Racists and Taliban supporters have flocked to Twitter's new audio service after executives ignored

[demmiblue]

Source: WaPo

Racists and Taliban supporters have flocked to Twitter’s new audio service after executives ignored warnings

Earlier this year, as Twitter raced to roll out Spaces, its new live audio chat feature, some employees asked how the company planned to make sure the service didn’t become a platform for hate speech, bullying and calls to violence.

In fact, there was no plan. In a presentation to colleagues shortly before its public launch in May, a top Twitter executive, Kayvon Beykpour, acknowledged that people were likely to break Twitter’s rules in the audio chats, according to an attendee who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe internal matters. But he and other Twitter executives — convinced that Spaces would help revive the sluggish company — refused to slow down.

Fast forward six months and those problems have become reality. Taliban supporters, white nationalists, and anti-vaccine activists sowing coronavirus misinformation have hosted live audio broadcasts on Spaces that hundreds of people have tuned in to, according to researchers, users and screenshots viewed by The Washington Post. Other Spaces conversations have disparaged transgender people and Black Americans. These chats are neither policed nor moderated by Twitter, the company acknowledges, because it does not have human moderators or technology that can scan audio in real-time.

“Dear @TwitterSafety, ISIS recruiters are active on Twitter Spaces. They are openly inciting genocide of Shiite people,” wrote one Twitter user in late November, who included a short recorded clip of a Spaces chat where a user made derogatory comments about Shiite Muslims. Two people who participated in the hour-long conversation, including an Afghani journalist, told The Washington Post that the host declared support for the Islamic State terrorist group and said that Shiite Muslims deserved to die.

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2021/12/10/twitter-turmoil-spaces/

[Dustlawyer]

1. Just because we have the tech to do something doesn't mean we should.

We throw new tech out there with little to no consideration as to the ramifications. We have a generation or three who grew up inside playing games instead of playing sports or games outside. TV and the internet have become the conduit for manipulating the masses with propaganda to control us.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

2. Shut Twitter Spaces right down hard now. . . . nt

[Eugene]

3. Wow. This is damning, even by Silicon Valley standards.

Interesting read. Once again, "chaotic and arrogant leadership" refuses to learn from past mistakes.

Spaces by Twitter is hosted by Amazon Web Services, which booted Parler after Jan. 6. Is Twitter too big to be held to same acceptable use policies?

[BlueWavePsych]

4. Terrorists!

[PatSeg]

5. "That Spaces would help revive the sluggish company"?

I had no idea that Twitter was doing poorly. I suppose that is possibly a positive sign, though this new service is a horrible idea. The incompetence and short-sightedness is stunning.