UN human rights chief urges Elon Musk to ensure human rights on Twitter after mass firings

By Peter Kenny

The UN human rights chief issued an open letter Saturday to Elon Musk, urging him to “ensure human rights are central” to the management of his new company., Twitter.

The letter comes after reports of the sacking of the entire human rights team at the company and all but two members of its ethical AI team.

The developments are not “an encouraging start,” said Volker Turk.

“Twitter is part of a global revolution that has transformed how we communicate. But I write with concern and apprehension about our digital public square and Twitter’s role in it,” Turk wrote. “Like all companies, Twitter needs to understand the harms associated with its platform and take steps to address them. Respect for our shared human rights should set the guardrails for the platform’s use and evolution.”

-Human rights central

Turk urged Musk to ensure human rights are central to Twitter’s management under his leadership.

He set out fundamental principles from a human rights perspective that need to be central, with the top being to protect free speech across the globe.

Turk urged Twitter to stand up for the rights to privacy and free expression to the fullest extent possible under relevant laws and to report on government requests that would infringe on those rights transparently.

The rights chief said free speech is not a free pass and that the viral spread of harmful disinformation, like those about vaccines during the coronavirus pandemic, “results in real world harms.”

“Twitter has a responsibility to avoid amplifying content that results in harm to other people’s rights,” said Turk.

He stressed there is no place for hatred that incites discrimination, hostility or violence.

-Moderation policies

“Twitter’s content moderation policies should continue to bar such hatred on the platform,” he said, noting that every effort must be made to remove such content promptly.

The human right chief argued that transparency is vital, indicating that research is essential to better understand social media’s impact on our societies.

Turk said free speech depends on the adequate protection of privacy.

“It is vital that Twitter refrains from invasive user tracking and amassing related data and that it resists, to the fullest extent possible under applicable laws, unjustified requests from governments for user data,” he said.

He asserted that languages and contextual expertise are not optional.

“Twitter’s responsibilities to maintain a rights-respecting and safe platform apply not just to English-language content, but globally,” said Turk.