WSJ Main Street columnist Bill McGurn takes to Twitter on Elon Musk’s mass layoffs as some employees file a lawsuit on The Evening Edit.
United Nations Human rights chief Volker Türk urged Elon Musk, Twitter’s new owner and CEO, to “ensure that human rights are at the core of Twitter’s governance.”
The letter comes a day after the billionaire laid off half of Twitter’s workforce after announcing that the The social media platform lost more than 4 million dollars a day.
In this photo illustration, the image of Elon Musk is seen on a computer screen and the logo of Twitter is seen on a mobile phone in Ankara, Turkey, October 14, 2018. 6, 2022. (Muhammed Selim Korkutata / Anadolu Agency / Getty Images)
In the open letter published on Saturday, Türk wrote: “Respect our common human rights should set the guidelines for the use and further development of the platform.”
The UN human rights chief urged Twitter’s “Chief Twit” should stand up for the right to privacy and stressed that Twitter has a responsibility not to amplify content that violates the rights of others.
Türk encouraged Musk to promote “users’ rights to privacy and freedom of expression.”
She added, conversely, that “freedom of expression is not a free pass,” using the example of the spread of “harmful” disinformation from the COVID-19 pandemic “regarding vaccines.”
A sign from Twitter’s headquarters will be displayed in San Francisco on Friday, November 11. February 2022. Employees braced for widespread layoffs at Twitter on Friday as new owner Elon Musk overtakes the social platform. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu/AP Newsroom)
Türk continued and argued with that Content moderation from Twitter should continue to ban “hate that incites discrimination” and add that “they know that hate speech is spreading like wildfire on social media platforms in countries with vastly different cultural, political and religious contexts – with terrible, life-threatening consequences for… Thousands of people .”
TWITTER EMPLOYEES FALL ACTION THAT COLLECTIVE LAYOFFS VIOLATE FEDERAL LAW
Her words of caution come as the billionaire weighs his promise to restore freedom of speech on the social media platform while also shutting down the platform before descending into a “for-all-free hellscape”.‘ which he has vowed to prevent.
Türk’s open letter concluded by stating that “Twitter has much to offer to our collective agenda for a better world, but we need to see clearly what it takes to make this a reality.”
