Activists throughout Asia are involved concerning the social media platform’s future underneath the billionaire Tesla founder.
Taipei, Taiwan – Singaporean activist and journalist Kirsten Han makes use of Twitter to speak about issues that Singapore’s authorities would moderately preserve secret.
Han’s outspoken posts draw consideration to the rights of migrant employees, the racism the federal government claims doesn’t exist and, most frequently, the a whole lot of executions of non-violent drug offenders carried out within the city-state over the previous few many years.
For her work, Han has been condemned on the ground of Singapore’s parliament and focused by the police, one thing she additionally tweets about to the 29,000-odd followers of her verified account.
In June, Han was required to show over entry to her Twitter, Fb Instagram accounts when she was investigated underneath Singapore’s Public Order Act for holding a four-person vigil towards the demise penalty. Police cited Han’s postings on her social media accounts, together with Twitter, as proof for launching the probe, which is ongoing.
Han has no plans to cease utilizing Twitter, however how she makes use of it could change as the foundations governing the platform face a radical shake-up underneath new proprietor Elon Musk.
Musk plans to scrap Twitter’s identification authentication system as quickly as this week, providing the distinctive blue verify mark, as soon as reserved for verified high-profile customers, to anybody keen to pay $8 a month.
Whereas Han remains to be ready for the small print of the modifications to unfold, she is anxious concerning the prospect of web trolls impersonating her and sowing confusion amongst her followers.
“I assume I’m going to lose the blue tick sooner or later, however then it additionally appears – as the small print come out – that the blue tick verification factor is simply going to be out there to whoever pays,” Han informed Al Jazeera.
Extra basically, Han worries that Musk doesn't perceive the accountability that's now on his shoulders.
“He’s a businessman who, simply from remark, has a considerably overinflated sense of how certified he's to do issues,” she mentioned.
“He doesn’t appear certified or actually that educated about how communication and social media and tech platforms work, and the duties that they've, which is kind of worrying.”
Han isn't the one one worrying.
Throughout Asia, activists, journalists, and Twitter customers plugged into human rights and social justice points are frightened about how the social media platform will change underneath the management of the world’s richest man.
Many stay in international locations the place freedom of speech is severely curtailed by authorities. For such customers, Twitter is usually a important window to the surface world, a uncommon platform for open debate – usually from behind the veil of anonymity – or each.
For critics, the considerations vary from questions on Musk’s ideological leanings and his enterprise pursuits in international locations like China to doubts about his understanding of the complexities of social media.
The Tesla founder, a self-described “free speech absolutist” who has accused Twitter of exhibiting left-wing bias, has pledged to reshape moderation insurance policies on the platform to encourage the airing and debate of a wider spectrum of views.
On Friday, Musk set in movement a radical restructuring of the corporate by firing about half of Twitter’s 7,500 workers, together with your entire human rights staff, in accordance with former authorized counsel Shannon Raj Singh.
Al Jazeera didn't obtain a response to requests for remark despatched to the Twitter accounts of the corporate’s communications groups or its head of security and integrity, Yael Roth.
In international locations like Myanmar, the place Twitter has performed an essential function in sharing data since a navy coup in 2021, Musk’s takeover has prompted nervousness and concern.
Regardless of a authorities crackdown on social media and each home and overseas media, nameless accounts have continued to disseminate details about state-sponsored violence and anti-government protests.
Yadanar Maung, a spokesperson for Justice for Myanmar, an account with 165,000 followers, mentioned Twitter had already been failing to counter psychological warfare and misinformation shared by Myanmar’s navy administration on social media.
Now, issues might take a flip for the more serious as moderation turns into much more sparse and government-linked accounts proliferate, Maung mentioned.
“We're involved that modifications will make Twitter extra harmful for Myanmar customers who're underneath menace from an illegitimate navy junta, and that Twitter underneath Elon Musk might present larger house for the junta and its supporters to unfold disinformation and hate speech,” Maung informed Al Jazeera.
Activists are additionally frightened about how Musk, the chief govt of Tesla, SpaceX and Neuralink, could possibly be influenced by China, the place he has main enterprise pursuits.
Tesla has established its greatest manufacturing facility in Shanghai and earlier this yr opened a showroom in Xinjiang, the place Beijing has carried out a prolonged marketing campaign of repression towards the Uighurs and different ethnic minority Muslims, whilst main Western manufacturers publicly distanced themselves from the area.
“The concern is that if Elon Musk is doubtlessly corrupt or attempting to appease the Chinese language authorities, he shall be handing over knowledge and he shall be giving the Chinese language authorities entry to knowledge,” Vicky Xu, an Australia-based researcher and journalist who has documented her harassment by pro-Beijing accounts on social media, informed Al Jazeera.
“Twitter is such an essential platform for advocacy and dissent. With Elon Musk, even when he’s by no means going at hand over any knowledge to China, even when the Chinese language authorities was not in a position to affect him, there’s nonetheless a psychological concern that a number of dissidents or activists really feel that this platform is simply not as free as earlier than and it isn't as neutral as earlier than or not as pro-democracy as earlier than.”
Whereas Twitter, like different Western social media platforms, is blocked in China, Beijing oversees numerous state-sponsored “wolf warrior” accounts that venture its messaging and monitor the social media exercise of Chinese language dissidents residing overseas.
Many of those accounts additionally harass customers who submit about points deemed delicate to China, akin to Taiwan’s political standing or political repression in Hong Kong, Xinjiang, and Tibet.
Sandra, a Hong Kong-based Chinese language-language Twitter account with greater than 47,000 followers, mentioned a priority for dissidents like her is the abuse of Twitter’s perform for reporting inappropriate content material by state-backed accounts and bots.
The Hong Kong democracy activist mentioned she was suspended from Twitter for six months in 2019 after being focused by pro-Beijing accounts for posting concerning the metropolis’s anti-government protests.
Sandra mentioned many Chinese language dissident accounts have confronted comparable points, with appeals taking months to succeed in a decision.
It's unclear if the state of affairs will worsen with fewer “guard rails” on the platform, she mentioned, whereas there may be additionally concern about whether or not Chinese language state media will proceed to be clearly labelled as such.
Sandra, who requested to stay nameless as a result of sweeping crackdown on dissent in Hong Kong, mentioned she was nonetheless ready to see how the modifications would play out.
“I've not determined but,” she informed Al Jazeera.
In Thailand, Twitter is likely one of the few areas the place residents can make the most of anonymity to debate the way forward for the monarchy with out risking jail underneath the nation’s powerful lèse-majesté legal guidelines.
Pravit Rojanaphruk, an award-winning journalist who was beforehand charged with sedition for criticising the navy authorities, mentioned many Thais are frightened about what's going to occur to their private knowledge and whether or not military-backed accounts will proliferate.
“Twitter is likely one of the two premier or hottest social media apps relating to political dialogue. It’s the least censored in Thailand, even in comparison with Fb. Lots of the Thai customers are literally utilizing a nom de plume,” Pravit informed Al Jazeera.
“They aren’t utilizing an actual identification relating to delicate discussions concerning the monarchy, and we don’t know [how] Elon Musk goes to interpret this debate about utilizing nameless accounts.”
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