Australia 'concerned' about Twitter's legal compliance after job cuts
Australia's e-safety commissioner has written to Elon Musk voicing concern that Twitter staff cuts could leave the social media giant unable to comply with local laws prohibiting extremist and violent content.
Commissioner Julie Inman Granta former Twitter employee-said she was "deeply concerned about the depth and breadth of recent cuts to Twitter staff across the globe".
Since Musk bought the platform earlier this month, he has fired roughly 50 percent of staff in a bid to cut costs.
Inman Grant expressed concern about the "potential impact" of the cuts "on Twitter's ability to respond to and comply with our regulatory requirements". Australia has spearheaded the global drive to regulate social media platforms.
Watchdogs have been given sweeping powers to order the removal of content and punish platforms for failure to moderate child sex abuse content, cyberbullying and violent extremism.
Inman Grant worked at Twitter on policy and safety after 17 years working at Microsoft.
Her concerns echo comments from regulators and legislators in Europe and North America, who have warned that Musk's drive for fewer content restrictions could turn the platform into a cesspool of misinformation.
In the letter, Inman Grant dismissed Twitter's arguments that content moderation staffing had only been cut by 15 percent.
"As someone who understands Twitter's operational ecosystem, I know it is much far more complex than those comments would suggest."
She said: "Deep cuts to public policy, legal, communications, human rights, ethical AI and transparency teams leave me very concerned that Twitter is removing both the expertise and necessary guardrails to deal with the growing threat of hate, harm, disinformation and other forms of serious online abuse on the platform."
Inman Grant called for "direct assurance" that Twitter will comply with Australian law.
Officials said Twitter had yet to respond to the letter.
North Korea said Monday it would respond to joint exercises by the United States and South Korea with "sustained, resolute and overwhelming" military measures, the states news agency KCNA reported.
The warning came amid a spate of missile tests by North Korea in recent weeks, including four ballistic missiles fired on Saturday, days after the United States and South Korea concluded their biggest-ever air force drills.
A statement from the General Staff of the Korean People's Army said it "will continue to correspond with all the anti-DPRK war drills of the enemy with the sustained, resolute and overwhelming practical military measures," using an acronym for North Korea's official name, KCNA reported Monday morning.
The statement also said the North's recent ballistic missile tests were a "clear answer" to Washington and Seoul over their joint exercises last week, calling the tests "corresponding military operations".
"The more persistently the enemies' provocative military moves continue, the more thoroughly and mercilessly the KPA will counter them," the statement said.
Hundreds of US and South Korea warplanes-including powerful B-1B heavy bombers-participated in the Vigilant Storm exercises last week, in the first time B-1Bs have flown to the Korean peninsula since December 2017.
The South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff had said the move demonstrated the "capability and readiness to firmly respond to any provocations from North Korea".
Such exercises have long provoked strong reactions from North Korea, which sees them as rehearsals for an invasion.
The recent flurry of North Korean launches has included an intercontinental ballistic missile and one that landed near the South's territorial waters. South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol has called the barrage "effectively a territorial invasion".