Online hate ‘inexcusably high’: Australia sends legal notice to Twitter

Australia has sent a legal notice to Twitter, demanding an explanation about what the social media giant is doing to prevent an “already inexcusably high” level of online abuse.

Julie Inman Grant, Australia’s eSafety commissioner, said in a statement that research conducted by her institution found “nearly 1 in 5 Australians have experienced s ome form of online hate.”

“This level of online abuse is already inexcusably high,” Grant said.

The notice released to the public by Grant urges Twitter to explain how it was “enforcing its hateful conduct policy” and “how many of the accounts previously banned for hate.”

“Hate has been a weapon used for centuries to devastating effect, attacking people on the basis of race, belief or identity,” Grant said, adding:

“What is new is the proliferation of online channels by which hate can go viral.”

“Online invective can be launched like a ballistic missile, hitting its designated mark and disseminating its toxin to millions of people in an instant,” she added.

Calling it “one of the greatest gifts,” Grant, however, acknowledged that social media has “given voice to those who previously had none, serving as a great leveler and allowing anyone to speak truth to power.”

Crediting Twitter for its “spontaneous, open and viral nature,” she said: “I once believed that no other platform held such promise of delivering true equality of thought and free expression.”

Having worked with Twitter in 2014 following the “remarkable Arab Spring transformation,” sometimes referred to in the Middle East as the “Twitter Revolution,” Grant said she was “so convinced of the company’s potential for positive social change.”

However, she said Twitter today was “failing to confront the dark reality that the platform is increasingly being used as a vehicle for disseminating online hate and abuse.”

"We’re already aware of reports that the reinstatement of some of these previously banned accounts has emboldened extreme polarizers and peddlers of outrage and hate, including Australian neo-Nazis," Grant added.

Australia's eSafety has given Twitter 28 days to comply with the "please explain" notice, or face heavy fines every day it misses the deadline, according to ABC News.