Twitter published its 20th transparency report on its official blog page. The new report marks a milestone for the social media company, which has been doing so for the last ten years. The transparency report depicts the deteriorating state of journalism on social platforms.
It is mainly because of government restrictions that are curbing the freedom of the press in order to save their image. The number of demands for taking legal actions against posts and accounts is at an all-time high. Twitter has even objected to many such demands. But they keep pouring in anyway.
Twitter transparency report: Highlights
Twitter Report shows that the highest number of legal demands on accounts were made in the last year. 47,572 demands were made by governments on 198,931 accounts. The numbers showcase an increase of 103% in legal demands from governments. It appears like a well-orchestrated plan to keep targeting verified journalists and news outlets.
Twitter didn’t give access to everything but agreed to a small percentage of the government requests. In most cases, it even tried to only disclose limited information. Twitter highlighted the fact that the social media giant has become better at tackling spam and misleading content, which led to Musk backing out from his Twitter acquisition.
After showcasing great enthusiasm for creating a new and improved Twitter, Elon decided that it wasn’t worth his investments. For the past two months, Elon was sharing his thoughts about free speech on Twitter. He even promised to bring back blocked accounts if he took control.
Governments have also become ultra-sensitive to any reaction posted on Twitter. The consistent hounding of journalists, forcing Twitter to supply all data, and suspending their accounts is ruining journalism. If the journalists who use the platform to spread awareness are not allowed to speak, it takes away a crucial right as a citizen.
As governments tighten their reign on social media companies, it is hard to predict the future of journalists and even regular users using them.
