Twitter witnessed an upheaval in the staffing soon after Elon Musk took hold of the company's reins. Now the mass layoffs have affected a crucial aspect of Twitter, that of fighting trolls. Twitter insiders told BBC that the platform can no longer protect users from trolls and hate is thriving on it. Disinformation and child sexual exploitation are also rearing their head in the absence of enough staff to handle the features aimed at protecting users from trolling and harassment. 
&nbsp; 
Data also suggests that trolls now feel emboldened to harass people and there has also been an increase in accounts following misogynistic and abusive profiles.&nbsp;

BBC Panorama reports that the features that are supposed to keep the trolls in control, along with keeping a check on harassment and hate speech, are getting difficult to handle. The working environment at the company is also getting chaotic. Musk reportedly roams about the company with bodyguards in tow, making the staff uncomfortable.

Also Read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/technology/meet-lia-an-ai-on-twitter-and-a-human-like-social-media-buff-568521">Meet Lia, an AI on Twitter, and a human-like social media buff</a>

A former Twitter employee told the publication that everyone who created safety measures such as nudge buttons, was sacked, and she later resigned as well. Internal data suggests that the measures put in place to control trolls had reduced trolling by as much as 60 per cent. However, since now there is no one to handle these aspects, it is getting pretty chaotic, the former Twitter employee says.

After a string of firings in the last few months, the headcount at Twitter has come down to under 2,000 employees. Ever since Musk took over Twitter in October for $44 billion, the company seems to be under financial distress. Musk has already said that the firm was facing "a massive drop in revenue" as advertisers dropped out.

Soon after taking over, Musk fired about 50 per cent of the staff as a cost-cutting measure. He also implemented a number of product and organisational changes. The Twitter-verified Blue check-mark was rolled out as a paid service, one of the biggest and most controversial changes at the company. Twitter even stopped paying rent and asked several employees to work from home.&nbsp;

(With inputs from agencies)

&nbsp;

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Twitter witnessed an upheaval in the staffing soon after Elon Musk took hold of the company's reins. Now the mass layoffs have affected a crucial aspect of Twitter, that of fighting trolls.

Twitter witnessed an upheaval in the staffing soon after Elon Musk took hold of the company's reins. Now the mass layoffs have affected a crucial aspect of Twitter, that of fighting trolls. Twitter insiders told BBC that the platform can no longer protect users from trolls and hate is thriving on it. Disinformation and child sexual exploitation are also rearing their head in the absence of enough staff to handle the features aimed at protecting users from trolling and harassment. Data also suggests that trolls now feel emboldened to harass people and there has also been an increase in accounts following misogynistic and abusive profiles. BBC Panorama reports that the features that are supposed to keep the trolls in control, along with keeping a check on harassment and hate speech, are getting difficult to handle. The working environment at the company is also getting chaotic. Musk reportedly roams about the company with bodyguards in tow, making the staff uncomfortable. Also Read | Meet Lia, an AI on Twitter, and a human-like social media buff A former Twitter employee told the publication that everyone who created safety measures such as nudge buttons, was sacked, and she later resigned as well. Internal data suggests that the measures put in place to control trolls had reduced trolling by as much as 60 per cent. However, since now there is no one to handle these aspects, it is getting pretty chaotic, the former Twitter employee says. After a string of firings in the last few months, the headcount at Twitter has come down to under 2,000 employees. Ever since Musk took over Twitter in October for $44 billion, the company seems to be under financial distress. Musk has already said that the firm was facing "a massive drop in revenue" as advertisers dropped out. Soon after taking over, Musk fired about 50 per cent of the staff as a cost-cutting measure. He also implemented a number of product and organisational changes. The Twitter-verified Blue check-mark was rolled out as a paid service, one of the biggest and most controversial changes at the company. Twitter even stopped paying rent and asked several employees to work from home. (With inputs from agencies) WATCH WION LIVE HERE You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here.

Trolls are having a field day on Twitter, report suggests. Why is it happening?

Hate speech against black people, transgender persons as well as engagement with hateful content on Twitter has increased sharply since Elon Musk took over the platform, a research by the Center for Countering Digital Hate found on Friday. The research findings are now being seen in the background of Twitter's increased reliance on automated moderation instead of human intervention against hate speech on the platform.&nbsp;

The findings stand in contrast to Musk's claims last week that “hate speech impressions” on Twitter were down by one-third since he took the helm of the company. Musk, however, in a tweet on Saturday said that the findings are “utterly false” while responding to a New York Times story on the study.

