Twitter has set up a Trust & Safety Council to help maintain free expression

When it comes to safety, everyone plays a role. Twitter empowers every voice to shape the world. But you can’t do that unless you feel safe and confident enough to express yourself freely and connect with the world around you. To help give your voice more power, Twitter does not tolerate behaviour intended to harass, intimidate, or use fear to silence another user’s voice.

Every voice on Twitter has got the power to shape the world, the power from activists to mobilize citizens to content creators who all use Twitter.

For example Ugandans under the hashtag #OurOilOurFuture have been petitioning the President to join the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI)- a global standard that promotes open and accountable management of natural resources.

Twitter will provide more tools and policies to see that its users continue to express themselves freely and safely. There are over hundreds of million Tweets that are sent in a day which makes it extremely complex to strike the right balance between fighting abuse and speaking the truth to power because the volume of content is huge. With over a million users on Twitter playing their part, the requirement of a multi-layered approach will be needed to fight the abuses.

That’s why Twitter Inc. announced the formation of the Twitter Trust & Safety Council, a new and foundational part of our strategy to ensure that people feel safe expressing themselves on Twitter.

The Twitter Trust and Safety Council provides input on our safety products, policies, and programs. Twitter works with safety advocates, academics, and researchers; grassroots advocacy organizations that rely on Twitter to build movements; and community groups working to prevent abuse.[related-posts]

They have over 40 organizations and experts from 13 regions joining as inaugural members of the Council which are:

• Anti-Bullying Pro.
• Anti-Defamation League.
• Beyond Blue.
• Bravehearts.
• Center for Democracy and Technology.
• Childnet.
• Circle of 6.
• Connectsafely.
• Crisis Text Line.
• Cyber Civil Rights Initiative.
• Cybersmile Foundation.
• Dacher Keltner, Professor of Psychology and Faculty Director of UC Berkeley’s Greater Good. Science Center.
• Dangerous Speech Project.
• E-Enfance.
• EU Kids Online.
• European Schoolnet.
• Family Online Safety Institute.
• Feminist Frequency.
• Fundacion para la Libertad de Prensa.
• GLAAD.
• Hollaback.
• iCanHelp.
• ICT Watch.
• iKeepSafe.
• INACH.
• Insafe.
• Internet Watch Foundation.
• Jugendscutz.
• LICRA.
• Love 146.
• Marc Brackett, Director, Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence.
• National Cyber Security Alliance.
• National Domestic Violence Hotline.
• National Network to End Domestic Violence.
• NetSafe.
• Pantallas Amigas.
• Project Rockit.
• Reachout.
• Red en Defensa de los Derechos Digitales.
• Red Papaz.
• Safernet.
• Samaritans.
• Southwest Grid for Learning.
• Spunout.
• The Alannah and Madeline Foundation.
• The Wahid Institute.
• Thorn.
• UK Safer Internet Centre.
• Without My Consent.
• Yakin.

“We are thrilled to work with these organizations to ensure that we are enabling everyone, everywhere to express themselves with confidence on Twitter.” Twitter Blog

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