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Free Expression

Twitter vows new crackdown on hateful, abusive tweets

Associated Press:

Twitter is vowing to crack down further on hate speech and sexual harassment, days after CEO Jack Dorsey said in a tweetstorm that the company is not doing enough to protect its users.

The company has spent the last two years trying to clamp down on hate and abuse on its generally free-wheeling service.

Dorsey echoed concerns of many users and critics who say Twitter it hasn’t done enough to curb the abuse. But others worry that it’s muzzling free speech in the process.

“It’s good that Twitter is thinking these things through and being fairly transparent about what they are doing,” said Emma Llanso, director of the free expression project at the Center for Democracy and Technology, a nonprofit that’s a member of the Trust and Safety Council. But, she added, it will be very important to have a clear appeals process and ways to review whether the policies are effective.

Full story here.