Connect with us

SOCIAL

X Launches Legal Action Over Claims that Hate Speech is Rising in the App

Published

on

X Launches Legal Action Over Claims that Hate Speech is Rising in the App

X Corp’s looking to fight back against claims that instances of hate speech have increased across the platform since Elon Musk purchased the app, by suing The Centre for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) over various reports published by the group that track the rise of harmful content.

The CCDH has published several reports in which it claims to have tracked the rise of hate speech in the app since Musk’s purchase of the platform. Back in December, the group reported that slurs against Black and transgender people had significantly increased after Musk took over at the app, while its research also suggests that Twitter is not enforcing rule-breaking tweets posted by Twitter Blue subscribers, while it’s also allowing tweets that reference the LGBTQ+ community alongside ‘grooming’ slurs to remain active.

Some of this seemingly aligns with the app’s new ‘Freedom of Speech, Not Reach’ approach, which sees the X team now leaning more towards leaving tweets up, as opposed to removing them. But even so, X is now looking to counter the CCDH’s claims in court, as Musk seeks to uncover who’s behind the group.

As per the CCDH:

“Last week we got a letter from Elon Musk’s X. Corp threatening CCDH with legal action over our work, exposing the proliferation of hate and lies on Twitter since he became the owner. Elon Musk’s actions represent a brazen attempt to silence honest criticism and independent research in the desperate hope that he can stem the tide of negative stories and rebuild his relationship with advertisers.

That does indeed seem to be the key motivation here, countering highly publicized claims that the platform is now less brand-safe than it has been in the past, in the hopes of reassuring ad partners.

But there is also some validity to X disputes, with Meta also previously criticizing the CCDH’s findings as being limited in scope, and therefore not indicative of its overall performance in mitigating hate speech.

Which is an inevitable limitation of any third-party assessment. Outside groups can only access a certain amount of posts and examples, so any such review will only be relative to the content that they choose to include in their study pool. In the cases of both Meta and X, the companies have claimed that the CCDH reports are too limited to be indicative, and therefore any conclusions that they make should not be considered valid as examples of their broader performance.

But that hasn’t stopped such reports from gaining widespread media coverage, which has likely had an impact on X’s business. The more reports of hate speech and harmful content, the more brand partners will be hesitant to advertise in the app, which is what Musk and his legal team are now looking to fight back against by taking the group to court.

In response, the CCDH has vowed to stand by its claims, labeling the letter from Musk’s lawyers ‘a disturbing effort to intimidate those who have the courage to advocate against incitement, hate speech and harmful content online’. The CCDH has also countered that Musk has deliberately sought to restrict outside research, by changing the rules around third-party data access, and as such, there’s no way to conduct a full-scale analysis of the platform’s content, which would be in line with the expectation set out in the letter.

Musk and his X team have increased the cost of API access at the platform, including for academic groups, which does indeed restrict such analysis, pretty much stamping it out completely in most cases, which means that the only true source of insight in this respect would be the data that X produces itself.

On that front, Musk and the X team have repeatedly claimed that hate speech impressions are way down since Musk took over at the app, with its most recent claim on this front being:

As we’ve reported previously, that’s an unbelievably high number, but Musk and his team are seeking to combat any counter claims, despite producing no data to support such statements, in the hopes of mitigating advertiser concerns.

Which, really, X could do. Musk and his team could publish a detailed report on hate speech which clearly details their actual enforcement actions, and how this 99.99% figure was established. That would be the most definitive counter to the CCDH claims, but that also seems unlikely to happen.

Because there’s no way that 99.99% of tweet impressions are from ‘healthy content’.

Part of the argument here lies in how the X team is interpreting such comments and mentions, with the X team and their assessment partners changing the definitions around what qualifies as hate speech.

For example, X’s assessment partner Sprinklr has previously outlined how its systems now take a more nuanced approach to assessing hate speech, by analyzing the context within which identified hate terms are used, as opposed to just tallying mentions.

As per Sprinklr:

Sprinklr’s toxicity model analyzes data and categorizes content as ‘toxic’ if it’s used to demean an individual, attack a protected category or dehumanize marginalized groups. Integrating factors such as reclaimed language and context allowed our model to eliminate false positives and negatives as well.”

In other words, many times, hate speech terms are not used in a hateful way, and Sprinklr’s assessment processes are now more attuned to this.

Based on this, back in March, Sprinklr found that 86% of X posts that included hate speech terms were not actually considered harmful or intended to cause harm.

Which, again, is an incredibly high number. Based on a list of 300 English-language slur terms, this assessment suggests that 86% of the time, these terms are not used in a negative or harmful way.

That seems like it can’t be right, but again, the actual data hasn’t been provided, so there’s no way to counter such claims.

Which seems to be what X is pushing for, to combat outside assessment, without providing its own counter insights, other than via basic overviews, and the hope that people will simply take the company at its word.

Worth noting too that it’s not just the CCDH that’s reported an increase in hate speech in the app since Musk took over, but Musk looks to be taking aim at the CCDH specifically, based on who’s funding the group and suspicion about their aims.

But again, X could counter this by producing its own data, which it claims to have. The above figures came from somewhere, why not produce the full report which led to this overview and show, in detail, the counter claims?

It seems like a simple counter to refute such claims, as opposed to heading to court. Which lends credibility to the CCDH’s claims that this is an attempt to intimidate, as opposed to clarify.



Source link

Keep an eye on what we are doing
Be the first to get latest updates and exclusive content straight to your email inbox.
We promise not to spam you. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Invalid email address

SOCIAL

Adobe Highlights Rising Visual Trends in 2024 Creative Trends Report

Published

on

Adobe Highlights Rising Visual Trends in 2024 Creative Trends Report

Looking for creative inspiration for your 2024 strategic planning?

