Twitter Inc removed a feature in the last few days that promoted suicide prevention hotlines and other safety resources to users looking up specific content, which was ordered by new owner Elon Musk.
The removal of the #ThereIsHelp feature had not previously been reported. It had shown contacts for support organisations in many countries at the top of specific searches related to mental health, HIV, vaccines, child sexual exploitation, Covid-19, gender-based violence, natural disasters, and freedom of expression. Its removal raised new concerns about the safety of Twitter’s most vulnerable users. Musk has stated that impressions, or views, of harmful content have decreased since he took over in October, and has tweeted graphs demonstrating this trend, despite the fact that researchers and civil rights organisations have observed an increase in tweets containing racial slurs and other hateful content.
