Ms Karen White:

I thank the committee for its invitation to Twitter to participate in today’s session. My name is Karen White and I am director of public policy for Twitter in Europe. I am joined by my colleague, Mr. Ronan Costello, public policy manager for Twitter in Europe.

Twitter is an open, public service. Our singular mission is to serve the public conversation. We serve our global audience by focusing on the needs of the people who use our service, and we put them first in every step we take. Twitter is committed to improving the collective health, openness, and civility of public conversation on our platform. Our success is built and measured by how we help encourage more healthy debate, conversations and critical thinking. Conversely, abuse, malicious automation and manipulation detract from our purpose. We provide people on Twitter with a range of tools so that they can control and manage the type of content and accounts they see, ranging from being able to keep an account private to blocking, muting or reporting other individuals on the service. We also give people control over what they see in search results, through safe search mode, which is enabled by default. This excludes potentially sensitive content from the search results such as spam, adult content and the accounts an individual has muted or blocked. We strive to provide an environment where people can feel free to express themselves and we recognise that if people experience abuse on Twitter it can jeopardise their ability to do this.

An individual using the service is not permitted to promote violence against or directly attack or threaten other people in a range of protected categories. A person may not engage in abusive behaviour, which is an attempt to harass, intimidate or silence someone else's voice. We do not allow individuals to use hateful images or symbols in their profile image or header and individuals using the platform are not allowed to use their username, display name or profile bio to engage in abusive behaviour such as targeted harassment or expressing hate towards a person, group or other protected category. Under this policy we take action against behaviour that targets individuals or an entire protected category with hateful conduct.

With regard to self-harm and suicide, after Twitter receives a report of such behaviour, it will contact the reported user and let him or her know that someone who cares about him or her identified that he or she might be at risk. We will provide the reported user with available online and offline resources and encourage him or her to seek help. In response to certain keyword searches relating to these issues, using Twitter's search function, we direct individuals to online prevention resources. This service is available in Ireland, where we have partnered with the Samaritans, to whose website and support services we direct individuals.

Twitter does not allow individuals on the service to post or share intimate photos or videos of someone which were produced or distributed without their consent. Such material is sometimes referred to as "revenge porn". This content poses serious safety and security risks. We inform our users that sharing explicit sexual images or videos of someone online without their consent is a severe violation of their privacy and the Twitter rules.

People who do not feel safe on Twitter should not be burdened to report abuse to us. Earlier this year we made it a priority to take a proactive approach to abuse. Today, through the use of technology, 38% of abusive content that is enforced is surfaced proactively for human review. We have made meaningful progress towards creating a healthier service. Since we announced our focus on improving the health of the conversation occurring on Twitter, we have seen a 16% year-on-year decrease in reports from people about other users allegedly abusing them on Twitter. We have seen a 45% increase in the number of account suspensions for those who attempt to create new accounts following the suspension of their original accounts. Over the first quarter of 2019, this amounted to more than 100,000 account suspensions for these reoffenders. We are suspending three times more abusive accounts within 24 hours of a report and are taking two and a half times more private information down, with a new, easier reporting process.

We have always provided an appeals mechanism for individuals who have had enforcement action taken against their accounts but earlier this year we launched a new feature that allows people to appeal within the Twitter app itself. This change has meant that we have been able to respond to people 60% more quickly than we had previously.

We have well-established relationships with law enforcement agencies, including An Garda Síochána. We have continuous global coverage to address reports from law enforcement around the world and have a dedicated online portal to swiftly handle requests from law enforcement. We provide regular training on our policies and procedures and have publicly available guidelines for law enforcement on our website.

The committee has asked for our recommendations on the proposed legislative changes. It is important that legislation is as consistent as possible with existing legal frameworks to avoid uncertainties and discrepancies. The effectiveness of any legislative solution relies on it being proportionate, technically feasible, and flexible, particularly given the diversity of companies within the digital ecosystem. In this context, the committee will need to consider and assess how different legal and illegal harms manifest themselves across different platforms and varied jurisdictions.

We all share the objective of protecting our systems of due process and our commitment to freedom of expression. Preserving these tenets in regulatory proposals can be achieved by collectively ensuring there is clarity on the obligations of all stakeholders, thereby avoiding an outcome whereby companies could overreach or erroneously remove content that should otherwise be kept online. A clearly defined scope in that regard will assist Twitter and, I imagine, others.

In order to ensure people can continue to express themselves freely and safely on Twitter, we must continue investing further in our proactive technology and safety tools, as well as developing policies which keep pace with the changing contours of the public conversation we see on our service. We stand ready to work with this committee as we continue to explore options to ensure that all people are protected from online harassment and harmful communications. I thank members for their time. We look forward to taking their questions.