Engagement with hateful content up by 372 per cent

In mid-November, Elon Musk had said that hateful tweets would be “max deboosted &amp; demonetized”, following which, the Twitter users wouldn’t see the content unless they search for it on the platform.&nbsp;

ALSO READ |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/macron-not-happy-with-elon-musk-relaxing-twitter-moderation-rules-539322">Macron not happy with Elon Musk relaxing Twitter moderation rules</a>

But the research found that engagement with hate speech has increased to indiscriminate levels since Musk took over the company. The average number of likes, replies, and retweets on posts with slurs was 13.3 during the weeks before Musk's takeover of the platform.

ALSO READ |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/science/twitter-sees-a-surge-of-denialism-claims-as-scientists-look-for-an-alternative-site-539518">Twitter sees a surge of denialism claims, as scientists look for an alternative site</a>

Following Musk's&nbsp;takeover, the average engagements on hateful content have jumped to 49.5 — a whopping increase by 372 per cent — according to the report.

Worrying&nbsp;jump in hate speech against Black people

Before Elon Musk took over the platform, an average of 1,282 tweets with slurs&nbsp;against Black people appeared on a daily basis on Twitter. After Musk formally became Twitter's owner, this number jumped to 3,876 tweets. But last week, when Musk claimed that hate speech impressions were down by a third, the tweets with slurs against Black people went up even further to 4,650 tweets, the report said.&nbsp;

Hate speech against transgender people up by 62 per cent

The report found that slurs against transgender people — with 5,117 tweets at an average — increased by 62 per cent since Musk took over Twitter.

The data was reportedly gathered using Brandwatch, a social media analytics tool, and included tweets from around the world in English.

Why exactly Hate speech surging on Twitter?

Twitter vice president of Trust and Safety Product Ella Irwin told Reuters that the platform is doing away with certain manual reviews rather than removing certain speech outright. The platform is now relying heavily on automation to moderate content. &nbsp;

She said that Musk was focused on using automation more, arguing that the company had in the past erred on the side of using time and labuor-intensive human reviews of harmful content.

"He has encouraged the team to take more risks, move fast, get the platform safe," Irwin said.

Since taking over Twitter in late October, Elon Musk’s act of erratic firings of existing staff (by over fifty per cent) have reportedly gutted the trust and safety teams responsible for moderation, despite the continued concerns from civil rights groups over how hateful content could flourish on Twitter.

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Hate speech against black people, transgender persons as well as engagement with hateful content on Twitter has increased sharply since Elon Musk took over the platform, a research by the Center for Countering Digital Hate found on Friday.

Hate speech against black people, transgender persons as well as engagement with hateful content on Twitter has increased sharply since Elon Musk took over the platform, a research by the Center for Countering Digital Hate found on Friday. The research findings are now being seen in the background of Twitter's increased reliance on automated moderation instead of human intervention against hate speech on the platform. The findings stand in contrast to Musk's claims last week that “hate speech impressions” on Twitter were down by one-third since he took the helm of the company. Musk, however, in a tweet on Saturday said that the findings are “utterly false” while responding to a New York Times story on the study. Engagement with hateful content up by 372 per cent In mid-November, Elon Musk had said that hateful tweets would be “max deboosted & demonetized”, following which, the Twitter users wouldn’t see the content unless they search for it on the platform. ALSO READ | Macron not happy with Elon Musk relaxing Twitter moderation rules But the research found that engagement with hate speech has increased to indiscriminate levels since Musk took over the company. The average number of likes, replies, and retweets on posts with slurs was 13.3 during the weeks before Musk's takeover of the platform. ALSO READ | Twitter sees a surge of denialism claims, as scientists look for an alternative site Following Musk's takeover, the average engagements on hateful content have jumped to 49.5 — a whopping increase by 372 per cent — according to the report. Worrying jump in hate speech against Black people Before Elon Musk took over the platform, an average of 1,282 tweets with slurs against Black people appeared on a daily basis on Twitter. After Musk formally became Twitter's owner, this number jumped to 3,876 tweets. But last week, when Musk claimed that hate speech impressions were down by a third, the tweets with slurs against Black people went up even further to 4,650 tweets, the report said. Hate speech against transgender people up by 62 per cent The report found that slurs against transgender people — with 5,117 tweets at an average — increased by 62 per cent since Musk took over Twitter. The data was reportedly gathered using Brandwatch, a social media analytics tool, and included tweets from around the world in English. Why exactly Hate speech surging on Twitter? Twitter vice president of Trust and Safety Product Ella Irwin told Reuters that the platform is doing away with certain manual reviews rather than removing certain speech outright. The platform is now relying heavily on automation to moderate content. She said that Musk was focused on using automation more, arguing that the company had in the past erred on the side of using time and labuor-intensive human reviews of harmful content. "He has encouraged the team to take more risks, move fast, get the platform safe," Irwin said. Since taking over Twitter in late October, Elon Musk’s act of erratic firings of existing staff (by over fifty per cent) have reportedly gutted the trust and safety teams responsible for moderation, despite the continued concerns from civil rights groups over how hateful content could flourish on Twitter. WATCH WION LIVE HERE You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here.

