Australia warns Twitter over rising online hate

Australia issued a legal notice to Twitter today, demanding information about what the social media platform is doing to tackle online hate, reported German news agency (dpa).

Twitter had "dropped the ball" on tackling hate, Australia's eSafety commissioner Julie Inman Grant said.

"We are seeing a worrying surge in online hate," she said.

A third of complaints about online hate reported to eSafety were about Twitter. It had received more complaints in the past 12 months than any other platform.

An increasing number of reports of serious online abuse had been made since Elon Musk's takeover of the company in October 2022, Grant said.

Nearly one in five Australians had experienced online hate, she said. First Nations Australians, disabled, and LGBT people experienced online hate at double the rate of the rest of the population, she added.

Twitter's terms of use and policies prohibited hateful conduct on the platform, but the company was not enforcing its own rules, Grant said.

She said that the reinstatement of banned accounts that had "emboldened extreme polarisers, peddlers of outrage and hate, including neo-Nazis – both in Australia and overseas" was also a concern.

"We need accountability from these platforms and action to protect their users and you cannot have accountability without transparency and that's what legal notices like this one are designed to achieve."

If Twitter fails to respond to the legal notice within 28 days, the company could face a maximum fine of nearly AUD$700,000 (about RM2.2 million) a day.

Since March, Twitter's press email has responded to requests from the media with a single poop emoji.

- Bernama-dpa