Blue Checks and Balances: Elon’s Twitter takeover and rising hate speech

This week on The New Arab Voice, we're examining the  takeover of Twitter by tech billionaire Elon Musk, and the implications that it will have on human rights. 

Elon Musk officially took control of Twitter on 27 October, and immediately started implementing changes. The biggest changes were related to staffing, that saw around half the company's employees sacked or resign.

The changes alarmed human rights defenders, who witnessed a spike in hate speech on the platform and raised concerns, that if Musk continued with his stated intentions, then the wildly popular platform might no longer be a safe place for those calling out abuses.

On this episode, we explore what Musk's changes mean for the platform, why human rights defenders are worried by Musk's stance on free speech, what international governments can do to prevent abuses, and what the future of the platform looks like. 

Joining us on this episode, we have Alia Al-Ghussain (@little_a91), a campaigner at Amnesty International (@AmnestyTech) working on big tech and human rights. and Imran Ahmed (@Imi_Ahmed) the founder & CEO of the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDHate).

This podcast is by Hugo Goodridge. Theme music by Omar al-Fil. 

Other music by Blue Dot Sessions. 

To get in touch with the producers, follow then tweet us at @TheNewArabVoice or email hugo.goodridge@alaraby.co.uk.