Paging Elon Musk: Poll shows Americans back Twitter safeguards amid worry over hate speech
Americans by overwhelming numbers express concern about the rise of antisemitism and white nationalism in the United States, a USA TODAY/Suffolk University Poll finds, and most say social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook have an obligation to curtail hate speech on their sites.
Those findings of public opinion conflict with the actions of billionaire Elon Musk, a self-described "free speech absolutist" who bought Twitter in October. Since he dismantled some policies designed to limit disinformation and expressions of hatred, the Center for Countering Digital Hate and other analysts have reported that online slurs against Black people, Jews, gays and others have soared.
On Monday, Musk disbanded the Trust and Safety Council, an advisory group of civil rights and child safety advocates formed to guide the company through content moderation issues.
In the poll, a 52% majority of those surveyed say social media companies have a responsibility to restrict hateful or inaccurate posts. In contrast, 39% say the sites should be an open forum, even if speech is hateful or inaccurate.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/paging-elon-musk-poll-shows-americans-back-twitter-safeguards-amid-worry-over-hate-speech/ar-AA15gP7o
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