UN demands Elon Musk 'ensure human rights' role at Twitter

UNHCR: 'Respect for our shared human rights should set the guardrails for the platform'

'Twitter needs to understand the harms associated with its platform and take steps to address them,' UNHCR said.

Twitter’s new owner Elon Musk must stand up for human rights as he takes control of the global social media platform, the UN has warned.

The UN’s High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Turk, issued an open letter on Saturday demanding Musk "ensure human rights are central to the management of Twitter".

Half of the company’s workforce has been laid off since Mr Musk took the helm, and tweets by staff have said the team responsible for human rights was among those affected.

Mr Turk said that was not "an encouraging start" and outlined six steps for Twitter to respect human rights.

"Twitter is part of a global revolution that has transformed how we communicate," he said. "But I write with concern and apprehension about our digital public square and Twitter's role in it."

"Like all companies, Twitter needs to understand the harms associated with its platform and take steps to address them," he added.

"Respect for our shared human rights should set the guardrails for the platform's use and evolution."

"In short, I urge you to ensure human rights are central to the management of Twitter under your leadership," the High Commissioner said.

Layoffs on Friday capped a chaotic week of chaos about Twitter's under Mr Musk, the world's richest person, who tweeted on Friday that the service was experiencing a "massive drop in revenue".

On Saturday, Twitter updated its app in Apple's App Store to begin charging $8 for sought-after blue check verification marks, his first major revision of the social media platform.

After months of negotiations, Tesla chief executive Elon Musk finally purchased Twitter on October 27. AFP

The billionaire took control of microblogging platform and fired its top executives, including chief executive Parag Agrawal, left, as well as the company's chief financial officer and its head of legal policy, trust and safety. AFP

Elon Musk entering Twitter headquarters carrying a sink through the lobby area on Wednesday, October 26, 2022. Musk posted a video Wednesday showing him strolling into Twitter headquarters ahead of a Friday deadline to close his $44 billion deal to buy the company. AP

Mr Musk and his children Damian, Kai, Saxon and Griffin met Pope Francis in July at the Vatican. AFP

Mr Musk speaks by video in June to the Qatar Economic Forum in Doha. Bloomberg

Mr Musk answers questions at the Qatar Economic Forum. Bloomberg

Mr Musk arrives at the Met Gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City in May. Reuters

Mr Musk and his mother Maye Musk arrive at the Met Gala in May. AFP

Mother and son pose and laugh on the Met Gala red carpet. EPA

Mr Musk waves at the Met Gala. Reuters

Mr Musk joins in online at the 'Financial Times' Future of the Car Summit in May. Financial Times

Mr Musk attends the opening ceremony of the new Tesla Gigafactory for electric cars in Gruenheide, Germany, in March. Reuters

Mr Musk at the Tesla factory in Berlin, Germany, in March. AP

Mr Musk speaks at SpaceX's Starbase centre in South Texas in February. AFP

The entrepreneur shakes hands with Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro in Porto Feliz, Brazil, in May. AP

Mr Bolsonaro and Mr Musk greet each other in Sao Paulo. Reuters

Indonesian President Joko Widodo meets Mr Musk at the SpaceX launch site in Boca Chica, Texas, in May. Reuters

Mr Musk shows Mr Widodo his mobile phone during a tour of the SpaceX launch site in Texas. Reuters

Mr Turk, who has more than 25,000 followers, set out six fundamental principles from a human rights perspective, urging Musk to put them front and centre in the management of Twitter.

They included protecting free speech and privacy, and ensuring transparency.

Mr Turk said Twitter needed to protect free speech and also tackle the spread of harmful disinformation and hate speech.

To protect privacy, Twitter must refrain from invasive tracking of users and data collection.

He added that languages and contextual expertise were vital, and that the company must be a safe platform apply for all languages.

The Twitter layoffs are estimated to be around 3,700. Employees were restricted access to Twitter's offices, as well as their email and other work-related channels.

Staff in the communications, content curation, engineering and machine-learning ethics divisions were among those largely impacted, according to tweets from Twitter staff.