Australian watchdog demands Twitter explain handling of hate

An Australian cyber watchdog has asked Twitter to explain its handling of online hate, as the microblog has become the country's most complained-about platform since new owner Elon Musk lifted bans on a reported 62,000 accounts. The demands are based on a campaign by the eSafety Commissioner to make the website more accountable after Musk, one of the world's richest people, bought it for $44 billion in October with a promise to restore its commitment to free speech. The government has already asked Twitter to provide details of its handling of online child abuse material, which it has discovered on the site since Musk's takeover and subsequent job losses, including content moderation roles. Commissioner Julie Inman Grant said she has sent Twitter a legal notice asking for an explanation after one-third of all complaints she received about online hate concern Twitter, even though the platform has far fewer users than TikTok or Meta's Facebook and Instagram. In a statement yesterday, Inman Grant said Twitter appears to have dropped the ball on tackling hate, saying that the platform has reopened 62,000 banned accounts since Musk's takeover, including high-profile accounts of individuals who espouse Nazi rhetoric. We require accountability from these platforms and action to protect their users, she said, and you cannot have accountability without transparency and that's what legal notices like this one are designed to achieve. Twitter must respond within 28 days to the eSafety Commissioner, which can lead to a fine of almost A $700,000 $473,480 per day. It declined to comment on the matter when contacted by Reuters. The demand arises as Australia returns to a referendum this year on whether to recognize indigenous people in the constitution, resulting in an increasingly intense debate about race. The leading indigenous television host, Stan Grant, had cited targeted abuse on Twitter, when he announced a break from the media last month. In a tweet last month, specialist broadcaster National Indigenous Television said it was taking a break from Twitter due to the racism and hate that we experience every day on this platform. Inman Grant's letter, published in The New York Times, asked for Twitter to explain its impact assessments when reinstating banned accounts, how it engaged with communities who were subject to online hate, and how it was enforcing its own policies which ban hateful conduct.