Can Meta deliver on its promise of making Threads a “kinder” alternative to Twitter?

On July 6, Meta released Threads, an alternative and “kinder” version of Twitter according to Meta’s chief executive, Mark Zuckerberg. However, within 24 hours of the launch, a variety of right-wing figures signed up for the platform including white nationalist Richard Spencer and white supremacist Nick Fuentes (who was banned in 2019 from Instagram), among others.

ISD’s Head of Research, Melanie Smith, spoke to The Guardian about Meta’s track record and what this may mean for the new platform: “This is a social media app that is owned by Meta, who have failed consistently in governing and moderating other platforms they own.”

“We’re already seeing plenty of high-profile accounts that have been known to spread harmful and misleading content.”

She goes on to explain that although Threads has been designed with better user safety in mind, the implementation of these policies is yet to be seen.