Amnesty International: Twitter Not Doing Enough to Protect Women from Abuse

Amnesty International has accused Twitter of not doing enough to protect women and non-binary users from online violence and abuse. 

After interviewing women from all walks of life in South Africa between July and August 2021, Amnesty’s 2021 Twitter Scorecard revealed that that women experience a higher risk of online abuse on the social media platform. 

Amnesty International SA Shenilla Mohamed said while Twitter made progress since last year, it was still not enough.

“It is concerning that women in particular are facing this kind of abuse online, with little to sometimes no support from Twitter. The release of Twitter scorecard during 16 Days of Activism is also a stark reminder that violence against women is not just happening in person, but online as well, which can have a negative emotional and mental health impact on those on the receiving end.”

Mohamed says the Twitter Scorecard grades the social media company’s record on implementing a series of recommendations to tackle abuse against women on the platform. 

“Despite our repeated calls to improve their platform, Twitter is still falling short on its promises to protect users at heightened risk of online abuse against women”

Twitter has approximately 9.3 million users in South Africa and is used for various reasons, both positive and negative. 

Amnesty Internatiol says while Twitter is used to impart accurate information or news, for networking, and to hold people accountable, it also has a dark side where it is used to spread disinformation, abuse people or incite violence.