This will help. Today, Adobe has published its annual Creative Trends Report, which incorporates insights from Adobe’s 30 million+ Creative Cloud users, in order to determine rising visual styles of interest, which look set to resonate with audiences in the new year.

Based on its research, the Adobe team has established four creative trends that are worthy of note:

  • Calming Rhythms – Fluid and flowing forms that soothe the senses and support emotional balance
  • Wonder and Joy – Visuals that inspire a sense of awe, joy, and enchantment
  • Dynamic Dimensions – Where all dimensions and types of content seamlessly merge
  • The New Nostalgia – Contemporary interpretations of vintage styles

Adobe’s 22-page report, which you can download here (with email sign-up), provides more insight into each of these trends, along with various examples, and data that explains why they’re set to gain more momentum.

There are handy notes and insights for each, which help to illustrate how to use them in your process.

Adobe 2024 Creative Trends Report

Interestingly, a lot of the images used by Adobe in the report look like they’ve been created by generative AI. I don’t know that they have, but it is worth noting the composition in this regard, as another potential means to tap into these trends.

Adobe 2024 Creative Trends Report

The report provides some interesting perspective on rising visual trends, which could help in your planning. Maybe one of these resonates especially well with your branding, or aligns with what your target audience has been sharing.

Either way, some additional, data-backed considerations, which could be helpful in your process.

You can download Adobe’s “2024 Creative Trends Report” here.

Source link

Keep an eye on what we are doing
Be the first to get latest updates and exclusive content straight to your email inbox.
We promise not to spam you. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Invalid email address
Continue Reading

SOCIAL

Elon Musk’s X and Amazon discuss potential collaboration

Published

on

Elon Musk’s X and Amazon discuss potential collaboration

In a significant development in the social media industry, Elon Musk’s social media platform, X, is reportedly engaging in preliminary discussions …

Source link

Keep an eye on what we are doing
Be the first to get latest updates and exclusive content straight to your email inbox.
We promise not to spam you. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Invalid email address
Continue Reading

SOCIAL

Threads Looks Set to be Made Available to European Users Next Week

Published

on

Threads Looks Set to be Made Available to European Users Next Week

Good news with EU social media fans, with Threads looking set for a December 14th launch in the region, just in time to capitalize on holiday engagement.

As reported by The Verge, EU Instagram users can now access a countdown timer at www.threads.net, which seemingly indicates the exact time for the upcoming EU launch. Meta hasn’t made any official announcement, but the countdown clock is only visible to European users, while EU users can also search ‘ticket’ in the Instagram app to find a digital invitation to Threads.

Which replicates the original Threads launch back in July, which included similar Easter eggs and indicators pointing to the launch date (like the above).

The EU launch of Threads has been delayed by evolving EU data privacy regulations, which, due to the timing of the implementation of these new rules, has put additional development burden on the Threads team to ensure compliance with the new parameters. Amid the initial Threads launch, Instagram (and Threads) chief Adam Mosseri said that it could take “many months” for Threads to reach EU users due to these additional complications.

But we have since seen indicators that Threads is coming.

Last month, The Wall Street Journal reported that Meta had an established plan to launch Threads to EU users in December, while app researchers have found various references to an upcoming “Threads EU Launch” in the app’s code.

Threads EU launch

Given the various strands of evidence, it does indeed seem likely that European users will get access to the app next week. And again, with social media usage increasing during the holiday break, that would also provide the best opportunity for Meta to capitalize on its opportunities.

Which are seemingly on the rise. As more people turn away from Elon Musk’s X project, largely due to Musk’s own divisive commentary, they’re seeking a real-time social alternative, and for many Threads is already filling that void.

That’s especially true for journalists, a common target of Musk’s attacks, who are now establishing new networks within the Threads ecosphere. And while live sports engagement remains high on X, Threads is also making a push to win over more sports communities, even placing ads courtside during the new NBA in-season tournament showcase in Las Vegas.

Threads NBA ad

That’s seemingly prompting more sports fans to post in the app, which will expand again with the arrival of potentially millions more users in the EU region.

So how many more users can Threads expect to gain as a result of its European expansion?

Based on Meta’s EU disclosure data on active users, Instagram currently serves some 259 million monthly active users in Europe.

Instagram’s total, official user count is 1 billion MAU, while Threads now has over 100 million monthly users. So presumably, around a tenth of active IG users are also signing up to the app, which would mean that, at a rough estimate, we’re set to see around 25.9 million new Threads users incoming, if/when Threads is launched in the EU region.

Which is probably not as many as you might expect, but this is based on rough estimates, as Instagram reportedly has more than a billion actives now, and we don’t know the exact, current user counts of either app.

But either way, it will expand the conversation in the app, and enable more people to take part, which has its own expanded benefits. And with around 60 million X users also in the region, that could see a number of them looking to make the switch.

Which is the real aim here. Meta has created Threads as the X alternative, aiming to scoop up former Twitter cast-offs who are unhappy with Elon’s changes at the app. In order to do that, Threads needs to be available in all regions where X users may be looking to jump ship, so its EU expansion is another critical step in this respect.

It’ll be interesting to see what Threads user numbers rise to over the holiday period, and whether it can indeed become a genuine rival for X in total active engagement.

We’ll keep you updated on any official announcement on the Threads EU launch.



Source link

Keep an eye on what we are doing
Be the first to get latest updates and exclusive content straight to your email inbox.
We promise not to spam you. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Invalid email address
Continue Reading

Trending