Twitter Must Address Gaps in Enforcing Disinformation and User Privacy After Staff Layoffs
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Mattie Goldman, [email protected]
WASHINGTON — Maya Wiley, president and CEO of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, released the following statement about the unchecked spread of disinformation on Twitter after layoffs and resignations:
“Elon Musk’s chaotic management of Twitter and the departure of key staff heading and working on trust, safety, privacy, and data security has real impacts on the health of our democracy. Since Musk has taken over, he has spread falsehoods on the platform while also making it easier to spread hate and disinformation on Twitter — something that results in offline harms, particularly for communities of color. Without proper protections and staff working on trust, safety, privacy, and data security, the public cannot have confidence in the information published on Twitter or, more critically, Twitter’s ability to maintain the security and privacy of user data.
“Twitter must take immediate steps to address false information and content and must abide by requirements outlined in the FTC consent decree that the company agreed to implement because of past misuse of data.”
The Leadership Conference has long pressed Meta, Twitter, YouTube, and other major social media platforms to consistently and continually enforce their own rules that prohibit the posting of false information on voting, elections, and hate speech. Ahead of the midterms, The Leadership Conference, along with leading civil rights and public interest groups, sent a letter urging platforms to take immediate steps to address misinformation and disinformation on voting and elections.
The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights is a coalition charged by its diverse membership of more than 230 national organizations to promote and protect the rights of all persons in the United States. The Leadership Conference works toward an America as good as its ideals. For more information on The Leadership Conference and its member organizations, visit www.civilrights.org.
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