-right activists are coaching followers on how to use a new Twitter rule to persuade the social media platform to remove photos of them posted by anti-extremism researchers and journalists who specialize in identifying episodes of real-world hate.
Advocates said they worry the new policy will suppress efforts to document the activities of the far right and will prove to be a gift to members of hateful movements eager to keep their identities concealed. ... “It’s going to be emboldening to the fascists,” said Gwen Snyder, an anti-fascist researcher and organizer in Philadelphia.
Snyder’s Twitter account was suspended early Thursday after someone reported a 2019 tweet of hers showing photos of a local mayoral candidate attending a public rally alongside the extremist group the Proud Boys. After The Washington Post asked about the suspension, Twitter spokesperson Trenton Kennedy said the tweet was not in violation and that “our teams took enforcement action in error.”
On Tuesday, Twitter said its new “private information policy” would allow someone whose photo or video was tweeted without their consent to request the company take it down.
Twitter said the rule would help “curb the misuse of media to harass, intimidate and reveal the identities of private individuals, which disproportionately impacts women, activists, dissidents, and members of minority communities.”
Link to tweet
{snip}
By Drew Harwell
Drew Harwell is a technology reporter covering artificial intelligence and the algorithms changing our lives. Twitter https://twitter.com/drewharwell
2 replies
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