Floodgates opened for hate speech against black, transgenders after Elon Musk's Twitter takeover

Soon after Elon Musk completed his takeover of Twitter, slurs and racist memes flooded the platform, sparking concern that hateful speech might come to dominate the micro-blogging site. Twitter has been trying to enforce content policies fairly to balance what their advertisers want, the world leaders expect and its users' needs.

Bloomberg said that as per an analysis, dozens of anonymous trolls signed up for Twitter in the past day. They reportedly brought up topics such as levying hate speech against protected groups and promoting falsehoods about Covid-19 and its vaccines.&nbsp;

Also Read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/musk-testing-free-speech-limits-forms-content-moderation-council-for-twitter-529278">Musk testing free speech limits, forms 'content moderation council' for Twitter</a>

On Thursday afternoon, a racist slur was at a low volume on Twitter, with around a dozen mentions every five minutes, according to data from Dataminr, a social media analysis platform. After news about Musk's takeover broke, there was a 1,300 per cent&nbsp;increase in the word appearing on the platform in various languages, including Spanish, Arabic and Portuguese. At its peak, the word appeared 170 times every five minutes, according to the data.

Some conservative officials, partisan extremists and conspiracy peddlers celebrated Musk's takeover of the company believing that there would freedom of speech now. Several US politicians also tweeted their happiness over the matter.

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Free speech. Liberal tears.
— Rep. Jim Jordan (@Jim_Jordan) <a href="https://twitter.com/Jim_Jordan/status/1585989755472429057?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 28, 2022</a></blockquote>
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Also Read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/musk-testing-free-speech-limits-forms-content-moderation-council-for-twitter-529278">Musk testing free speech limits, forms 'content moderation council' for Twitter</a>

An expert told Bloomberg&nbsp;that for a lot of these people saying hateful things helps them increase their audience and make money. This is how they gain more followers.

Musk pledged in a letter Thursday that Twitter will not spiral into a "free-for-all hellscape" under his leadership. He has always been against Twitter's enforcement strategies, that include banning some accounts permanently. However, he now faces an immense challenge of letting users speak freely, while maintaining the integrity of the public platform.

The billionaire owner received a barrage of requests from users with banned accounts and international leaders a few hours after the takeover. He has committed to forming a content moderation council and a decision on reversing life bans has&nbsp;been put on hold.

(With inputs from agencies)

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Soon after Elon Musk completed his takeover of Twitter, slurs and racist memes flooded the platform, sparking concern that hateful speech might come to dominate the micro-blogging site.

Soon after Elon Musk completed his takeover of Twitter, slurs and racist memes flooded the platform, sparking concern that hateful speech might come to dominate the micro-blogging site. Twitter has been trying to enforce content policies fairly to balance what their advertisers want, the world leaders expect and its users' needs. Bloomberg said that as per an analysis, dozens of anonymous trolls signed up for Twitter in the past day. They reportedly brought up topics such as levying hate speech against protected groups and promoting falsehoods about Covid-19 and its vaccines. Also Read | Musk testing free speech limits, forms 'content moderation council' for Twitter On Thursday afternoon, a racist slur was at a low volume on Twitter, with around a dozen mentions every five minutes, according to data from Dataminr, a social media analysis platform. After news about Musk's takeover broke, there was a 1,300 per cent increase in the word appearing on the platform in various languages, including Spanish, Arabic and Portuguese. At its peak, the word appeared 170 times every five minutes, according to the data. Some conservative officials, partisan extremists and conspiracy peddlers celebrated Musk's takeover of the company believing that there would freedom of speech now. Several US politicians also tweeted their happiness over the matter. Free speech. Liberal tears. — Rep. Jim Jordan (@Jim_Jordan) October 28, 2022 × Also Read | Musk testing free speech limits, forms 'content moderation council' for Twitter An expert told Bloomberg that for a lot of these people saying hateful things helps them increase their audience and make money. This is how they gain more followers. Musk pledged in a letter Thursday that Twitter will not spiral into a "free-for-all hellscape" under his leadership. He has always been against Twitter's enforcement strategies, that include banning some accounts permanently. However, he now faces an immense challenge of letting users speak freely, while maintaining the integrity of the public platform. The billionaire owner received a barrage of requests from users with banned accounts and international leaders a few hours after the takeover. He has committed to forming a content moderation council and a decision on reversing life bans has been put on hold. (With inputs from agencies)

Hate speech, racist memes flooded Twitter soon after Musk took hold of the reins