This week Twitter has announced the launch of a new Trust & Safety Council measure which aims to prevent users from being subject to ‘abusive, hateful or unpleasant blather’. However, critics have claimed the council is really a censorship tool which will be used to stop unpopular viewpoints being aired — with Mr S’s colleague Brendan O’Neill writing on Coffee House that the ‘Orwellian’ safety council ‘makes a mockery of free speech’.
Defending the measure is Nick Pickles, Twitter’s UK head of policy. He has done his best to explain the proposals in a piece for the Guardian:
‘If there’s one thing that’s certain, it’s that the internet’s growth has brought into the open some challenging, even upsetting, viewpoints. These viewpoints, which existed long before the iPhone, have become more visible because of the power of the technology we have at our fingertips. The internet has become a real-time global mirror, reflecting society in a way that is not always comfortable to look at.
Yet there are far more people who want to see a positive reflection than a negative one. The tolerant outnumber the intolerant, the peaceful outnumber the abusive. The challenge is ensuring that the noise generated by those who seek to create division is drowned out by voices of hope and respect.’
However, Mr S suspects that Pickles may not be the best person to wax lyrical about the tool. After all, Pickles is a former director of Big Brother Watch, the civil liberties pressure group. During his time at BBW he was a free speech champion who took aim at the government for trying to ‘restrict the internet’ and ‘monitor the communications of individuals’. In fact, when Pickles moved to Twitter he spoke once more about the importance of free speech:
‘I look forward to the many successes yet to come. At a time when the future of privacy and free speech online are high on the agenda it is very exciting to be joining Twitter.’
Pickles states that his he is ‘not sure where the confusion is coming from’ given that his ‘op-ed and the blog post on the trust and safety council are pretty self-explanatory’.
Perish the thought that his new employer could now be guilty of some of the sins he previously rallied against.
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