Australia and New Zealand organisations join Twitter’s Trust and Safety Council

On Twitter, every voice has the power to shape the world. We see this power every day, from activists who use Twitter to mobilise citizens to content creators who use Twitter to shape opinion.

To ensure people can continue to express themselves freely and safely on Twitter, we must continue to provide more robust tools and policies. With hundreds of millions of Tweets sent per day, the volume of content on Twitter is massive, which makes it extraordinarily complex to strike the right balance between fighting abuse and speaking truth to power. This balance requires a multi-layered approach where each of our 320 million users has a part to play, as do the community of experts working for safety and free expression.

That’s why we are announcing the formation of the Twitter Trust & Safety Council, a new and foundational part of our strategy to ensure that people feel safe expressing themselves on Twitter.

We have more than 40 organisations and experts from 13 regions joining as inaugural members of the Council. We are delighted that six of the 40 organisations represented on the Council are from Australia and New Zealand, demonstrating the leading role these organisations play in the region and around the world in enabling everyone, everywhere to express themselves with confidence on Twitter.

To demonstrate that our local safety NGOs continue to punch above their weight, the Australian and New Zealand inaugural members of the Council are:

• @beyondblue
• @braveheartsinc
• @netsafenz
• @alannahmadeline
• @projectrockit
• @ReachOut_AUS

As we develop products, policies, and programs, our Trust & Safety Council will help us tap into the expertise and input of organisations at the intersection of these issues more efficiently and quickly. In developing the Council, we are taking a global and inclusive approach so that we can hear a diversity of voices from organisations including: Safety advocates, academics, and researchers focused on minors, media literacy, digital citizenship, and efforts around greater compassion and empathy on the Internet;
Grassroots advocacy organizations that rely on Twitter to build movements and momentum;
Community groups with an acute need to prevent abuse, harassment, and bullying, as well as mental health and suicide prevention.

The complete list of Twitter Trust & Safety Council - Inaugural Members can be found here.

We believe that the development of the Council and the inclusion of such strong local NGOs means a win-win for Twitter, our users and the organisations involved. Not only will this represent a meaningful way for us to consider great ideas and feedback to make our platform safer but this also gives our local safety partners the opportunity to share their best practices with other like-minded NGOs around the world. We are honoured that they have come on-board to support our continued safety efforts.