Meet Twitter's New Censorship Council

Sorry. "Trust and Safety Council"


Personal assessment score:
Anti-Censorship - Organization is explicitly and unreservedly against censorship

Probable Censor - Organization has no clear statement in support of free speech, and has mission in which censorship would be useful.

Likely Censor - Organization has no clear statement in support of free speech, has history of questioning principles of free speech or promoting "civil discourse" or other principles which require a pro-censorship stand.

Known Censor - Organization has censored critics, demanded critics be censored, promoted censorship, or made express pro-censorship statements.

Non-Issue - Does not have mission or goals that are speech-related.

Anti-Bullying Pro - UK school "anti-bullying" organization. Seemingly out of place on a council for a company who's terms of use require users be able to form a binding contract. (In the US that means 18+) Bundles mean words with criminal acts under banner of bullying.

Probable Censor

Anti-Defamation League - Jewish group originally focused on combating Jew hatred. Model hate crime law enhances penalty for crimes depending on motive, which sometime results in reviews of suspects' written material. Fails to disclaim hate speech laws, a close relative of hate crime law.

Likely Censor

BeyondBlue - Australian depression and mental health resource. Minor notes on insults related to depression. (Suggesting either a lack of institutional awareness of how mental illness works or bandwagoning)

Non-Issue

Bravehearts - Australian Anti-Child Abuse organization

Non-Issue

Center for Democracy & Technology - Free-Speech and open Internet organization with an apparent focus on the European Union

Anti-Censorship

Childnet - Direct quote: "Childnet’s mission is to work in partnership with others around the world to help make the internet a great and safe place for children." UK based.


Likely Censor

Circle of 6 - Organization partnered with Joe Biden to develop app to "prevent sexual violence" through surreptitious communication on smartphone. Conflates 'Bad date' ("Call and pretend you need me") with sexual violence. Potential to inflate sense of environmental danger and paranoia, but no direct speech implications.

Non-Issue

Connect Safely - Dead website. No connection is a safe connection.

Durrrrrr

Crisis Text Line - Text-based crisis hotline.

Non-Issue

Cyber Civil Rights Initiative - Misleadingly-named anti-Revenge Porn organization. Despite the mission, strong anti-censorship statements.

Anti-Censorship

Cybersmile - Anti-Cyber-Bullying organization. Similar to Childnet.

Likely Censor

Dacher Keltner - “My hope is to rely on the science of cooperation and compassion to empower Twitter users to engage in more productive free speech,”

That's not the way free speech works. Except at Berkeley

Likely Censor

Dangerous Speech Project - Group monitoring volatile situations looking for future Hitlers, those enthralling masses of people to commit genocide. Not attempting to police speech as much as thwart mass-murder, but a dangerous line to walk.

Probable Censor

E-Enfance - French version of Cybersmile and Childnet

Likely Censor

EU Kids Online - UK version. I suspect the inclusion of all these child-centric organizations is just list padding.

Likely Censor

European Schoolnet - "Private" organization run by Eurozone education ministries. Speech protection within the EU is meaningless, so

Known Censor

Family Online Safety Institue - More padding.

Likely Censor

Feminist Frequency - Anita Sarkeesian. Critic of video games and general media famous for getting things completely wrong and calling every possible design choice sexist. Routinely blows criticism and harassment out of proportion for media attention. Public announced her location after claiming she was going into hiding.

Known Censor

Fundacion para la Libertad de Prensa - Colombian press freedom group.

Anti-Censorship

GLAAD - Yeah, that one.

Known Censor

Hollaback - Counter-Shaming app intended to intimidate cat-callers into not being obnoxious. No lobbying campaign or calls for criminalization. Speech countering speech. May simply go too far.

Anti-Censorship

iCanHelp - Not an Apple product. Western US-based bullying and reputation management hotline for schools. Reports possible TOS violations to service providers to remove postings.

Known Censor

ICT Watch - English-language Indonesian internet-promotion organization

Non-Issue

iKeepSafe - Not an Apple product. Student-centric privacy group

Non-Issue

INACH - Online civil-discourse advocacy group

Likely Censor

Insafe - Padding

Likely Censor

Internet Watch Foundation - UK child-porn reporting hotline.

Non-Issue

Jugendschutz - German padding. Maybe Twitter should consider banning minors instead?

Likely Censor

LICRA - French anti-racism group

Probable Censor

Love146 - Anti-trafficking website.

Non-Issue

Marc Brackett - Director for Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence. Works on cyber-bullying.

Probable Censor

National Cyber Security Alliance - Cyber-Security organization

Non-Issue

National Domestic Violence Hotline - Exactly what it says on the tin. Dunno what domestic violence has to do with Twitter.

Non-Issue

National Network To End Domestic Violence - What's DV got to do with Twitter?

Non-Issue

NetSafe - New Zealand Cyber-Security organization

Non-Issue

Pantallas Amigas - Spanish-language child-support organization. Padding

Non-Issue

Project Rockit - Australia-based anti-meanness group.

Probable Censor

Reachout - Crisis hotline. Twitter page links to Australian branch.

Non-Issue

Red en Defensa de los Derechos Digitales - Spanish-Language organization. Supports holding US companies liable to lawsuits from foreign users and the "right to be forgotten"

Known Censor

Red Papaz - Another "Child-proof the Internet" group. Colombian.

Likely Censor

Safernet - Brazilian child-trafficking hotline/activist group

Non-Issue

Samaritans - UK hotline.

Non-Issue

Southwest Grid for Learning - UK educational charity. Not sure if it's government operated or not. Also no clue why it's on Twitter's council.

Non-Issue

Spunout - Irish Millennial news site. Unironically uses "Young people". I suspect it's government-run. Has an editorial category dedicated to "bullying".

Probable Censor

The Alannah and Madeline Foundation - Another Australian anti-bullying group.

Probable Censor

The Wahid Institute - Religious freedom Muslim organization which held a conference on the Holocaust to counter Holocaust deniers.

Anti-Censorship

Thorn - Anti-Child Porn group.

Non-Issue

UK Safer Internet Centre - UK Padding on top of UK padding

Likely Censor

Without My Consent - Anti-Revenge Porn group

Probable Censor

Yakin - loldedz
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