Australia on Thursday gave Twitter 28 days to show the platform is serious about tackling online hate or face a fine of almost half a million dollars for every day of delay.
In a press release from the Australian Online Safety Authority (eSafety), its manager Julie Inman Grant threatened the social network with a daily fine of $475,000 (432,000 euros) if the deadline was exceeded.
According to her, a third of hate speech complaints filed in Australia online relate to comments posted on the Blue Bird platform.
“Twitter doesn’t seem to be up to speed on the fight against hate,” said Ms Inman Grant, a former contributor to the social network.
The Australian agency “is far from the only one concerned about the rising toxicity and hate on Twitter, particularly against marginalized communities,” she said.
“We hold these platforms accountable and take action to protect their users,” she said.
Billionaire Elon Musk, who has owned the social network since October 2022, has fired with a vengeance, including many content moderators responsible for fighting abuse.
In November he announced an “amnesty” for suspended accounts and an end to the fight against Covid misinformation. Tens of thousands of banned or banned accounts have been recovered.
“Twitter seems to have slowed down in the fight against hate,” said Inman Grant, who worked in cybersecurity at the American giant after 17 years at Microsoft.
“We are also concerned by numerous reports of content remaining in the public domain that is likely to violate Twitter’s Terms of Service.”
Australia is at the forefront when it comes to regulating social media platforms, and it’s not the first time Julie Inman Grant has publicly attacked Twitter.
She had written to Mr Musk back in November, warning him that drastic downsizing would result in Twitter’s inability to comply with Australian law.
Indigenous journalist Stan Grant, one of Australia’s most respected media figures, announced in May that he had filed a complaint on Twitter for being the subject of “racial abuse”.
In mid-June, the largest American music labels demanded hundreds of millions of dollars in unpaid rights from Twitter, accusing the social network of not taking sufficient action against the illegal use of songs on its platform.