The consortium of 11 organizations working in civil society and academia to strengthen human rights in the digital environment in Latin America, Al Sur, has been a member of Twitter's Trust & Safety Council for several years. That is why we express our concern about the news of its closure, an action that adds to other arbitrary measures taken by the new management of Twitter.
The Twitter's Trust & Safety Council was an external group of human rights organizations and specialists that, since 2016, provided its advice and perspective regarding policies and practices adopted by Twitter. Since the entrepreneur Elon Musk expressed his intention to acquire the Twitter platform, this Council had an irregular operation until this week, when its definitive closure was announced.
Spaces such as the Twitter Safety and Trust Council are of great importance as they allow for a dialogue between the teams that manage the platform and civil society. Through this space, organizations and specialists could deliberate on potential actions that affect the safety, welfare and rights of people who use Twitter. Although it was not enough, as there are several problems regarding the management of this platform, it was at least a measure to mitigate potential damages among several necessary actions.
Musk's decision to close this Council, together with other actions such as the massive dismissal of teams in charge of content moderation, human rights policies, accessibility, among others, demonstrate the minimum interest in a responsible management that mitigates potential abuses and risks in the use of Twitter.
Our participation in the Council responded to a need for regulation of the platforms and our mission as organizations to promote human rights in digital environments. We hope that the decision can be reversed and we call attention to the need for such spaces.