Twitter says it will introduce new controls to combat hate speech

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Twitter says it will introduce new controls to combat hate speech

The social media platform told advertisers in an email on Thursday that they will roll out new controls as soon as next week to prevent companies from appearing above or below tweets containing certain keywords.

Since the acquisition of the platform in October by billionaire Elon Musk, reports from civil rights groups that hate speech have risen since the acquisition and after several banned or suspended accounts were reinstated, the new controls are part of the effort to reassure and lure back advertisers that have pulled ads off the platform.

More than 90% of its revenue comes from selling digital ads. Musk recently attributed a huge drop in revenue to civil rights organizations that have pressured brands to stop their Twitter ads.

A Twitter representative said the platform was considering bringing its content moderators, many of whom are contracted through third-party vendors, in-house, according to a source familiar with the remarks.

The platform would be able to invest more in moderation for non-English languages by bringing in-house content moderators on Twitter, according to the source.

A reconstructed version of Twitter's subscription service called Twitter Blue would begin rolling out on Friday, according to an email to advertisers on Thursday, which was reviewed by Reuters.

The subscription will allow accounts to receive a verified check mark. According to the email, accounts for individuals will get a blue check, while gray and gold check marks will denote business and government accounts.

The subscription price will be $7 per month on the web and $11 per month on Apple devices, according to the email.

Twitter, which has lost many members of its communications team, did not respond immediately to a request for comment.