This is a terrible, terrible, terrible, terrible, terrible, terrible, terrible, terrible, terrible, terrible, terrible, terrible, terrible, terrible, terrible, terrible, terrible, terrible, terrible, terrible, terrible, terrible, terrible idea. 1/10 https://newsroom.tiktok.com/en-us/tiktok-proposes-global-coalition-to-protect-against-harmful-content/

It is proving incredibly difficult to establish global mechanisms which identify online content that should be removed across all major platforms. Child sexual abuse imagery is probably the only category where there's any kind of consensus. 2/10

Efforts are being made on another - terrorism and violent extremist content - through the #GIFCT, but that has come under criticism for, inter alia, a lack of transparency. ( @daphnehk, @evelyndouek and @DiaKayyali are all people you should follow if you care about this) 3/10

Why is TikTok so wrong on this? 1. Even graphic, violent content (which TikTok is focusing on) is protected expression and deciding whether to remove it or not requires careful consideration taking into account context and other factors. 4/10

Graphic, violent content includes evidence of war crimes, documentation of police brutality. Even images of self-harm can help alert us to those in need of help, or allow people who are struggling to share their pain. 5/10

As such, global removals of this kind of content are wholly inappropriate. The same piece of content may be justifiably removed from, say, YouTube Kids, but should stay up on a Facebook group for mental health professionals. 6/10

2. Even if the above weren't an issue, it still shouldn't be up to a handful of individuals from online platforms deciding what we can and cannot say, with no accountability or transparency. The letter says nothing about meaningful oversight. 7/10

At the very least, you'd expect governments, civil society and other experts to play a role in such a mechanism. You'd need transparency over decision making, the opportunity to challenge decisions, and effective appeal and remedy procedures for users. 8/10

Far more eloquent and detailed on this subject is @evelyndouek's piece on content cartels, which I hope that the team at TikTok read before making any more public pronouncements. 9/10 https://knightcolumbia.org/content/the-rise-of-content-cartels

Finally, we don't know the social media platforms that received this letter, but what would be wonderful is if they published open responses, setting out the problems with the proposal, and reiterating their commitments to free expression, transparency and accountability. 10/10