Social media giant Twitter said it is working on new ways to combat “intolerant discourse” and distinguish such language from “incivility.”
The company announced Monday it is working with social psychology professor Miles Hewstone and John Gallacher from the University of Oxford, in addition to Marc Heerdink from the University of Amsterdam. That group will study “how people use Twitter, and how exposure to a variety of perspectives and backgrounds can decrease prejudice and discrimination,” the company said.
Another group of academics, led by a researcher at Leiden University in the Netherlands, will work on developing an algorithm that can distinguish between incivility and intolerant discourse.
“The group has found that while incivility, which breaks norms of politeness, can be problematic, it can also serve important functions in political dialog. In contrast, intolerant discourse — such as hate speech, racism, and xenophobia — is inherently threatening to democracy,” Twitter said in a blog post. “The team will therefore work on developing algorithms that distinguish between these two behaviors.”
In March, Twitter put out a request for proposals from outside experts “to help us identify how we measure the health of Twitter, keep us accountable to share our progress with the world and establish a way forward for the long-term.”
The company said it selected the group from more than 230 submissions.
“In the context of growing political polarization, the spread of misinformation, and increases in incivility and intolerance, it is clear that if we are going to effectively evaluate and address some of the most difficult challenges arising on social media, academic researchers and tech companies will need to work together much more closely,” Leiden University’s Rebekah Tromble said in a statement.
Twitter has been buffeted by complaints from users that it has become mentally draining due to abusive behavior. It’s unclear what Twitter will do with the study’s results.
