Ms Karen White:

It is unfortunate that that perception exists. We take on board that it is our responsibility to try to change it and educate people on the work that has been undertaken by the company over the past couple of years to improve the health of public conversation on Twitter and put various mechanisms in place to help empower our users so that they feel that they have a safer experience online. There is still work that we need to do as regards perceptions.

There is no business incentive to leave rule-violating content on our service. Counter-speech works. There are different categories of content that we address. There is content that is illegal and content that is not illegal but is in violation of the Twitter rules. In certain jurisdictions, our terms of service and rules go far beyond the laws. Then there is content that is neither illegal nor a violation of the Twitter rules. We find that counterspeech in particular can have a positive impact on that type of speech, as it is a space where people offer diverse views that challenge prejudices, intolerance and racism online. They are calling others out, saying that certain types of speech are wrong and showing a more tolerant and respectful viewpoint. It is within the context of the type of speech that is neither illegal nor a violation of the Twitter rules that counterspeech can have a positive impact.