Twitter removes a feature that enabled suicide hotlines

Chirping removed #ThereIsHelp, a feature that allowed to contact suicide prevention hotline and other security features for users searching for certain content, Reuters reported.

Social networks such as Twitter, Instagram and TikTok usually have these systems that identify when a post can be identified as dangerous for the uploader, from the point of view of suicide. This is another measure in a continuum of changes that Elon Musk, its new owner, makes to the site.

Following the post, Twitter’s head of trust and safety Ella Irwin told the agency in an email: “We were setting and renewing our directions, were only temporarily removed during this operation. “We hope to have them back next week,” he told her.

The removal of the feature, known as #ThereIsHelp, was not previously reported. It had shown top specific searches contacts for support organizations in many countries related to mental health, HIV, vaccines, child sexual exploitation, COVID-19, gender violencenatural disasters and freedom of expression.

Its removal has raised further concerns for the well-being of vulnerable users on Twitter. Musk said impressions, or views, of harmful content have been declining since he took office in October and tweeted graphs showing a downward trend, even as researchers and civil rights groups saw increases. tweets with racial slurs and other hateful content.

Partly due to pressure from consumer safety groups, Internet services including Twitter, Google and Facebook have for years tried to direct users to known resource providers, such as government hotlines, when they suspect someone may be in trouble. danger.

In his email, Twitter’s Irwin said: “Google does this very well with these in their search results and (we) are actually reflecting some of their approach with the changes we’re making.”

He added, “We know these tips are helpful in many cases, and we just want to make sure they work well and stay relevant.”

A “bewildering” decision.

Eirliani Abdul Rahman, who was part of a recently disbanded Twitter content advisory group, said the disappearance of #There isHelp it was “extremely disconcerting and deeply disturbing”.

While it was only temporarily removed to make way for improvements, “normally you’d be working on it in parallel, not removing it,” he said.

Washington-based AIDS United, which promoted itself on #ThereIsHelp, and iLaw, a Thai group cited for its support for free speech, told Reuters on Friday the film’s ending came as a surprise to them.

AIDS United said a web page linked to the Twitter feature has been circulating 70 visits per day Until 18 December. Since then, it has attracted 14 total views.

Damar Juniarto, executive director of the Southeast Asia Free Speech Network, a partner of Twitter, tweeted on Friday about the missing feature, saying the social media service’s “stupid actions” could lead his organization to abandon it.

Elon Musk, without official explanations

Sources familiar with Musk’s decision to order the feature removed declined to be named because they feared reprisals. One of them said so millions of people have encountered #ThereIsHelp messages.

Twitter rolled out some tips about five years ago, and some were available in more than 30 countries, according to tweets from the company. In one of its blog posts about the feature, Twitter said it had a responsibility to ensure users could “login and receive support in our service when they need it most”.

Alex Goldenberg, principal intelligence analyst at the non-profit Network Contagion Research Institute, said indications that had appeared in search results just days ago were no longer visible on Thursday.

He and his colleagues released a study in August showing that monthly Twitter mentions of some terms associated with self-harm increased by more than 500% over the previous year, with younger users particularly at risk of viewing such content. .

“If this decision is emblematic of a change in policy whereby these issues are no longer taken seriously, that is extraordinarily dangerous,” Goldenberg said. “It goes against the commitments Musk’s previous attempts to prioritize child safety.

Musk said he wants to combat child sexual abuse content on Twitter and has criticized the previous owners’ handling of the issue. But he cut out much of the equipment involved in material handling potentially questionable.