Twitter reactivates suicide prevention tool.
The removal of the tool was ordered by billionaire Elon Musk, who controls the social network, according to Reuters sources.
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Twitter has restored a feature that promotes suicide prevention hotlines and other safety resources for users seeking specific content, after facing pressure from some civil groups following the tool's shutdown.
Reuters cited sources on Friday in reporting that the feature was disabled a few days ago. The sources said the removal of the tool was ordered by billionaire Elon Musk, who controls the social network.
After the report was published, Twitter's head of trust and safety, Ella Irwin, confirmed the removal and described it as temporary. "We are fixing and renewing our prompts. They have been temporarily removed while we do this," Irwin said in an email to Reuters. "We expect to have them back next week," she said.
About 15 hours after the Reuters report, Musk, who initially did not respond to requests for comment, tweeted: "False, it's still there." In response to criticism from Twitter users, he also stated: "Twitter does not prevent suicide."
The feature, known as #ThereIsHelp, inserts a banner at the top of search results for specific topics. The message displays contact information for support organizations in many countries related to mental health, HIV, vaccines, child sexual exploitation, Covid-19, gender-based violence, natural disasters, and freedom of expression.
Partly due to pressure from consumer safety groups, internet companies, including Twitter, Google, and Facebook, have for years been trying to direct users to known resource providers, such as government hotlines, when they suspect someone may be in danger of harming themselves or others.
In his email, Irwin said: "Google does very well with this in its search results and (we) are reflecting some of that approach with the changes we are making."
She added: "We know these warnings are helpful in many cases and we just want to make sure they are working correctly and remain relevant."
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