🧵Today we are expanding our #ThereIsHelp notification service for people in need of legal advice relating to Freedom of Expression in 🇹🇭, as we learnt many of them are not fully aware of their legal rights or how to seek help from existing resources:
According to @TLHR2014, more than 635 people (incl. 40 under 18 years old) have been charged for political involvement and expression since the Thai youth rallies on in 2020; some were without legal representation at the time of arrest.
We strongly believe that people are entitled to freely express their political opinions. Our service relies on a free and #OpenInternet which in turn enables greater participation in civic events, such as the #MilkTeaAlliance, peaceful demonstrations and elections.
We’d like to thank @TLHR2014, @iLawFX and Lawyers Council Under the Royal Patronage for their partnership in the expansion of this service. It is an important joint step we are taking to continue protecting the voices of those at risk on our service.
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🧵Twitter is deeply committed to the people of India. Our service has proven vital for the public conversation and a source of support for people during the pandemic. blog.twitter.com/en_in/topics/c…
To keep our service available, we will strive to comply with applicable law in India.
But, just as we do around the world, we will continue to be strictly guided by principles of transparency, a commitment to empowering every voice on the service, and protecting freedom of expression and privacy under the rule of law.
Right now, we are concerned by recent events regarding our employees in India and the potential threat to freedom of expression for the people we serve.
We welcome the @EU_Commission Guidance on Code of Practice on Disinformation, and support an approach that takes a wider look at the information ecosystem to address challenges of disinformation. People should have choices about the algorithms that affect their experience online.
That is why, since 2018, we have made it possible for people using Twitter to switch to a reverse chronological order ranking of Tweets, giving them more control and providing greater transparency into how our algorithms affect what they see.
Earlier this year, we introduced our Responsible Machine Learning initiative and shared more about the work we’re doing to improve machine learning algorithms at Twitter, and to ensure we uphold a high standard when it comes to transparency and fairness.
🧵Today we are launching an emoji for the #MilkTeaAlliance, an online solidarity alliance first started in April 2020 as a Twitter meme which has grown into a global pro-democracy movement led by activists and concerned citizens in 🇭🇰🇹🇭🇹🇼🇲🇲 and around the world.
To celebrate the first anniversary of the #MilkTeaAlliance, we designed an emoji featuring 3 different types of milk tea colours from regions where the Alliance first formed online. It automatically appears when you Tweet any of the hashtags below👇
We have seen more than 11 million Tweets featuring the #MilkTeaAlliance hashtag over the past year. Conversations peaked when it first appeared in April 2020, and again in February 2021 when the coup took place in Myanmar🇲🇲:
We need to ask ourselves: what kind of Internet do we want?
A one-size-fits-all approach fails to consider our diverse online environment and risks crippling smaller players. It risks seriously undermining fair competition and effectively helps to entrench bigger companies.
We need regulatory proposals that encourage effective collaboration and meaningful transparency between companies, regulators, and civil society.
Oversight grounded in regional and global norms can ensure company efforts are effective, durable, and protect individuals’ rights.
Protecting the #OpenInternet is a key objective for Twitter – it’s why we exist. There are two key areas to consider: 1. Avoid entrenching the dominance of the biggest players by protecting competition 2. Focus on how content is discovered + amplified, less on removal alone
By delivering unprecedented economic and technological progress, the Open Internet has led to wider access to information and opportunities to speak that are core to participatory, democratic societies.
As the EU develops a number of critical proposals, including the #DigitalServicesAct and the #DemocracyActionPlan, it's time to establish principles of what constitutes a values-driven Open Internet and place them at the heart of the online century.
We want to empower people on Twitter to be informed digital citizens & to be able to recognise disinformation. To mark @UNESCO Global Media and Information Literacy Week 2019, we're launching a new handbook for educators; Teaching and Learning with Twitter shorturl.at/ejsVW
@UNESCO The handbook helps educators equip younger generations with media and information literacy skills, such as asking the right questions of content they engage with online, and navigating an increasingly complicated media environment. Download it here ⤵️ cards.twitter.com/cards/2m46mv/8…
@UNESCO We’ll be translating this global resource into multiple languages and distributing it to educators around the world, leveraging our many partnerships, including @UNESCO’s network of NGOs working in the area of media literacy.