Have you seen the hate speech on Twitter? Who could blame them?
“Ban the Nazis, Jack.” It’s a simple request, and one that Twitter’s CEO, Jack Dorsey, has refused to act on. However, Twitter has updated its terms and conditions to make reading them easier. They’ve shrunk the rules down to just under 600 words, with each rule fitting within the confines of a Tweet. Though Twitter says the full rule book is still over 2,500 words, these represent a summary of those rules. You can still find the full rules linked on their page.
This update was a chance for Twitter to codify rules against white supremacy or nationalism. Instead, Twitter didn’t target Nazis directly. While many of their actions will constitute as hate speech or harassment under these rules, such as the use of slurs or deadnames, organizing a gathering for Nazis through Twitter is still within the rules. Ben Shapiro can still drive traffic to his site where he spews hate speech against trans people. David Duke can still organize his local KKK chapter. The alt-right can still recruit.
Twitter, once again, had a chance to ban the Nazis. They decided to continue to permit their existence on the platform.
In This Article:
Twitter’s New Rules
Twitters rules are, largely, the same as the old ones. However, now they come with easy to digest summaries. These summaries are tweet-sized, but they’re still not great representations of the complete rule. I had to search around the linked pages to find exactly what I was looking for. But all the old rules are still there. The new rule summaries are below, including the links to the full section of Twitter’s rules.
Violence
You may not threaten violence against an individual or a group of people. We also prohibit the glorification of violence. Learn more about our violent threat and glorification of violence policies.
Terrorism/Extreme Content
You may not threaten or promote terrorism or violent extremism. Learn more.
Child Sexual Exploitation
We have zero tolerance for child sexual exploitation on Twitter. Learn more.
Abuse/Harassment
You may not engage in the targeted harassment of someone, or incite other people to do so. This includes wishing or hoping that someone experiences physical harm. Learn more.
Hateful Conduct
You may not promote violence against, threaten, or harass other people on the basis of race, ethnicity, national origin, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, religious affiliation, age, disability, or serious disease. Learn more.
Suicide or Self-Harm
You may not promote or encourage suicide or self-harm. Learn more.
Sensitive Media, Including Graphic Violence and Adult Content
You may not post media that is excessively gory or share violent or adult content within live video or in profile or header images. Media depicting sexual violence and/or assault is also not permitted. Learn more.
Illegal or Certain Regulated Goods or Services
You may not use our service for any unlawful purpose or in furtherance of illegal activities. This includes selling, buying, or facilitating transactions in illegal goods or services, as well as certain types of regulated goods or services. Learn more.
Private Information
You may not publish or post other people’s private information (such as home phone number and address) without their express authorization and permission. We also prohibit threatening to expose private information or incentivizing others to do so. Learn more.
Non-Consensual Nudity
You may not post or share intimate photos or videos of someone that were produced or distributed without their consent. Learn more.
Platform Manipulation and Spam
You may not use Twitter’s services in a manner intended to artificially amplify or suppress information or engage in behavior that manipulates or disrupts people’s experience on Twitter. Learn more.
Election Integrity
You may not use Twitter’s services for the purpose of manipulating or interfering in elections. This includes posting or sharing content that may suppress voter turnout or mislead people about when, where, or how to vote. Learn more.
Impersonation
You may not impersonate individuals, groups, or organizations in a manner that is intended to or does mislead, confuse, or deceive others. Learn more.
Copyright and Trademark
You may not violate others’ intellectual property rights, including copyright and trademark. Learn more about our trademark policy and copyright policy.
Wait… How Does That Not Ban Nazis?
Looking at those rules, a few stand out as rules that would obviously ban Nazis, white supremacists, and extremist nationalists. The rules against terrorism and violent extremism, abuse and harassment, and hateful conduct should ban all alt-right content. Hate speech is made to dehumanize and spread violence. It is hateful conduct. They also often harass women and minorities. They break rules individually, but Twitter won’t outright ban the Nazis. Unlike ISIS, far-right western ideologies are here to stay.
Why Won’t Jack Ban the Nazis? Trump
Photo: AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite
I expand on this further in this article, but part of the reason Twitter won’t ban alt-right trolls and Nazis the same way they’ve banned ISIS and other hate groups? It collects too many Republicans. Using AI for this task would likely lead to many Republicans getting flagged. Trump’s “Ban all Muslims” is impossible to differentiate between any other hate speech (because it is hate speech). When conservatives parrot his narratives, they’re spreading that hate. While all of that should go against Twitter’s rules, Twitter seems to have a soft spot for alt-right extremism.
Keep the Pressure Up
Twitter knows they’re upsetting users. They know that people don’t like the fact that they haven’t outright banned Nazis yet. Twitter won’t take action unless they see a significant amount of pressure, leading to a drop-off of users. If they have few actual users, they’re not going to be able to sell advertising. Eventually, Jack will ban the Nazis. We’ve just got to force his hand.
Sources:
- Natasha Lomas, Techcrunch