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Twitter faces backlash for reinstating account that posted child sex abuse

By Nithya Bose in Twitter/X News, posted July 30, 2023

Twitter is under scrutiny for reinstating the account of a right-wing influencer who posted an image of a toddler being tortured, drawing over 3 million views and 8,000 retweets.

After some of the account's over 500,000 followers complained that the suspension was for its political messaging, Twitter owner Elon Musk responded, saying it was for the image used.

Musk tweeted: “Only people on our CSE team have seen those pictures. For now, we will delete those posts and reinstate the account.”

However, experts have argued that even partially obscured images, like the one shared, typically qualify as illegal child sex abuse material.

The influencer, Dominick McGee, known for sharing conspiracy theories related to child sex trafficking and adherents of QAnon, claimed he shared the image to raise awareness about child sex trafficking.

The image was taken from a notorious child abuse video by Peter Gerard Scully, an Australian sentenced to life in prison plus 129 years for heinous crimes against children.

Twitter's "zero-tolerance" policy regarding child sexual exploitation material states that viewing, sharing, or linking to such content is one of the platform's most serious violations.

It typically results in immediate and permanent suspension of the account.

However, critics argue Twitter has been inconsistent in enforcing the policy, allowing known child sexual exploitation material to remain on the site even after being reported.

Such controversies may undermine Twitter's ability to regain advertisers who have been concerned about Musk's leadership and content moderation views.

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The reinstatement of McGee's account has drawn significant attention, with many new followers joining his account after the incident.

Twitter's previous head of moderation and safety, Yoel Roth, who resigned in November following Musk's takeover, criticized the arbitrary reinstatement of accounts that share child sexual abuse material while claiming a zero-tolerance policy.

Instagram also faced the same content shared by McGee.

Though it garnered about 600 likes, the post was promptly deleted by Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, for violating its policies against child sexual exploitation.

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