A week after buying Twitter, Elon Musk began laying off 50% of the company’s workforce. Among all the services affected by these job cuts, one office attracts particular attention since it is the one in charge of human rights.
Like a snub, it was in a tweet that a dismissed employee announced it. Twitter’s human rights council team was ousted. She was responsible for ensuring compliance with the United Nations guiding principles on fundamental rights. But she also tried to protect users of the social network threatened in their country.
The NGO Human Rights Watch recalled a week ago the importance of this service. In China for example, Twitter is blocked and published on the platform can lead to imprisonment. But for the NGO, Twitter was able to resist government pressure and complicate the hunt for dissidents. The platform’s human rights office has nevertheless drawn criticism in other parts of the world: the Afghan Taliban have published calls for violence there. And against that, Twitter’s inaction to protect human rights in Afghanistan.
Concerns up to the UN
NGOs, but also lawyers like David Kaye are worried about this dismissal. The former United Nations rapporteur for freedom of expression is sorry, seeing the end of a space where abuses and corruption could be denounced in safety.
The United Nations (UN) High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, is concerned. On Saturday, November 5, he sent an open letter to Elon Musk, the new owner of Twitter, urging him to ” ensure that human rights are at the heart of the management of Twitter “. “ Like all businesses, Twitter needs to understand the harms associated with its platform and take steps to address them. added the High Commissioner.
Qemal Affagnon (Internet without borders): “the Accra office [de Twitter] could completely disappear
►Also read: Twitter lays off “about 50%” of its employees after its takeover by Elon Musk