The Australian eSafety Commissioner, Julie Inman Grant, has strongly criticized the social media platform X for reinstating over 6,000 banned accounts following Elon Musk’s acquisition of the platform.
In a scathing attack, Commissioner Inman Grant asserted that X’s actions have created a “perfect storm for safety to be diminished” in Australia. She highlighted the alarming reinstatement of thousands of banned accounts, a reduction in staff dedicated to online safety, and delays in addressing hate reports as major concerns outlined in the organization’s recent report.
In an interview with ABC News, Commissioner Inman Grant drew a parallel between the situation and allowing dangerous drivers back on the road without implementing additional safety measures. She disclosed that a legal notice was issued to X’s parent company in June of the previous year, seeking urgent clarification on how the platform was adhering to safety expectations set by the Australian government. The Commissioner expressed her astonishment at X’s response, predicting that the platform would become even more unsafe. Since Elon Musk’s acquisition of Twitter in October 2022, now known as X, a total of 6,103 accounts have been reactivated after being initially banned, including 194 accounts suspended for hateful conduct. Commissioner Inman Grant emphasized the necessity for oversight and scrutiny to prevent X from posing greater risks to Australian users.
Furthermore, the Commissioner revealed that X had reduced its global trust and safety staff by 33% since the takeover, leading to significant consequences. Median response times to hateful direct messages reportedly slowed by 75%, now taking up to 28 hours, while responses to hateful general posts slowed by 20%. Commissioner Inman Grant expressed dissatisfaction, stating that the current response time is unacceptably long and inconsistent with previous best practices. In response to the criticism, X claimed to have introduced a new system of “restricting” hateful posts rather than deleting them. The company argued that such restricted posts would not be visible next to advertising, asserting they received 81% fewer impressions than unrestricted posts. However, the Commissioner remains concerned about the impact of these changes on user safety.
