Headline September 01, 2018/ '' 'TWITTER -BANS- TWINKLE' ''

'' 'TWITTER -BANS- TWINKLE' ''

WITH HIS ARMS folded, Jack Dorsey paced back and forth in conference room at Twitter's  headquarters on Friday afternoon.

Offering a rare look inside one of the social media company's policy meetings, the Twitter chief executive gathered with 18 colleagues, including the safety team, to debate ways to make the  social media service safer for its users.

The discussion quickly turned to how to rid the site of ''dehumanizing'' speech, even if did not violate Twitter's rules, which forbid direct threats of violence and some forms of hate speech but not deception or misinformation.

Twitter asked that members of its safety team not be identified, for fear of them becoming targeted by Internet trolls. ''Please bear with me,'' said one team member at the meeting. ''This is incredibly complex.''

For about an hour, the group tried to get a handle on what constituted dehumanizing speech.

At one point, Mr. Dorsey wondered if there was a technology solution. There was no agreement on an answer.

The discussion capped a difficult week for Twitter.

For the previous five days, the company has been embroiled in internal conversations about how to evolve and explain its policies for what can and cannot be posted on its site. The debates were urgent, fueled by criticism against Twitter for its lack of action against the posts from the far-right conspiracy site Infowars and its creator, Alex Jones.

While Apple, Facebook and Google's YouTube had earlier in the week purged videos and podcasts from Mr. Jones and  Infowars - which have regularly spread falsehoods, including that the Sandy Hook school shooting was a hoax - Twitter let the content remain on its site.

In a string of Tweets the Tuesday after, Mr. Dorsey said Twitter would not ban Mr. Jones or Infowars, because they had not violated the company's rules.

In the aftermath, many of Twitter's users and own employees heaped ire on Mr. Dorsey and the company. {Simple comments included ''jaw dropping'' and ''pathetic.''}

Several journalists also picked apart Twitter's decisions to leave up the posts from Mr. Jones and Infowars, pointing to example of the content that appeared to violate the company's policies.

On Friday, to provide more transparency about its decision making, Twitter invited two New York times reporters to attend the policy meeting.

During the one-hour gathering a picture merged of a 12-year old company still struggling to keep up with the complicated demands of being an open and neutral communications that brings together world leaders, celebrities, journalists, political activists and conspiracy theorists.

Even settling on a definition of dehumanizing speech was not easy. By the meeting's end, Mr. Dorsey and his executives had agreed to draft a policy about dehumanizing speech and open it to public for their comments.

In an interview after the meeting, Mr. Dorsey, 41, said he was ''O.K with people not agreeing'' with his decision to keep to keep Mr. Jones's account live.

''I don't see this as an end point,'' he said. ''I see this as maintaining integrity with what we put out there and not doing random one-off interpretations.''

But Mr. Dorsey also said that while Twitter's longtime guiding principle has been free expression, the company is now discussing ''that safety should come first.'' He added, 'That's a conversation we need to have.''

He said he was thinking deeply about human rights law and listening to audiobooks on speech and expression.

The Honor and Serving of the latest Operational Research on Social Media continues. The World Students Society thanks authors and researchers Cecilia Kandg and Kate Conger.

With respectful dedication to the Students, Professors and Teachers of the world. See Ya all ''register'' on : www.wssciw.blogspot.com The World Students Society and  Twitter.......!E-WOW! -the Ecosystem 2011:

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