Amnesty International Accuses Twitter of Failing to Protect Women from Abuse
In an ideal world, the internet would be an accepting hub of
individuals and ideas, free to express themselves however they wish without fear
of backlash. Unfortunately, we do not live in an ideal world. Many popular
online platforms have long been plagued by hate-filled comments and abuse, with
micro-blogging site Twitter often being singled out among the worst offenders
for such behaviour.
According to prominent human rights organisation Amnesty International,
the problems with abuse on Twitter’s platform go beyond that which can be
dismissed as an unfortunate side-effect of their industry and instead represent
an outright failure on the company’s part to adequately protect their user base
from online violence, in particular that which is aimed at women.
The aforementioned claims were made in a report published
last Wednesday, in which Amnesty said the social network responded
inconsistently when abuse was highlighted, even when it violated its own rules.
In a survey of 1,100 British women carried out as part of the report, it was
found that just 9% of respondents believe that Twitter is doing enough to
stop violence and abuse against women; 78% meanwhile do not see Twitter as
a place where they can freely share their opinion.
Kate Allen, director of Amnesty International UK,
went so far as to say that Twitter had become a “toxic place for women”. She
said: “For far too long Twitter has been a space where women can too easily be
confronted with death or rape threats, and where their genders, ethnicities and
sexual orientations are under attack.
“The trolls are currently winning, because despite repeated
promises, Twitter is failing to do enough to stop them. Twitter must take
concrete steps to address and prevent violence and abuse against women on its platform;
otherwise its claim to be on women’s side is meaningless.”
Twitter as you may well expect dispute Amnesty’s claims, pointing
to the 30+ changes implemented in the past 16 months which were specifically
aimed at improving user safety, and stating rather plainly that they “cannot
delete hatred and prejudice from society”.
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Amnesty International Accuses Twitter of Failing to Protect Women from Abuse
Reviewed by Unknown
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Friday, March 23, 2018
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Reviewed by Unknown
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Friday, March 23, 2018
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